Biblical Studies
Bible 100
Bible Tour 16 units
After a brief review of Old Testament history, we examine how its contents reveal three of the most important truths about God: (1) His sovereign rule (2) by His Word (3) according to His faithful covenant mercy.
Then we explore the New Testament revelation of Jesus and His Kingdom, the men the Spirit used, and the occasion, purpose, and message of each of the twenty-seven books.
Bible 101
Introduction to the Bible 9 units
In this course we begin to explore the wonder and importance of God's revelation as it has come to us in the Bible. We review the processes God used to secure all His essential words to man in this remarkable book and provide an opportunity to see how the books of the Bible all work together in presenting one unified message.
Bible 102
The World's Early History (Genesis 1-11) 10 units
These invaluable historical records help us understand ourselves and bring perspective to many present day issues. Paying close attention to the meaning of the texts in Genesis 1-11, we trace God's ways as He rules in each of the major events and developments at the beginning of time.
Bible 103
Introduction to Psalms 11 units
Students tour the main features of this multi-faceted book of the Bible and acquire basic keys for unlocking its contents. They are alerted to the purposes, power, and beauty of the psalms and explore ways to make them essential expressions in their lives.
Bible 104
Interpreting Scripture 17 units
Students are introduced to guidelines and skills that will assist them in exploring the most important treasure ever placed in human hands - the recorded Word of God.
Bible 105A
Mark 1-10 12 units
Bible 105B
Mark 10-16 10 Units
These two companion courses draw out Mark’s special emphases and search for the fuller biblical implications of the words he chooses as he writes his gospel. Lectures are presented by David Perry, who has authored a commentary on the Gospel of Mark.
Bible 106
Romans 1-8 10 units
A systematic exposition of the doctrinal heart of Paul's letters and perhaps of the whole New Testament as Paul lays out his gospel, received from the Lord Jesus, concerning sin, justification, sanctification, the relationship of the Christian to the Law, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
Bible 107
Ephesians 10 units
A panoramic view of God's eternal purposes and their realization in His Beloved Son Who, by His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation, triumphs over the powers, unites His people in one new man, endows them with gifts and ministries, and summons them to life in Him in the fullness of His Spirit.
Bible 108
New Testament Church Leadership 9 units
We review the establishment of leadership in the early church and present the New Testament foundations, functions, and qualifications for elders, deacons, and the five-fold ministry, anchoring each firmly in the biblical text.
Bible 109
Church – The City of God on Earth 7 units
Seeing the Church as God anticipated it from creation and as His Spirit’s new creation in Christ Jesus - a people called out by God to be His possession for the manifestation of His nature and the representation of His government on the earth.
Bible 110
1 Timothy 1-3 8 Units
Paul’s strength as a leader and his concern for the church in Ephesus emerge alongside his love and regard for Timothy, his disciple, his fellow worker in the Gospel, and his son. Faithful ministers, with lives surrendered to Christ’s grace and submitted to His ways, carry His authority to maintain truth and harmony in a congregation of believers.
Bible 111
1 Timothy 3-6 12 Units
In the second half of this letter God uses Paul's instructions to Timothy to set out vital basics for guarding believers in Christ’s faith and life.
Old Testament Survey
OT Survey 101
Creator, Covenant Maker (Genesis) 12 units
We meet the men and women whose lives were among the earliest to be transformed as they responded to the Creator’s voice. In these comparatively few lives the Lord quietly revealed Himself and patiently prepared enduring foundations for extending His saving work to all the families of the earth.
Though the events that Genesis reports take place so much earlier than the four books that follow, Genesis belongs with them. It is the first of the five books of the Law (the Pentateuch), recorded by Moses. The law, received by Moses as leader of God’s nation Israel, finds its context in the Lord’s words and works in the universe and in the lives of His servants centuries and millennia earlier.
OT Survey 102
Love's Triumph (Job) 8 units
A dramatic encounter between the Lord and Satan brings horrendous losses and suffering for Job, the Lord’s servant. The extended and agonizing ordeal results in a tremendous victory for the Lord in the heavens and in His servant’s heart.
OT Survey 103
Israel’s Redeemer and God (Exodus and Leviticus) 12 units
As Moses delivers the Lord’s requirements, Yahweh acts with terrifying demonstrations of His power to judge His people’s oppressors and to set the children of Israel free from slavery. In these two books of Moses we measure the zeal with which the Lord redeems His people and the jealousy with which He requires their obedience.
