“The Prophet Who Ran”
Jonah 1:1-17
God's sovereign purposes cannot be thwarted by the rebellion of His servants.

Historical Background

I. God’s Call (1:1-3)

II. God's Pursuit (1:4-10)

III. God's Providence (1:11-16)

IV. God's Rescue (1:17)

Week 17: Man in the Covenant of Grace
Key Truth: God saves sinners through Jesus Christ and brings them into covenant fellowship with Himself as His people.
Key Verse: I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 32:38)
I. The Need for the Covenant of Grace
A. Man's Original Condition
Created righteous
Covenant of Works
Fellowship with God
B. The Fall
Sin entered the world
Death and condemnation followed
Man became unable to save himself
C. God's Initiative
Genesis 3:15
The first promise of redemption

II. What Is the Covenant of Grace?
A. Definition
God's gracious provision of salvation through Christ
B. Progressive Revelation
Promised in the Old Testament
Fulfilled in the New Covenant
C. Christ the Mediator
The center of God's redemptive plan
The source of every covenant blessing

III. The Covenant of Grace in the 1689 Baptist Confession
A. Revealed Progressively
Adam
Abraham
Moses
David
Christ
B. Fulfilled in the New Covenant
The full revelation of God's saving purpose
Established through Christ's blood
C. New Covenant Membership
A redeemed people
United to Christ by faith

IV. Members of the Covenant
A. Christ the Covenant Head
B. Believers United to Christ
C. The Church as a Covenant Community

V. Covenant Blessings
A. Justification
B. Adoption
C. Sanctification
D. Eternal Life

VI. Covenant Responsibilities
A. Faith
B. Repentance
C. Obedience
D. Perseverance

Discussion Questions
Why was the Covenant of Grace necessary?
How does Christ fulfill God's covenant promises?
What makes the New Covenant unique?
How does union with Christ shape our relationship with other believers?
What covenant blessing most encourages you today?

Key Takeaways
✓ God initiated salvation by grace.
✓ Christ is the Mediator and fulfillment of the Covenant of Grace.
✓ The New Covenant is the full realization of God's redemptive promise.
✓ Believers are united to Christ and to one another as God's covenant people.
✓ God's covenant guarantees both present blessings and future glory.

Practical Theology – Week 9 – The Problem of Evil
Theme: The existence of evil and suffering is one of the most common objections to Christianity. Scripture teaches that evil is real, that God is sovereign, and that the cross of Christ offers the deepest answer to suffering.

1. Opening
Scripture: Habakkuk 1:1–4; Romans 8:18–28

2. The Objection

• A common argument against Christianity:
  • If God is all-powerful, He could stop evil.
  • If God is all-good, He would want to stop evil.
• Evil exists.
  • Therefore, God does not exist.

3. The Biblical Perspective on Evil

• Scripture does not deny suffering. It speaks honestly about it.
• Key truths:

1. Evil entered through human sin

• Genesis 3 records the fall of humanity.
• The brokenness of the world flows from rebellion against God.

2. God remains sovereign

• God rules even over suffering (Isaiah 45:7; Amos 3:6).
• Nothing happens outside His providence.

3. Evil never has the final word

• God works all things for good for those who love Him (Rom 8:28).
• The story of Scripture moves toward restoration.

4. The Cross as the Center of the Answer

• The greatest evil in history was the crucifixion of Christ.
• Yet through that evil God accomplished good in salvation (Acts 2:23).
• This shows:
  • God can bring good out of the worst suffering.
  • God Himself entered into human suffering.
  • The resurrection promises that suffering will not last forever.

5. Pastoral Wisdom in Apologetics

• When people raise the problem of evil:
  • Do not begin with philosophical arguments.
• Instead:
  • Listen carefully.
  • Acknowledge the pain involved.
  • Affirm that Christianity takes suffering seriously.
  • Show how the cross reveals God’s justice and mercy.

6. Real-Life Case Study
Scenario
A friend says: “If God were loving, my mother wouldn’t have died from cancer. I can’t believe in a God who allows that.”

• Suggested Response Process

1. Listen and empathize
: Express genuine sorrow for the loss.
2. Avoid quick answers
: Suffering requires compassion before explanation.
3. Affirm biblical truth": 
The world is broken because of sin. Death was never part of God’s original design.
4. Point to Christ
: Jesus Himself wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35).
He also suffered and died to defeat death.
5. Offer hope: The resurrection promises a future where death will be destroyed (Rev 21:4).

TEXT: Ruth 4:1–22  “The Redeemer Has Come”
BIG IDEA: Ruth begins in a graveyard and ends in a nursery, and the closing genealogy is the point: God was using every broken thing in this story to get to Jesus.

