Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary

Dr. Rob Boyd shares his personal experience from college when he first encountered homosexual behavior with his roommate, leading him to seek God's guidance on how to respond biblically and lovingly to those struggling with homosexual behavior.

Scripture Texts

1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 6:1

Main Points or Ideas

• The Question of Homosexuality - The Bible clearly states that homosexual behavior (not inclination, but behavior) is sin, but it's not the unpardonable sin, and God loves homosexuals just as He loves all sinners.
• The Command to Christians - Christians are commanded to restore those caught in sin with gentleness, not to ridicule, harass, reject, or hate them, but to love them as Christ loved them.
• Homosexuality in Scripture - Both Old Testament (Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, Genesis 19) and New Testament (Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) clearly describe homosexual behavior as sin against God.
• Excuses Examined - Common justifications include orientation excuses ("born that way"), judgmental excuses ("who are you to judge"), selfish excuses ("I deserve happiness"), and biblical excuses (misinterpreting Scripture).
• The Answer - Only the gospel and Jesus Christ can change hearts and behavior, not self-will or determination.

Conclusion

Christians must love homosexuals as Christ loved them by treating them with dignity, speaking truth in love, and praying for them, demonstrating that Christians are known by their love.

Pastor Brent Armstrong encourages students near the end of the semester to serve with joy regardless of circumstances, sharing how his church recently experienced a "wow day" on Easter with 1,382 people attending, 461 first-time visitors, and 59 people trusting Christ.

Scripture Text

1 Kings 17-19

Main Points or Ideas

• Elijah's Wow Day - Elijah courageously confronted King Ahab, demonstrated public confidence in God by challenging 850 false prophets on Mount Carmel, called down fire from heaven, killed the prophets of Baal, prayed for rain, and ran 17 miles from Mount Carmel to Jezreel.
• Elijah's Oh No Day - Despite his incredible victory, Elijah became discouraged when threatened by Jezebel and requested that God take his life, demonstrating how even great servants of God can have emotional downs after spiritual highs.

The key principle is learning temperance - restraining and moderating our emotions so that circumstances don't dictate whether we serve with enthusiasm or discouragement. We should focus on what we can control: our attitude and our effort.

Conclusion

God didn't coddle Elijah in his discouragement but gave him new work to do and people to mentor, showing that when we're down, we need to get our eyes off ourselves and back on the Lord to serve with joy whether having wow days or oh no days.

Dr. Dave Doran addresses believers about discipleship, noting that while Christians have love for God and others implanted in their hearts, we still battle the remnants of our fallen nature and live in an individualistic culture that negatively affects discipleship. He emphasizes the need for a culture of discipleship and addresses three common enemies: independence, insecurity, and feelings of inadequacy.

Scripture Text

Colossians 1:28

Main Points or Ideas

• Keep an eternal focus - Focus on presenting people complete in Christ rather than just decisions, emphasizing the progressive transformation into Christ's likeness rather than mechanical curriculum completion
• See individual needs - Discipleship happens through seeing and addressing individual needs, requiring close relationships where you can see into others' lives and be seen by them
• Point them to Jesus Christ - The center of our faith is Jesus Christ, and the best thing we can do is help people see Jesus better in all His aspects - what He did, who He is, and what He's coming to do
• Wisely apply God's truth to life - Listen carefully to understand circumstances, choices, thoughts, and desires, then apply relevant Scripture wisely rather than beating people up with Bible verses

Conclusion

Every believer can make an eternal difference in someone's life by coming alongside them with God's truth, and if everyone engaged in discipleship, it would make a powerful difference for Christ in building up His church.

Dr. Dave Doran emphasizes that living skillfully according to God's revelation requires wisdom, which involves learning from the past, understanding the present, and foreseeing consequences of our choices. He uses the framework of three-dimensional vision: hindsight, insight, and foresight.

Scripture Text

Proverbs 22:3

Main Points or Ideas

1. Learning from hindsight - The prudent learn from their own experiences and the experiences of others, properly evaluating them under God's truth to avoid repeating foolish patterns.
2. Developing insight - Wisdom requires discernment to see the true nature of situations, distinguishing between good and evil, wisdom and folly, by using God's Word as the standard rather than being naive or gullible/
3. Exercising foresight - The wise can envision outcomes and think through where their choices will lead, using God-given imagination to trace decision-making processes and avoid destructive paths

Conclusion

In a culture that is breaking down morally, believers must cultivate wisdom by learning from the past, discerning the present clearly, and thinking ahead about consequences, so they can avoid unnecessary problems and focus on following Christ and advancing the gospel.

Mark Kittrell shares an encouraging story from Bangladesh about Chinese factory workers coming to Christ through a Bible study, demonstrating how God's kingdom process works through sowing, growing, and reaping.

Scripture Text

Mark 4:26-29

Main Points or Ideas

1. Actively sowing - The kingdom of God requires scattering the seed of God's Word, which has supernatural properties and power. Our responsibility is to get the seed and soil together through evangelism and witness.
2. Patiently growing - Once the seed is sown, we must let God do His work in the growing process. We cannot speed it up or delay it - it's built into the DNA of the seed and ordained by God's sovereignty.
3. Joyfully reaping - The culmination includes both celebration for those who enter the kingdom and judgment for those who reject Christ as King. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

Conclusion

God has established an unstoppable process for His kingdom through the gospel, and our role is to actively scatter the seed, patiently trust God's work in the growing process, and anticipate the joyful harvest when Christ's kingdom is fully established.