OT Survey 104
Covenant Mercies (Numbers and Deuteronomy) 8 units
No generation ever witnessed what the men who left Egypt saw God do for them there and in the desert. But discontent and cautious consensus deprived them of the promised goal for which they longed. Still the Lord will not break His covenant with Abraham, and the next generation (also given to ingratitude) receives all the benefits His covenant love and faithfulness wait to give.
OT Survey 105
The Lord’s Inheritance and Heritage (Joshua; Judges; Ruth)
The Commander of the Armies of Heaven comes with drawn sword to establish His rule, dispossessing nations and entrusting His chosen people with His inheritance. When their covenant breaking despises His heritage, He responds with His covenant keeping: sending destroyers, granting repentance, and raising up deliverers.
OT Survey 106
The Lord’s Anointed (Samuel, Saul, David; 1 Samuel)
The Lord is jealous for His Spirit, with Whom He endows the men he calls to lead His people. The prophet Samuel, faithful from youth with the Lord’s words, is raised up to save the nation and establish the kingdom. Saul is anointed king and wins the Lord’s victories but, jealous for himself, he forfeits his rule and his life. Trust in Yahweh and desire for Him sees David through a long life of victories, struggles, failures and mercies. The Lord establishes Judah’s line and David’s house forever.
OT Survey 107
The Fear of the Lord (1 Kings 1-11; the Wisdom Books)
Wisdom’s light is God’s gift to men and His witness against them. He pours out His goodness on proud fools. His judgments teach men to fear Him. He leads those who trust Him on His path of life.
OT Survey 107C
God’s Good Gift (The Song of Solomon) 7 units
With what will God endow, bless, and entrust a man and woman who seek their own selfish interests? Love for one another awakens in them with all its opportunities for honor, care, belonging, pleasure, sacrifice, and pain. In The Song of Solomon we learn that the Creator trusts Himself and His purposes in imparting this gift to Adam’s sons and daughters.
OT Survey 108
The Kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 11 - 2 Kings 17)
Every ruler of God’s people in the ten northern tribes chooses and sustains apostasy as a political expedient. God sends His prophets, working miracles, warning, and pleading. His chastisements devastate His people and their land, but to no avail. Finally, declaring His love and His will to restore them, He delivers them up to the Assyrians.
OT Survey 109
Judgment and Mercy (Amos and Hosea)
Amos, a rural man from the South, confronts Israel’s establishment with the Lord’s indictments against them and the certainty of His coming judgment. Hosea baffles the nation, demonstrating the tenacious tenderness of Yahweh’s unyielding covenant love.
OT Survey 110
Jonah and the Great City 12 units
Jonah records his resistance to God’s love so that we will be convicted of the presumption in our own hearts. The Lord’s dealings with His reluctant prophet anticipate the path His Son will choose willingly – and this will be His sign.
OT Survey 111
The Kingdom of Judah (Joel)
The nation enjoys the Lord’s favor and protection when the hearts of David’s sons are right. But disobedience brings harassment and losses through whomever or whatever the Lord sends: a neighboring nation or an army of locusts. The plea for restoration is to the One Who longs to answer His devastated land with rain and anticipates the days when He will populate it with a saved and anointed people.
OT Survey 112
The Holy Sovereign Heart (Isaiah)
A burning coal from the altar cleanses and calms the terrified prophet, confronted with holiness. Through Isaiah the Lord will sketch His agenda for righteousness and salvation, preparing the world stage for His Servant to triumph in human history through obedience and suffering. The Son of David will reign in righteousness from the New Jerusalem over a world filled with the glory of the Lord.
OT Survey 113
Mercy’s Reign (Micah; Nahum) 7 units
Nineveh’s resumed wickedness exhausts the mercy that once postponed its judgment. The Lord spares Judah one last time, but judgment waits, as does the arrival of the righteous Ruler Who will be our peace.
OT Survey 114
Inevitable Judgment (Zephaniah; Habakkuk)
New details of promise add further focus for the righteous, who must endure the days of judgment, trusting the victorious Warrior in Zion’s midst and choosing to delight in the God of their salvation.
OT Survey 115
Removing and Renewing (Jeremiah; Ezekiel)
Sin’s darkness is deepening. Judah is sick and dying, unable to see or hear. Words of warning intensify as destruction looms nearer and faithful prophets hammer away at false presumptions. The Lord’s hand is severe so that His people will return to Him and receive a new heart.
OT Survey 116
The Desolate City (Lamentations; Obadiah)
Emotions are raw and grief is deep. Jerusalem lies in ruins. The faithful look to the Lord, waiting for His healing, restoration, and vindication against their enemies.