I: The Right of Redemption Has a Price (vv. 1–8)

II: Boaz Redeems What He Was Not Required to Redeem (vv. 9–12)

III: From Bitter to Full (vv. 13–16)

IV: Why the Genealogy Is the Point (vv. 17–22)

V: The Greater Boaz Has Already Come to the Gate

Text: Ruth 3:1–18
Title: Rest: The Consolation of the Bridegroom"
Big Idea: The redemptive rest you're searching for is finally found only under the wing of the one Bridegroom.

I. Rest Pursued (vv. 1–5)
Naomi seeks manoach — matrimonial rest and covering — for Ruth through the kinsman-redeemer.

II. Rest Offered (vv. 6–15)
Ruth lays her go'el claim at the threshing floor: "Spread your wings over me, for you are a redeemer."

III. Rest Received (vv. 16–18)
Boaz has sworn an oath. Naomi's word to Ruth is the posture of every soul under Christ's kanaph: "Sit still, my daughter."

The Gospel Connection:
Boaz's wing reaches far — but not far enough. The Bridegroom of Revelation 19 is the one every go'el was pointing toward. His wing covers what no husband can.

Spiritual Disciplines Week 6
Title: Serving as a Means of Grace
To show that Christian service is a Spirit-enabled response to union with Christ, functioning as an ordinary means through which God sanctifies both the one serving and the one served.

Christological Foundation

• Text: Mark 10:45
• Christ’s service is substitutionary and exemplary
• We do not replicate His atonement, yet we participate in His pattern
• Service flows from redemption, not toward it.
• Service is the fruit, never the ground, of acceptance with God.

Union with Christ and Service

• Text: Galatians 5:13
• Freedom is not autonomy; it is reorientation toward others
• Union with Christ → New Identity → Spirit-enabled Love → Service
• Participatory ethics grounded in being “in Christ.”

Service in the Body

• Text: 1 Peter 4:10–11

1. What is the source of gifts?
2. What is the purpose of gifts?
3. What is the goal of service?

Diagnosing Distortions

• Performance-Driven Service: “I serve so God will be pleased with me.”
• Consumer Christianity: “I attend but do not engage.”
• Burnout without Theology: “I serve constantly but feel empty.”
• What is the theological error in each?
• Corrective Framework:
  • Justification corrects performance
  • Ecclesiology corrects consumerism
  • Means of grace corrects burnout

Practical Pathways

• One current area of service
• One potential area of neglected gifting
• Categories:
  • Formal (teaching, music, leadership)
  • Informal (hospitality, encouragement, mercy)
• The body metaphor (1 Cor. 12) implies the necessity of every part.

Summary

• Grounded in Christ
• Empowered by the Spirit
• Directed toward the church
• Aimed at the glory of God

Week 16: Biblical Theology and Discipleship
Shaping Christian Growth | May 24, 2026
Objective: Students will see how biblical theology forms mature, resilient Christians.

I. Why Bible Knowledge Isn't Enough

• The problem isn't lack of content — it's a failure of story formation.

II. Discipleship as Story Formation

• Identity precedes behavior
• Everyone lives inside some story
• Scripture's storyline — Creation → Fall → Redemption → New Creation — displaces competing narratives

III. Biblical Theology vs. Moralism
MoralismCovenantal Identity
Obey to belongYou belong; therefore obey
Identity = performanceIdentity = union with Christ
Suffering = punishmentSuffering = participation in Christ's pattern
Hope = earnedHope = promised and secured
Key texts: Romans 6:1–4 · Galatians 4:4–7

IV. Group Discussion

• How does seeing suffering as participation in Christ's pattern change what it means?
• What is the difference between obeying from fear and obeying from belonging?
• If the story ends in new creation and Christ's total victory, how does that shape your hope?

V. Synthesis

• Discipleship grounded in union with Christ — not in willpower, but in God's immutable purpose, Christ's intercession, and the Spirit's indwelling.
• 1689 LBCF Ch. 17

VI. Closing

• Because I am in Christ's story, when _______ happens, I can _______.

When the Wheels Come Off
Ruth 1
Big Idea: When God is sovereign over our suffering, the only sane response is to turn toward him and his people, even when everything else is gone.

