FBCJ SOLID Youth

Course corrections part 3

Course correction part 2

Course correction part 1

Based on our Youth Ministry's responses to a survey we landed on this new series... Redeeming the Time. During this series we will be navigating through many different aspects of how we can practically redeem the time that God has given us upon this earth. In this intro message we talk about Ephesians 5:15-16 and what it means to biblically redeem the time by walking circumspectly and wisely with the Lord each day.

One of the biggest take-aways from 2020 that the Lord clearly wanted us to learn from all the craziness with COVID, cancel culture, etc. is the fact that grace is a necessary characteristic to have ready at an arm's length at any given moment -- towards family, friends, fellow Christians and the lost... This, without question, comes with maturity over time.

Now that we have gone through all the rules of Bible study, let's put it to work! When was Jesus born? That is what we will find out as we learn to use what we have learned...

There are some things in the Bible that will require time and personal maturity to understand. We must remember that God is infinitely wise and we will never be able to completely understand him. Similarly, God's book is supernatural and infinitely deep. We will never be able to exhaust it and completely understand it. This rule is best summarized when Jesus said, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now (Jn. 16:12)."

These two rules of Bible study go hand-in-hand. We should never base a major doctrine on a question or a single verse or passage in the Bible. All the major doctrines in the Bible are repeated in various places. As a basic rule, always have 2-3 verses or passages that back up and prove what you believe about God, or anything else spiritually. If you faithfully do this, it is hard to get off track into false doctrine!

When studying the Bible, we should never violate a clear passage of scripture when trying to understand a more obscure or difficult passage of scripture. There are places in the Bible that can be hard to understand, but we need to be careful to keep those places in the Bible in the proper context with other verses and passages. If we do not, then we run the risk of believing in heresy!

Our attitude toward the Bible determines everything... the state of our heart impacts what we are able to truly hear from God. If we are going to be true Bible-believers, then we must be willing to change anything that we think or believe when we find that it does not line up with what the Scriptures clearly state.