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- Our Responsibilities Toward EldersHave respect for God’s arrangement.
- Acts 14:23
- Titus 1:4-5
- Acts 6:3
- The local church should follow the elders, not whoever complains the loudest.
- Hebrews 13:17
Esteem them highly.- Hebrews 13:17
- I Thessalonians 5:12-13
- I Peter 5:1-5
Take responsibility instead of just blaming the elders.- I Thessalonians 5:14 – Brethren are the ones being urged to action here – not just elders.
Remember that they are humans, not superhumans.- I Timothy 3:2-7
- Titus 1:5-9
- We must be careful to not be too lenient or too strict with God’s qualifications for elders. After the many mistakes that Peter made, he was an elder!
- I Timothy 5:17-22
Free up the shepherds to shepherd.- I Timothy 3:8-13 – Qualifications for deacons.
- Acts 6:2-6 – Were these men deacons? It’s not clear. Either way, their job was to free up the apostles to do their work.
- Not just deacons but all members should do their part to serve.
33 min - Introduction to the Gospel of MarkIntroduction to the book
- I Peter 5:13 – Mark was not a physical son. This is referring to a spiritual relationship.
- Colossians 4:10
- Mark worked with Peter and Paul.
- Antioch – Jerusalem
- Acts 11:29-30
- Jerusalem
- Acts 12:5, 12
- Act 12:1-17 – Paul and Barnabas in Jerusalem.
Travels of Mark- Antioch (45 AD) – Acts 12:25
- Salamis (48 AD) – Acts 13:5
- Perga – Acts 13:13
- Jerusalem (49 AD) – Mark back home
- Antioch (52 AD) – Mark with Paul and Barnabas
- Cyprus – Acts 15:37-39 – Mark with Barnabas (the last we hear about Barnabas)
- Rome (63 AD) – Mark with Paul during his first imprisonment
- Colossians 4:10-11; Philemon 1:23-24
- Babylon (I Peter 5:13) – Mark with Peter in Babylon
- Asia Minor (68 AD) – II Timothy 4:11 – Mark with Timothy during Paul’s second imprisonment
- Rome: Until Paul was killed
- Alexandria, Egypt – Preached and was martyred there
Timeline- Mark was written about 67 AD according to most sources, although some say it was written about 48 AD, before Matthew.
40 min - The Work of EldersIntroduction
- Acts 20:17, 28
- I Thessalonians 5:12-13; I Timothy 3:1
Why study this?- To help our current elders in their work.
- To help other men prepare for this work.
- To help the rest of us appreciate their work.
- To differentiate between tradition and God’s word.
Overseeing souls- Acts 20:28-32
- I Thessalonians 5:12-13 – Elders have charge over people in the congregation and lead them.
- I Timothy 3:4-5 – Elders take care of the church of God. An elder’s work as a family man shows how he will do as an elder. If a man cannot lead his own family well, how can he hope to lead a local church?
- Hebrews 13:17 – Elders keep watch over souls. They will give account for the souls under their care.
- Acts 11:27-30 – This is the only passage in the New Testament that specifically talks about the elders handling money.
- James 5:14-16 – This could be talking about spiritual sickness.
Wielding the sword of the Spirit- Titus 1:9-14 – Elders must use the Bible in both positive and negative ways. Both exhorting and refuting error.
- Acts 20:32 – Prepare to use the word!
- I Timothy 5:17-18 – Elders are worthy of double honor: respect and money. It is rare these days for elders to be paid, but we do have scriptural authority for it.
Developing their character- I Peter 5:1-4 – Elders work voluntarily, show eagerness, and act as examples for others.
- Ezekiel 34:1-6, 10 – Shepherds love people and are willing to step into many situations even if they are awkward.
- Acts 20:30
- I Thessalonians 5:12
- Titus 1:9, 13
35 min - Acts 13:1-14:10Introduction
- Acts 1:8
- Acts 2-7 – Jerusalem
- Acts 8-13 – Judea and Samaria
- Acts 14-28 – Remotest parts of the earth
First preaching journey (Acts 13-14)Begin: Antioch of Syria (Acts 13:1-3)- Acts 13:1 – Manaen grew up with Herod Antipas!
Cyprus (Acts 13:4-12)- Acts 13:11 – Saul had the power to strike people blind!
- Acts 13:9 – We are not told why Saul’s name changed to Paul. Saul was a Hebrew name and Paul is a Greek name, so it’ possible he used this name when preaching to Gentiles.
Paul’s sermon in Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:13-43)- As was common, Paul started with a history lesson and cites Israelite history.
- Acts 13:22 – This could be a subtle reminder that God can “remove” us for disobedience.
- Acts 13:37-39 – How to convince Jews? Remind them of the prophecies and show how Jesus fulfilled them.
Jews and Gentiles (Acts 13:44-52)- Acts 13:44 – In the second week, nearly the entire city came to hear Paul. The audience was probably a Gentile majority at this point.
- Acts 13:45 – The Jews were jealous of the large crowds and began actively working against God!
