Bible Study
"Can We Condemn Islamic Jihad When the Bible Condones Holy War?" by Bob Gonzales
The blog’s regular readers will remember my recommendation of Dr. Bob Gonzales’ two part series on the imprecatory Psalms. Here he deals very well with a connected issue, namely the issue of Israel’s holy wars. His teaching is very helpful and thought-provoking, and he answers some questions at the end. By the way, if you…
Parable of the Great Supper (Luke 14:15-24 Teaching Outline)
Note: Read all of 14:1-24 in order to remind everyone of the context and what we covered last week on verses 1-14. Introduction: I think the ESV Study Bible is correct when it says of this parable that “A great banquet refers to the arrival of the kingdom in the ministry of Jesus, with its initial…
Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:1-14 Teaching Outline)
Note: Today I am going to continue the series I have been doing on the parables of Jesus, but since the Parable of the Wedding Feast – in verses 7-11 – occurs in the context of a dinner to which Jesus was invited, and because it is so closely connected to the context before and…
Parable of the Barren Fig tree (Luke 13:1-9 Teaching Outline)
Introduction: I remember in the days following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, how many Christians were speculating about whether or not this was the judgment of God on our country. There were even a number who dared to speak with certainty on the matter, such as when a couple of men thought to be…
Nate Schmidt Challenges "Drive-by" Christianity
Nate Schmidt, the worship leader at the Immanuel Baptist Church, where I am privileged to serve as an elder, has written an interesting and penetrating post I wanted to let you all know about. After he saw a sign outside a local church in our area that read, “LOV3: Love God, Love the world, love…
Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21 Teaching Outline)
Introduction: I remember seeing the musical “The Fiddler on the Roof” some years ago, in which the main character, Tevye, sang a song called “If I Were a Rich Man.” In that song he prayed, “Dear God, you made many, many poor people. I realize, of course, that it’s no shame to be poor. But it’s…
Parable of the Friend at Midnight (Luke 11:5-13 Teaching Outline)
Introduction: This brief parable is given in the form of a rhetorical question, after which Jesus supplies the obvious answer in order to drive His point home. Then He goes on to offer some application of the parable’s teaching. So, we will follow this simple order in our examination of the parable: 1) the question of…
Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37 Teaching Outline)
Introduction: Jeff Miller, pastor at Trinity Bible Church in Richardson, Texas, asks some penetrating questions regarding the application of this parable: Do you look upon people as an inconvenience or an opportunity to serve? In your mind, are people obstacles to fulfilling your God-given purpose, or do people serve a central roll in God’s purpose…
Parable of the Lamp (Luke 8:16-18 Teaching Outline)
Note: Begin reading in verse 1 in order to get the full context. This will become important as we try to correctly understand the parable. Introduction: Steven Cole offers the following illustration on the importance of being careful how we listen to the Word: Challenging his wife with a riddle, the man began, “You’re the engineer…
Parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:36-47 Teaching Outline)
Introduction: In the Bible there are a number of metaphors used to express the meaning of the forgiveness of sin. For example, forgiveness can be described as the hiding of sin (Ps. 32:1), as the taking away of a burden (Ps. 32:1, 5), or as the wiping away of a stain (Ps. 51:1, 9). But…