Classes

DESCRIPTION OF THE CLASS ON EPHESIANS 

 

The Epistle to the Ephesians is rated right along with Romans. There is a debate concerning whether Romans or Ephesians is the greater of Paul’s epistles. Most scholars opt for Romans, but a number still are convinced that it is Ephesians.

 

Paul evidently wrote Colossians first in which his themes were Christ and the universe, and Christ and the Church. Then in Ephesians he wrote more about Christ and the Church, and he added the theme of Christ and man.

The class will include students bringing questions to class concerning what they see as problems in their particular congregations and in surrounding congregations.  The students must read regularly concerning textbooks and other books that pertain to Church growth and Church administration.

The Seventh Century Minor Prophets taught, preached and prophesied during the time of the 700s to the 600s B.C. These prophets were Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah.  They are categorized as Minor Prophets. Major and Minor designations only apply to the size of the book.

 

Concerning the Minor Prophets, each prophet has as message he wants to deliver. Each prophet also has a particular purpose that he wanted to convey in his book to the Jewish people and to others as well.

The Epistle to the Colossians is an exegetical study of the letter to the Colossians.  Ephesians will follow Colossians.  The class will incorporate grammatical, historical and theological information into the study of this epistle.  The historical setting is critical to the materials that will be introduced, and it will be an aid in interpreting the contents of the material in the epistle.  Paul is the author of Colossians and he has much to say concerning the Christian teachings found in this epistle.

Study of interpretation 

A non-credit class to learn the basics of Greek.

Continuation from material not covered during the Fall 2023 Semester.  However, if you were not in the Fall Semester, you will still be able to participate in this class.

Course Description: Messianic Prophecy. The Old Testament foreshadowed the coming of Christ and the Kingdom that Jesus would establish. These prophetical passages show the harmony and fulfillment between the Old and New Covenants. This course presents Old Testament books and passages that prophesy who the Messiah would be, and what He would accomplish in fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose

THE EPISTLE OF I JOHN 

The Churches in Asia Minor were facing two different kinds of Gnosticism
The term Gnosticism means knowledge. That cultic thinking was undermining the Christian
beliefs of the Churches in Asia Minor, so John writes to help the Churches with facing such
teachings. The cultic thinking was undermining the incarnation, the death and the resurrection
of Jesus, thus cutting the heart out of the Gospel.

CHURCH ADMINISTRATION
The class will discuss many of the most critical mistakes that are made in administration.
The class will cover the proper structure and set up of the local Church. We will also cover the
principles of Church growth and the items that are most critical when building a new building.
Along with the above the class will go over the best ways to keep new Christians attending
Church once the newness of their initial experience with salvation wears down some.

THE EPISTLE OF JAMES

 

 A number of writers say that this epistle, the Epistle of James, was the only letter that was written strictly to the Jewish Christian. The author is James, the half-brother of the Lord.

This James is also known as “James the Just” and he should not be confused with James the Apostle or James the Less.

 

The Epistle of James was one of the first New Testament’s letters that was written. Some writers say that First and Second Thessalonians may have been written around the same time, and maybe Galatians. The dates of James and the other letters are dated roughly from A.D. 49-51.

 

This James, the Lord’s brother, became a leading person in the Church at Jerusalem. A number of people claim that Peter was the first leader in the Church at Rome, but James preceded Peter by some years. The Church at Rome actually started with a plurality of leaders, elders, and it was not until the idea of one bishop, which started in Asia Minor, got to Rome in the second century that one leading elder or bishop began to emerge over the centuries.

 

Also, the first Church was not started at Rome; the first Church started at Jerusalem.

 

The class on James will be a verse-by-verse exegetical class.  We will meet seven times and each day will include two 50-minute sessions. The classes will meet on Mondays beginning on May first except for Memorial Day. That class will meet on Tuesday the day after Memorial Day.

Deuteronomy Continued from Fall 2022

This class focuses on the beginning history of the early Church.  In Acts, Luke discusses the spread of Christianity, the missionary trips of Paul and the results of Paul’s mission work.

In this day of moral relativism, tolerance and skepticism towards the very foundations of our culture and beliefs, we must know what we believe and why!  We don't just have a religion of wishing, hoping and feeling, but we have a belief system that is based on solid, verifiable evidence!

The class will cover such topics as Defending: (1) The Existence of God, (2) The Trustworthiness of the Bible, (3) the Historical Evidence for and the Deity of Jesus of Nazareth, and (4) Christianity in a world of diverse belief systems.

