Topical Studies Archives

• Did a Census Really Bring Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem?  (December 12, 2011)
  When others cast doubt on the historical accuracy of Bible events, such as the census mentioned in Luke 2, be prepared.
• Heaven: Home of Laughter  (December 8, 2011)
  "If you're not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there." --Martin Luther
• Christmas IQ Quiz  (December 6, 2011)
  How well do you know the Christmas story?
• Preaching Advent as the Return to Paradise  (December 5, 2011)
  The words of the prophet Isaiah speak to a longing to recover what is now only a memory. So no wonder that Christmas is so marvelous, that Advent is such an important group of Sundays for us.
• Beyond Sunday: The Word Was God  (December 5, 2011)
  The language of the Gospel is as plain as possible, and turns every way to defend the divinity and personality of the Son of God.
• Christmas, Truth, Christ and the Mile-Long Buffet of Worldviews  (December 2, 2011)
  Consider Jesus? statement about why he was born, which he made when he was about to be executed
• Beyond Sunday: What Brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem? Was There Really a Census?  (December 1, 2011)
  When others cast doubt on the historical accuracy of Bible events, such as the census mentioned in Luke 2, be prepared.
• Oops! Advent Began Last Sunday?  (November 30, 2011)
  Yes, but don?t let a little detail like that stop you from joining in. Advent is meant to focus our thoughts on Christ, and there?s never a wrong time for that.
• Why In the World Would God Want to Use Me?  (November 30, 2011)
  No one can understand the Old Testament without understanding Abraham, for in many ways the story of redemption begins with God's call to this patriarch.
• Beyond Sunday: No Longer Dead  (November 28, 2011)
  When it comes to our hope to improve ourselves, grace is our only resource.
• And Be Thankful: A Thanksgiving Meditation  (November 23, 2011)
  What does God think of our thanksgiving?
• Beyond Sunday: Where to Find Thanksgiving  (November 21, 2011)
  The church is a "garden", a small spot in comparison of the world, distinguished and separated by the grace of God from others.
• Love Like Jesus  (November 11, 2011)
  To see what fruit pleases the Lord, read the Word with the sole intent of identifying every action verb?those "good works" that both Jesus and His disciples practiced.
• Was the Early Church Socialist?  (November 8, 2011)
  The first century church gave of what they had so that no one was in need (Acts 2:44-45). But the difference between this and socialism is vast...
• Beyond Sunday: Looking for the Ark  (November 7, 2011)
  "Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."
• Total Capitulation: The Evangelical Surrender of Truth  (November 3, 2011)
  Evangelical Christians will either stand upon the authority of the Bible, or we will inevitably capitulate to the secular worldview.
• How to Read the Bible Theologically  (November 1, 2011)
  J.I. Packer - To read the Bible "theologically" means to read the Bible "with a focus on God."
• Reformation Day: A Mighty Fortress is Our God  (October 31, 2011)
  The protests that were publicly nailed to the Wittenberg Cathedral door on October 31, 1517 began the most dramatic reform within Christianity?one that also prompted their author to also pen a hymn of bold affirmation of our mighty God.
• Beyond Sunday: Walking in the Truth  (October 31, 2011)
  The false doctrine which was abroad at that moment was the denial of the truth of Christ come in the flesh.
• Rethinking Halloween through 7 Scary Stories of the Bible  (October 27, 2011)
  A couple years ago my friend and co-worker Fred Alberti shared with me a lesson he prepared for the boys' class he was teaching. It was a big hit in that it didn't focus on the meaning of Halloween or whether we as Christians should celebrate it. Rather, it just provided another way to get the lads excited about the Scriptures...