NORTH HOLLYWOOD BIBLESTUDY GET TOGETHER FRIDAY DECEMBER 30TH

Dear fellow Douloi

This coming Friday night we will have a special “getting together” with our “Noho-Study” for fellowship, potluck, singing, teaching, hiking, and all with a great view over Down Town Los Angeles and the surrounding area.  Dear friends of the Grosjean family allowed them to host the Study in their house in the Canyon Back Mountain area.

Address:

[email doulosnorthhollywood@gmail.com for more info]

Google Maps: http://maps.google.de/maps?hl=de&tab=wl

Programm:

3:00pm: Meeting at the house and going for a hike over the local Canyonback-Trail

5:00pm: Potluck, please bring whatever you would like to bring

7:00pm: Singing, Biblestudy Genesis 18:22-33, Lessons on Intercessory Prayer

Feel free to join us at any time...!!!

Preparation:

If you would like to prepare for the Study, just observe the passage in Genesis 18:22-33, and try to glean some lessons/ principles of intercessory prayer from it.  It is important though, that these principles are really FROM THIS PARTICULAR TEXT.  Do not bring in other passages, except for further proof of the point already made from this passage.  Try to be an exegete, and be prepared for not only state your principle, but give a short explanation how you gleaned it from the text (which verse, why, and how does it apply).  We will do a short group study and bring together what you all could figure out.  Looking forward to see many of you on Friday!

Blessings

Pascal

The fear of the LORD. 7pm, Friday Dec 23rd at the Moore's.

1.     

I really enjoyed the discussion time we shared at the Grosjean's this last Friday and I would like to include time for that in the study coming up. I am posting this a little early and with a bit more info than usual so that you will have time to do a bit of studying on your own. That way we will have enough time for discussion when we meet together as a group. If you have any questions as you go through the material, please feel free to call or email me at any time. I mean it :-)

1 - The first part of the study will center on the nature of the fear of the LORD. What does the bible teach about the fear of the LORD.

Is this actually a trembling fear? Look at Isaiah 6:1-5, Jeremiah 5:21-25.

 

We will look at two main causes for the fear of the LORD. To understand the first cause, look at Hebrews 2:14-15, Genesis 3:8-10, Isaiah 59:1-2, and 1 John 4:17-19. Why would people be afraid to die? What happens after death that might cause fear? Does this change when one puts their faith in Christ? For the second cause of the fear of the LORD, consider the nature of God next to our nature. No one can look at God and live because he is too awesome for us to see completely. When Job questions God, Elihu answers him by proclaiming God’s Majesty. How does Elihu’s response to Job in Job 36 and 37, help foster a fear of the LORD in you? Why would being confronted with God’s majesty and power create fear? Does this change when one puts their faith in Christ? For some practical examples, think of your response if you were to come across a bear in the wilderness or if you were swimming in the ocean and saw a shark’s fin a few feet away. Or imagine you are in a thunder storm and lightning strikes a tree nearby. What do you think your response might be? Think of an example that you’d like to share, when you were confronted by the power of God in nature, or otherwise, and what your response was.

 

Given that Christ never sinned, do you think he ever feared God? Read Isaiah 11:1-4 for the quick answer. Given what you know, how would you explain this?

 

2 - The second part of the study will center on the changes that the fear of the LORD leads to. For that, let’s try a biblical study exercise.

I have gone through the book of Proverbs and found each example of the fear of the LORD. I believe the verses can be broken into 3 categories. The categories are: one, the fear of the LORD leads to loving the knowledge of God; two, the fear of the LORD leads to turning away from evil; three, the fear of the LORD leads to blessing and protection from the LORD. Look at the following verses and try to put them into one of the three categories: Proverbs 1:29, Proverbs 2:1-5, Proverbs 3:7, Proverbs 8:13, Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 10:27, Proverbs 14:2 & 27, Proverbs 14:26, Proverbs 15:16, Proverbs 15:33, Proverbs 16:6, Proverbs 19:23, Proverbs 22:4, Proverbs 23:17, Proverbs 24:21, Proverbs 28:14, Proverbs 29:25, Proverbs 31:30.

 

3 - The third part of the study, where I would like to spend the bulk of the time, centers on specific changes that the fear of the LORD leads to. These are the practical everyday changes that you and I can make to reflect the fear of the LORD in our lives.

 

The three things we learned from the last section are that the fear of the LORD leads to loving the knowledge of God, turning from evil, and being blessed and protected by God. All these concepts demand actual changes from our lives. During the study, I would like to break into groups and discuss each of these three areas of change.

 

The first area centers on Proverbs 2:1-5. How is the LORD fearer characterized and how can we do that more?

 

The second area centers on Proverbs 8:13. Do we truly hate sin? How might we change to grow more in that area?

 

The third area centers on Proverbs 29:25. Here we see that the fear of man and the fear of the LORD are in contrast to each other. When we make decisions are we actually trusting that God blesses his obedient children or do we make decisions fearing man’s response?