I.  The Wheels Came Off  (vv. 1-5)
•  Famine in Bethlehem — the house of bread — at the worst moment in Israel's history
•  Elimelech moves the family to Moab seeking survival; he manages the immediate and ignores the eternal
•  Within a decade: Elimelech dead, both sons dead, Naomi alone in a foreign land with no path forward

II.  God Is Sovereign Over the Wreck  (vv. 6-13)
•  "The LORD had visited his people" — a covenant word; God was not absent, not surprised, not scrambling
•  Naomi releases her daughters-in-law and prays ḥesed over them — covenant loyalty that does not leave
•  Even stripped of everything, Naomi blesses others with what she knows is real

III.  Ḥesed = Gospel  (vv. 14-18)
•  Ruth's pledge is not primarily a wedding vow — it is a Moabite woman choosing the covenant community at personal cost
•  God's covenant loyalty arrives through the most unexpected people in the most unlikely circumstances
•  Ruth commits to a person and a people before she fully understands the covenant God — and God writes her into the Messiah's genealogy

IV.  From Sweetness to Bitterness  (vv. 19-22)
•  "Call me Mara" — Naomi is honest, not faithless; she is still talking to the God she has not abandoned
•  The text assigns no cause, no sin, no explanation — God's sovereignty does not always come with one
•  The chapter's quiet closing note: they arrived at the beginning of the barley harvest — God is already three chapters ahead

V.  The Greatest Ḥesed
•  Horatio Spafford, above the Atlantic grave of his daughters: "It is well with my soul" — the Savior defines us, not our circumstances
•  Jesus Christ is the true and better Boaz — the kinsman-redeemer who left heaven to enter our death and destitution
•  He bore the wrath our rebellion deserves, rose from the dead, so that empty becomes full and Mara becomes Naomi again

May 17, 2026
Missions to the Barbarians

Focus Biography: Patrick of Ireland

To a Roman, a barbarian was anyone outside the empire's borders, anyone who did not speak Latin or Greek fluently, anyone whose customs seemed strange. The Greeks coined it first: barbaros — the ones whose speech sounded like nonsense, like "bar-bar-bar."

THE POST-ROMAN MISSION FIELD

• By 476, when the last Western emperor was deposed, large portions of what had been Roman territory were already governed by Germanic kings — many of whom were, at least nominally, Christian.
• Three features of the post-Roman landscape:
  • Political fragmentation. No single political authority controls the West. Christianity can no longer assume a friendly emperor will handle logistics, fund councils, or enforce orthodoxy. The church is on its own in ways it has never been before.
  • Demographic shift. The people pouring into former Roman territory — Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, Saxons, Irish — are the mission field. 
  • The gospel has always moved on the margins of power. Empire gave Christianity certain advantages — and certain liabilities. When those liabilities are stripped away, mission becomes possible in new forms. The gospel travels light.

MISSIONARY STRATEGY

• Four missionary strategies:
  • Relational evangelism. Missionaries traveled as guests, servants, and strangers — not as agents of a conquering civilization. They ate the food, learned the language, and earned a hearing. Patrick is the paradigm case.
  • Cultural translation. The gospel had to be spoken in the idiom of the receiving culture. This is not a doctrinal compromise — it is linguistic faithfulness. The great question these missionaries asked was: what in this culture is already oriented toward the true God, even if unnamed?
  • Monastic centers as mission hubs. The monastery became the primary institutional form of post-Roman Christianity in the West. It was simultaneously a school, a scriptorium, a hospital, a farm, and a center of worship. Irish monasticism in particular was aggressively missionary. Monks did not retreat from culture — they became the most educated, most productive, and most missionally active people in their region.
  • Evangelism without coercion. Imperial Christianity had used pressure, social incentive, and occasionally force. Post-Roman missionaries had none of those tools. The result was, in many ways, a purer expression of what Christian witness is supposed to be.
• "Which of these four strategies is easiest to use when the church has cultural power? Which ones only work when they do not?"

PATRICK OF IRELAND

• Patrick was born in the late fourth century.
• His grandfather is a priest; his father is a deacon; He does not take it seriously.
• At sixteen, Irish raiders cross the sea and take him captive. He is carried to Ireland and put to work as a shepherd. He tends flocks alone on cold hillsides for six years.
• Patrick becomes a Christian. He writes in his Confession that during those years he prayed a hundred times a day and nearly as many times at night. Captivity became the school of his faith. He had brought nothing to Ireland; God gave him everything there.
• After six years, he hears a voice in a dream: "Your ship is ready." He escapes, travels two hundred miles to the coast, persuades a pagan crew to take him aboard, and eventually reaches home. His family receives him as one returned from the dead.
• Then the call comes. He dreams of a man from Ireland, Victoricus, who carries a letter. The letter is headed "The Voice of the Irish." He reads it and hears the voices of the Irish people calling him back: "We beg you, holy boy, come and walk once more among us.”
• Patrick spends years in Gaul, prepares for ministry, is ordained, and returns to the island where he had been enslaved — this time as a bishop, a missionary, and a free man.
• Three emphases worth underlining:
  • Prayer. Patrick's missionary method was saturated in prayer before it was shaped by strategy. The Confession and Breastplate show a man who moved through dangerous territory by faith.
  • Humility. He consistently describes himself as unworthy, uneducated, and rough in Latin compared to the Roman clergy who looked down on him. His power came from the Spirit and from proximity to the people — not from ecclesiastical credentials.
  • Perseverance under opposition. He faced resistance from British bishops who questioned his qualifications, from druids who opposed his preaching, and from chieftains who saw him as a political threat. He kept going.

