Week 18 - The Church

Summary of Week 18:

Week 18 - Audio
Week 18- Notes

Week 17 - Life in the Rectangle

Summary of Week 17:

Week 17 - Audio
Week 17 - Notes

Week 16 - New Covenant

Summary of Week 16:

Week 16 - Audio
Week 16 - Notes

Week 15 - Son of David

Summary of Week 15:

Week 15 - Audio
Week 15 - Notes

Week 14 - One Man

Summary of Week 14:

Week 14 - Audio
Week 14 - Notes 

Week 13 - Peace in the Land

Summary of Week 13:

Week 13 Audio
Week 13 Notes

Week 12 - The Ten Commandments

Summary of Week 12:

Week 12 Audio
Week 12 Notes

Week 11 - Passover

Summary of Week 11:

Week 11 Audio
Week 11 Notes

Week 10 - God of the Mountain

Summary of Week 10:

Week 10 Audio
Week 10 Notes

Week 9 - Abraham and Isaac

Summary of Week 9:

Week 9 Notes

Week 8 - Abrahamic Covenant

Summary of Week 8:

Week 8 Notes

Week 6 - The Flood

Summary of Week 6:

Week 6 Audio
Week 6 Notes

Homework for Week 5

What are the two main acts of judgment found in the Bible?

There is one in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament.

See if you can find them.

The Seed of the Woman and the Seed of the Serpent

Summary of Week 5:

Week 5 Audio
Week 5 Notes

One of the consequences of the Fall is that mankind is cast out of the garden of Eden. In one sense, you could say that they were "exiled". The same is true with the nation of Israel in the Garden of Canaan.

Mankind as a whole has been separated from fellowship with God because of sin. Therefore man is in need of redemption and reconciliation in order that he might enjoy the abundant life for which he was created.

The promise of redemption is first seen in Genesis 3:15. In this verse, we find that there will be two lines throughout history: the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. These two lines will have conflict between one another. Yet the seed of the woman will eventually "crush" the serpent. Since the Fall, Satan has been trying to kill the child of promise. It looks as if the seed of the serpent is going to have victory through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. But in a great turn of events, although he was dead and buried, on the third day he rose again from the dead to show his victory over death and Satan himself.

Week 4 - "Doing what seems right in your own eyes"

Summary of Week 4:

Week 4 Audio
Week 4 Notes

In one sense, sin is simply disobedience to God’s command. Yet in another sense, sin is about becoming your own authority or “doing what seems right in your own eyes.” We find this idea in the gardens of Eden, Canaan, and Gethsemane.

However, Jesus is the one man who did not “do what seemed right in his own eyes” (Luke 22:42). Because of his work on our behalf, Jesus has poured out the Holy Spirit upon us…the Spirit (subjective) then works in conjunction with the Word of God (objective) to help us see and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Homework for Week 3

What went wrong in the gardens of Eden and Canaan?

How might we learn from those failures?

Week 3 - The story of kings

Summary of Week 3:

Week 3 Audio
Week 3 Documents

Throughout the gardens of Eden, Canaan, and Gethsemane, we find that God commands his people to subdue the land and rule over it. In the garden of Canaan, the people must take the land thru a military conquest. In the garden of Gethsemane, the people must take the land thru a spiritual conquest (evangelism).

Below is a link to a paper I wrote concerning the Imprecatory Psalms. It has some insights into how God could command the nation of Israel to kill the inhabitants of the land of Canaan.

Paper

Homework for Week 2

Last week, I asked everyone to think of an occupation or profession that is found in all four gardens. Some have given the following answers: gardener, sculptor, judge, etc. While these have some merit to them, they are not exactly what I'm looking for. So I will give you a hint.

There are certain stories that transcend time and culture. For example, the story of Romeo and Juliet. This story has been told a thousand different ways throughout history and in various cultural settings. At the core of the story is the idea of love.

Now think about other generic stories that transcend time and culture. Think about the stories you were drawn to as a child. And then ask yourself what profession or occupation do some of the characters in those stories hold. This may get you closer to the answer I'm looking for.

Week 2 - Rescued from bondage

Summary of Week 2:

Week 2 Audio
Week 2 Document

This week we looked at the four major gardens of the Bible: Eden, Canaan, Gethsemane, and Zion. Just as the two bookend gardens mirror one another in content, so it is with the middle two gardens. Canaan representing the Old Testament...Gethsemane representing the New Testament.

In Old Testament, God rescues His people from their bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt and delivers them into a land where they can flourish. In the New Testament, God rescues His people from their bondage to sin and is in the process of delivering them into a land where they can flourish.

Homework - What profession (so to speak) do we find in all four gardens?

Revelation 22 - Tree of Life?

Thanks to Mr. Harris...we now have small glimpse of the tree of life in Revelation 22. Though something tells me both the tree and river will be bigger...lots bigger!

Printing Documents

Hey folks. If you you would like to print the class documents, here are the following steps to follow:

1. Click on "Week__ Document"

2. At the top left corner of the web page, there should be an icon titled "Scribd". Just to the right of this icon is the word "More".

3. Click on "More"

4. Scroll down to the "Print" feature to print the document.

***Don't print the documents from your web browser*** 

The documents will come out fuzzy if you do.

Hope this helps!!!

Week 1 - Correction!

Some people caught the Scripture reference mistake in the powerpoint presentation this morning. I referenced Luke 25:26....the only problem is that there is no Luke 25:26! 

The correct verse is Luke 14:26. 

Sorry, there will probably be more mistakes like this during the semester. Please keep me in check.

Thanks to Mr. Eddie and Mr. Justin for bringing this to my attention!

Week 1 - Introduction and Theme

Thanks to all who came and participated this morning! I look forward to our time together this semester.

Summary of Week 1:

Week 1 Audio

Week 1 Documents

Principle #1 - Don't miss the forest for the trees. It is important to have a Genesis thru Revelation theology.

Tool #1 - What an author says at the beginning and the end is usually important. This tool can be applied to individual books as well as the whole of Scripture. 

Tool #2 - Connect the dots. Just like in kindergarten, it is important to connect the dots when studying God's Word. 

This week we sought to apply this principle and these tools to the Bible as a whole. In doing so, we found that the Bible starts in a garden and ends in a garden. Not only that...but we find garden-type language throughout Scripture. This language is pointing to a spiritual reality, namely that of "eternal" or "abundant" life (John 10:10). Another way to describe this type of life is found in our theme verse for the semester, Proverbs 12:12. It says, "The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes."

You were created to flourish in the kingdom of God! What does it mean to flourish? Well, we'll spend the rest of the semester looking at that question. 

Homework - What are two other Gardens that we find in the Bible?

Please feel free to post comments or questions. Look forward to seeing everyone next week.

Welcome

Hello to all and welcome to the official blog page for "The Garden and the Seed" Sunday School class at First Presbyterian Church. The class begins on August 23rd at 10:00 am in the King Hall.

The purpose of this blog is two-fold:

1. Provide a forum for further discussion thru comments and question/answer posts. Feel free to post comments or questions concerning each week's lesson.

2. Provide class documents and recordings for those who are participating in the class online or for whatever reason missed the class that week.

Please check back weekly for updates!