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By Donald St. Martin

Benchley, August 25, 2010

• Acts 2-12 – The kingdom is established.
• Azotus was called Ashdod in the Old Testament.  Both that city and Gaza were major cities of the Philistines.
• Acts 9-14 – Paul’s early work
• Acts 13:1-14:28 – Paul’s first missionary journey
• Acts 15:1-18:22; I Thessalonians – II Thessalonians – Paul’s second missionary journey

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By Caleb Westbrook

Benchley, August 22, 2010

• Ezekiel 18
• Sin is a problem that has plagued humanity from the beginning in Genesis 3.
  • Romans 6:3; James 1:15
• The Israelites felt they were being unjustly punished (by captivity) for the unfaithfulness of their fathers.  In Ezekiel 18, God is refuting this thinking and showing that although the consequences may pass from generation to generation, each man is responsible for his own sin.
• Sin is our problem!  II Corinthians 5:10
• Is my sin solely my problem?
  • Ezekiel 3:17-21 – We also have the responsibility to warn others that are in sin.
  • James 5:16,19-20; Jude 23
  • II Corinthians 4
• Each individual’s sin can become everyone’s problem.
  • Ezekiel 22:23-29
  • Numbers 25:6-9
  • I Corinthians 5:5-8; II John 9-11

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By David Watson

Benchley, August 22, 2010

• Keep emotions in check
  • Titus 1:4; Acts 14:23; 6:1-6
  • Consider two scenarios:
    • There are objections to a certain man’s qualifications
      • I Timothy 4:12,15; Ephesians 4:31-32
    • The members start “taking sides”
      • I Corinthians 1:11-13; Philippians 2:1-5
• Take the qualifications seriously, given the work.
  • Able to teach
    • I Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:9-11 – Elders need to be able to teach so that they can take the lead in defending against error.
  • Aspires/desires the work
    • I Timothy 3:1; Matthew 20:25
  • Sensible, just, devout
    • Hebrews 5:14; I Corinthians 5:1,13; Philippians 4:15-16
  • Temperate, gentle, peacable, not pugnacious
    • I Thessalonians 5:12-15; Acts 20:28
• Don’t be stricter than God
  • I Peter 5:1; Titus 1:6-7,9

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, August 22, 2010

• I Thessalonians 5:17 – See Luke 3:21.  Jesus prayed at His baptism, when He woke up, when He went to sleep, before He ate, when He had a big decision to make, when He was tempted, and before His death.  If we pray without ceasing, it won’t be long between our last prayer and our last breath.
• I Thessalonians 5:18 – This does not mean that we should rejoice even when evil happens. It means we should have a general attitude of rejoicing, not of constant complaining.
• I Thessalonians 5:19 – We quench the Spirit when we trample underfoot the word of God.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, August 15, 2010

• Acts 6:1-7 – Men chosen for special service in the church.
• Qualifications of elders:
  • Desire
  • Blameless
  • The husband of one wife
  • Vigilant
  • Sober
  • Of good behavior
  • Given to hospitality
  • Apt to teach
  • Not given to wine
  • No striker
  • Not greedy of filthy lucre
  • Patient
  • Not a brawler
  • Not covetous
  • One that rules his own house well
  • Having his children in subjection with all gravity
  • Not a novice
  • Have a good report of them which are without
  • Not selfwilled
  • Not soon angry
  • …

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By David Watson

Benchley, August 15, 2010

• Nehemiah 8
• They stood up (out of respect)
  • I Thessalonians 2:12
  • Hebrews 3:7-8,12,17; 4:1-2,12
• They listened up (to understand)
  • Nehemiah 8:2; 4:6 – In Nehemiah 4, they had a mind ot work.  In Nehemiah 8, they had a mind to listen.
  • Ephesians 3:4
  • II Timothy 2:15,2
• They lived up (to the standard)
  • Nehemiah 8:6
  • Nehemiah 8:14,17-18 – They started serving God in a way that they hadn’t since the days of Joshua.
  • I Timothy 3:14-15 – We have instruction on how we should live.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, August 15, 2010

• I Thessalonians 5:8 – See Ephesians 6:10-20 for a similar list.

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By Donald St. Martin

Benchley, August 11, 2010

• God’s people in a Grecian society
  • Language changes
    • Greek became the primary language.
    • Jews resisted Greek influence, but many eventually started speaking Greek.
  • Jewish individuality
  • Religious sects
• The Maccabean revolt
• The time of Christ draws near

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, August 8, 2010

• He left us His Word.
  • Romans 1:16; John 17:17; Acts 2; James 1:21
• He left us the avenue of prayer.
  • I Peter 3:12; I Timothy 2:5; Romans 8:26-27
• He left us an example:
  • of how to withstand temptation
  • of how to love even those who were killing Him
• He left us His church.
  • Matthew 16:18
• He left us the promise of heaven.
  • Matthew 25:21,34,46; II Corinthians 5:1

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By David Watson

Benchley, August 8, 2010

• Life:  Genesis 2:7,22; I Kings 18:21; Acts 17:24-31; Psalms 53:1
• Death:  Psalms 90:10; Ecclesiastes 2:16, 8:8; Psalms 49:7-20; James 4:14; I Thessalonians 4:17
• Eternal life or death:
  • Eternity is certain:  II Peter 3:3-4,10
  • God will punish His people who go back to sin.
  • Judgment is based on works.  Matthew 25:31-46; John 5:25-29; II Corinthians 5:9-10