Alan Benson emphasizes that Philippians is about thinking and having the mind of Christ, particularly focusing on how to finish well in the Christian life. He uses the analogy of running a race to completion rather than just running hard and burning out before the finish.

Scripture Text

Philippians 3:8-11

Main Points or Ideas

1. Command worth repeating - Paul's "rejoice in the Lord" is a call to reset thinking and evaluate whether we believe based on the evidence of our lives that what we claim to believe is really real.
2. Caution worth repeating - Believers must be alert to opposition that causes confidence in the flesh rather than Christ, constantly returning to biblical values rather than living by worldly passions.
3. Case study worth repeating - Paul's life demonstrates counting all religious achievements as loss for the excellence of knowing Christ, moving from self-righteousness to Christ's righteousness.
4. Finally - focus - Paul's focus was on what Christ accomplished in his salvation and pressing toward that goal, forgetting past merits and demerits while forging ahead to please Jesus

Conclusion

Finishing well requires daily evaluation of whether we're living for what Christ intended when He saved us, with a focus on knowing Him more intimately and being conformed to His image rather than pursuing our own plans.

Santiago Curling shares the story of Macedonian Christian Academy and how God's providence and sovereignty worked through difficult circumstances, including his mother's death and father's abandonment, to continue and grow the ministry.

Scripture Text

1 Peter 2:4-10

Main Points or Ideas

• God writes amazing stories - The video and testimony demonstrate how God works through crisis and difficulty to accomplish His purposes, turning what seemed like ministry failure into growth and blessing
• The mission clarification - Through personal spiritual awakening, the mission became "Because of Christ, disciples are made and families are built," emphasizing Christ's preciousness rather than just performance and service
• The awakening process - True spiritual vitality comes from finding Christ precious and worthy, moving beyond religious performance to genuine love for Jesus as the ultimate treasure

Conclusion

God uses our lives to bring Him glory in ways we cannot imagine, and the key is awakening to the preciousness of Christ through the gospel, unloading competing treasures from our hearts, and embracing Christ as supremely valuable.

Dr. Les Ollila addresses the issue of bitterness, using Naomi's story from Ruth to show how even godly people can turn bitter when they take their eyes off God's ultimate purpose during difficult circumstances.

Scripture Text

Ruth 1

Main Points or Ideas

• Sources of bitterness - Dissatisfaction can come from various areas: marital, occupational, physical, or personal circumstances, often arising when normal life suddenly turns difficult
• Departure and disaster - Like Naomi leaving Bethlehem for Moab, people often trust their own plans more than God's plans, leading to further complications and spiritual distance
• Symptoms of bitterness - Bitterness manifests through hopelessness about the future, pushing friends away, flagrant blaming of God, flawed testimony, fallen countenance, false view of the past, and failure to see present blessings

Conclusion

Bitterness is anger fully developed and discontent fully established, but believers must remember that God uses all circumstances to conform us to Christ's image, and failures are never final as long as God's grace is operating.

Dr. Jim Tillotson challenges students with the fundamental question of who they are living for, using personal stories of close calls with death to illustrate the gratitude that should motivate Christians to live for Christ rather than themselves.

Scripture Text

2 Corinthians 5:14-17

Main Points or Ideas

• The reality of hell and salvation - All have sinned and deserve hell, but God's love provided salvation through Christ's sacrifice on the cross, giving believers a "close call" from eternal damnation
• The motivation of gratitude - Just as near-death experiences produce overwhelming gratitude, Christians should live with overwhelming gratitude for salvation, remembering what Christ did through communion
• The call to live for Him - Because Christ died for us, we should no longer live for ourselves but for Him who died for us and rose again, being bought with a price to glorify God
• The choice of focus - Students must choose whether to make plans based on what they want or to pray and seek God's will, living as soldiers carrying their corner of the bed to bring people to Jesus

Conclusion

Christians who truly understand their salvation should live with overwhelming gratitude that compels them to stop living for themselves and instead live for Christ who died for them, making their lives count for eternity.

Pastor Mike Augsburger explains that God's pruning is a normal part of the Christian life, using the vine and branches passage to show how God cuts things from our lives to keep us clinging to Christ and producing fruit.

Scripture Text

John 15:1-8

Main Points or Ideas

1. God's practice of pruning - The Father as vine dresser prunes both dead branches (non-believers) and living branches (believers), with believers being those who are truly "in Christ" and producing fruit.
2. God's procedure of pruning - God prunes things that hinder growth and sometimes good things to promote better growth, always done with great care and love, while believers should also actively prune sin from their own lives.
3. God's purpose in pruning - Pruning leads to fruitfulness, assurance of salvation through seeing fruit produced, answered prayer as our desires align with God's, and God being glorified as we prove to be His disciples

Conclusion

God's pruning, though painful, is always purposeful and done in love to help us abide more fully in Christ, and believers should both submit to God's pruning and actively prune things from their lives that hinder their relationship with Jesus.