Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Foundations of the Christian Faith



Tonight I am starting my first class for adults.  For the last couple months I have been working with our Executive Pastor to help develop a lesson plan that we feel will be helpful to people in their walk with Christ.  I know that there are many things we can invest our time into that is why the goal for this class is to be helpful not smart.  


The Foundations class will be eight weeks long and meet upstairs in our church office on Wednesday Night from 7pm-8:30pm.  We will have round tables out so that people can discuss what we talk about in the class and pray with others before they leave.  We are hoping that this helps people find others in their life to connect with and allows for group knowledge to be shared.


If you are thinking about taking the class, or have already signed up, here is what you can basically expect to get out of the class (you can also expect me to throw some crazy twists):


Week One: Introduction to the class
This week we will intro the class and give an overview of everything that we will cover in the class.

Week Two: Understanding the Bible (Structure and History)
Goal: To give a basic understanding of the Bible.  We will cover the 66 books, 40 different authors, discuss locations of the writings and end with an overview of the original languages.

Week Three: Understanding the Old Testament (Structure and Theology)
Goal: To discuss the calling of Abraham, see the grace of God in the lives in Israel, discuss the nature of God and touch on some prophecies of Christ. 

Week Four: Understanding the New Testament (Structure and Theology)
Goal: Talk through the nature of Christ (fully God and fully human).  Look over different terms for the different literature that we find in the New Testament.

Week Five: Defining Biblical Terms
Goal: For people to leave with a basic understanding of Sanctification, Justification, Atonement and meaning of Baptism.

Week Six: Spiritual Formations
Goal: Now that we understand the text we need to teach people to interact with the text as they grow closer to Christ.  Teach about Lectio Divina, Fasting, Prayer, and create a personal growth plan.

Week Seven: Apologetics 
Goal: Teach people how to accurately defend their faith without getting angered.

Week Eight: Alliance Distinctive's
Goal: To help people understand what is different about South Hills Church Community in relation to other denominations and groups. 


If this sounds good to you go ahead and sign up for the class here!

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