OT Survey 117
The Most High Rules (Daniel)
All dominion and rule in the realm of men is given to those the Most High chooses to serve His purposes. All history moves toward one goal - that Messiah, cut off by His people, receive eternal dominion from the Ancient of Days. He will put an end to all the kingdoms, and the saints of the Most High will possess the kingdom with Him. All the peoples, nations, and men of every language will serve Him.
OT Survey 118
I Am with You (Ezra 1-6, Haggai; Zechariah; Esther)
God’s Spirit moves in individuals and Jews return to the desolate land. First to be restored are God’s altar and temple. He is His people’s protection in Judah and world-wide. In a day of small things the faithful remember what remains – His glory, His grace, His Word, His promises, and His presence with them, His people.
OT Survey 119
Restoring the Walls (Ezra 7-10; Nehemiah)
Whether city walls or the walls in each man’s heart, only a godly leader who has received a burden from the Lord can inspire a people to do the work of restoration and then to keep vigilant watch against the works of the Lord’s enemies in His people’s lives. The records reveal that even this is not enough. Unless the Lord Himself builds the city, the builders labor in vain.
OT Survey 120
Toward the Fullness of Time (Chronicles; Malachi)
The Chronicler reviews Judah’s heritage of covenant mercies, calling the remnant to remember, to trust, and to care. Malachi points forward, warning that the Lord will send His messenger and then come Himself to refine His people. As Old Testament revelation ends, he directs the hearts of those who fear the Lord to the Law and the Prophets. Four challenging centuries follow. There is no new word from God until Gabriel is sent to the earth on two special missions, each announcing the birth of a baby.
New Testament Survey
NT Survey 101
The Good News (The Synoptics: Matthew, Mark, and Luke) 21 units
An insightful presentation of three of the most important documents in world history, identifying the purposes that motivated the work of each evangelist and highlighting the special features which distinguish each of these accounts of Jesus’ life.
NT Survey 102
The Exact Truth (Luke; Acts)
As he investigates "all that Jesus began to do and teach" Luke does not conclude with Jesus' ascension, but includes the work and teaching of Jesus through His Spirit in the lives of the apostles He appointed.
NT Survey 103
That You May Believe (John)
After more than sixty years of reflection, John writes his account of Jesus, the eternal Word of God in human flesh. The signs He did showed His glory and the proclamations of "I am" offer life and birth from above to those who believe on His name. This seed falls into the ground and dies and bears much fruit.
NT Survey 104
Thessalonians
These two letters are among the earliest New Testament documents. Paul's words are full of affection and commendation for this group of new believers. He adds instruction and correction for his children in the Lord. In a second sterner letter Paul needs to repeat the correction again and to challenge false, upsetting assertions that these believers have missed the resurrection.
NT Survey 105
Corinthians
Misunderstandings and abuses in Corinth prompt Paul's rebukes and require discipline as well as detailed teaching about church practice. The preaching of the cross denies a place for worldly wisdom and Christ crucified becomes the focus of His new creation in the Spirit. His ministers find their authenticity in emulating His servanthood and embrace the weakness that depends on His grace.
NT Survey 106
Paul's Gospel (Galatians; Romans)
Nothing can be or ever must be added to the righteousness God has accomplished in His Son and given freely to men. The Holy Spirit secures each believer, Jew and Gentile alike, in Christ, creating the faith and obedience that fulfils the righteousness the law always required but could never accomplish.
NT Survey 107
Christ's Body, the Church (Colossians; Ephesians)
The Father's eternal pleasure to sum up all things in His Son is already being realized in the Church, Christ's body, in which He has made Jews and Gentiles one. by the blood of His cross. He is the head of His Church and, having filled all things in His triumphant ascension through the heavens, He freely endows His members with His Spirit's gifts of ministry. Holding fast to its Head, the Church submits to no other rule than His own.
NT Survey 108
Philippians
Jesus' selfless submission to manhood and death has won Him the highest place in the universe. In all life there is no other prize worth seeking but that of gaining Him and being conformed to Him. Whatever path He sets for us and whatever we are asked to endure in finishing our course, He is our joy.
NT Survey 109
The Pastoral Epistles (Timothy; Titus; Philemon)
In his desire to serve Christ, Paul disciples Timothy and Titus, encouraging, instructing, and requiring of them in their appointed leadership roles. Through them Paul extends his watchful care over the believers they serve. His heart for Christ is a heart wide open to others. His letter to Philemon makes room for a slave to return to his master and to be given his place as a Christian brother.
