Homework

Here are a few things to remember when you're working on your homework:

1. The answers to the questions in the homework should be obvious, not obscure! In other words, don't look for a 'deep meaning'...look for the obvious. If something isn't obvious to you, then skip it and move on. It may become obvious later.
Sometimes the answer they're looking for is so simple, we think it can't be that easy....but, it usually is! So, don't complicate the questions...look for the obvious, not the obscure.

2. The questions in our homework can be broken down into 3 categories:

a. Observation questions: These are questions designed to help you look at what the text says objectively. These are usually simple and obvious.
Some of you have learned some skills that help you observe the text. For example, if you have learned how to structure a passage, you will have already seen most of the things they're asking you to observe in the homework. And if that's the case, you can skip those questions and move on.
If you're new to this kind of study, the workbook is trying to slow you down and help you observe some details of the text.
b. Interpretation questions: When you're defining words in the Greek, or looking for relationships between ideas, for example, you're trying to understand what Paul meant when he penned Ephesians...you're looking for his flow of thought.
When you're reading all those cross references, you're looking for more information about a particular subject. You're trying to better understand an issue that Paul has mentioned. Sometimes it helps to read other verses that relate to the issue you're studying. The Bible becomes its own commentary in a way.
c. Application questions: These are the questions that encourage you to apply certain truths to your life. Application begins in our thinking...then it spills out into how we live moment by moment. Some of the things we are learning in Ephesians will challenge the ways we think about God! That can be hard...but well worth the effort!

You can go through your homework and every question will fall under one of these 3 categories.

3. Remember: this is a process! Try not to get hung up on one step in the process....go for the cumulative effect, if that makes sense. In other words, if you find yourself bogging down on a question, move on! It really is ok to have blank spaces in your workbook...really, I promise!

You can always use the blog and ask the group how they answered a particular question. That's the main reason we started this blog.

4. Final thought: Our goal is to know God more intimately. As you study Ephesians, are you learning things about God...are you being reminded of some truths about Him? Are you being challenged to grow closer to Him?
"...like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord." 1 Peter 2:2-3

Homework: Ephesians Lesson 2

Our goal this week is to observe Eph 1:3-14.

On page 18 in our workbook, assignment #3 on Day One suggests that you make a bookmark for your key words. Key words are words the author repeats and are key to the meaning of a passage. We are given some key words to mark on Days One and Two: in Christ, love, in heavenly places, according to, grace, Holy Spirit. The workbook suggests using a 3x5 note card. That's a good idea....except that I usually fill up a note card pretty fast! You'll be adding more key words as we study each chapter. So, I fold a piece of paper in half lengthwise and use it as my book mark.

Although the workbook did not tell us to mark God and Jesus, I would encourage you to do so. It's rather challenging to do this in chapter 1, but if you have time, it would be a worthwhile thing to do. The process of trying to figure out whether Paul is describing God or Jesus is helpful! If you get stumped on certain verses, just put a little question mark next to that verse and we'll discuss it on Wed.

Some people do not like marking key words....and that's fine! If you don't like marking up the page, you certainly don't have to! But, if you do mark them, they will be easy to find and you might begin to see patterns in the text. For example, when you make a list on everything Paul says about 'in Christ' (assignment #2 on Day 2), the task will be easier if you've marked that phrase. Your eye will find that phrase quickly...and it will save you some time.

If you mark according to in chapter one, you'll notice a pattern developing. Do you see it?

Remember....inductive study begins with observing the text objectively. These study tools are designed to slow us down and help us observe the text carefully. We're trying to observe what Paul said and understand what he meant....when he was 'moved by the Holy Spirit' to write these verses (2 Pet 1:21).

Prayer Requests: February

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phillipians 4:6

We have the joy of praying for one another and knowing that we can share our needs and concerns with the group. If you would like to share a prayer request, then please write it in the comments section of this post.

Please check this post often to see how you can lift up members of our Bible study in prayer. Thank you!

Prayer Requests: January

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phillipians 4:6

We have the joy of praying for one another and knowing that we can share our needs and concerns with the group. If you would like to share a prayer request, then please write it in the comments section of this post.

Please check this post often to see how you can lift up members of our Bible study in prayer. Thank you!

Spring Study: Ephesians!

I have finally reached a decision about our next study: Ephesians! It's a 10-week study, starting on Wednesday, February 3. I worked on it during the holidays, and the lessons are long but really good! I think we're in for a great study! We'll finish the study on April 14.

If you are planning to join the Ephesians study, please let me know as soon as possible so I can order enough workbooks. Thanks!

January Study Sessions

Beginning on Wednesday, January 13, Nell Anne will offer a 3-week mini session on how to do Bible study, using the inductive methods Precept suggests. Some of you are comfortable with these study methods, but others may enjoy this opportunity to working on their study skills. The group will use Ephesians to practice, so hopefully you'll get a head start on some of your homework. We'll keep it informal and hopefully have some fun with it!

Announcement

I hope you can join us Wed morning for our Christmas brunch and ornament exchange! We'll begin at 9:30 by watching the video for lesson 10. At 10:30 we'll enjoy our brunch...and then we'll find out who will go home with which ornament!