This leadership class is designed to introduce students to the many subjects that should be administered in the Church.  This is a practical class that looks at the most important factors necessary in growing the Church by building dynamic plans for new converts, greeting and mission teams, as well as for the various leaders of the Church.  We study and answer the questions that are not only critical to the growth of the Church but also to its survival.

 

This epistle reaches out to a repentant congregation. After receiving first Corinthians many Corinthians began to restructure their lives. Paul is therefore comforting and reassuring in this epistle and he provides additional teaching that is beneficial to the Christian community.

Counseling I and II offer pointers to help Christian ministers with counseling opportunities.  This class covers the structuring of a counseling session, the importance of listening and the necessity of helping people work through traumatic events.  Other topics include dysfunctional families, primary needs of age groups, and healing from spiritual and mental difficulties. 

This is an introductory Psychology class which presents and discusses the various psychological dynamics that take place in the individual and the family.  This class answers the questions concerning why and how people develop many different psychological disorders.

Mark’s Gospel was written to the Romans. How could a person accept the Messiah, one who had been executed as a common criminal by the Roman Empire? Mark writes to defend who Jesus really is and to let the Romans discover that all that happened to Christ was part of God’s redemptive plan.

This is an elementary course in sermon construction.  An introduction to discovering what a sermon is, the glory of preaching, and developing a sermon proposition will be covered.

This class is designed to be an exegetical class in the Johannine Epistles of the New Testament.  The class expects to cover the verses with an elementary understanding of the epistles, and to cover the themes and concepts that the epistles contain.

As the Old Testament is the foundation of the New Testament, it seems logical that Christians should understand at least an outline of the Old Testament as they proceed in living for Christ.  Therefore this course will structure a  basic framework of the writings of Moses and the prophets leading up to and through the last prophet, Jesus Christ Himself. 

This class studies the Old Testament Prophets of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, their ministries to a struggling Jewish nation, and the nation’s slackness to carry out the directions of GOD.

Our studies begin with Paul explaining the theology of the Christian Faith.  He explains that neither Jew nor Gentile has any merit before God and that we all come to God through the faith system. Paul shows us the tremendous work that God has done that can all be ours if we choose to obey Him.  He also tells us what happened to the Jews concerning the plan of God.

The Thessalonians only had a short time with Paul when he visited. Being young in the faith they were confused about the resurrection at the end time and other topics as well that Paul writes about in order to correct them and to comfort them.

The class will be an exegetical class on Zechariah the prophet.  Zechariah is listed among the Minor Prophets.  This category only has to do with the length of the book.  The lectures will include some history about the time of the prophet and his writing as well as what the situation and environment were before and during his ministry.

This class will help the student to become aware of some of the elementary things that may be accomplished in counseling in order to help the client or Church member.  Please be aware that this class is not to be taken lightly. Only after twenty years of practice and devoting himself or herself to learning the skills does a person become fairly accomplished in the field.  This class will cover some of the elementary principles in counseling that are needed to begin to help people.

Please be aware that in most states across America there are understood requirements.  For example, most every state requires that the counselors should know the field, and that they are competent in the field before conducting counseling sessions on their own.  Certain medical knowledge is a requirement.  Documenting must become a practice for the counselors.

The class will include students bringing questions concerning what they see as problems in their particular congregations and in surrounding congregations.  The students must read regularly concerning textbooks and other books that pertain to Church growth and Church administration.

Topics to be addressed during class will include:                                                                                                                                                                                          What is the true model of Church work?  (See Eph. Chapter 4:11-13)  How to make a mission's program and its functioning better;  How to choose a minister;  The purpose of deacons and their work;  Are the elders really shepherding the congregation?  Is there a quality Sunday school program running and if not, how to help;  The various ministries such as greeting, ushering, caring for new Christians in Christ and new transfers, aiding the hurting and those who have lost loved ones;  How to do hospital calling and visiting at funeral homes;  The five years' plan for the congregation and how we plan to fail;  how to help prepare the bride and groom for marriage;  And on and on we will go with time permitting.                                                                              

The Minor Exilic Prophets taught, preached and prophesied during the time of the Babylonian exile.  These prophets were Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah.  There were other prophets that may be added to the Exilic Prophets;  they would include Daniel, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  These three prophets are listed as major prophets.  Major and Minor designations only apply to the size of the book.  Daniel, however, is considered by some scholars to be classified as a statesman more than a prophet.  Let us not argue the point.