CHRISTIANITY IN NEW CULTURES

• Patrick learned Irish, engaged with Irish customs, and drew on Irish relational patterns. Does that make him a relativist? What does it actually make him?
• Was post-Roman Christianity in some ways more faithful precisely because it lacked political power? What do we risk when the church and state become too comfortable with each other?
• Where do you see the church today, tempted to depend on cultural power rather than the gospel itself?

MISSIONAL TAKEAWAY

• The gospel travels light.
• The question for us is whether we are willing to do the same.
• Where has God placed you that requires you to carry the gospel without cultural advantage, and are you doing it?

Say What You Mean, Pray Like You Mean It, Go Get Your Brother
Text: James 5:12–20
Big Idea: The community of Christ survives by telling the truth, praying without ceasing, and persevering in truth.
I. We Have a Truth Problem (v. 12)

• James goes to the root of five chapters of diagnosis: the gap between what we confess and what we are
• Swearing an oath is an admission that your word needs help
• Be the same person in every room
• Let your yes be yes and your no be no — or you will fall under condemnation

II. Prayer Is the Church's Oxygen (vv. 13–18)

• Three conditions, three responses — all the same: bring it to God
• Suffering → pray
• Cheerful → sing
• Sick → call the elders
• The prayer of faith, anointing with oil, and the forgiveness of sins — the Lord heals the whole person
• Elijah was ordinary; God is extraordinary — the prayer of a righteous person has great power
• The righteousness that gets to pray is the imputed righteousness of Christ, credited by grace through faith

III. Confession Is How the Church Stays Clean (v. 16)

• Confess your sins to one another — say it out loud to someone who can pray over you
• Your confession does not earn what Christ's blood already purchased
• Sin grows in the dark; confession drags it into the light
• The community that confesses to one another is the community that can hold together under pressure

IV. Wandering Is Fatal, and the Church Is Responsible (vv. 19–20)

• James is talking about someone among us — not a stranger
• The passive option is off the table: wait and see, give them space, mind your own business
• Whoever turns a wanderer back covers a multitude of sins
• The one who pursues a wandering brother discovers in the going that their own faith is alive
• This is the gospel in miniature: someone wanders, someone pursues at cost, the wanderer is restored to life

Conclusion

• Job's friends had the right posture and the wrong response — the church that stands at a distance is Job's friends with better manners
• Dead faith produces dead churches, and dead churches let people wander
• Say what you mean. Pray like you mean it. Go get your brother — the Lord who is coming is the same Lord who came for you.

Systematic Theology, Week 16: Man in the State of Sin

QUESTION: How would you explain the problem of sin in a way that captures both its depth and its consequences?
Definition (Berkhof): "Sin is lack of conformity to or transgression of God’s law. Original sin includes guilt and corruption derived from Adam."
Key Text: Romans 5:12.
Why This Matters: A shallow view of sin produces a shallow view of grace.

1. Origin of Sin
A. Fall of Adam

• Genesis 3.

• Federal headship and imputed guilt.

• Why is Adam’s representation essential to the gospel?

B. Nature of Original Sin

• 
Ephesians 2:1–3.
• Humans are spiritually dead in sin.

• Corruption of will, mind, and affections.

C. Transmission of Sin

• Romans 5:18–19.

• Corruption passes to all humanity.

• How does this explain universal human brokenness?

2. Actual Sin and Human Inability
A. Actual Transgressions

• Romans 3:23.

• Sin permeates conduct and desires.

B. Total Inability

• John 6:44.

• Humans cannot seek God apart from grace.

C. Consequences of Sin

• Separation from God, corruption of relationships, death.

• Romans 6:23.
• How does understanding inability deepen our reliance on divine grace?

3. Conclusion & Reflection

• Summary:
 Sin includes guilt, corruption, inability, and judgment.
• Why does total depravity highlight the glory of Christ?

• Where do you see the effects of sin most clearly in modern culture?

Biblical Theology, Week 15: Teaching & Preaching Faithfully
Goal: To understand how biblical theology shapes faithful exposition in order to be a better "hearer of the Word."
Opening Question: What makes a sermon Christian rather than merely moral?

