Pastor's Bible Study

We (believers) need each other to achieve our maximum potential in spiritual growth. We can’t grow they way we should if there is no “we” in our lives. A lone ranger mentality in our Christian life will impede our growth. There are many things we need to do as individuals, but there are also needs that we have that are best met by others. Individually we can emphasize bible study and prayer, but a...

We are all called to ministry. If we going to fulfill our ministry we must: 1) Have the right attitude - joy 2) Serve in the right area – the stewardship of our life 3) Know the right assignment – proclaiming Christ and His gospel 4) Realize the aim and purpose - present every man (believer) spiritually mature in Christ 5) Depend on Jesus - realize that we can’t do in our own efforts

In our text Paul records a hymn of praise to Jesus that reveals how Jesus meets our deepest needs. Jesus meets our need to know God, to be loved, to be forgiven, to have security, and to feel assurance.

Paul prayed that the Colossian believers would be filled with (controlled by) the knowledge of God's will. Paul knew that knowing and doing (obeying) God's will leads to spiritual growth and brings stability in the face of temptation and false teaching. When I know and do the will of God for my life, then I walk worthily, work fruitfully, withstand gloriously, wait joyfully, and worship thankfully...

If you change the gospel's message, you by default change who Jesus is. The gospel is simple faith in Jesus' work of the cross to save us from sin. It is a message of grace. If you add to or take away from the gospel, then you adding to or taking away from the cross-work of Jesus and you declare Jesus to be insufficient. Jesus is sufficient to be our Lord, our life, and our leader. He is supreme....

The young church in Thessalonica had a problem with some of her members loafing and not working. It wasn't a matter of not being able to work; it was a matter of not being willing to work. Paul expected the church to come together in solving this problem. To assist them in the task, he gives four motives to encourage the careless believers to turn from their sin and start earning their own wage.

Paul contrasts Satan’s big lie with God’s truth and teaches us about four responsibilities we have toward the Truth of God’s Word: believe it, guard it, live it, and share it.

Someone posing to be Paul, had written a letter to the believers in Thessalonica stating that the Tribulation had already started. The believers were instantly shaken in faith and became troubled in spirit. To calm their hearts and shaken faith, Paul explained that they were not in the Day of the Lord. The reason was simple: that Day could not arrive until certain other events had taken place. The...

Paul knew that the believers in Thessalonica were undergoing some very difficult hardships from pressures on the outside and confusion from within. He sought to encourage them in three ways: praise, promises, and prayer.

As Paul wraps up his first letter to the Thessalonians, he ends by reminding those at Thessalonica to do the basics (fundamentals) when it comes to respecting spiritual leaders, loving brothers and sisters in the church, and glorifying God.

Paul had assured the Thessalonians in 4:13-18 that the dead in Christ will rise and we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Jesus. Now in 5:1, Paul continues to talk about end time events but his focus shifts from the rapture of the church to the “day of the Lord.” The subject is similar but different. The key difference in what he has to say here is...