I Corinthians will be conducted as an exegetical class. The class will cover each verse trying to determine the content of the verse and to see how it fits into the context concerning where it is found. The class will attempt to cover the first thirteen chapters of I Corinthians. Chapters 14-16, will be covered during the second semester when II Corinthians is taught. If there ever was a Church in the New Testament that was plagued with its share of problems it was the Church at Corinth. The Church was following different men, unsure of biblical authority, abusing New Testament teachings, questioning apostolic importance, had trouble with marriage and marital relationships, demanding their own rights, defaming the Lord’s Supper, and confused tremendously over the Spiritual gifts, just to name a few of the problems that they experienced. The book of I Corinthians is an excellent study because it helps the modern church today with the issues that it is facing. The epistle also provides excellent help into solving many of those problems. The epistle provides a wealth of information concerning procedures as well as the dynamics about relationships concerning leadership authority and obedience to leadership.

The study of Christian Doctrine is a class designed to acquaint the student to the elementary doctrines in the Bible that are necessary for an elementary understanding of Christianity.  The class will discuss the essential nature of these doctrines and the importance of them for grounding others as well as ourselves in the faith.  The class is an introductory level class to doctrine.

I Thessalonians will be approached as an exegetical class.  The class will focus upon each verse as we work through the Epistle.  Various words will be addressed that exist in the letter.  This is one of Paul's earliest letters.  It is a letter to the Christians, the Church, at Thessalonica.

Paul is now on his second missionary trip.  Paul has left Asia Minor and he is traveling down trough Macedonia (northern Greece) from Philippi.  In Acts chapter sixteen, Paul has been treated terribly at Philippi.  Paul can only stay about three weeks before he has to leave.  The Jews are seeking his life.  Paul will eventually be at Corinth; he will minister there about 18 months.  See Acts chapter eighteen for his ministry at Corinth.  This ministry at Corinth was his second longest ministry.  Paul's largest ministry was at Ephesus, when he was on his third missionary tour.  Paul wrote I Thessalonians some time shortly after being run out of Thessalonica.

The third missionary tour will commence around Acts 18:23.  That mission trip is covered in Acts chapters nineteen through twenty-one.

 

The class is an exegetical study of the Epistles to the Hebrews.  Sessions will try to cover as much of the Epistle as possible.  It is important to understand the material.  Therefore, the class will proceed as the student understands the material.  Introductory material, the theme, and the author will be discussed at the beginning of the class.  The recipients of the Epistle will also be discussed. 

The class lectures will demonstrate that the recipients were in danger of becoming lazy concerning their Christianity.  This laziness was causing people to begin a slippage back into Judaism.  The writer is writing to them in order to warn them of the dangers of such slippage.  The writer also encourages them to remain firm in Christianity since everything Christianity offers is superior to Judaism.

II Corinthians was written after Paul had heard a positive response from his first letter that was sent to Corinth.  After writing I Corinthians, and sending it to Corinth by Tutus, Paul thought the content of the letter may have been too sharp.  When Paul did not meet Titus in Troas, he crossed the Agean Sea into Macedonia, and nervously asked people if anyone had seen Titus.  After running into Titus in northern Greece and hearing how the first letter had been received, Paul composed II Corinthians and sent it also ahead of his arrival in Corinth.

The approach to the epistle will be a verse by verse exegesis of the material.  The student should be prepared to discuss any part of the material that is due the day of class.  Special attention will be given to the abrupt changes that are found in chapters eight and nine, and chapters ten through thirteen.

This course is designed to acquaint the student with the concept and working value of a worldview and to contrast two primary worldviews from a standardized version such as the KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV, ESV...etc.

This NEOBC class will cover the two short New Testament epistles from the apostle Paul, writing from Corinth, to the Thessalonian Church.  These are the earliest correspondence (AD51), and he, here, deals with such issues of persecution, false teachers, Godly living, and he devotes a significant amount of material regarding end times/the return of Christ.  He is also more personal in his relationship with the people there in that church.  He gives many short statements about their faithful living for Christ and warnings about being idle.

We will study about the man Paul and how traveling, church planting and letter writing are seen in these short epistles.  We will learn about the city and culture of Thessalonia.  We will spend some considerable time in the speculative issues of the end times and his insights into the signs of the times.

In this class, we will discuss the dynamic factors within the family. Answering questions...Have you ever wondered if you are creating a dysfunctional family?  Are you the product of a dysfunctional family?  Do you know the results in adulthood for those who come from such a family?  Do you know who you are and what you truly enjoy doing?  Do you feel guilty if you are not constantly working and serving or caring for others?

The lectures on the Gospel of Mark will consist of survey material.  It is impossible to cover the entire book verse by verse in exegetical style.  Culture and reasons for Mark's Gospel having been written will be discussed in the introduction and throughout the class semesters.  The student is not expected to be prepared from the Koine Greek Text, but if he or she knows Greek, please bring any pertinent materials to the class for discussion purposes.