- Acts 13:48 – “as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”
- This is a bit of a grammatical inversion. We never see a case of God directly changing someone’s heart. Compare Hebrews 9:27.
Division in Jerusalem (Acts 14:1-7)Treated like Gods in Lystra (Acts 14:8-20)- Acts 14:9 – This does not mean that the man’s faith was required for the miracle.
45 min - Genesis, Part 13Genesis 26 – Isaac repeats some of the mistakes of Abraham
- Genesis 26:34-35 – Esau marries foreign wives.
Genesis 27 – Jacob tricks Isaac and Esau- Genesis 27:1-4 – Isaac asks Esau to bring him his favorite food so he can bless him.
- Genesis 27:5-17 – Rebekah and Jacob trick Isaac to get the blessing.
- Genesis 27:18-29 – Isaac blesses Jacob.
- Genesis 27:30-46 – Isaac is angry with Jacob.
Genesis 28 – Jacob’s ladder- Genesis 28:1-3 – Isaac blessed Jacob and tells him to go find a wife from Laban in Paddan-aram. Do not take a wife from Canaan.
- Genesis 28:6-8 – Esau takes a wife from Ishmael to spite his father.
- Genesis 28:10-20 – God makes the covenant with Jacob and blesses him. Jacob realizes the “Lord is in this place and I did not know it.” Really?
- Genesis 28:21-22 – Jacob seems to put a condition on God’s journey (“then the Lord shall be my God”).
Genesis 29 – Jacob gets snookered- Genesis 29:1-12 – Jacob meets Rachel. Notice the contrast between the approach of the servant of Abraham and Jacob.
- Genesis 29:13-20 – Jacob sets his own price, saying he will serve Laban for seven years. Jacob is not motivated to go back because he is afraid of Esau.
- Genesis 29:21-30 – Laban tricks Jacob. Did Laban really care about the marriage order of his daughters? How did Jacob not know it was Leah? Where was Rachel? What should Jacob have done instead? Laban sets the new price.
- Genesis 29:31-35 – The results are a truly dysfunctional family, but God uses Jacob and Laban’s bad decisions to progress His plan and keep His promises.
Genesis 30 – A dysfunctional family- Genesis 30:1-24 – Jacob’s wives fight over him. Jacob has to deal with his family drama. Rachel’s irony of saying she will die without children, but then dying while giving birth.
- Genesis 30:25-36 – Jacob wants to leave but Laban sets a new price. Laban recognizes that God is behind Jacob. Jacob uses the word “I” a lot. Jacob makes a deal with Laban.
Genesis 31 – Jacob goes back to Canaan- Genesis 31:1-19 – Jacob realizes that Laban is starting to figure out he is losing livestock. Jacob stops using the word “I” so much.
Genesis 32 – God prevails over Jacob- Genesis 32:9-12 – Jacob humbles himself to God and prays.
- Genesis 32:13-23 – Jacob prepares a massive gift for Esau and changes the way he originally intended on meeting Esau.
- Genesis 32:24-32 – Jacob wrestles with God. God renames Jacob to Israel.
42 min - The Local ChurchIntroduction
- John 3:16
Characteristics of the local churchCharacteristicsPer secriptureCatholicBaptistAssembly of GodChurch of Christchurch of ChristAuthorityNew Testament❌❌❌❔✔️Namechurch of Christ❌❌✔️✔️✔️Plan of salvationHear, believe, repent, confess, baptism❌❌❌✔️✔️Order of worshipSing, pray, teach, Lord’s Supper, give❌❌❌✔️✔️WorkPreach gospel, benevolence, discipline❌❌❌❌✔️OrganizationLocal church❌❌❌❌✔️29 min - Acts 11:19-12:25Acts 11
- Acts 11:21 – They turned to the Lord. Compare Acts 26:17-18; I Thessalonians 1:9. Turning to God involves serving Him (and repenting).
- Acts 11:23 – Barnabas saw the grace of God – how the church was growing and prospering.
- Acts 11:28 – This famine is recorded in history.
- Acts 11:29 – Relief was sent specifically to the needy brethren – not to all people in the region.
Acts 12- These events took place roughly 44 AD, about 14 years after the events of Acts 2.
- Acts 12:1-2 – Two martyrs are mentioned by name in the first twelve chapters of Acts: Stephen and James. We don’t know how many more Christians were killed by Paul before his conversion.
- Acts 12:3 – Herod imprisoned Christians to please others. We must be careful not to do wrong just to please others.
- Acts 12:11 – Compare Psalms 126.
- Acts 12:13 – Compare Peter’s state in John 18. God has truly brought Peter out of prison. He is a changed man now.
- Acts 12:17 – Catholics sometimes argue that this “other place” is Rome where Peter became the first Pope. But Peter is again in Jerusalem in Acts 15:7 and we have no evidence in the New Testament of Peter taking any sort of position like this. Peter might have left to an undisclosed location as a strategic move because he knew the persecution was pointed at him at this point, so he left to take it away from the other Christians.
42 min - I Corinthians 4: God, the Corinthians, and PaulKeep the proper reverence for God.
