This series stemmed from our desire to teach and equip the church with solid food, as it says in Hebrews 5:12. Sometime in the recent past we realize that too much of the teachings at mid-weeks were repetitive and limited in scope, and as such, mature disciples who were once zealous have lost some of their eagerness and zeal for the word of God. At times, this has contributed to their lack of zeal and has eroded their faith

This material will hopefully help all of us, as disciples of Jesus, to grow in an area which for some was a strength in the past but has become a weakness for most in the present. We all know that it is God’s will for Christians to influence rather than be influenced by the world. To make God known to people is more than distributing leaflets.

Sometimes, during the busy-ness of our days, in the midst of our distractions, we hear an inner voice – thoughts about God that come, perhaps, when we notice a particularly striking sunset, hear a piece of music, watch a certain movie, or witness someone suffering. Perhaps at such times God is calling us to a “romance” with him, to think about him, to give thoughts to his ways, to admire him, the way a couple would admire each other while dating. When you feel this inner longing trying to come to the surface, think of it as God’s romantic love language

这本书名称为恒古的真理, 它体现出我们寻求，神在旧约圣经中,给我们根本的 教导, 这些教导都是明确的,无人有权力与能力去更改它,更无法忽视它,或是断章 取义了解它,传统也取代不了它。作为耶稣的跟随者, 我们虽然活在新约之下，这 并不意味着旧约就不再重要。其实, 它乃还是神的话语。究读旧约，让我们对新 约有更全面的了解、欣赏与感恩。当早期的使徒们还在书写新约时, 那时候的基 督徒只拥有旧约圣经。掌握好旧约, 帮助我们对新约有更深的理解和信念

The New Testament is a series of God inspired books that gives us the full revelation of Jesus Christ. Since this revelation contains the truth by which mankind may be saved, all the more reason we should study its contents seriously. The Christian faith is not so much a religion, but rather a call to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. This call to us is done through human words – words that were written down in the first century, and preserved and passed down through God’s protection to all of us today.

Welcome to our new series entitled, “The Kingdom-Focused Church”. This is not a series of lessons about techniques, nor is it one about programs. This is a series about “kingdom focus”, being focused on the kingdom of God.

AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO HAVE SINNED AGAINST US

For this part of the study guide, please take time daily to go through this material. This is not meant to rush you into forgiving those who have hurt you, but to rather underline the urgency with which this is related to our own salvation as is taught in the scriptures.

There are two New Testament Greek words which are translated as repentance in modern English translations: metanoia (including its verbal counterpart metanoeo) and metamelomai. The first term is translated as repentance fifty-eight times in the New Testament, the latter only six times. As we look at repentance, we’ll concentrate on the word, metanoia

Congratulations on making the most important decision of your life: to become a true disciple of Jesus Christ! You are now embarking on the most exciting years of your life – in which you will see your life impacting many souls for Jesus Christ

As we enter the second decade of the new millennium, we are inspired by the historical narrative of something that happened several millennia ago – the story of Abraham and Sarah, one of the most faith-building accounts in the Bible. It involves a childless, elderly couple willing to obey God and “go” to a land that God had set aside for them and their descendants.

During the period of the conquest, under the dynamic leadership of Joshua, Israel was faithful to God. Apparently, Joshua trained his men well, since the book of Judges tells us that Israel was faithful even after Joshua died. As we shall see in our study of the period of the Judges and the Kings, God’s people began deteriorating to a point where it could be said:

Matthew 22:27-40

Jesus replied, ”’You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the First and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. (NLT)

This book is the result of seeing many people journey to faraway places in order to become a person of blessing. As a leader and counselor, in the church, I am struck by the lengths people have gone both spiritually and emotionally in order to satisfy their thirst of being blessed. In my own life, I also see this to be the case. Thank God I found the blessing in the church. Thank God I was able to receive His blessing in ways that the world would never have been able to provide.

The title of this work, Ascent to Truth, embodies our commitment to know the fundamentals of God’s teachings in the Bible, starting in the Old Testament. As followers of Jesus, we are under the New Covenant. This, however, does not imply that the Old Testament is not important – it is still the word of God. In addition, by studying the Old Testament, we gain a fuller appreciation of the New Testament, i.e., the teachings of the New Covenant. A good grasp of the Old Testament will help us appreciate and deepen our understanding of the New Testament. In the first century, as the New Testament was in the process of being written by the early Apostles, the Scripture of the early Christians was the Old Testament.

When one analyzes the book of Acts, one will the notice the amount of priority that Luke, the writer, places on the imprisonment of the Christian leaders, such as Acts 4: 3,21, Acts 5:40-42, Acts 9: 22-25, Acts 12: 1-23, Acts 16: 19-40, Acts 18:12-17,Acts 21: 27-36 and Acts 22- Acts 28. In fact, almost 30% of the book of Acts deals with accounts relating to Paul’s arrests, custody, defense and imprisonment. This fact alone merits this subject be given a serious study. Perhaps Luke wanted to educate his readers about this aspect of Paul’s life.

What makes up an awesome bible talk group that pleases God? Even for those of us who have been leading other disciples for many years, the answer to this question can be vague. However, we know what it is not.

This study series has been prepared to supplement and personalize lessons from the Financial Workshop Weekend, September 5-7, 2008. Please take the time to do the reading each day. Feel free to write down insights on this paper, or in a notebook. Materials from the 1990 issue of Disciples Today (“The Disciple and Money”) as well as the Singapore church’s Finance Working Group’s Paper of June 3, 2003 have been used as references to assist preparation of these quiet time materials. I hope you enjoy them! – Mark Templer.