Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Bible Study Titus - Building Great Church

A natural follow on to the book of 1&2 Timothy is the book of Titus. I have done that using a business point of view earlier. It is at "Building Great Church and Business According to the Letter to Titus". Hope this give you a fresh perspective on the Bible.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Bible Study 2 Timothy 4 Preach the Word Till the End

Do you know how to live this life with satisfaction that there be no regrets ?Paul knew his time is up. He was ready to receive the crown. He reminded his protege Timothy how to live this victorious life to the end; the key things he needed to do; the types of people he would meet and the reliance on God's grace and His Spirit to complete this journey of life well.
The Outline:


The Trend and the Formation of Myths
:

Paul told us that people will continue to like what they want to hear and form their own myths and distorted gospel and theology. We need to watch out ourselves.

The Work and Calling of Believers
The secret of living a victorious and no-regrets Christian life is given by Paul. A major key work is to preach the Word carefully. Study the details of how this is done. The key verse in this chapter and even for the whole book of 2Tim is in 2Tim 4:2.
Paul's Own Successful Example:

The Types of People We shall be Meeting:
The Final Farewell:

Questions for Reflections:
  1. What do people nowadays like to hear?
  2. What will that lead to?
  3. What can be done about it?
  4. What are we called to do in general?  Do a checklist for Paul and learn from him.
  5. What are the different types of people that you will encounter?
  6. How should you handle them?
  7. What does the story of Paul and Mark tell us?

Lim Liat (C) 7 Nov 2011

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Bible Study 2 Timothy 3 Living in the Last Days

In the last days, people will get worse. However, it is even more important that we stay in the course of the truth and shine the light. Since you are the light, expect persecution from those in the dark trying to cover your light.

This purpose of 2Tim is for Paul to encourage and instruct his protege Timothy to boldly lead the Church at large. He is draw power from God, to guard the truth, to train up followers to continue the faith, and be watchful of the increasing evils and false doctrines. In this chapter 3, Paul told Timothy of increasing evil and encouraged Timothy to follow his teaching and model. He must stay the course despite the increasing persecutions and evil.

Here is the detail in mind-map form:
The Key Verse 2 Tim 3:16
In the midst of evil and confusion, it is a lot more important that we stay in the truth and know what is truly right and wrong. While the truth is in the Bible we must study it well and apply it. For more details see Judging Rightly

Questions for Reflections:
  1. What kind of people will you find in the last days?
  2. How do we handle the people in the last days? What do Paul mean by avoiding such people?
  3. What is to be expected in living a Godly Christian life? What can we learn from Paul?
  4. What is the purpose the scripture? How do we apply it?


Lim Liat (c) 4 Nov 2011

If you are wondering how can I come out with Bible Study Chapter in mind-map form in a day, the answer is I don't. Those mind maps have been constructed in the past. I just reflect and refine them.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Bible Study 2 Timothy 2 How to Be a Model Christian Leader

Paul teaches Timothy how to be a Model Christian Leader in this chapter. It begins with the Grace of God and follows with a set of instructions on ensuring continuity, focusing on serving God, preserving the truth, and leading by example
The Keys for Leadership.



The Details


Questions for Reflections
  1. What should we do with the gospel that we have?
  2. What is the gospel? What is the mission?
  3. What's make a good soldier?
  4. When does the teaching and/or discussion of the truth becomes a foolish and harmful quarrel? Are multiple interpretations of the truth, e.g. pre-, mid-, post-rapture, foolish quarrels? 2Ti 2:14-18, 2:23
  5. How to be a model believer and a leader like Paul?
Lim Liat (c) 3 Nov 2011

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Bible Study 2 Timothy 1 Be Bold to Lead & Preach

We hear sermons at least once every week and usually more if you attend home cell groups and get more from the internet. Do we really know how to live a meaningful and tough life like Paul? This is his last departing message to his protege Timothy. The secrets must be here. Read to know about it.
For this series of bible study, I shall try something new - that is to study the Bible in mind-map format. I have been doing that for many years. I will
  1. start with an electronic Bible, e.g. e-sword,net or theword.net are FOC.
  2. copy a passage, paste it over a mind-mapping software and then 
  3. break the verses down to study the words and ensure I don't miss out any detail.
  4. reflect on the learning and coming out with tagline titles to summarize and group the verses.
  5. highlight the important concepts and give my own comments.
  6. coming out with questions for reflection.
If you have been following my blogs, you will see that my posts tend to have mind-maps. It is easier and faster for me to do mind-mapping first. Then I will have to write from the mind-map to get a document that people can read. This transcribing could take a lot of time. For some people, the mind-map provides greater clarity and faster reading and learning.

So here it is, the mind-map for 2 Timothy Chapter 1 which I titled it as "Be Bold to Lead and to Preach".

After you have read through the mind-map, here are the questions for your reflections. The answers are located in the mind-map as well.
  1. How can we fulfill our calling of God?
  2. What is the key verse for this chapter?
  3. How do we be concerned about our friend?
  4. How can we be like Paul serving God gratefully even when in prison (1:8)?
  5. What are the key things that God give to enable us to live out our calling in life?
Lim Liat (c) 2 Nov 2011