Bereans of Trinity

Final Thoughts to the Berean Class In this message Rick reflects on the idea of transitions in life, and looks briefly at key transitions throughout redemptive history, from Jacob's blessing of his sons to the Apostle John's words to those he loved late in his life and ministry. In this final Sunday that Rick will be teaching the Berean class, he shares from his own heart about his teaching the class over the past years, and lessons he's learned that will be helpful to the class at it moves forward in the weeks and months ahead. (49 min)

Psalm 18:6-24 Continuing our study of David's psalm celebrating his deliverance, we considered what happened when David cried out to God in his suffering. What was David trying to say about God's response with his very vivid description of an angry God flying down to deliver him? Is David saying that we always experience immediate deliverance when we cry out to God in our affliction? David makes some very bold claims about himself as to why God delighted in him. If we are reluctant to make such claims about ourselves, does that mean that we can take no comfort from this psalm? We know that David had a number of very significant moral lapses. How could he claim to have been "blameless" and to have kept the Lord before him? Can we have confidence in God's delighting in us? (49 min.)

Psalm 18:1-6 In looking at this psalm we find David full of love for the God who has delivered him from his terrible struggles. What imagery from David's life experiences does he use to express what God has been to him in his distress? What is the habit that David has established in his life? How is David's God different from the gods of the nations around him? What was David's crisis like? How long did it last? Does God always act when we cry out to Him in our distress? We all know people who have suffered much more than we have. What is a mistake we often make when we compare our suffering to that of others? (41 min.)

Psalm 18 (Intro) In this lesson we take an introductory look at Psalm 18. This was a psalm apparently composed by David after his deliverance from the pursuit of King Saul. It is believed that David also used this psalm in celebration after other great deliverances in his life. What are some of the things about David and his life which serve as a background to the imagery and metaphors David uses in this psalm? What was David like as a person? What are a couple of things that are important to remember about suffering and deliverance as we begin to consider this psalm? What was very unusual about David's expression of love for God? What should we keep in mind when we openly confess to God our love for him? (38 min.)

Psalm 45:12-17 In this lesson we continue to consider the song of praise of the King's bride. What is the psalmist picturing about the future of God's people when he speaks about the daughter of Tyre and the rich people bringing gifts and seeking favor? What does the beautiful clothing of the bride represent? What is so unusual about the way the bride of Christ is pictured in this psalm compared to how we typically think of the church? How is it possible to think of the church as being attired with glorious deeds? What does the new bride of the King receive in the place of what she's had to leave behind. (63 min.)

Psalm 45:10-11 In this abbreviated lesson we continued our study of Psalm 45 about the King's Wedding. In the portion we looked at in this section the psalmist shifts our thoughts to the King's new bride. What were the ancient Jewish weddings like, particularly in the case of the wedding of a king? Who does the bride represent? What does the psalmist do to stress the importance of what he has to say to the bride? What has been a condition of being joined to God throughout Scripture? As the bride approaches the King in the palace, what is the first gesture she is called to make, and why? (34 min.)

Psalm 45:1-9 In this lesson we began looking at a psalm celebrating the wedding of the King. What is different about interpreting the Psalms from other portions of Scripture? What are some of the literary devices we encounter when we read the Psalms? What are the two main divisions of this psalm? What has the psalmist been meditating upon that has so filled his heart? Why do we believe that this is a messianic psalm? How does the True King of Israel differ from all others? What are the two contrasting features of the King which are praised in this psalm? How does the psalmist characterize the King's throne? How does the psalmist convey the beauty and splendor of the King's environment and His court? To whom are we introduced at the conclusion of this section of the psalm? (69 min)

Changes Ahead In this message Rick shares things that God has been doing in his own life and has been teaching him over the past several years. Meanwhile, the Lord has also been leading the church leadership to establish a one year repeating Campus Group pertaining to apologetics and related issues. They have asked Rick to lead this project. Rick shares how the Lord has led him in his own experience to agree to take this position for at least the first year. Of course this entails big changes for our Berean class as we move forward. Rick challenges class members to be seeking the Lord regarding their own lives and what He desires of the class as he moves on to another ministry. (65 min)

