Theology For You

In this episode, we are going to go through a three-step process to help you read, study, and apply the Bible. Be sure to stick around to the end of this lesson where I'll share with you a free resource that will help you get the most out of your Bible study. You can view show notes and resources here. 

Because God is true therefore His Word is true. And because His Word is true it makes good on its claims. It is without error. We can trust the Bible. You can view show notes and resources here.

The Bible is necessary to know God, salvation, and how to live a holy life.  We need God’s word for all of life. We cannot live without God’s word. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” This was in the context of His temptation from Satan. Jesus needed and we need to use the Bible to live life. The Bible is necessary. You can view show notes and resources here. 

To say that the Bible is authoritative is to say that it holds the final word; not science, human experience, or human reasoning. Scripture always has the final word.   You can view show notes and resources here.

The clarity of Scripture means every believer can read and study the Bible on their own and benefit.   You can view show notes and resources here.

What is the sufficiency of Scripture? One way to explain it is that the Bible contains everything we need for knowledge of God, salvation, and godly living.  A more concise definition is God’s Word is enough.   You can view show notes and resources here.

If the Bible is not God’s Word then anything else we might say about it won’t matter. We cannot trust its claims for how we can be saved nor can we trust what it reveals to us about God if it is not from Him if it’s not His word. This is foundational for our understanding of God and the Bible. You can view show notes and resources here.

There are only three possible responses to hearing the gospel and the command to repent in belief, to receive Christ, to reject Christ, or to investigate further.   You can view show notes and resources here.

In this episode, we explore God's solution to our biggest problem. God is a love-giver who gave Jesus to reconcile us to Himself.    You can view show notes and resources here. 

As you are presenting the gospel it is important to pause, reflect and ask further questions to make sure the message is being clearly communicated. In this episode, we take a look at how this can happen.  You can view show notes and resources here.

When we don't live life in a manner that is pleasing to God, when we are not living life in a God-centered way, we are living it in a self-centered way. And any time we disobey God when we disobey God in our mind or our actions, this is called sin. You can view show notes and resources here. 

What is the true meaning of life? What is our true purpose? Why have we been created? What have we been designed for? What does it mean to live life to its fullest?  The answer is life equals God-centered living. That's the second point in the come-home presentation. Life is God-centered living. You can view show notes and resources here.

What is the starting point of the gospel? When we're sharing the gospel with someone, where do we begin? Do we start by talking about a person's sins? Do we start with God's love and plan for their life or do we start somewhere different? This is our first lesson in a series, teaching on the Gospel, helping you to grow in your faith and understanding of the gospel, and also equipping you with the ability to share the gospel with others. You can view show notes and resources here.

If we're honest, many of us probably view evangelism as the minimum amount of truth to the maximum number of people. After all, we hear the phrase “the simple gospel”, yet is this the way we should think about evangelism?  The goal of evangelism is not the minimum amount of truth to the maximum number of people but rather the maximum amount of truth to the maximum number of people. You can view show notes and resources here.

What is true faith? From the Bible, we see: Saving faith is a conviction, brought about by the Holy Spirit, of the truth of the gospel and trust in the promises of God in Christ.     For show notes and resources visit here.

We need to be aware that people are either saved or lost. Will Metzger writes in his book "to weaken this radical but scriptural cleavage of mankind by suggesting a third category for people is an attack on the biblical doctrine of regeneration.  For show notes and resources visit here.

What do you think your job is in evangelism?  Are you supposed to present all the logical arguments for the existence of God?  Are you supposed to convince someone that they should become a believer?  Is it your responsibility to bring someone to faith in Christ? In this episode, we’re going to look at our role in evangelism versus God’s role in evangelism and how, many times, we get the two confused.   For show notes and resources visit here.

We must be careful not to confuse the story of how we became a believer with the story of how someone becomes a believer. We need to understand the difference between our testimony and the gospel.   View show notes and resources here.

The greatest message that we as Christians can share with the world is what God has done through Jesus Christ in the gospel.  The Christian witness to this great gospel should be evident in what we say and how we live our lives. As Will Metzger puts it in his book Tell the Truth, “The airplane of Christian witness has two wings, our lips, and our lives.”   For show notes and more visit here.

Every Christian is called to share the gospel with those around them that God might be worshipped and that people all around the world might be satisfied in Him.  View show notes and resources here.

In this episode, we explore God’s model of evangelism. Does it matter how we do it or are we free to do evangelism as we please? God in His grace has given us a guide in His word to what evangelism should look like.  For show notes and links to resources mentioned visit here.

To learn more about Theology for You click here.   Resources mentioned in this episode:  Herman Bavinck: Reformed Dogmatics Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Preaching and Preacher John Stott: Between Two Worlds Howard Hendricks: Teaching to Change Lives  

Spiritual gifts are abilities that the Holy Spirit bestows on believers. These gifts are not to be confused with simply natural talents. The spiritual gifts are given by God and cannot be reproduced by the world or natural, unregenerate man. 

