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By David Watson

Benchley, January 15, 2012

• Acts 2:22-23 – the plan that God made for our salvation
• Planning is a way to use blessings and fulfill responsibilities wisely.
• I Chronicles 28:10-11; I Corinthians 16:5 – examples of planning
• Matthew 16:26 – Shouldn’t we make plans to take care of our soul?
• Excuses we made for not planning:
• “Planning takes the future for granted.” (James 4:13-15)
• Planning should be done with the right attitude.
• “Planning is not as good as doing.”
• Planning helps us to do well.
• “We need to live by faith.” (II Corinthians 5:6; Romans 1:13)
• Planning does not prevent us from walking by faith.
• What can you start planning?
• Plan to get the most out of Bible classes and sermons. Ezra 7:10; Ezekiel 33:1-4
• Plan to read the Bible. Matthew 19:3-4
• Plan to reach out to someone by the end of April. John 1:29,40-42
• Plan to teach a kids’ Bible class. Ecclesiastes 12:1

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, January 15, 2012

• Hebrews 8:6 – This verse sums up the point of the writer of the entire book of Hebrews.
• Hebrews 8:8 – See Jeremiah 31:31-34.
• Hebrews 8:11 – Under the New Covenant, people would know the Lord before being in the kingdom. Under the Old Covenant, people were born into the covenant relationship and then taught about God. It is impossible to serve God without knowing Him.
• Hebrews 8:13 – When the New Covenant was introduced in Acts 2, the first covenant was made obsolete and it gradually disappeared.

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By David Watson

Benchley, January 11, 2012

• Deity is the perfect example of love.
• Love is an action.
• Galatians 5:22 – The fruit of the Spirit is love.
• I Corinthians 13:1-8 – the Holy Spirit’s description of love
• John 13:34-35; 17:26 – Jesus was to be the example to the apostles of how to love. He is our example, too.
• I John 4:7-11 – Learning about God and His love for us helps us understand love and motivates us to love others.
• Notice two points in the way God loved mankind:
• He took the initiative.
• He solved our problem at His own expense.
• Matthew 22:35-40 – Jesus enumerates the two greatest commandments:
• Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
• Love your neighbor as yourself.
• I John 3:16-18 – Love is an action. (Luke 10:30-37; Romans 13:8-10)
• Matthew 16:26; I Corinthians 9:27; Ephesians 5:28-30 – We ought to demonstrate appropriate love for self by doing what we need to for our souls.
• All of our earthly relationships benefit greatly when we demonstrate true love.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, January 8, 2012

• To study the Bible regularly, frequently, and diligently. (I Timothy 4:13; II Timothy 2:15)
• To pray often and fervently. (I Thessalonians 5:17)
• To teach the word more (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 10:24-25)
• To give liberally and willingly.
• To have fellowship in all scriptural functions of the congregation when possible.
• To love my brethren and work in unity with them in all things in the Lord. (Romans 12:18)
• To serve in such a way as to cause the congregation to grow; not to live so as to hold it back.
• To keep self pure in manner of living.
• To keep church pure.
• To become more Christ-like day by day.
• Summed up: to grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. (II Peter 3:18)

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By David Watson

Benchley, January 8, 2011

• The Bible teaches about one church/body.
• Ephesians 4:1-6; 1:22; 5:23-27
• I Corinthians 1:9-13; I Corinthians 12:12-14,20 – Christ’s church. Individuals make up the bod of Christ, not denominations.
• “But denominationalism is Scriptural because Christ is the head of each division of His church.”
• There are no divisions of Christ’s church.
• Matthew 7:21-23; John 17:17-23; Ephesians 4:5,11-15; II Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 3:27 – We cannot do other than what God commanded and still be in Christ.
• Practical applications
• Be a member of Christ’s one church.
• Study and learn Christ’s one truth. I Corinthians 12:13

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, January 8, 2012

• Hebrews 7:12 – With Jesus now our high priest, it is clear that a new law must be in place.
• Hebrews 7:14 – See Romans 8:3-4. This verse is also instructive on the power of the silence of the scriptures. God spoke nothing about a priest from the tribe of Judah, so a priest from that tribe was not permitted under the Old Law. This principle has broad application in many areas of the New Law, especially in the work of the church and how we are to worship God.
• Hebrews 7:25 – Under the Old Law, the high priest was responsible for making intercession for the people before God. As our new high priest, Jesus now carries out this function.
• Hebrews 7:28 – “made perfect forever”: Jesus was always sinless, but He was not perfect in the sense of being complete until He completed His mission on earth.

By David Watson

Benchley, January 4, 2012

[Sorry, no audio for this lesson.  Sadly, the microphone died in the middle of class.]

• Galatians
• From the apostle Paul (Galatians 1:1)
• To the churches in Galatia (Galatians 1:2)
• They were deserting God and going to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6-9)!
• Galatians 5:1-13 – In what sense are Christians free?
• In this context, Christians are free from the law of Moses.
• Galatians 5:16-17 – Contrast between the flesh and the spirit.
• Galatians 5 – Is “spirit” here talking about man’s spiritual nature or the Holy Spirit?
• People disagree on this.
• If this is talking about a man’s spirit, is the passage teaching that a human’s spirit is allowed to follow its own path (cf. Jeremiah 10:23; Acts 26:9)? No!
• If this is talking about the Holy Spirit, is the passage teaching that a human’s spirit is not involved in serving God (cf. Romans 1:9; John 4:24)? No!
• Does a spiritually-minded person follow the Holy Spirit-inspired scripture? Yes!
• The Holy Spirit often uses the word “fruit” figuratively to mean the effect that God’s word has in one’s life. It might be a quality that is developed or an action that is taken.

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By David Watson

Benchley, January 1, 2012

• Lamentations 3:40
• Have I lived more righteously?
• Romans 6:12-13 – We need to use our bodies in righteous ways to serve God.
• I Timothy 6:11; II Timothy 2:22
• Have I gotten better about reading the Bible?
• Luke 10:38-42 – It is important to make God a priority in our lives.
• Bible reading has a long term positive impact on us.
• Deuteronomy 17:18-20 – God’s rules for Bible study for rulers. They were to write their own copy of the law and read it all the days of their lives. This was to help the king fear God and keep him humble.
• Have I increased my prayers?
• Daniel 6:10 – Daniel refused to stop praying, even when the king passed a law against it.
• Romans 12:12; I Thessalonians 5:17 – Pray without ceasing.
• James 5:13
• Have I done better in sharing the gospel?
• Mark 12:41-44 – God considers one’s abilities and not just the amount that he serves.
• I Corinthians 3:6 – God causes the growth. We don’t have to do everything ourselves – just what we can!

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, January 1, 2012

• Hebrews 6:18 – The two immutable things were God’s veracity and the oath that He made.
• Hebrews 6:19 – The hope we have in Christ keeps us from drifting in our faith, thus hope is our anchor.
• Hebrews 7:1 – No one knows with certainty the identity of Melchizedek. See Genesis 14. Melchizedek helped to set the stage for the coming of a new high priest, Jesus.
• Hebrews 7:3 – The popular view on this verse is that it is figuratively referring to Melchizedek being outside the genealogy of Abraham. An alternative view of this is that Melchizedek was deity in the form of a man. Whatever the identity of Melchizedek, his priesthood was superior to the priesthood of Levi.

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By Jesse Jenkins