- I Corinthians 4:1
- I Corinthians 1:14-15 – Paul is trying to get them out of the party spirit.
- I Corinthians 1:25
- I Corinthians 1:31; 2:4-5
- I Corinthians 3:19
- I Corinthians 4:19-20 – God has the real power! See I Corinthians 1:18. The power is the gospel.
- I Corinthians 2:1
Be willing to accept admonishment.- I Corinthians 4:6-8 – Watch out for arrogance! Paul and Apollos submitted to these things, so they should also.
- I Corinthians 8:1 – Don’t let knowledge make you arrogant.
- I Corinthians 4:14, 18, 21 – Paul loved them enough to admonish them.
- II Corinthians 2:6-9
- We must be willing to accept admonishment and accept others back when they repent from sin.
Endure headships for Christ.- I Corinthians 4:9-21
29 min - Genesis, Part 12Genesis 23 – Sarah dies
- Tribute to Sarah. Sarah dies and Abraham buys a burial place. I Peter 3:6; Hebrews 11:11. Sarah was a big deal!
Genesis 24 – Isaac marries- Genesis 24:1-9 – Abraham asks his servant to get a bride for Isaac from Mesopotamia but not to take Isaac there. Trust God to show you.
- Genesis 24:10-14 – The servant prays for God to direct him.
- Genesis 24:15-27 – The servant asks the first woman he sees, who happens to be beautiful but proves to be a servant. The servant bows and worships.
- Genesis 24:28-61 – The servant repeats what happened at the well to show that God was behind it. Laban and Bethuel cannot argue. The servant wants to go back to Isaac as soon as possible. Rebekah agrees to go.
- Genesis 24:62-67 – Isaac was going out to meditate and meets Rebekah, who covers herself. She became his wife and he loved her.
Genesis 25 – Abraham dies, Jacob and Esau are born- Genesis 25:1-6 – Abraham has other sons with other women. (Was this right for Abraham to do?) Abraham sends them away to the east.
- Genesis 25:6-11 – Abraham dies and Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave he bought to bury Sarah.
- Genesis 25:11-18 – Descendants of Ishmael. Muslims claim they are descendants of Ishmael, thus also children of Abraham.
- Genesis 25:19-21 – Isaac prayed for his wife to be pregnant.
- Genesis 25:22-23 – Her pregnancy was difficult, so she prayed to God. God chose who would be blessed. See Romans 9:11.
- Genesis 25:24-28 – Jacob (supplanter, cheater) and Esau (hairy) were born. Parental partiality caused problems.
- Genesis 25:29-34 – Jacob cheats Esau out of his birthright, but Esau allows himself to be cheated. Esau didn’t view his birthright as important enough (see Hebrews 12:15). As Christians, how many times do we fail to value our birthright of salvation by continuing to sin?
Genesis 26 – Isaac repeats some of the mistakes of Abraham- Genesis 26:1-6 – There was a famine in the land. God tells Abraham not to go to Egypt but to stay in Canaan and He would bless him.
- Genesis 26:7-11 – Isaac repeats the same mistake that Abraham made to the same guy!
42 min - Jericho: In God's Word and in the GroundIntroduction
- Joshua 6
- Kathleen Kenyon, Digging Up Jericho, p. 262-262
- In her timeline, no trace of the town walls of Jericho could be found.
- Joshua 6:1-3, 20-27
Fortified walls – just like the Bible says- Deuteronomy 9:1
- Kathleen Kenyon doesn’t deny that Jericho was a mighty, fortified city.
- The city was built on a hill with a 30-40 foot other wall six fee thick. There was an inner wall that topped out at 70-75 feet above ground level.
- The area inside the inner wall was about six acres. The total area inside the outer wall was about nine acres.
- There were possibly 1200 people inside the inner walls.
- People also lived between the inner and outer walls, but this was likely slums. Rahab would have lived here.
The walls fell flat – just like the Bible says- Joshua 3:15 – a time of harvest
- Jericho had a spring inside the city, along with massive food storage. They were well prepared for a long siege.
- The walls fell in such a way to provide a siege ramp for the Israelites.
- Joshua 6:20 – Each man went straight ahead because the fallen walls made a siege ramp for him.
Rahab’s home – just like the Bible says- Joshua 2:15, 12-21
- Joshua 6:17, 22-23
- There was an area of the wall on the north side with a couple of homes attached that did not fall down. This is possibly Rahab’s house. Outside the wall on that side was a convenient place where the spies could have escaped to.
A city destroyed by fire – just like the Bible says- The city was heavily burnt, but the outer walls fell first.
- Much burned grain in ports was found, which is very unusual. Normally, attackers would steal the grain first because it was very valuable and then burn the city. But God told Israel to turn the city without taking the grain, so that is what they did.
- Joshua 6:18-19
- Hebrews 11:30
35 min
About ScriptureStream
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Just the gospel, plainly spoken. ScriptureStream compiles lessons presented at the Benchley church of Christ, located just north of Bryan, TX. Visit ScriptureStream.com for full notes on each lesson…
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