Topic: Bible Characters

How did Jesus overcome temptation? Why is He the second Adam? What was the purpose of Jesus coming to earth? What is the significance of "Emmanuel" or "God with us". Is it possible to overcome temptation as Jesus did? How can the Bible aid us in the times of our temptations? What parallels exist between the wilderness temptation and events like the Fall and the Exodus from Egypt? How does Jesus' humanity help Him to relate to struggling sinners as our High Priest? This week, as we address many of these issues, we will explore how to be victorious over sins.

What can we learn from the time period of the judges? Why did God raise up these men, women, and children? Why was victory over the army of Sisera given to a woman, Jael, rather than Barak? What can we learn from the story of Gideon about faith? How does the story of Samson show God's willingness to work through people even when they make mistakes? We will also cover the story of Ruth and Samuel. God works through human agencies when they are fully dependent on Him. Yet, even when they go down wrong paths, He turns problematic situations into opportunities.

As we study rebellion and redemption, what impact did sin have on humanity? How did sin impact the children of Adam and Eve as well as the generations to come? What does all this have to do with the Great Controversy? Did God step in to deal with this crisis or did He leave humanity on its own to fend for themselves? What does God's relationship with Abraham teach us about how sure can we be about God's promises? How do the lives of Jacob, Esau, and Joseph show us the growing process God takes us through to accomplish His plans for us?

This week we start a new series on rebellion and redemption. Why is the world as messed up as it is today?  Are the corruption, disease, pollution, and problems we observe part of God's design? What went wrong in the Garden of Eden? Is God to blame for Adam and Eve's mistake? Why did the tree of the knowledge of good and evil exist? Was mankind set up to fail? Why was humanity given power to choose? How does all this tie in with the Great Controversy and with our lives today?

As Jeremiah's ministry continues, his experience parallels that of Jesus. He is rejected, his warnings despised, he is falsely accused, and sentenced to death. How does God bring Jeremiah through this experience? How are things similar in our time? Why do people reject warnings? Was Jeremiah's message all about doom and gloom or was there hope in his words? Was the message of repentance unique to Jeremiah? Or, was it uniform among the prophets, apostles, disciples of Jesus, and Jesus Himself? Can a Christian avoid the topic of the judgment?

The Bible uses many symbols in both the Old and New Testament. What can these symbols teach us today? Why did the nation of Judah practice the most grievous sins of the surrounding nations? What symbols were used in the Old Testament? How did Jesus use symbols in His ministry? How are symbols used in the prophetic books of the Bible? This week we'll be focusing on symbols in the book of Jeremiah and how God used those symbols to communicate with His people and warn them.

Jeremiah has a very human response to his pain and suffering resulting from being rejected as he spoke the Word of the Lord. What lessons can we learn about suffering and going through hardship resulting from standing for our faith? Will God's people today have a similar experience? What did Jeremiah learn about his weaknesses and what God does in spite of human weakness? How did Pashur respond to Jeremiah? What was God trying to say to the people of Judah? Is prophecy conditional or always fulfilled once a prophet utters the words?

Jeremiah brought a message of rebuke to the people of Judah. Because this was not a popular message, he met a lot of opposition. As people planned to do him harm God was with him to deliver him. Why did so many reject the warnings of the prophet? How does this still happen, even in our time today? Why were people more willing to listen to false prophets? If God hadn't sent them, who did? Why was Jeremiah told not to pray for the people? Are there limitations to God's mercy? If so, what happens when those limits have been reached? Is repentance always genuine?

Who were the last five kings of Judah? How did God reach out to them? What was there response to the message of Jeremiah the prophet and God's Word? What lessons can we draw from this for our time today? What made many of the kings of Judah so stubborn? How was Josiah's reign different? What did Josiah do during his reign that contrasted the other kings and what message does that hold politicians in today's time? In this lesson we cover Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. We explore the events that led to the Babylonian captivity and the parallels with today.

Why is humanity in crisis? How does this crisis impact the lives of God's people? In what way did Jeremiah face this crisis in his time? How does this relate to challenges the church faces from both the secular world and within the church itself? In what ways can challenges from within be worse than challenges without? In what ways did the history of Israel and Judah show crisis from within? Why did God punish His chosen people through other nations? What was God trying to teach them? As we explore the book of Jeremiah, we will see how many things parallel today.

What was the mission and message of Paul all about? What could we say was central to his message? What did Paul preach? How did he adapt his message to reach different kinds of audiences? How important was the concept of the resurrection in Paul's teaching? In this lesson we will explore the techniques Paul used to reach Jewish and Gentile audiences. Like Jesus, Paul used what was familiar to his listeners to explain what was unfamiliar to them. In looking at how Paul did this, we can learn a great deal about teaching spiritual truths to people today.