WHAT IS THE GOSPEL PROJECT?

The story that God has been telling from the very beginning, the story that saturates every page of Scripture and ties Scripture together, is a story of hope. It's a story that makes sense of the problems of the world, and tells us that the solution to them isn't us. The solution is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel Project provides a chronological, Christ-centered Bible study plan. Without the work of the gospel, the divide between the created and our Creator would be insurmountable. But God had a plan for His people. The Gospel Project highlights and explains the essential theological concepts of the Christian faith as they appear in Scripture.

God's gospel project began "in the beginning" and continues today in the hearts and lives of His people. It is our greatest hope and the means by which we are free to love, serve, and follow Jesus Christ. The Gospel Project points people of all ages to the good news of the gospel and equips them to live gospel-filled lives individually, in community, and on mission.

THE STUDY CALENDAR

The Gospel Project is a three-year study that starts in Genesis and ends in Revelation.

1st QUARTER - (September 2018 - November 2018)

Unit 1: Creation and the Fall (Genesis; Job)

September 2            Session 1          God's Good World
September 9            Session 2          God's Good People
September 16          Session 3          Sin and God's Good News
September 23          Session 4          Sin and God's Grace
September 30          Session 5          Sin and God's Authority
October 7                Session 6          Suffering and God's Presence

Unit 2: God Establishes a Covenant People (Genesis)

October 14              Session 1          God Makes a Promise
October 21              Session 2          God Foreshadows His Promise
October 28              Session 3          God Provides for His Promise
November 4            Session 4          God Renews His Promise

Unit 3: God Grows His Covenant People (Genesis)

November 11          Session 1          God's Mercy to a Deceiver
November 18          Session 2          God's Gift of Love
November 25          Session 3          God's New Name for Jacob

JAMES - Practical Faith at Work

The Book of James addresses practical issues that are as current as the morning's newspaper. The faith that Christians profess must be lived out in every situation and circumstance of life--at home, in the neighborhood, in church, and at work. Trials and hardships are not obstacles to faith, but opportunities for spiritual growth. Knowing God's Word is not enough. That knowledge must be applied to our everyday life. As we study the Book of James, we will discover what it means to live for Christ in the real world.

Introduction - (James 1:1)

- Handout - 2/11/18
Lesson 1: How to Endure Trials - (James 1:2-12)
- Handout - 2/18/18
Lesson 2: Whose Fault Is Our Temptation - (James 1:13-18)
- Handout - 3/4/18
Lesson 3: Responding to the Word - (James 1:19-27)
- Handout - 3/25/18
Lesson 4: Partiality & Favoritism in the Church (James 2:1-13)
- Handout - 4/1/18
Lesson 5: Faith and Action (James 2:14-26)
- Handout - 5/6/18
Lesson 6: Taming the Tongue (James 3:1-12)
- Handout - 5/20/18

Lesson 7: Earthly Wisdom vs. Heavenly Wisdom (James 3:13-18)

- Handout - 6/17/18
Lesson 8: The Danger in Being a Friend of the World (James 4:1-6)
- Handout - 7/1/18
Lesson 9: Drawing Near to God (James 4:7-10)
- Handout - 7/22/18
Lesson 10: Sin of Defaming Others (James 4:11-12)
- Handout - 8/5/18
Lesson 11: Responding to the Will of God (James 4:13-17)
- Handout - 8/12/18
Lesson 12: How A Living Faith Lives (James 5:1-20)
- Handout - 8/25/18

NEW YEAR - 2018: Our Battle To Improve

Why do New Year's resolutions rarely work? Mostly because they are things that we "want" to change or implement in our life but are not fully committed to before we begin. We are initially motivated by the "idea" of this new resolution without the full commitment of our will.

The battles for change are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God's presence, never in full view of the world.

Last week in our study of Hebrews we talked about running the race of faith. It is a race that requires endurance. To make a positive change in your life you must not only be fully resolved in your will, but must also endure. The journey to your goal will most likely be challenged by life's many landmines and roadblocks. There will no doubt be plenty of reasons to make excuses as to why you must forego your resolution and return to your old habits.

As the year is fresh and your desires are strong, get alone with God and explore your desires for improvement and change. Ask Him to direct you in the areas that are in most need of change. Let your driving motivation to change or improve be something that will bring glory to God. 

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13)

Where The Battle Is Won or Lost - My Utmost for His Highest

The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world. The Spirit of God apprehends me and I am obliged to get alone with God and fight the battle out before Him. Until this is done, I lose every time. The battle may take one minute or a year, that will depend on me, not on God; but it must be wrestled out alone before God, and I must resolutely go through the hell of a renunciation before Him. Nothing has any power over the man who has fought out the battle before God and won there. If I say, “I will wait till I get into the circumstances and then put God to the test,” I shall find I cannot. I must get the thing settled between my self and God in the secret places of my soul where no stranger intermeddles, and then I can go forth with the certainty that the battle is won. Lose it there, and calamity and disaster and upset are as sure as God’s decree. The reason the battle is not won is because I try to win it in the external world first. Get alone with God, fight it out before Him, settle the matter there once and for all.

In dealing with other people, the line to take is to push them to an issue of will. That is the way abandonment begins. Every now and again, not often, but sometimes, God brings us to a point of climax. That is the Great Divide in the life; from that point we either go towards a more and more dilatory and useless type of Christian life, or we become more and more ablaze for the glory of God — “My Utmost for His Highest.”