Preaching Within a "Biblical" Framework

• Start with the text’s original meaning. (READ)
  • Translation
  • Context (within the book/letter)
  • Historical/Theological Setting
• Locate the text in redemptive history. (TEACH/EXPLAIN)
• Move toward Christ appropriately. (APPLY/EXHORT)

Common Preaching Errors

• Name that nonsense:
  • Moralism
  • Random Christ references
  • Ignoring covenantal context

Hands-on Sermon Mapping Exercise

• A sermon outline moves from: Text → Theme → Fulfillment → Application (maybe)

Discussion & Summary

• How does biblical theology guard against shallow application?
• Biblical theology disciplines preaching so Christ is proclaimed without distortion.

Title: Who Do You Think You Are? Text: James 4:11-17

I. REVIEW

• Earthly wisdom is marked by bitter jealousy and selfish ambition; it is demonic at its root (3:14-16).
• Heavenly wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy (3:17). 
• 4:1-10 is a devastating diagnosis: your quarrels and fights come from cravings at war inside you.
  • You ask and receive nothing because you ask in order to spend it on your own pleasures (4:3).
  • You are adulterers — spiritual adulterers — who have made friendship with the world your primary loyalty (4:4).
• James closes chapter 4 with mercy: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God.... Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up (4:6, 10).
• The way up is down. Humility is the cure.

II. INTRODUCTION
James turns to three specific sins, each a variation on the same disease: forgetting who you are and forgetting who God is.

III. THE SIN OF THE CRITICAL TONGUE: Judging as Usurpation (4:11-12)

• The person I feel most qualified to correct is: _____. 
• The fact that a name came to mind immediately tells you something.
• Two forms of evil speech: 
• gossip, true stories taken where they should not go
• slander, false stories constructed and circulated.
• James seems to have slander primarily in view here, since he pairs it with judgment.
• When you speak against your brother, you have placed yourself above the law rather than under it. The law says, Love your neighbor as yourself (2:8).
• When you judge your brother, you are declaring by your action that you are exempt from the law’s claim over you.
• But there is only one Lawgiver and Judge. He is the one who can save and destroy.

IV. THE SIN OF THE ARROGANT PLANNER: Presuming on Tomorrow (4:13-16)

• Four certainties stacked in one sentence: the departure, the destination, the duration, the outcome & identifies our presumptions and outcomes:

A. It forgets our ignorance. (v.14a.)

B. It forgets our frailty. (v.14b.)

C. It forgets our dependence. (v.15)

D. It brags without basis (v.16)

V. THE SIN OF INACTION: Knowing and Not Doing (4:17)

• What is sin? Sin is any transgression of or want of conformity to the Law of God.
• This verse is about the want of conformity, the sin of omission.
• For the Christian, knowing what is right creates an obligation. To know the good & leave it undone is to sin as surely as if you had done the evil.

VI. THE DIAGNOSIS BEHIND ALL THREE SINS

• Each sin forgets something essential:
  • The slanderer forgets that God alone holds the judicial seat. He inflates himself.
  • The arrogant planner forgets that God holds tomorrow. He presumes.
  • The inactive professor forgets that knowledge creates responsibility. He exempts himself.

VII. THE GOSPEL ANSWER

• Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up (James 4:10).
• The cure for the slanderer? We have received God's mercy, so we have no standing to withhold mercy from our brother.
• The cure for the arrogant planner? Jesus, facing the cross in Gethsemane, said Not my will, but yours be done.
• The cure for the inactive professor? Jesus, who did what we leave undone. His entire life was the active righteousness we owe and can’t produce. 

VIII. CLOSING
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:6-7

Text: James 4:1-10
Title: The War Inside

I. THE LEAST COMMON DENOMINATOR (v. 1)

II. THE WEAPONS OF WAR (vv. 2-3)

III. WHAT WAR WE ACTUALLY NEED (vv. 4-5)

IV. GRACE & HOW TO RECEIVE IT (vv. 6-8)

V. WHAT REAL GRIEF LOOKS LIKE (vv. 9-10)

Title: “Two Kinds of Wise”
Text: James 3:13-18
Big Idea: There are two kinds of wisdom competing for your life. One ascends from hell, and one descends from heaven. The fruit on the tree tells you which is which.

I. WISDOM & UNDERSTANDING (v. 13)

II. THE WISDOM THAT IS NOT FROM ABOVE (vv. 14-16)

III. WISDOM HAS A GENEALOGY (v. 17)

IV. THE HARVEST AND THE INVITATION (v. 18)

Systematic Theology
Week 15: Man in His Original State

1. Introduction
What do you think humanity was like before the fall?
Definition (Berkhof):
 Humanity was created in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Adam stood as the covenant head of the race.
Key Text:
 Genesis 1:26–27.
Why This Matters:
 Understanding man before the fall clarifies what salvation restores.

