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Class Opportunities
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Want to learn and integrate more of God’s Word into your life?
Check out the current opportunities at Hope:
Thursdays at 7:00 pm
Adult Bible Study
"How to Study the Bible"
September 18 - December 18, 2008
Welcome to a 13 week introduction to the study of the greatest Book ever written about the greatest Man who ever lived, Jesus the Christ! I say “introduction” because this course is only intended to introduce you to a lifetime of digging into the Scripture. At the end of this semester, you will be able to open the Bible and feel confident that you can prayerfully hear the voice of God speaking what He intended to speak to His children when He inspired the authors to write the text thousands of years ago.
There will be lecture most nights – but also exercises that we will do individually and collectively in the Scripture itself. There will also be time each night for questions and interaction about what we have studied. So, set aside the next 13 Thursday nights and I promise you – the Word of God will begin to open up to you in ways you never thought possible!
One more thing – our course will be team taught by Kevin Butcher, Pam Pangborn, Joe Herd, Gerald Holliday and Daphne Demaris. Each of the teachers either has a seminary degree or some formal training from a seminary or Christian university. Each of the teachers [I know them all!] also brings a deep love for God, people and the Scripture.
9/18 – “How the 66 Books of the Bible came to us as the Word of God” [JKB]
This evening we will explore how the Biblical text was transmitted over thousands of years of history, how our 66 books came to be called “The Bible” – a process called “canonization”, and why we believe the Scripture is literally “God-breathed”.
9/25 – “Learning to observe and interpret the Scripture” [Pam]
Bible study is not reserved for “the experts”. It is for everyone because the Bible was written TO everyone! Studying the Bible boils down to three basic steps:
Observation – what does the text say?
Interpretation – what does the text mean?
Application – what does the text mean to me?
In this session, we will begin to both explore what it means to observe and interpret the text – and then do an exercise together which will get us into the text for ourselves!
10/2 – “Learning to use the basic tools of Bible Study I” [Joe/Gerald]
There are certain tools that help us in our study of the Bible. This evening, we will learn about three Bible study tools – the Bible Commentary, the Bible Dictionary and the Bible Concordance. You will be given an opportunity to interact with an example of each of these tools and begin to discuss how they might help you in your study of the Scripture.
10/9 – “Learning to use the basic tools of Bible Study II” [Joe/Gerald]
This is an exciting evening! We will look at a text from the Gospel of Luke [studied in Sunday church on October 5th!] and then ask each of you to read a section from a commentary on Luke as well as an article from a Bible dictionary on some element from the text. Then we will interact about how the Bible study tools – the Bible commentary and Bible dictionary – help us in our understanding of the text we have just studied!
10/16 – “Learning to interpret the Scripture II” [JKB]
We will reflect on what we have learned the last two weeks, the questions that have arisen from our study and learning – and then finish up with a few more principles of interpretation that weren’t covered in week #2. There will be plenty of time this evening for questions about the interpretive process!
10/23 – “Learning to apply the Scripture” [JKB]
If we haven’t interpreted the Scripture accurately, than we won’t be able to accurately apply the Scripture to our lives. The results of faulty application of Scripture are almost worse than no application at all! This evening we will talk extensively about allowing God to speak to us individually about our lives – words of comfort, conviction, encouragement and direction – words of life!
10/30 –“The Gospels” [JKB]
The last half of our course will be spent looking at the various genres of the Bible and some of the interpretive and applicational problems of each. The Gospels are historical biography – all looking at the life of Jesus from the unique vantage point of the individual author. They tell us about the Founder of our faith – the Messiah of God – and are foundational for direction for our life.
11/6 – Parables [JKB]
Jesus told many parables. They are unique in that they are obviously stories meant to convey a spiritual point – the problem being that unless there are some interpretive guidelines, it is easy to make a parable say almost anything we want it to say – and most of the time nothing of what the author intended it to say! But rightly interpreted, Jesus’ parables are powerful vehicles for His truth!
11/13 – The Acts of the Apostles [Pam/Daphne]
The Book of Acts is the history of the church of Jesus in the first century. How does the interpreter determine how much of this history is also meant to be normative for the church in every culture, every century – and what was intended to be the unique – although still instructive – history of this early group of believers?
11/20 – The Epistles [JKB]
The letters were written by early leaders in the church who had either walked with Jesus [Peter, John] or known Jesus [James, Jude] or had a vision of Jesus [Paul]. These letters were meant to encourage and instruct the early believers who lived in very dangerous and confusing times. How can we interpret and apply their words to our culture and context today?
12/4 – OT Narratives and the Law [JKB]
This week we’ll jump back to the Old Testament and talk about the unique issues we face as New Testament believers studying Torah. We must not miss what God is trying to teach us through the great stories of creation, the Noahic flood, the patriarchs, the exodus of Israel from Egypt and of course, the great law of Yahweh – but how does it all apply to us today since Jesus has fulfilled the law?
12/11 – Poetry and Wisdom Literature [Pam]
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Is this a promise? A proverb? How do we interpret and apply the poetry and wisdom literature – including Job, the Psalms, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon – of the Old Testament?!!
12/18 – The Prophets and Apocalyptic Literature [JKB/Pam]
The prophets – which include the Revelation of St. John – are full of rich, magnificent and often difficult to understand imagery about the future. What are the guidelines of interpretation of this genre of Bible literature which will help us get what the authors intended for our lives – but not “read into” the imagery interpretations and applications of our own making?
Taught by
Pastor Butcher, Joe Herd,
Gerald Holliday, Pam Pangborn and Daphne Demaris
Women’s Bible Study
"Esther"
October 2 - December 11, 2008
Teacher: Donna Schultz
Sundays at 9:00 am
You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Sword
Oct 12, 19, 26 and Nov 2, 2008
What you will learn in your pursuit of a godly life, if you haven’t already, is that many things will seem to get in the way. Illness happens, car accidents happen, job loss happens, and with them come fatigue, frustration and distraction. Even good things like weddings, birthdays, baby showers, kids soccer games and NBA championships get in the way of having time to chase after God. While we have a Father-God who has a great plan for each of our lives (Jer 29:11-14b), we also have an enemy who is seeking to destroy (John 10:10) what we have received and prevent us from drawing closer to God. The enemy does not want us to become a more effective part of God’s kingdom. We should not underestimate the desire of the enemy to thwart God’s plan. Come and find out about the armor that God has provided. Learn more about how to live in His power, covered with that armor, as we walk through Ephesians 6:10-18.
Teacher: Daphne DeMaris
"Exodus"
A study of this rich old testament text
Teacher John Whitfield
"Acts"
A study of the early Church
Teacher Gerald Holliday
Saturday
Band of Brothers
Every 1st and 3rd Saturday : 8:30 - 10:00am
Please click on our Calendar of Events for exact dates
Jay Aho
This is a great opportunity for the men of Hope to grow together as brothers in Christ
by studying the Scripture, sharing the journey of our souls and serving together
on some type of project in the building or community.
Please join us two Saturdays a month from 8:30-10:00 am
in the Jefferson Room at Hope (Coffee and bagels provided).
HOME WHO WE ARE WELCOME FROM PASTOR BUTCHER OUR LOCATION CONTACT US
Hope Community Church | (313) 823-8002 | 14456 East Jefferson Ave. Detroit MI 48215