In the New Testament, the church is designated by a Greek word that means “called out ones.” What role should the church play in our lives? What is Jesus' connection with the church? 

Sanctification is the reality of God making us holy. When believers are called “saints,” this means that they are holy ones.

Justification is the most crucial question in all of life and all of the Church because the answer to that question has eternal implications, those being eternity in God’s presence or eternity under his severe judgment. We have to know what God says about this! How do we become legally right with God?

It is because of grace and grace alone that we have a relationship with God. 

At the heart and core of biblical Christianity lies the important teaching of the atonement made by Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul wrote: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,” (1 Cor. 15:3). The gospel according to Paul included that he gave first place to the historical fact that the sinless, bodily resurrected Christ “died for our sins.” 

All people are guilty before God because of sin. Sin affects every part of our being so that we are without excuse. 

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is personal and not a force. He is a person who has intellect, emotions, and a will.

The person of Christ has been attacked throughout the history of Christianity? Who is He? Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, truly God and truly man. 

If we want to know God and see His glory His character, His person must be revealed to us. Moses asked God to see His glory but Moses heard more than He saw. He saw the back of God but He heard a beautiful, glorious declaration of God’s character. This is our God.

God is one and God is three. There is a plurality within the Godhead but the three persons are one in unity. May we be led to worship our triune God as we seek to understand Him in His trinitarian nature. Praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Holy Spirit. 

What the Bible says, God, says. The foundation of what we know to be true about the Bible is the inspiration or expiration of Scripture. It comes to us from God.

Diehard Sins releases September 28th. There are so many sins that creep in unnoticed but are just as dangerous as big-ticket sins. Rush Witt does an excellent job outline what the Bible has to say about this and how we can fight against it.  Get your copy on Amazon today! 

In this episode we talk about parenting and the need to be faithful to what God has revealed in Scripture. We also talk about some of our favorite resources. 

We are glad to have Chrys on board. We get to know him a little bit in this episode. Chrys serves at his local church and is a Christian Hip-Hop Artist. His favorite doctrine is the doctrine of Scripture. Listen in to learn more about Chrys. 

In the life of the church the sermon is very important. God's people are fed through His word for their good. But if we are honest listening to a sermon and responding to a sermon can be hard.  We are excited to welcome back Victoria after her maternity leave and discuss this important topic. To help and encourage we talk about a recent sermon from our church and how we are responding and different responses we want to have.  What tips do you have for listening and responding to sermons? 

Arguments for the existence of God are good and we need them, but we also must share Christ when we defend the Christian faith. This can be as simple as stating the truth. We continue our conversation with Blaine and he shares resources we can use to study Apologetics and a few simple steps we can take as we defend the faith. 

If you are like me you know you should be defending your faith in conversations but struggle with it. In the next two episodes we are talking Apologetics with my good friend Blaine Vandegriff. I hope his words and passion about this subject will be encouraging to you.  In this episode we discuss what Apolgetics is, arguments for the existence of God, and the role of the Holy Spirit in Apologetics. 

What is the Bible and why is it important? How does the Bible affect our study of theology? The Bible is God's self-revelation so that we might know Him. The Bible carries God's authority and He has revealed Himself in a clear manner. The Bible is necessary for our lives and is sufficient for anything we face. 

Happy New Year. Let's start our time together this year reminding ourselves of the greatness of the gospel. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Sing along with Ben as he looks at What Child is This and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. There are four themes in these songs to look at: Jesus brings joy, Jesus is the King, Jesus is the Savior, and Jesus is the Conqueror. Thank you all for listening and we are looking forward to 2016. 

We are excited to announce the launch of Theology For Worship Pastors in 2016. We pray this will be an encouragement to worship pastors and the congregations they lead. 

There is wonderful truth behind the songs we sing during this time of year. If we are not careful we can let the familiarity of them dull us to it. Join me as we sing and discuss "Joy To The World." 

I don't know about you but prayer can be a struggle for me sometimes. That's why when I read Donald Whitney's book on prayer it was so refreshing. He suggests using the Bible to guide our prayer life and deepen our relationship with God. I wanted to talk about this book because I know I am not alone in this struggle.

We strive to be always learning, how about you? What have you been learning lately? 

Is meditation needed for the Christian, and why is it important? Pastor Craig Wilson joins us to discuss the practice of meditation and why it is important for the Christian life. 

Events around me over the past week or so have me thinking about hope and the Christian life. Hope is found in God and what He is, has and will do for us as His children. No matter the situation we face God is our Father; there is nothing we face that will remove us from that position. Join Ben as he looks at Romans 8:15-30 and the hope of the Christian. 

Victoria decided to hijack the podcast this week and interview Ben on his birthday. We are excited to announce our first Theology for You Weekender.Visit the page to learn and get more information. We are praying God will use this to encourage many. 

Can you see the Gospel in the Apostle's Creed? It would be easy to "lose the forest for the trees" as we look at the Creed. Let's take a step back and look at how the Gospel pervades and informs the Apostle's Creed.