2. The Image of God in Man
A. Structural and Moral Aspects

Intellect, will, affections.

Holiness and righteousness.
B. Relationship with God

Walking with God in fellowship.

Genesis 2:15–17. Moral responsibility rooted in covenant.
C. Dignity and Duty
Psalm 8: Humanity crowned with glory.

How does the image ground human rights?

3. The Covenant of Works
A. Definition
God’s covenant with Adam promised life upon obedience.

Hosea 6:7 interpreted covenantally.
B. The Test
Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam is the federal head.
C. Implications
Adam’s obedience or disobedience would affect all humanity.

Application: How does understanding federal headship clarify the gospel?

4. Conclusion & Reflection
Summary:
 Humanity was created good and upright, bearing God’s image and called to covenant obedience.
How should the original dignity of humanity influence your view of others?
How does the covenant of works prepare you to appreciate Christ?

Week 7 – Historical Models of Apologetics
Theme: Christians across church history have defended the faith in different ways. Understanding these approaches helps us appreciate the strengths of each while remaining grounded in Scripture as our ultimate authority.

1. Opening Scripture: Jude 3; 2 Corinthians 10:3–5

2. Why Study Historical Approaches
Christians have always faced objections from culture.
Each era raised different challenges.
Learning these models helps us think clearly about how to respond today.

3. Classical Apologetics
Key idea: Use philosophical arguments to demonstrate God’s existence before presenting the gospel.
Common arguments:

• Cosmological argument (first cause).
• Teleological argument (design).

Strength:

• Shows belief in God is rational.

Weakness:

• Risks granting too much autonomy to human reason.

4. Evidential Apologetics
Key idea: Present historical and scientific evidence supporting Christianity.
Examples:

• Evidence for the resurrection.
• Manuscript reliability of Scripture.
• Design in nature.

Strength:

• Helpful in demonstrating the credibility of Christianity.

Weakness:

• Evidence alone cannot overcome the sinful heart.

5. Presuppositional Apologetics
Examples: Cornelius Van Til, Greg Bahnsen
Key idea: Every worldview begins with presuppositions & Christianity must be the foundation for logic, morality, and knowledge.
Method:

• Expose the internal contradictions of unbelieving worldviews.
• Show that only the Christian worldview makes knowledge possible.

Strength:

• Takes the authority of Scripture and the noetic effects of sin seriously.

6. A Biblical Balance
Scripture uses multiple approaches:

• Paul reasoned in synagogues (Acts 17).
• He appealed to creation and conscience.
• He proclaimed Christ crucified.
• The key is that Christ remains central and Scripture remains authoritative.

7. Discussion & Application
Questions:

• What strengths do you see in each apologetic approach?
• How can we keep apologetics rooted in Scripture while engaging real questions?
• Why must the work of the Holy Spirit remain central?

Title: "Fill in the Blank: Christ & Gain"
Resurrection Sunday | Philippians 1:21-26

To live is ____________. Because the resurrection is true, "to live is _______" must be filled with "Christ." Resurrection Day demands that confession reach all the way down into how you live and die.

I. The Problem with Easter
Easter doesn't promise a comfortable life. It promises a conquered death.

II. The Equation (Philippians 1:21-22)
Whatever fills that blank is what death takes from you. If to live is Christ, dying subtracts nothing that matters.

III. The Gain Named (Philippians 1:23)
The gain is not a place. The gain is a Person. To depart is to arrive — with Christ.

IV. The Complication (Philippians 1:22-26)
Paul is torn not between living and dying, but between two goods — both of them Christ.

V. The Demand of the Empty Tomb
The question is not whether you believe in the resurrection. The question is whether it has gotten all the way down into that blank.

Palm Sunday Text: Romans 14:7-9
Title: Whose are you when you die?
Big Idea: How do we live with death?

I. The Assumption We All Make About Living (v.7a)
What are you really doing with your life? Being "true to yourself"?
Paul says none of us lives to himself.

II. The Problem of Dying (v.7b)
Psalm 90; Rom 6:23
You will die TO something. So, who is your Lord at the moment of your death?
It is an act of faith and trust in the same Father who upheld His Son.

III. The Declaration (v.8)
This is a totality statement and yet tells us something about living and dying too.
Christ has a claim for all people and all of their lives.

IV. The Ground for the Declaration (v.9)
Why should this particular Lord have this particular claim?
It answers the question: What is the purpose of the Cross and the Tomb?