NT Survey 110
Our Great High Priest (Hebrews)
Jesus is the pure revelation of God Himself, incomparably superior to all that foreshadowed and anticipated His coming in the Old Covenant. He has entered into the heavenly sanctuary on behalf of His people, and the sufferings and difficulties Jewish believers have encountered in believing on Him must not become a reason to turn back. Confidence in Him endures and has a great reward.
NT Survey 111
James
The brother of Jesus and leader of the Jerusalem church writes with words similar to Jesus' own teaching, calling Christians to the expectant faith that rejoices, endures, and lives, finding its full expression in words and deeds of meekness, compassion, and righteousness.
NT Survey 112
Peter and Jude
Peter reminds Gentile believers, facing fiery trials, of the living hope into which they have been reborn through Christ's resurrection and calls them to follow Jesus' example in suffering unjustly. A second, farewell letter anticipates and urges their growth in godliness and reminds them of the truths that will establish them against false, ungodly teachers.
Jude, another half-brother of Jesus, writes a few years later and rallies his readers to contend for the faith against those who have infiltrated the church with teaching that makes God's grace a license for godless behavior.
NT Survey 113
John's Epistles
John's words retain the wonder of the fellowship he experienced with Jesus, the Eternal Life manifested in the world. He calls his readers to abide in that fundamental truth, and to guard against those who have denied it. The love that makes us His children results in the love believers experience for one another as Jesus' blood cleanses them from sin and the darkness of their own living yields to His true Light.
NT Survey 114
The Revelation of Jesus
Jesus appears to John with messages for seven churches in Asia Minor, confronting them with Who He is and with their need to repent and to be established in Him as hostility to Him and His saints increases and as He moves history toward its final convulsive and glorious end, when he returns to judge and to reign with His saints.
Biblical Theology
Biblical Theology 101A
The Big Picture Bible (Old Testament) 20 units
What God plans, what He does, and what He says form the intricate masterpiece of the universe’s existence, encapsulated and stored up for us in the Bible. This course, The Big Picture Bible directs attention to the wonders and oneness of His will, power, and grace as we trace His purposes and works from the beginning to the fullness of time when He reveals Himself to the world in His Son.
Christian Doctrine
Doctrine 101
Learning about God 9 units
Students will reflect on the wonder and excellencies of God's Own nature as He has revealed Himself to His people and in the Scriptures. Here is an opportunity to reinforce your own clear grasp of basic truths that define the Christian faith.
Doctrine 102
What is Man? 5 units
The Bible explains what God created man to be and what man has made himself to be. Created in God's own image to exist forever, man tried to have himself for himself and became the creature that is wrong, his nature conformed to that of Satan and his demons. This course examines each of the factors that define man and their summary effect.
Doctrine 103
Our Lord Jesus Christ 8 units
We intend and pray that these reminders of who Jesus is and what He has done will be a cause for new wonder and reflection in your life. Our discussion will include: the uniqueness of His person, His glory from the beginning as the Son, the miracle of His incarnation, the incomparable achievement of His obedience as a man, the horror of the sufferings He endured for us, His dying and its transforming effects, His victory over sin and death, His vindicating resurrection, His ascension and entrance into heaven as the Lord, God and man, mighty in battle, His mediatorial reign and promised return, and His exaltation by the Father, Who has ordained from all eternity that His Son should come to have first place in everything.
Doctrine 104
Salvation 8 units
Christ has purchased man's salvation. In this course we examine how Christ's death and resurrection opens the way to God and how the Holy Spirit works His salvation in the lives of believers. We will discuss eight aspects of salvation: atonement, regeneration, God's sovereignty, faith, repentance, justification, perseverance, and assurance.
Doctrine 105
God's Works and Decrees 6 units
Realizing God’s constant action on behalf of His creation, preserving, enabling, and guiding each creature according to the prior decision of His eternal will. Examining His faithfulness to man as Covenant-Maker and Covenant-Keeper.
Doctrine 106
The Holy Spirit 8 units
An opportunity to consider the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, to realize the authority, power, and effect with which He moves in men’s lives, and to respond to Him.
Doctrine 107
Spirituality 7 units
The Bible establishes various means through which the Holy Spirit works in believer’s lives. In this course we study the biblical basis for prayer, the doctrine of the church, the process of sanctification, the importance of baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.
Doctrine 108
Eschatology 6 units
This study of Scripture’s teaching about “the last things” focuses on Christ’s return, the millennium, eternal judgment, and the wonder that God will make all things new.