See ya Wed!

Announcement

This Wed will be our last lesson in Daniel. I hope you will be able to join us as we wrap up this wonderful study!!
We will have our Christmas potluck brunch next week, Dec 16. We will meet from 9:30 to 12:00. We'll watch the video for Lesson 10 from 9:30-10:25. Then we'll enjoy brunch...followed by our ornament exchange. For the ornament exchange, you'll need to find an ornament for $10 or less. Wrap it and bring it with you to the brunch.
See ya tomorrow!

Lesson 9

I'm looking forward to resuming our study of Daniel tomorrow! We will be working on Lesson 9. If you've missed some lessons and feel like you're too far behind to come to class, please reconsider! We will spend time reviewing....and I think you'll find that even if there are some gaps in your understanding, you will have enough info to understand the big picture.
Lesson 10 will be our last lesson....can you believe it?! What a study this has been!

See ya tomorrow morning!

Images

I really enjoy looking at images of the people I'm studying. So this morning I searched the web for images of Antiochus Epiphanes IV. I believe he is the 'despicable person' mentioned in Dan 11:21. We've read about this guy before in Daniel 8. Remember?
Check out this website for some images of this guy, as well as some info about him: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/AntiochusIVEpiphanes.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/AntiochusIV.html&usg=__OlAcbUgHsH72ZlJFIfSllshXJHw=&h=400&w=326&sz=8&hl=en&start=2&um=1&tbnid=TB-MkGIa6bxKKM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAntiochus%2Bepiphanes%2BIV%2Bimages%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1

Announcement

Next week, Nov 18, we will have a 'Mexican potluck' following class. So, bring a Mexican dish to share...and let's enjoy some fellowship!

We will not meet Nov 25 because of Thanksgiving. Our next class after Thanksgiving will be Dec 2. We will complete our study Dec 9.

We will meet Dec 16 during our regular class time for a Christmas brunch and ornament exchange. For those of you who are new to our group, start looking for a Christmas ornament under $10. Bring it wrapped on the 16th and get ready for a wild ride! Our ornament exchanges can get pretty wild and crazy...you won't want to miss it!

Lesson 8

Please mark your calendars: We will meet next Wed, Nov 18...but we will not meet Nov 25, the Wed before Thanksgiving. When we come back after Thanksgiving, we will have 2 lessons left and will finish the study Dec 9.

For the 1st 4 days this week, we'll be focusing on chapter 11. It's a long and rather complicated chapter...and a long lesson! Day 5 in our homework instructs us to observe chapter 12. If you have time this week to observe chapter 12....great! But, if you find that the 1st 4 days of the lesson take a long time, then I would suggest you wait and observe chapter 12 during the week of Thanksgiving. After all, we'll have 2 weeks to finish lesson 9, so it might be helpful to save Day 5 of this lesson for the break. If you decide to do this, be sure to make a note in your workbook to remind yourself to observe chapter 12! It'd be easy to forget! We will discuss chapter 11 in class next week.

Announcements

There is an international womens' group that meets at Providence on Wed mornings. They're going to be making Christmas wreaths as a craft project. The lady who organizes these meetings, Mi Jung, told me today that they need any kind of Christmas decorations that would work on wreaths. She specifically mentioned flowers and ornaments. So, if you happen to have any extra decorations to share with this group, they'd greatly appreciate it! Just bring them on Wed morning and we'll get them to Mi Jung.
This ministry is a wonderful outreach to international women who live in our area.
Thanks!

Lesson 7: Homework

This week we're working on lesson 7. Because of the content in Daniel 10, the lesson this week focuses on some information in the Bible about angels, Satan, demons, and the role of prayer. The lesson is not meant to be an exhaustive study of these topics by any means. But, hopefully we will gain new insights into the spiritual world that will strenghthen our prayer lives. The lesson has many cross references. So, pace yourself through it...it will take some time! It'll be interesting next week to discuss what we've read.

For the past few weeks I've been thinking and praying about what study our group will tackle after Christmas. I am very interested in your thoughts about our next study. Let me give you a few ideas to consider:

Several of you have suggested this would be a good time to study Revelation. Precept Ministries has divided Revelation into 4 separate studies. Each of those studies takes about 10-12 weeks to complete. So, if we choose to study Revelation, it will be a rather long commitment. After completing Daniel, it would be interesting to tackle Revelation, tho, wouldn't it?

I've also been considering Ephesians, followed by a short study of Ruth. Ephesians is packed with wonderful doctrinal truths as well as very practical instructions for how to live a godly life. It'd be rather different from our study this fall and I thought it might provide a good change of pace, so to speak. The study of Ruth is 3 weeks long and is a beautiful study of Jesus as our Kinsman Redeemer. We could do both of these studies next semester.

I'd love to hear from you about what you'd be interested in studying after Christmas. You may have other books you'd like us to consider besides Revelation or Ephesians. If so, please feel free to make suggestions! Just post a comment on the bottom of this entry and share your thoughts.

