Mini-Studies

This page was originally developed as a placeholder for my notes on weekly lessons during times we were unable to meet because of Covid issues. We did not meet in person for extended periods in obedience to state and local mandates (laws–Romans 13:1-7; I Peter 2:13-17) and, even more importantly, out of consideration for the health and safety of ourselves, loved ones, friends, and coworkers (Romans 13:8-10; Philippians 2:3-4). Some of the lessons were drawn from existing studies on the Bible Studies page (e.g., Let Us be Humble, Prayer, Adam, and Noah), and others were combined into new studies (Our Lord Jesus Christ, Love Our Neighbors as Ourselves, and The Law of Moses).

As our group has grown, not everyone can meet on a weekly basis due to busy schedules or health issues. Consequently, I try to post my “weekly” lessons on this page; one posted lesson may take a few weeks to discuss. In the interest of keeping this page from getting too cluttered, old lessons are periodically removed, especially if they are covered by studies on the Bible Studies page.

11/20/2024 Be a Living Sacrifice

11/13/2024 Yield Ourselves to God

11/8/2024 Bible Study Notes

Attached are my notes that I partially went through last evening during our Bible study. They drew heavily from my notes posted on 11/6, as well as containing excerpts from my studies Governing Authority and Salvation and the Sovereignty of God. As usual, they contain my understanding of numerous Scripture passages as well as how I believe they apply to our daily walk as believers. Also, as usual, I realize that we do not always see things the same way. These notes are provided for your consideration if you decide to read them.

11/6/2024 Be Humble

11/6/2024 Personal Thoughts

Very early this morning, as the election results became clearer, Linda and I were saddened by the outcome. I had difficulty processing my thoughts and decided to put them into words. The attached file, completed at around 7:00 a.m., is the result of that effort. For those who do not share my concerns and conclusions, I encourage you to read the printed Scripture passages, the other referenced passages, and their context. Thank you.

10/30/2024 Be Thankful

There are many more exhortations in Scripture regarding how God expects us to conduct our lives as His children and as members of the body of Christ that do not contain the word walk. The next set of lessons address some of them that we should take to heart and endeavor to follow, beginning with being thankful.

10/23/2024 Walk According to Paul’s Example

10/16/2024 Walk by Faith and Not by Sight

10/09/2024 Walk in Wisdom

10/02/2024 Walk in Good Works

09/25/2024 Walk as Children of Light

09/18/2024 Walk Honestly

09/11/2024 Walk in Newness of Life

08/27/2024 Walk in Christ (Part 2 of 2)

08/21/2024 Walk in Christ (Part 1 of 2)

08/14/2024 Summary of Walk by the Spirit

08/07/2024 Self-Control

07/31/2024 Gentleness

07/24/2024 Faithfulness

07/17/2024 Goodness

07/10/2024 Kindness

07/03/2024 Patience

6/28/2024 Peace

6/20/2024 Joy

6/13/2024: This and the next eight updates will address the nine components of the fruit of the Spirit regarding our daily walk.

Update 6/6/2024: For the next couple of months or so I am hoping to post weekly lessons drawn from Chapter 7 of a book about walking worthy of our salvation that I am working on (see the Updates note for 6/5/2024). A worthy walk by believers is exhorted in Ephesians 4:1-3 and Colossians 1:9-12. It has nothing to do with earning our salvation or paying God back for saving us. Instead, it is about living in such a way that is befitting, or becoming, of our salvation in Christ that is a gift of God. That is, living such a way, as instructed in Scripture, that is representative of what Christ accomplished for us at the cross–it should be our way of saying “thank you” to God for graciously saving us from the consequences of our sin.

Update 11/3/2023: I did not resume the studies on Moses because other studies including Love Our Neighbors as Ourselves, and The Law of Moses seemed of more importance and through which I learned a great deal. These studies have been posted on the Bible Studies page. Interestingly, the study on loving our neighbors was triggered by a comment by one of our Bible study members during one of our discussions on Ruth and Esther, and the study on the Law was triggered by a discussion during our study on loving our neighbors. I love our group! Perhaps we will get back to the Moses study later. We’ll see what we study next!

7/7/2022: We’ve temporarily interrupted our in-person studies due to busy summer schedules. I decided to hold off on the remainder of our studies on Moses until we are meeting again. In the meantime, I will post shorter series of lessons on other Old Testament people beginning with Ruth.