Romans 16:21-27 In this final lesson from Paul's epistle to the church in Rome, we considered those who were sending greetings to the believers in Rome, and then contemplated the doxology at the end of the letter. Why was Timothy so dear to Paul? What was outstanding about this young man? Who was Tertius? What are some of the difficulties presented by the doxology at the end of Romans 16? How can we resolve those difficulties? What is Paul's primary point that he sets out to make in the doxology? What is the measure and means by which we are established in the faith? What is the Gospel? What are three things we learn about the Gospel in this doxology? What will be a subject of our glorifying of God throughout the eons of eternity? (57 min.)

Romans 16:19-20 In this lesson we continue to consider Paul's warning to the Roman Christians about the dangers of false teachers disrupting the unity of the fellowship and causing individuals to falter in their walk with Christ. What are the three tools or flags which the scriptures give us for detecting when someone is a false teacher? What do false teachers look like, according to Jesus? Is it possible for a false teacher to produce good fruit in the church? How does Paul's concern here differ from his concern in chapters fourteen and fifteen about people with different teachings? What are some characteristics of the manner in which false teachers go about their destructive work? What is one way to detect what the outcome of a teaching will be before it even begins to take root? If the Roman church was doing as well as everyone, including Paul, had heard, why was Paul so concerned? What was Paul confident that God would do if the Roman believers heeded his admonition? (59 min)

Romans 16:17-18 In this passage Paul makes a rather abrupt shift in his subject matter. What has prompted him to interrupt his greetings to interject this warning about danger to the church? Paul mentions two impacts that these kind of peoples have. How are these impacts different? What is a scandal? Against what is the teaching and influence of these people contrasted? How did the New Testament era church know what was the faith "once for all delivered to the saints?" How can we know today? What is to be the relationship of the believer to the kind of people Paul is describing? Where does the motivation of these people fall short, and what actually motivates them? How do these people get Christians to overlook the faulty content of their teaching and to follow them? What kind of Christians are particularly vulnerable to these tactics? (61 min)

Romans 16:5-16 In this lesson we explore many more of the individuals to whom Paul sends greetings in Rome. We find that this is much more than just a list of names, but that Paul finds something positive to say about each one of them. What is a key question about Junias? What four things were significant about Adronicus and Junias? What did Paul mean by pointing out that Apelles was approved or tested in Christ? What is significant about those of the households of Aristobulus and Narcissus and the man Herodian? What was particularly special about Rufus that Paul would call him "chosen?" What do we think we know about the two groups listed at the end of this section? What is important about the women in Paul's list? What lessons can we learn from how Paul speaks of these 26 individuals? (66 min)

Romans 16:3-5 This passage introduces us to Aquila and Priscilla. Who were this couple? Why are they important to the Apostle Paul? What possibly prompted the expulsion of the Jews from Rome? What did Aquila and Paul have in common? Why, apparently, did Paul want to take this couple with him and leave them in Ephesus? What is the connection between Aquila and Priscilla and the man Apollos? What is significant about his being from Alexandria? Why is Apollos important in the unfolding history of the church in Corinth? What was the relationship between Paul and Apollos? What ways did Aquila and Priscilla find to play a part in what God was doing around them? How are Phoebe and Aquila and Priscilla examples for us today? (61 min)

Romans 16:2 In this lesson we are continuing to learn about the woman Phoebe. Paul wanted the Roman christians to welcome her into their fellowship. What was to be their attitude in receiving here? What is the remarkable privilege that we as Christians have as we do the various things we do in life? What kind of a reception was Phoebe to receive? Why? How does this pertain to our relationship with other believers? In what way did Paul expect the Romans to assist Phoebe? What is particularly distinct about the way that Phoebe had been a service to others, including Paul? What does this tell us about her? How do we know that chapter sixteen of Romans belongs to the epistle to the Romans, and not to some other letter? Who were Aquila and Priscilla? (51 min)