I'd love to know that you are praying with me about our next study! It's always good to see where He leads us!

Prayer Requests - November

Friends, if you have a need that we can pray for, then please share it in the "Comments" section of this post. Please check the post throughout the month to know how you can pray for the members of our Bible study. Thank you!

Lesson 5

The remaining lessons in our study will focus on chapters 10-12. When we overviewed Daniel, it became obvious that these 3 chapters are linked together. This week we'll be closely observing chapter 10...and looking for that connection to the other 2 chapters. These can be difficult chapters to understand...so we'll take it one step at a time.
In the midst of some challenging chapters, I hope we'll keep in mind something that is becoming very clear in our study of Daniel. One of the phrases used to describe Daniel is 'highly esteemed'. 'Highly esteemed' can be translated: precious, greatly loved. God cared enough to reach out over and over again and share knowledge with this man. Today we hold in our hands the very words God shared with Daniel....because He wanted it preserved. Do you know what I think that means? You are precious to Him as well....and He wants you to know these same truths.

Listen to what Peter says about prophecy: But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (1 Pet 1:20-21) When you sit down to study chapter 10 this week, remember that God moved Daniel to write these words...and as a result, you and I can read it today! We're not just 'doing Bible study'....God Himself is communicating with us!

What Daniel experienced in chapter 10 left him speechless and weak. But, God's messenger encouraged him, strengthened him, and then began to explain the message God wanted him to hear. We may feel a bit weak at the knees, too, as we dive into these chapters! But, let's keep in mind that God Almighty is talking to us....because He loves us! This is all about knowing Him!

Lesson 4 Discussion

As usual we ran out of time this morning...and didn't get to spend time talking about what we're learning on a personal level. I loved Emile's insights at the end of the class! Thanks, Emile!!

I thought maybe we could use the blog to share our personal thoughts about the various lessons.
For example:
-What kinds of insights about God did you see this week?
-Did you get any insights into Daniel from chapter 8?
-How does chapter 8 relate to us today? Why study it?
-What can this vision about the ram and goat teach us?

You may still have questions about some of the more technical parts of Chapter 8...but what about how it's touching you personally? Don't worry...you don't have to have some deep, uniquely profound thing to say! It'd be good to just share our thoughts with one another, don't you think?

So...let's talk!

Images

These are glazed tiles of a mosaic originally in Susa. The original mosaic is now in the Louvre in Paris.

Image: Tomb of Daniel In Susa

Thought you'd find this interesting! It's supposedly Daniel's tomb in Susa.

Homework: Lesson 4

This week we’re working on Lesson 4. This will be our only week to study chapter 8, can you believe it? The 1st 2 days of our homework are to be spent observing the chapter. Like chapter 7, Daniel has a vision and then receives an interpretation of his vision. It can seem rather confusing at 1st glance! So, here are some suggestions that will hopefully simplify things a bit:

1. Don’t worry about interpreting every detail immediately! Remember: focus on what is obvious, not the obscure. What’s obvious? Well, this vision involves a ram, a goat, and a small horn. (That’s right….we’ve got another small horn!) So, pick 3 different colored pens and mark each reference to the ram, the goat, and the small horn.

2. After you’ve marked those 3, make a simple list of everything you learn about each one on a piece of paper. Use Daniel’s words when making your lists….don’t add your own words. This helps us keep our observations objective. We want to become very familiar with the facts of chapter 8.
When you finish making your lists, look back over them and think about what you’re learning. We don’t have to wonder who the ram and goat represent…we’re told very clearly! When you look at your list about the small horn, notice which kingdom he comes out of. Is he the same guy as the little big horn in chapter 7? Reason thru your answer, using chapter 8.

Note: you may not want to mark the ram, the goat, and the small horn at the same time. You might find it helpful to just focus on one of those at a time. For example, you could mark the ram, then make your list on the ram. Look back over your list and think about what you’re learning. Afterwards, get up and go do something else! If you’re like me, there’s always laundry waiting to be done!! Come back later and work on the goat. Breaking it down into smaller steps can help.

3. After you mark the ram, goat, and small horn, you may want to mark all references to God and any other people or angelic beings mentioned in the chapter.

4. Read over the chapter and mark any time phrases you find.

5. After you've spent time observing chapter 8, look back over your notes from the 1st lessons about the history of the Middle East. Review what we learned about the Medo/Persian and Greek Empires. Who was Greece’s 1st king? Hmmmm....does he show up in chapter 8? What happened to his empire when he died?

6. There will be some challenging things to interpret in chapter 8. If you see things you just don’t understand, put a little question mark next to them in pencil. And then move on! If you have a lot of little question marks, that’s ok! Remember: focus on what is obvious! Yes, there are some confusing things…but there are many clear things as well.

As you study, keep in mind that this is a process! Sometimes we want it all to come together quickly and in a neat, orderly fashion. Well, that’s just not gonna happen in Daniel!! So, relax and enjoy the ride! Think about how much we're learning this fall! Isn't it amazing? Yes, we have many questions about what we're learning, but we also have many answers!

Paul prayed this prayer for the believers in Philippi:
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
Amen!