 

This is a lot of work, but I think we can get through it if you guys do a bit of the leg work before we get to the study. I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Jacob

Game Night @ the Hughes'

North Hollywood Study,

Morgan and Shelbie Hughes are opening their home this Friday night at 7pm for a game night! Bring the whole family and enjoy some fun games and fruitful fellowship (feel free to bring your favorites games!). They even have an upstairs that works well for putting down sleepy children. :)

Their address is:
[email doulosnorthhollywood@gmail.com for more info]

Contact Shelbie with any questions at (818) 426-6859 or colorfulhues@mac.com.

We hope to see you there!

Is Repentance Part of the Gospel? The Lordship Salvation Controversy and 1John (Biblestudy @ the Grosjeans Friday December 9th, 7:00pm)

Dear Fellow Douloi

In our next Biblestudy @ the Grosjeans, on Friday December 9th, we will still be thinking about introductory questions concerning 1John.  “Lordship Salvation” is a term for a controversy that appeared in the late 1980s and predominantly addressed the question: “Is repentance part of the gospel?”  Robert Lescelius summarizes the issue as following: “The controversy centers on whether one is saved through receiving Jesus as Savior only, or whether one must acknowledge Jesus as Lord also.”  We will see, that the exposition of 1John heavily depends on what position someone takes in this debate.   

As a preparation for our discussion, I would like you to do the following:

1.     Study the main arguments of the “Non-Lordship” View below:

a.     Hodges: “Faith is just an acknowledgment of facts and a inner conviction that the Gospel is true. Just that!” (John 4:10/ John 6:47/ John 11:26-27)

b.     Ryrie: “When a person gives credence to the historical facts that Christ died and rose from the dead and the doctrinal fact that this was for his sins, he is trusting his eternal destiny to the reliability of those truths.” 

c.     Saving faith is just a single drink from the living water, and then you are saved forever, no matter what happens.

d.     Every human being can exercise saving faith.  We believe hundreds of times a day. For example; We drink water from our faucet and believe that the guys at the water supply works did a good job.

e.     Discipleship is a “higher class” of Christians, but not required for every Christian.  Discipleship is like going to school, or having an education, but not required in order to be saved.

f.      God can use repentance, but he can also use other means to draw someone to Christ.  Gratitude or inward dissatisfaction can bring someone to Christ.

g.     Ryrie: “Every Christian will bear spiritual fruit.  Somewhere, sometime, somehow.  Otherwise that person is not a believer... but this does not mean that a believer will always be fruitful… this does not mean that a certain person’s fruit will necessarily be outwardly evident… my understanding of what fruit is …may be faulty or incomplete.”

h.     Christians can be carnal for a long time (1Cor 3:1-3)

i.      “Repentance” means only “change of mind”, since this is what the Greek verb for “to repent” means.

2.     Prepare yourself to work together in a group on a refutation of the “Non Lordship” Position.  Try to reason theologically and from scripture.

I am looking forward having a great discussion next time.

Blessings

- Pascal

Friday night = game night

Dear fellow slaves of Christ,

The Moore family has kindly opened their home for another game night this Friday night at 6:30pm! Looks like this might be becoming a 1st and 3rd Friday night tradition. Come on over and bring a favorite game or two! We'll be starting a little earlier this time, 6:30pm, to allow for more time before the kids head to bed.

Bring your food and drinks or eat beforehand. We hope to see you there!

Stephen and Jacob

Proverbs 1 continued

In studying through proverbs 1 there were some great questions raised and I am sorry that I didn't take more time to go over them in the study. I am learning as well, so please be patient as I grow in my ability to shepherd and help you. I do want to go over some of the questions this coming study, so I have included one here, and will include time for additional questions on the night of the study, so come with your questions and we will spend some time answering them. 

In reference to Proverbs 1:26 the question was raised, "Does God really mock those in trouble? Does He laugh at those in calamity?" What do you think? What scripture would you use to support your position? 

What about that does or doesn't fit with God's character?

In light of your answer to those questions, how would you explain the meaning of prov 1:26? Pay close attention to who is talking in the verse. 

How can this help us/ motivate us when we are facing a trial or difficult situation in our lives?

I would also like to address the Fear of the Lord, and answer those questions we didn't get to last time. So here they are again:

 In the first part of verse 7 we are told, "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." What are some ideas that come to mind when you think of fearing the Lord? Does this include actual trembling fear? If so, what causes that fear? Does our fear of God disappear when we are saved? Does it change, if so, how?
- Did Christ fear God?
 - How does our fear of the Lord relate to His love of us? In other words, How could Fear (which makes you want to run) exist together with Love (which makes you want to draw near)?
 - What clues does the second part of verse 7 give us about how someone who fears the LORD will respond to instruction? 

That's a lot, but I think we can get through it in one evening. If you have questions or comments beforehand, please email or call, I would be happy to talk through anything with you.

For those coming to game night, I'll see you tonight. I look forward to our time this evening and, of course, our time in God's Word next Friday.

Jacob

Game Night at the Moore's!

This Friday the 18th from 7:00 to 9:30 pm we'll be getting together again for some fun at the Moore's house! Bring your favorite game and your weekend personality (whatever that means). Just another informal time to fellowship and bond as Christians.

If you would like drinks or food, please bring it with you.

