Preparation for Wednesday 9 Dec

No specific preparation for 9 Dec--planning on having several guest missions speakers.  If we have time, we will take a look at n 15:9-10.  You may want to give some thought to what it means to "abide" in the love of God.  

See you Wednesday night,
Kevin

Wednesdays Nov 25th and Dec 2nd

There will be no Wednesday evening service on the 25th of November due to the Thanksgiving Holiday.  On December 2nd we will meet for prayer, but the majority of the time will be devoted to a Quarterly Business Meeting.  Consider joining us for this important meeting dealing with issues of stewardship.

Look for a Bible study post at the usual time,  prior to the 9th of December.

In His grace,
Kevin

Preparation for Wednesday November 18, 2015

So we managed to talk about two of the three things I wanted to discuss last Wednesday--that leaves us to investigate the topic of faith.  Specifically, faith as it relates to abiding in Christ and dealing with whatever challenges might come our way.  

So to start, consider Jn 3:14-15, which refers to a very interesting Old Testament event that involves faith.  What synonym is used for faith?  Would the line of reasoning laid out in these verses lead you to believe that faith is something intrinsic to human beings, or something special that God has to give to you?

Then read Jn 6:29 -- again, does this seem like Jesus is telling the people that faith is something they have to do or that God has to give them.  

Lastly, see if you can see a connection between Heb 11:1 and Rm 10:17.

See you on Wednesday,
Kevin

Preparation for Wednesday November 11th

As we continue to ponder what it means to "abide", "bear fruit" and "bring glory to God"--I want to do something very practical this week, and something that I trust will be very beneficial to you.   So two things for you to ponder:

1)  To abide requires faith, or stated another way, abiding is really part of the walk of faith of the Lord's righteous-ones (Hab 2:4).  So what is faith, how do we develop it or stimulate it?  What kinds of things hinder it?

2)  And here is an even more challenging question--how do you think we should monitor ourselves with respect to abiding--bearing fruit?  By this I mean, how do we keep an eye on ourselves to make sure we really are abiding.  Furthermore, what should we do if we determine we have areas in which we have failed?  

See you on Wednesday,
Kevin

Preparation for Wednesday November 4, 2015

We will continue our investigation of what it means to abide in "Christ" and bear fruit.  Among other things, this week we will try to understand what Jesus is teaching in v. 2 and 6.  So by way of preparation, what does it mean:

  - What does it mean to cut off a branch that bears no fruit?  

  - What does it mean to be "like" a branch that is picked up and thrown into the fire?  

See you on Wednesday,

Kevin

Preparation for Wednesday October 28, 2015

After digging into what it means to "abide" in the true Vine that is Jesus Christ, this time we are going to focus our study on what it means to "bear fruit".

1.  First thing to consider--to what is the term fruit referring?  A concordance or word-search might help you identify what Jesus has in mind when He says "it is to My Father's glory that you bear much fruit".

2.  Now pick any one of the kinds of fruit you identified above--and think about the difference between "bearing" (carrying) that fruit and "producing" that fruit.  

3.  If you will think this through, you will get at one key aspect of what Jesus wants, i.e. for us to bear fruit as opposed to produce it.  Why to you think it might be important to recognize this distinction?

See you on Wednesday,
Kevin

Preparation for Wednesday October 21st, 2015

Continue to read John 15:1-9 and spend time meditating upon it.  

Once we understand who Jesus is talking to (this is what we worked on last time) we can begin to work on what He is talking about.  So two things to think about:

1.  What does it mean to "abide" in Christ?  Jot down everything you can think of.  

2.  What does it mean to "bear fruit"?  Again, write down everything that comes to mind.  

See you on Wednesday.

Kevin

Preparation for Wednesday October 14th, 2015

This week we will be privileged to hear from Kris Klebs who is back from extensive missionary travels to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Senegal.  We look forward to hear what the Lord has been doing, the future of her ministry efforts, and how we might pray for her.  Please join us.  

In His grace,
Kevin

Preparation for Wednesday October 7th, 2015

We will turn our attention to John chapter 15 this Wednesday, as part our study of the "Upper Room" discourse.  This is an immensely rich and deep portion of God's Word, and I suspect we will be here for some time.  In order to help prepare you, let me repost something I posted a few weeks ago (prematurely as it turned out):

Read the first 9 verses of Jn 15.  Two pieces of analysis for you to consider:

1.  Who are:
  - The Vinedresser (gardener)?
  - The Vine?
  - The branches?

2.  This one is more difficult--who are:
  - the branches that bear no fruit?
  - the branches who bear some fruit?
  - the branches who bear much (vs 8) fruit? 

See you on Wednesday.
Kevin

Preparation for Wednesday 30 September 2015

There is no preparation for this Wednesday's Bible study.  Come and hear new member and retired pastor Ken Fahl share from his years of ministry.  Check back next week in order to be ready for our study on 7 October--we'll be getting into John chapter 15.

You'll be blessed by hearing what Ken has to say,

Kevin