Concordia Adult Bible Class

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” This axiom reminds us that sometimes, we must push, prod, and cajole to get what we want or need. In Jesus’ Parable of the Unjust Judge, the woman must do just this simply to get justice. Jesus’ point, however, is that our Father is a just judge who will bring us justice according to His righteousness. No cajoling is needed.

Scripture tells us that there is a chasm between us and God, created by sin. God Himself bridges this gap by sending His Son, Jesus, to die in our place for our sin. The punishment of hell is reserved for those who do not want God to stand in the gap between them and Him. This is why Abraham reminds Lazarus, in hell, “A great chasm has been fixed” (verse 26). The call in this life is to trust in Christ who bridges the gap between us and the Father so that gap does not become fixed eternally. In this message, we will address the doctrine of hell, as well as some of the issues raised by Rob Bell’s new book, “Love Wins.”

It’s not just Elizabeth Bennet who suffers from pride and prejudice in the Jane Austen novel, it’s a tax collector who suffers pride and prejudice in the Bible. The Pharisee is both prideful of himself and prejudiced against the tax collector. And yet, God is not prejudiced against this taxman because of his sin. Instead, God sees his humble faith and gladly forgives him.

The lawyer of Luke 10 asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor” (verse 29)? According to the Parable of the Good Samaritan, your neighbor is not merely one who is closest to you, be that in physical proximity or relational affinity; rather your neighbor is a person who you may despise or who may despise you. Nevertheless, you are called to help them in Jesus’ name.

Parables are generally titled, “The Parable of…” For example, we find in the Gospels “The Parable of the Talents” and “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” Though this parable is generally titled “The Parable of the Sower,” it could also be titled, “The Parable of the Parables,” for, in this story, Jesus explains the purpose of His parables and how people either believe or reject them. In this opening message, we introduce the parables and explain their purpose and meaning for our lives.

The Bible cannot be “inspiring,” without first being “inspired.” Because the Scriptures are “inspired,” they inspire us with their wisdom, insight, and understanding about our lives. Thus, we hide God’s Word in our hearts and study it daily. In this message, we’ll cover tips for studying the Scriptures and also survey different Bible translations and their strengths and weaknesses.

As orthodox Christians, we believe in the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture. “Verbal” means that the very words of the Bible are inspired. “Plenary” means all the words of the Bible are inspired. Because of this, we can trust what the Bible has to say because its author is God. This is why it is profitable for doctrine and life. In this message, we’ll talk about the doctrine of inspiration and address some of the objections to it.

In verse 30, Jesus quotes what is known as the Shema, a Hebrew word meaning, “hear.” The Shema is taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, which was popularly considered to be God’s greatest commandment, as Jesus affirms in Mark 12. Interestingly, when quoting the Shema, He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Loving God with your mind, however, was not a part of the original Shema! Jesus adds this! He adds this because He knows that being mentally fit is important to a healthy life. Thus, we are called to study the Scriptures, for by sharpening our minds, we also sharpen our faith.

Some people, when speaking of a person they love romantically, will refer to them as their “soul-mate.” Though this term often carries with it connotations that are not concomitant with a biblical theology of romantic love, this term can be helpful in identifying the fact that romantic love is deeper than just physical affection. For we, at the very level of our souls, were created to be relational beings! Thus, appropriately ordering our relationships according to God’s design is paramount for healthy living.

Jesus says that our hearts follow our treasure (cf. verse 21). Thus, if our treasure is money, our heart will be attached to cash. Time and time again, Jesus warns against loving money, for the love of money can wreck our souls (cf. Mark 8:36). We are to steward our money, not love it. This is the path to good financial health.

Some people, rather than stewarding their bodies for righteousness, become obsessed with their bodies in vanity. It is to these people that Paul would say: “Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (verse 8). Though physical training is good, eventually, no matter how much physical training we engage in, our bodies will waste away. Spiritual training, however, is training that lasts not only in this life, but into eternal life.

When we worship, the apostle Paul says, we worship by offering our bodies (cf. verse 1). Unfortunately, far too many people do not treat their bodies as things with which they are to worship God. They engage in gluttony or chemical abuse and thus deastroy their bodies with wickedness rather than worshipping with their bodies in righteousness. Paul’s call is for us to worship God with our bodies and be the Body of Christ.

God has created your body and loves it and even promises to raise it on the Last Day. Sadly, there is a battle for your body. For whereas God loves your body as His creation, Satan hates it and wants to destroy it. He uses things such as obesity, chemical dependency, and even terrible illness to wreak havoc in your body. This is part of the reason Jesus speaks of demon possession so often. Jesus wants to have control of your body by faith so that Satan cannot come in and destroy it.

Concordia is a congregation dedicated to “shining like stars in the universe as we hold out God’s Word of life” (Philippians 2:15). At Epiphany, remember the star of Christ which guided the Magi to the place where He lay. The star of God’s Word still guides people to the place of Christ. And our mission is to hold out that star!

It’s crunch time!