Tag: Dave Thomas

Love and the Law

• Lesson 5 for the week of October 25 to November 1

Synopsis: Partiality and the Royal Law This week’s passage from James (2:1-13) presents an impassioned plea against favoritism. Showing partiality to the rich dishonors the poor (2:6). As one should come to expect in James,...

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Being and Doing

• Lesson 4 for the week of October 18 to October 25

Synopsis: Doing, Not Just Hearing In James 1:22-27, our focus for this week’s discussion, James prepares the way for much of the content yet to come in his book. When he admonishes his listeners to...

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Enduring Temptation

• Lesson 3 for the week of October 11 to October 18

Synopsis: Temptation and Anger This week’s passage from James (1:12-21) focuses on two notable tensions within human experience: 1) the origin and role of temptation; 2) the proper role of anger. Both tensions involve the...

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The Perfecting of Our Faith

• Lesson 2 for the week of October 4 to October 11

Relevant Verses: James 1:2-11 Synopsis: The Challenge of Perfectionism Taking its cue from the KJV of James 1:4, this week’s lesson points to the “perfecting” of our faith. The KJV reads: “Let patience have her perfect...

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James, the Lord’s Brother

• Lesson 1 for the week of September 27 to October 4

Relevant Verses: James 1:1; 2:1 Synopsis: The Author of the Book of James The official study guide adopts the position that the author of the book of James is the Lord’s brother by that name. Also...

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Second Coming

• Lesson 13 for the week of September 20 to September 27

Relevant Verse: Matthew 24-25 Leading Question: What did Jesus teach about his second coming? Studying the biblical evidence for the second coming can yield startling results. Where, for example, can one go in Jesus’ Bible –...

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Death and Resurrection

• Lesson 12 for the week of September 13 to September 20

Relevant Verses: John 11 Leading Question: What does Jesus teach us about death and resurrection? Given what is happening in our culture today, Jesus’ attitudes toward death and resurrection have become urgent matters. Secularists who have...

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The Sabbath

• Lesson 11 for the week of September 6 to September 13

Relevant Verses: Mark 2:23-28; Matthew 12:1-14; Luke 4:16, John 5:1-18 Leading Question: What does Jesus teach us about the Sabbath? In this lesson we will focus on what Jesus tells us about the Sabbath in the...

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The Law of God

• Lesson 10 for the week of August 30 to September 6

Relevant Verses: Matthew 5-7; 19:8; 22:37-40 Leading Question: What does Jesus tell us about “the law”? “Law” is an enormous topic to cover in just one lesson. Indeed last quarter all 13 lessons focused on law....

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Our Mission

• Lesson 9 for the week of August 23 to August 30

Relevant Verses: Matthew 25, 28 Leading Question: What does Jesus tell us about “our” mission? Before looking specifically at what Jesus gives us as our mission, we should focus briefly on the difference between New Testament...

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The Church

• Lesson 8 for the week of August 16 to August 23

Relevant Verses: John 17; 1 Corinthians 3, 12; Matt. 20:24-28 Leading Question: What does Jesus us tell us about the Church? In the NT, the Greek word for “church” is ecclesia , an assembly of people...

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Living Like Christ

• Lesson 7 for the week of August 9 to August 16

Relevant Verses: Matt. 25:31-46; Luke 6:27-36; 10:25-37; John 16:25-27 Leading Question: When we say that we are to live like Christ, what does Jesus himself tell us about that? The troubling backdrop to the leading...

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Growing in Christ

• Lesson 6 for the week of August 2 to August 9

Relevant Verses: John 15; Col. 1:24-29 Leading Question: What does Jesus tell us about growing in him? If, as suggested in the notes to last week’s lesson, “repentance” is the crucial element in God’s plan of...

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How to Be Saved

• Lesson 5 for the week of July 26 to August 2

Relevant Verses: Luke 5:27-32; 6:27-36; 7:36-50; 14:15-24; 19:1-10; 22:1-14 Leading Question: Before his death, what did Jesus teach about how to be saved? In recent decades, Protestant evangelists have developed a liking for simple rules to...

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