Doctrine 109
The Kingdom of God 19 units
The beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry marked the beginning of His kingdom coming in the world. This was demonstrated in His authority over sickness and demonic oppression. The increase of His kingdom has continued ever since. As a result of these studies we pray that each student would gain a compelling desire for Jesus' return to reign, a sharper awareness of the kingdom of heaven in this present world, and a new personal commitment to live and to die for its cause.
Doctrine 110
Salvation in Christ Alone 9 Units
This course addresses the growing pressure and readiness to accept the possibility that there is salvation apart from the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Examining pertinent biblical texts, it challenges the presuppositions and arguments of the proponents of the various positions that arrive at this conclusion. It identifies the underlying premise and exposes its inadequacy as the wrong ultimate priority.
History
History 101
The History of the Church 15 units
We live in the certainty that all earthly kingdoms and governments will be destroyed, and that, finally, only Jesus' church will remain. This review of the key figures, events, and developments in the church's history is a thrilling testimony to God's faithfulness. He has preserved His people in the face of every attack. He has secured the faithful in truth, restoring His church from every false way. He has repeatedly revived and renewed it, pouring out His Spirit on His people, and He has graciously called and enabled His people to be bringing His kingdom throughout the world.
Christian Life and Ministry
Equipping 101
Worship 12 units
Our study of Scripture will emphasize the priority of worship in every believer's life, examine the nature of worship, considers its prerequisites, and identify the ways and expressions by which God's people glorify Him.
This course intends to reinforce the importance and practice of worship in your own life, to help you discover how you can enter more freely and fully into corporate worship, and to urge you on in presenting your body as a living sacrifice to Him.
Equipping 102
Prayer 10 units
The Scriptures present us with commands to pray, models for praying, and testimonies of prayer's power. But most fundamental and most arresting is the realization of the importance God gives to prayer - the assurances that He hears and answers every cry, the Son's and the Spirit's unceasing intercession, and the varieties of ways the Father has designed for us to pour out our hearts before Him.
Course participants will be asked to commit themselves to personal, family, and corporate prayer. We seek to reinforce the desire to pray and, beyond that, to establish a realization of what praying can be - a realization that sets each student on a life-long quest to enter further into the labors of prayer and to discover the secrets of intimate communion with our Heavenly Father. Prayer's highest goal and greatest opportunity is to know Him.
Equipping 103A
Speaking God's Word 8 units
This course presses on from the task of interpreting a text of Scripture (hermeneutics) and teaches the skills of preparing and delivering a teaching (homiletics) based on what that text has always intended to say. It is not only for those who may have a preaching or teaching gift, but for those who share from the Bible in any setting and for those who listen to others teach. Students will be alerted to the priority Scripture places on preaching and teaching and will be trained in preparing, delivering, and evaluating messages from God's Word.
Equipping 103B
The People of the Word 4 units
Whenever we hear or speak God’s Word, we are encountering and participating in certain dynamics: the Word’s authority, its living power, the Spirit’s anointing, and His work in each individual life.
This course is an adaptation from the course on Speaking God’s Word. As God’s people, alert to God’s purposes and intentions for biblical proclamation, witness, and teaching, we pray expectantly, listen and speak faithfully, and watch attentively to recognize and conform to the Spirit’s way and timing in the life of each hearer.
Equipping 104
Spiritual Gifts
The Holy Spirit builds up each local fellowship by imparting spiritual gifts (abilities that cannot be naturally explained) to each believer. God's Word urges each Christian to seek these gifts and instructs us in using them. In this course, we examine Paul's teaching in 1 Cor 12-14 to bring definition and clarity to our understanding and use of the gifts. Beyond that, we urge students and those supporting them to pray that God will fill us with renewed desire, growing expectation, and faithful obedience in the things of the Spirit.
Equipping 105
Witness
Here is the assignment that Jesus Himself keeps giving to every believer. This course seeks to help students be prepared, willing, and aware of how best to complete that assignment each time it comes. The Bible informs and guides our strategies. It discusses issues of relevance and avoiding what is offensive. It establishes all that being a witness to Jesus involves and requires.
Students will take steps in preparing their hearts. The course will help them arm themselves with the truths that are essential to proclaiming the good news. They will be expected to gain first-hand experience, participating in ministries and projects that reach out in ministry and witness as well as being alert and faithful in every-day contexts.
Equipping 106
The Pastoral Mission of the Church
Restoring a vision for the authenticity and strength of the church when leaders and members do what we see our Lord doing, take up the burden of His heart, and care for His little ones.
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