May elders make decisions the church must follow? Should members follow if elders lead into unauthorized activities? Should elders emphasize spiritual or physical work? May they oversee individual activities?
The gospel teaches that each local church should develop and appoint qualified men to serve as elders or bishops to oversee the local congregation (Acts 14:23). The purpose of this study is to consider the work these men should do and what work they should not do.
What work did God assign to local churches? Should they focus on spiritual work (teaching God's word, worship, and evangelism) or may they participate in recreation, entertainment, and social activities? What constitutes local church fellowship, edification, and good works?
A young lady described her prayer as low-key. Many people have low-key religion in worship, Bible study, devotion, and morality. Is this zealous religion or lukewarm religion?
A young woman once told our son-in-law that she and her boyfriend had fled from the police in a high-speed chase. She said she was praying for their safety, but it was a “low-key prayer.”
How do you define a “low-key prayer”? It sounds like prayer from someone with little commitment to God. They know they are wrong yet still hope God will help them in an emergency.
I suspect that many people are “low-key,” not just in prayer, but in religion in general, though they may not admit it as honestly as this young lady did. Consider some examples:
Some churches offer entertainment, recreation, social activities, banquets, parties, and other fun and games. This is the Social Gospel philosophy. Churches seek to help people spiritually by satisfying them physically. Is this the gospel of the New Testament?
I was recently handed a promotional advertisement that read as follows:
Why do babies love singing even more than instrumental music? Why is singing important in worship? What does this show about creation?
From birth, every child loves to hear singing. Have you ever wondered why?
An article in a creationist magazine describes a study of MRI scans of the human brain. They determined there is a “unique area of the brain, which appears purpose-built to analyze singing” (not just to analyze sound or even music in general, but specifically vocal music).
“The results showed that ‘the response to sung music was substantially and significantly higher than the sum of the response to speech and instrumental music.’ … Research indicates that it’s a top-down ‘hard-wired’ capability…” given even to infants.*
To paraphrase, all people are born with a God-given ability to recognize, appreciate, and respond favorably to vocal music. From birth, not only can we distinguish singing from speaking and from instrumental music, but we give a “significantly higher” response to vocal music than to speech or to instrumental music.
Why is there so much disagreement, confusion, and division in religion? Even "Christian" denominations often disagree and contradict one another. Does Jesus approve of such division, or does He want religious unity?Click here to hear this material as a free mp3 audio recorded message.
When and how often should Christians remember Jesus' death in the Lord's Supper (communion)? Should we commune on the first day of the week (Sunday) or on the seventh-day Sabbath? Denominations may have the unleavened bread and fruit of the vine weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually. This study examines the teaching of Christ regarding the time and frequency for partaking of the Lord's Table.
Should we eat roast lamb in the Lord's Supper? What if people say it was done in the Old Testament and would aid our worship? There is a Lamb in Revelation and people can honor God with their talent in cooking the lamb. And where does the Bible say not to? But all these same reasons are used to justify instrumental music in worship. If we can see why not to eat roast lamb, then why use instruments?
Many denominations exist that differ in origin, authority, doctrine, and organization. Where did they come from and why are they here? How do they compare to the church built by Jesus Christ in the New Testament? What does God's word say about their existence?
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How should we decide whether to trust someone? How should we decide whether someone should be given special responsibilities? What does it mean to forgive someone who sins? If someone sins, repents, and is forgiven, must they immediately be restored to positions of trust? If we decide they should step down from special responsibilities to take time to rebuild their reputation and people's trust in them, does that mean we have not forgiven them?
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Is gender a spectrum? A matter of choice? When is it determined? What should be the roles of men and women in the home, church, and society? How does transgenderism relate to homosexuality? What about men in women's restrooms and facilities? What about cross dressing and drag queens? What does the Bible say? Has the Creator spoken?
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Religious people often conclude they are pleasing to God by comparing themselves to other people: the religion of their family, past traditions of the church, or a succession of past church leaders. What is the proper way to determine whether our service pleases God?
Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross is essential to our forgiveness and salvation from sin. But how do we receive the benefit of His sacrifice? Is there a connection between Jesus' death and hearing the gospel, faith, repentance, and confession? What about baptism and church membership? Must we live an obedient, faithful life? Click/tap here to see PowerPoint slides and charts for this material.
Our society increasingly belittles the importance of truth in spiritual and moral Issues. Some say there is no absolute truth or truth for you is whatever you believe it to be. How essential is truth regarding the existence of God and the truth of His word. Do we need the truth regarding salvation, morals, the church, worship, and doctrine? Is truth essential in government, business, the family, education, and science?
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When conflict exists between what God wants and what people want, what choice should we make? What about obeying government when civil rulers require us to disobey the Bible? Or what about family members or business employers or even church leaders or members who expect us to do what is sinful?
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Some caterpillars blindly follow one another in procession. Do religious people often do the same? Do denominations blindly follow church traditions, manmade doctrines, and creeds? Do members blindly follow seminary-trained preachers? Do people assume "all these people can't be wrong"? Are you and I "Caterpillar Christians"?
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Is each individual personally responsible to choose to accept salvation? Are we free moral agents? What about inherited depravity and infant baptism? Are we righteous because we have godly family members or because we are members of a faithful local church? What about Identity Politics, Critical Race Theory, and the "Me To" movement?Click/tap here to listen to this study as a free MP3 recorded Bible message.
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People sometimes see the Bible as simply a group of miscellaneous stories and religious teachings. The intent of this study is to show that the Scriptures actually reveal a plan and purpose determined by God from eternity and developed throughout history.
How much should we emphasize feelings in religion? Are emotions good or bad? Can we trust our feelings to tell us right from wrong or do we need a better standard in religion? Should our worship seek primarily to honor and praise God or to produce feelings that satisfy the people?