And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Ephesians 4:11-16
Each semester Pursuit offers various Sunday morning classes where students can learn more to equip them to pursue God, pursue community among believers, and pursue the lost. Sunday Morning Pursuit starts at 9:15am on Sunday mornings at Trinity Baptist church in the college room on the third floor.
During Fall 2009 Pursuit will be offering five classes:
1 Corinthians – Nathan Dilley
Do you see marital discord, spiritual immaturity, cliques, lawsuits, pride, lust, and a host of other problems all fed and prompted by the outward influence of a luxurious culture? Does this sound like the world we live in today? Although it does, it is actually Paul’s description of the church at Corinth, in 1 Corinthians. Then and now, God’s people need guidelines for their individual lives as well as their life together, as a church. In perhaps one of Pauls most human and practical letters, he expresses his love, concern, and care for the church, as well as addressing some of the problems in the church at Corinth. This bible study will walk you through the main themes found in 1 Corinthians.
Defeating Darwinism – Greg Hughes
Class format will be a book study and discussion. Text will be Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds by Phillip E. Johnson (notes are available). We will discuss the basis of science (empirical versus philosophical), materialism and the various definitions of the term evolution, and the scientific communities commitment to both. We will cover various topics including academic pressures, faith vs. reason, power of media, baloney detecting, intelligent design movement, modernism, and cosmological evidence. Goal is provide a solid background to prepare any student to engage in the scientific debate of our origins.
Our Ward with Spiritual Terrorists (False Teachers; Jude & 2 Peter) – Billy Wolfe
The Bible is full of warnings about false prophets and teachers. In a one chapter letter bearing his name, Jude raised the alarm that false teachers had secretly slipped in among them already, and he urged the members to fight for the faith, to expose false teachers, and to show mercy on the doubters and deceived! Today, the same technologies that permit the gospel to be spread far and wide also give false teachers easy access to naïve church members. Spiritual terrorists are seeking to destroy the church from inside – through leadership positions, distorted Bible lessons and sermons, as well as from outside — through lectures, books and broadcasts. While studying what Jude and parallel passages teach about the satanic strategy of false teachers, we will also look at 10 contemporary terrorists, men and women who claim to be Christians but whose lives and messages contradict the clear teachings of God’s Word.
Spiritual Disciplines – Chris Haynes
‘ Discipline is one of those things that looks great on paper. The idea of making progress especially in the area of your relationship with God is highly motivating. The trouble is, discipline is difficult. It involves struggle. And it never seems to fit naturally in our busy schedules. We often find ourselves thinking, “When life settles down a bit, I’ll . . .” But we should have learned by now that life never settles down. Whatever we want to accomplish, we must do with life unsettled. In the same way, if we’re ever going to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness, we’ve got to do it when life is like it is now! Are you ready to do it now? ‘ – Donald Whitney
Pop Culture (Worldviews) – Scott Martinson
“I beleive that the challenge of living with popular culture may well be as serious for modern Chrisitans as persecution and plagues were for the saints of earlier centuries.” – Ken Myers
Pop culture, the potato chips of our cultural diets, can overwhelm everything in its path if unchecked. As Christians, we risk losing our cultural distinctiveness and being absorbed into a pop culture that undermines our faith. This study will look take a critical look at pop culture with the goal of understanding it so that it does not supplant our Christian worldview and so that we can bring the Kingdom to bear in all areas of culture, even the popular variety.