Hopefully everyone has enjoyed a “battery charging” break over the Christmas/New Year period and we are all raring to go again in 2012, particularly with our Bible studies.
The first half year activities planned (God willing), provide a variety of classes and speakers that will encourage us all to be involved on Wednesday evenings. Hope to see you there.
Here is the programme for February:
- Feb 1: “Secrets of the Pentatuech – Part 1”
- Feb 8: “Highlights from Romans – No condemnation in Christ”
- Feb 15: “Secrets of the Pentatuech – Part 2”
- Feb 22: “Highlights from Romans – Led by the Spirit”
- Feb 29: “Secrets of the Pentatuech – Part 3”
More on each topic:
The secrets of the Pentateuch
Speaker: Gary Steel
The Pentateuch describes the first 5 books of the Bible, originally written as one book by one author. Whilst we all believe that ultimately God wrote the Bible, as with the NT where we clearly see the style and context reflecting the mind of the various authors so with the Pentateuch we have one author who had a clear compositional strategy from beginning to end. Our study will focus on the author’s message and drawing on the works of various scholars discovers some themes and ideas that may not have occurred to us before.
Session one will look at the overall composition of the Pentateuch, particularly the arrangement of the narratives to fit the overall message of the author. We will also discover the work of a divinely inspired editor who contributed additional shaping to the book. Session two will draw out additional themes and patterns and the final session will attempt to explore the significance of the connecting poems. This is one of those subjects that will either fascinate you or induce a deep but temporary coma!
Highlights from Romans
Speaker: James McCann
Night 1 – NO Condemnation in Christ! “There is therefore now NO Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus”…Wow! What an amazing prospect. We all know from our own hearts what we have done wrong, so how can this be? With God NOTHING is impossible, and He has turned His finger of condemnation from us onto sin through the work of Christ so that we may be released, forgiven and rescued. Chapter 8 opens to the pinnacle of God’s method to save, building on the power of Chapters 5-7 of what it means to be really “in Christ”.
Night 2 – Led by the Spirit the righteous Judge, having forgiven and released those faithful prisoners, explains the conditions by which that person is free. It is on the basis of them demonstrating the very principles (that freed them) in their life, and allowing a new spirit, a spirit of God to be the new motive force in their life. Rejecting the very natural impulses native to them, they now strive to adopt and manifest the very attributes of the Father that bore them, realising that these are the very things that God demonstrated to us, proving that He has done all to save us. And, if God is FOR US, who can be against us?