V. How Do We Live With Death?
Isa 53:5; Heb 9:27; Phil 1:21
We live with death by belonging.
Heidelberg Catechism: What is your only comfort in life and in death? That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

Biblical Theology — Week 14: The Role of Typology
The themes of temple, priesthood, and kingship carry a built-in restlessness — every earthly expression was provisional, leaning forward toward Christ, who completes what each type anticipated.

• A type is a divinely intended pattern established in redemptive history in which an earlier person, event, or institution genuinely corresponds to and prefigures a later, greater fulfillment in Christ. 

• Types are:
  • Historically real
  • Divinely designed
  • Escalating...each expression is greater than the last

The Three Themes
Temple: Eden → Tabernacle → Temple → Christ → Church → New Creation

• How can a holy God dwell with sinful people?
• Answer: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19–21)

Priesthood: Aaronic → Repeated sacrifice → Fulfilled in Christ

• How can sinful people approach a holy God?
• Answer: One priest, one sacrifice, permanent atonement (Heb 9:12; 7:25)

Kingship: Davidic covenant → Messianic hope → Eternal reign

• Who will rule the world as God's appointed representative?
• Answer: Christ is enthroned through resurrection, reigning now, & consummated at His return (Acts 2:29–36)

Why These Themes Matter

• Two movements run through every type:
  • Escalation — each iteration is greater than the last
  • Fulfillment — each type has a destination: Christ
• Christ completes these themes; He does not cancel them. The foundation is not abolished when the building rises from it; the building is the purpose of the foundation (Matt 5:17).

Discussion:

• What problem does this theme address?
• How does Christ resolve it?
• Where do you see this theme in your own life?

Week 5: Spiritual Disciplines
Evangelism: Speaking of Christ as a Way of Life
Evangelism is a commanded discipline that is cultivated through grace, rooted in Christ's authority, and sustained by the power of the gospel.

A Command, Not a Conversation Starter  — Matt. 28:18–20

• Jesus' authority grounds the imperative
• Evangelism is a discipline for every disciple, not a gift for a few

The Gospel Carries Its Own Power  — Rom. 1:16

• Dynamis — the power belongs to the message, not the messenger
• We sow; God gives the growth (Mark 4:26–29)

We Are Ambassadors of Reconciliation  — 2 Cor. 5:17–21

• New creation identity precedes the ministry
• Love compels (v. 14); the cross grounds (v. 21)
• Ambassadors deliver the King's terms, not their own

Cultivating Evangelism as a Discipline

• Keep a prayer list of unbelievers
• Set a regular evangelistic goal
• Prepare a short testimony and gospel summary
• Gospel tools

Church History Series  •  March 15, 2026
The Pagan Reaction and the Christian Empire
Focus: Emperor Julian the Apostate
Key Thoughts:

• “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  — Matthew 16:18
• The church’s identity is never secured by imperial favor.
• Christ alone holds his church, whether emperors bless or persecute it.

I.  The Constantinian Legacy — Gift and Danger

• What imperial favor gave the church:
  • Legal standing, land, and buildings
  • Clergy exemptions; access to imperial courts
  • Influence over doctrinal councils (e.g., Nicaea, 325 AD)
• What imperial favor cost the church:
  • Confusion between imperial approval and divine blessing
  • Dilution of membership — people joined for social advantage
  • Blurred lines between church authority and state power
• 1689 LBCF 26.3: “The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church…”

____________________________________________________________
II.  Julian the Apostate — Who Was He?
•Nephew of Constantine; raised nominally Christian
•Secretly abandoned Christianity; committed Neoplatonist
•Became sole emperor in 361 AD; reigned only 20 months
•Killed in battle against Persia, 363 AD

Julian’s Own Words (c. 362 AD):
“Why do we not observe that it is their benevolence to strangers, their care for the graves of the dead, and the pretended holiness of their lives that have done most to increase atheism?”

What does Julian’s complaint reveal about the church’s true strength?
____________________________________________________________
III.  Julian’s Strategy

• Revoked clergy tax exemptions and imperial building funds
• Restricted Christians from teaching classical literature
• Reorganized paganism along church-like lines — priests, charity, moral expectations
• Tolerated exiled bishops to stir internal Christian conflict
• No empire-wide persecution — but local violence was permitted
• His method: withdrawal of favor, not fire and sword.

How does this compare to cultural pressures today?  ____________________________________________________________
IV.  The Church’s Response and Julian’s Failure

• Key events, 361–363 AD:
  • 361 AD — Christian privileges withdrawn
  • 362 AD — School Edict; Against the Galileans published
  • 362 AD — Athanasius returns from exile; orthodox leadership renewed
  • 362–63 AD — Jerusalem Temple rebuilding project collapses
  • June 363 AD — Julian was killed in Persia; the pagan reaction ended with him
• Why did Julian fail?
  • The church’s roots ran deeper than imperial privilege
  • Paganism had no genuine community formation to offer
  • No emperor can hollow out a church whose life comes from its Head

Which is harder on a church — open persecution or social marginalization?  ____________________________________________________________
V.  Confessional Reflection

• 1689 LBCF 26.3:

“The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order, or government of the church is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner.”