We hope to see you there!

Stephen and Jacob

How do I know that I am a Possessor of Eternal Life? Biblestudy @ Grosjeans November 11th... 1John Introduction

Dear fellow “douloi” of the Noho-Biblestudy…

I am looking forward to our next Bible Study on November 11^th, when we will begin to dig into the book of 1John.  (And believe me… I am very excited about it ;-)!!!) I studied this book for years and preached through it over the course of 3 years back in Germany, as well as translated the entire book over the summer for my Gladiator Greek class. 

It is one of my favorite books of the Bible because it is so “straight-forward”, practical and simple, but at the same time very deep and convicting.  As a preparation for the study next week you can do the following things…

1)    Please read carefully the Introduction of 1John in the MacArthur Study Bible.  This should give you a brief glimpse into the purpose and the overarching themes of the book.

2)    Ponder on the following questions…

a.     Why is this book so important for us today?

b.     One of the themes of the book is, “worldly philosophies undermine the church”.  Are there areas where we can observe this today? Can you think of some particular examples?

c.     In 1John 1:1 John refers to the “beginning”.  What does he mean by that? Is he referring to creation (Gen. 1:1/ John 1:1) or to something else?

d.     What is “Gnosticism”? Can you think of some consequences/ implications to which degree/ in which area it could influence your own theology/ thinking/ practical life?

e.     What could be the answer to the “Gnostics”?

f.      After reading the introduction to 1John, can you sum up the purpose of the entire letter in one or two sentences?

I know that we probably won’t cover everything in one session, but let us see how far we can go… ;-)

I hope you are as excited as I am…

In His service

Pascal

Game Night @ the Moore's

North Hollywood study!

This Saturday the 5th there will be a game night at the Moore's house from 6 to 9pm. We'll enjoy some fun and fellowship, getting to know personalities over a variety of interactive games.

It will be very informal, bring your own food if you like or eat beforehand. If you have a favorite game, please bring it!

We hope to see you then,

Stephen

Biblestudy @ Moores October 28th

Dear fellow douloi of the nohostudy...

Next week, October 28th, 7:00pm we are going to meet again for our Biblestudy. 
We finally start teaching and we will dig into the book of Proverbs.  Here are some study-questions for warm-up.  We are looking foward to interesting discussions and another great time of fellowship...

Blessings

Pascal and Jacob

First lesson oct 28th 2011

1- The book of Proverbs gets its name from the first line in chapter
one, "the proverbs of Solomon." The word means, "to be like," or,
"compare." Can you think of any New Testament teaching which is
similar?

2- What natural breaks or divisions do you see in the first chapter?

3- In the first part of verse 7 we are told, "the fear of the LORD is
the beginning of knowledge." What are some ideas that come to mind
when you think of fearing the Lord? Does this include actual fear? Can
you think of any New Testament passages that might speak to this
issue?
- How does our fear of the Lord relate to His love of us? In other
words, How could Fear (which makes you want to run) exist together
with Love (which makes you want to draw near)?
- What clues does the second part of verse 7 give us about how
someone who fears the LORD will respond to instruction? What
instruction does this include?

Time permitting:
4- What characterizes the fool? What characterizes the wise?

Friday October 14th @ the Grosjeans

Dear fellow douloi

This coming friday we have another opportunity to come together for fellowship, prayer and getting to know each other.  Here are a couple of things you could do in advance:

1) Please be prepared to give your testimony in about 5-7 minutes.  Really concise, since we would like to hear everyone of you.  We would like to hear, how you got saved, how you came to Grace Church and why do you attend Doulos as well as what are your expectations for the Biblestudy.

2) Please subscribe to this blog so that every time when something new is posted, you get notified.  This would make the process easier for us to keep in touch.
It is easy...
   a) Just click on the field on the right top corner of the blog to subscribe.
   b) Enter your e-mail address and then the feed burner sends you an e-mail
   c) Confirm through clicking on the link in your e-mail
   -Done-

3) Dear friends gave us their Cuisine Art Espresso machine for use as long as we are in the states... now we are really ready for the Biblestudy.  I made my first espresso from it today, it was great.  You are all welcome to try ...but remember: No polution ;-)!

We are looking forward to see you all and we keep you in our prayers.
Blessings and greetings

Friday September 30th BBQ @ Moore's

Since there is a 5th Friday this month, we are going to meet for a BBQ at the Moore's this Friday. Please bring your food, some snacks and a good mood ;-). We just like to hang out and enjoy fellowship in order to get to know each other more.  It would be great if you are prepared to give your testimony.  We are looking forward to a great time of fellowship this Friday.

Welcome to the North Hollywood Bible Study

We are a group of Bible believing Christians, who are a part of Doulos, a fellowship group at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley California.  It is our goal to help equip and encourage each other from God's Word to do the work of the ministry so that we all might grow more fully into the image of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and so honor Him with our lives.

Please join us every month on the 2nd and 4th Fridays to study the wonderful truths of God's Word, to fellowship, sing and pray for each other. Currently we are studying the books of Proverbs and 1John.  We will also be meeting about once a month to enjoy a time of extended fellowship and fun together.