Romans 16:1-2 Having concluded the main body of his letter, Paul next sets out to commend and greet a number of individuals. Why is this section of Romans important for us to study? What can we discover about the woman Phoebe from her name and from her home town of Cenchrea? What can we expect the seaport of Cenchrea was like? Why should we not easily pass over Paul's referral to Phoebe as "our sister?" Where did Phoebe appear to stand in the social strata of Cenchrea? Why were letters of commendation important in the early church? Why was Phoebe traveling to Rome? What important task is it believed that Phoebe probably carried out for Paul? Why is it significant that such a task was entrusted to her? (60 min)

Romans 15:27-33 In this lesson we pick up in the middle of Paul's discussion about the offering from the Gentile churches to the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. Why is this offering so frequently discussed by Christians? To what does Paul's decision to personally take the offering to Jerusalem alert us? How do we know that this offering is about a whole lot more than simply charity to the poor? How could Paul assure himself that when he arrived in Rome it would be in the "fullness of the blessing of Christ?" How do we know that the contributors to this offering were doing so freely, without compulsion? In what way were the Gentile churches obligated to contribute? How does this offering relate to the subject Paul discussed earlier about the strong and the weak in the church? What does this all mean for the oneness of the Body of Christ? (55 min)

Romans 15:22-26 The Apostle Paul has long had a desire to go to Rome to visit the Christians there. He believes now that the time has finally come when he will be able to do so. What are the things that have hindered him from going to Rome before now? What is the corollary of every decision or choice we make in life? How is Paul's experience similar to King David's desire to build a temple, or to some desires in our own lives? What does our faithfulness to the exercise of our spiritual gifts and ministry necessarily imply about doing some other things for God? How did Paul's proposed visit to Rome now fit into God's plan for Paul's ministry? Why did Paul wish to go to Spain? What new difficulties did ministry in Spain present that Paul had not encountered before? How could the Romans help Paul in this? What is significant about the word "help" in this passage, and how does it relate to our own involvement in the missionary outreach of the church? What still stood in the way of Paul's going immediately to Rome and Spain? (60 min)

Romans 15:16-21 So, Paul says that he has been given a grace from God, but what exactly was that grace? If we choose to neglect or ignore the gift that Christ has given to us, what are we really saying? How was Paul serving Christ? How do we serve Christ? What is the offering that the believer presents to God when he or she exercises his or her spiritual gift? How did Paul's writing of Romans relate to this offering? What was it that made his offering acceptable? How does the person who transcribed Paul's dictation to the Romans play a role in this? What did Paul have to give up in order to know Christ? In what way did he rediscover this? What was the evidence that Paul was gifted with an apostleship to the Gentiles. How can we know what our spiritual gifts are? Did Paul think there was something wrong with building on the foundation laid by another person? Why was Paul's strategy of going into virgin territory important? (61 min)

Romans 15:14-15 Having concluded the main instructional aspects of his letter to the Romans, Paul begins to address matters of a more personal nature. In these verses he begins to address the question of why he has written this letter at all. How is Paul's relationship with the church in Rome different from most of the other churches to which his New Testament letters were written? How does Paul know the condition of the church in Rome? What is his settled opinion of them? How can we know that Paul was not merely flattering the Romans? If the church in Rome was doing so well, then why did Paul even bother writing this letter? How did Paul view God having laid on him the responsibility Gentile world? Do you view your own spiritual gifts in the same way that Paul did? (62 min)

Romans 15:7-13 Paul closes off his discussion about differing opinions in the church by returning to the idea of acceptance that he introduced at the beginning of chapter 14. Does Paul mean we are to merely tolerate others with differing opinions, or does he mean something much more profound? What often actually lies at the heart of what we think are doctrinal differences between ourselves and others? What does communion or the Lord's Supper have to do with this passage? What is the particular sin that Paul is concerned could hinder the Corinthians' taking of the Lord's Supper? What two groups did Christ intend to benefit when He became a servant of the circumcision? What is significant about the particular passages from the Old Testament which Paul chooses to prove his point? What is significant about the order in which he quotes them? Why is Christ referred to as the "Root of Jesse?" What is the hope of the Gentiles? (62 min)