• Daniel 2:21:

“He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings.”

Julian reigned for 20 months. God removed him.
What does Julian’s failure teach us about the nature of Christ’s headship?  ____________________________________________________________
VI.  Application

• Julian observed that care for the poor, burial of the dead, and integrity of life were winning people to Christ. What would an honest observer say about our congregation on those measures?
• In what ways might we measure our church’s health by cultural approval rather than faithfulness to Christ?
• How do we prepare a congregation to endure the gradual withdrawal of cultural approval without growing bitter or losing identity?

Title: BECAUSE HE'S NOT THERE, I CAN'T STAY WHERE I AM
Text: James 2:14–26
Big Idea: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a doctrine to be filed away — it is a force that moves people. A faith that has genuinely encountered the risen Christ cannot remain unchanged. Where there is no movement, there was never a meeting in the first place.

I. The Question James is Really Asking (v.14)

• He is not asking whether faith saves. He is asking whether that kind of faith saves.
• Three kinds of faith are before us: Dead, Demonic, and Divine. Only one of them is real.

II. Dead Faith is Still in the Tomb (vv. 15-17)

• A faith that produces no works has never been made alive.
• The words cost nothing and accomplish nothing. (vv. 15-16)
• Dead faith has not been united with anything. It is still in the tomb. (v. 17)
• 1689 LBCF Chp 16

III. Demonic Faith: Out of the Tomb but Going Nowhere (vv. 18-19)

• Correct theology without surrender is demonic faith, not saving faith.
• The objection: an either-or type of faith. (v. 18)
• Correct doctrine without surrender to the lordship of the one that doctrine describes is demonic faith. (v. 19)
• Judas's example
• The question James is pressing: has your faith ever actually moved you, or does it simply sit where it has always sat?

IV. Divine Faith: Moved by the One Who Moved the Stone (vv. 20-26)

• Witness One: Abraham (vv. 20-24)
• Witness Two: Rahab (v. 25)
• The Closing Argument (v.26)

Application
1. Have you encountered the risen Christ, or have you only learned about him? Many will say, "Lord, Lord" on that day and hear, "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:21-23). The word "knew" in Scripture is relational, not informational. Judas knew about him for three and a half years. Peter knew him. The difference was not information — it was surrender. Do you know him as Lord, or only as Rabbi?

2. Are you trusting in the finished work of Christ, or in your own performance? Works-driven righteousness (the attempt to put God in your debt by your activity) is what Isaiah calls filthy rags. Not because the works are bad in themselves, but because the motive corrupts them entirely. Cain and Abel both brought offerings. Abel brought the firstborn — his first and best. Cain brought leftovers. God accepted Abel's. The issue was never the offering's category; it was what the offering revealed about the heart.

3. If you are a believer, what has the resurrection moved you to do that you were not doing before? The empty tomb is a commission to be carried out. Romans 6 says that because we have died with Christ, we will also live with him, and that life is not static. The Spirit takes the Word like a hammer and chisel and works from the inside out. It does not make you look more Christian from the outside, but produces progress, not perfection.

Systematic Theology
Week 14: Providence

1. Introduction

• Where have you seen God’s providence in your life?
• Definition (Berkhof): Providence is God’s continuous involvement with creation, preserving, governing, and directing all things.
• Key Text: Psalm 103:19.
• Why This Matters: Providence gives courage in suffering and confidence in daily life.

2. Aspects of Providence
A. Preservation

• Hebrews 1:3
• God sustains all things by His word.

B. Government

• 
Proverbs 16:9 - God directs human steps.

• Daniel 2:21 - God removes and sets up kings.


C. Concurrence

• Human actions and divine will operate concurrently.

• Acts 17:28

3. Providence and Suffering
A. Biblical Witness

• 
Joseph: Genesis 50:20.

• Job: God’s sovereign permission and ultimate restoration.

B. Providence and Prayer

• Providence does not negate prayer; it anchors it.

• Philippians 4:6–7.

C. Providence and Assurance

• Romans 8:28. 
• All things work for the good of those in Christ.

4. Conclusion & Reflection

• Summary: Providence includes preservation, government, and concurrence and shapes the Christian response to life.
• How do you respond differently to trials when trusting providence?

• How should providence influence your decisions?
• Suggested Readings:
 2LBCF, Ch. 5.