Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace with Chapter 8, The Just Gospel, Galatians 3: 10-20. Mark provides a brief contextual review because Paul is writing to the Church of Galatia to remind the Galatians of what the Gospel is; Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected. Paul states (Gal 3:10) everyone who exists out of works of the law from the Old Testament, lives under a curse (Dt. 27: 15-26). The Gospel redeems us, and applies justice to the curse, and we...
Mar 07, 2021
Dr. David Fleming, Director of the Lanier Foundation, continues Mark’s series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 7, The Gospel or Foolishness, Galatians 3:1-9. David provides a short contextual review as Paul is writing to the Church of Galatia to remind them of what the Gospel is; Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected. In this series we have talked about the power, priority, practice and especially how the Gospel is personal. In today’s lesson David looks at ho...
Feb 28, 2021
Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 6, A Personal Gospel. First, Mark reviews the opening of Galatians, Chapter 2 for context to remind us of the Gospel Paul was entrusted with - Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was resurrected; this is the same yesterday, today and forever. Since this lesson is a personal Gospel, Mark also invites us to think of the areas of our life (our list) where we might feel we do not measure up. He then discusses Galatians ...
Feb 21, 2021
Today’s lesson is presented by guest instructor, Pastor Jarrett Stephens, Lead Pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church. It is a continuation of the Galatians series: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 5, Focused Living. Pastor Stephens continues Mark’s lesson from last week in Galatians 2:2-14, where Paul defends himself and the Gospel because false teachers were creeping into the church, attempting to discredit him, and distort the message of the Gospel. Paul is focused on and faithful to the Gos...
Feb 14, 2021
Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 4, the Centric Gospel (1:1-2:2). In this lecture, Mark varies the direction of the lesson after receiving an email from a class member who raised questions about some of the material Mark is teaching in this series. Mark reworked the lesson to be a Q & A session and address the questions he received. Paul’s Gospel writings are simple - Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, and resurrected (1 Corinthians 2:2). When we ...
Feb 07, 2021
Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 3, the Authentic Gospel, Galatians 1:11-24. We know the first four books of the New Testament are the Gospels, but Paul wrote his letters before the Gospel books were written. This passage in Galatians is Paul’s autobiography, where Paul shares his history as a scholar and a persecutor of the early Christians. It was during this period he had an encounter with Jesus Christ, and he received the Good News that Christ died for our...
Jan 31, 2021
Mark continues the series Galatians: A Letter of Grace with Chapter 2, The Power and the Sanctity of the Gospel. In this lesson Mark focuses on Galatians 1:1-11. Beginning with Galatians 1:1-5, the opening of the letter is written to the Church of Galatia and is meant to establish Paul as an apostle, who has the authority to deliver a message of grace and peace. He is granted authority from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins. Mark then in Galatians 1:6-11, dis...
Jan 24, 2021
Mark begins a new series Galatians: A Letter of Grace, with Chapter 1, an Introduction. In this series Mark takes us through a deep dive study into the Book of Galatians. The Book of Galatians is one of the many letters Paul wrote in the New Testament, this one to the churches of Galatia. The Book of Galatians is considered an epistle, which is a type of letter. Mark explains how we study an epistle is different than the study of a Psalm, a Prophet, or the Gospels. Mark gives us background to un...
Jan 17, 2021
Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with Chapter 7, Old Testament Laws That Speak To Us Today. In this lesson Mark discusses some of the known Laws people ask about in daily life, i.e., foods that should not be eaten, wearing clothing with mixed fibers. These Laws were written particularly for Israel because God made Israel distinct from other nations. Mark looks at the unique features of ancient Israel, “holiness” as it is key to the Laws,...
Jan 03, 2021
Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with Chapter 6, The Atonement and the Meaning of Christmas. As Mark has been teaching about the Law, in this lesson he discusses "Atonement", an especially important word when we look at the Laws of Israel. Only Israel's Laws had Atonement because Atonement is about getting back in a right relationship with God. Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth setting the way for the ultimate Atonement for ...
Nov 22, 2020
Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with the seventh commandment: You shall not steal (Exodus 20:15). The word steal in Hebrew is "ganav", which means to steal or take by stealth, wrongfully or in trickery. Mark looks at this commandment from three perspectives; 1) face value, 2) how it is a reflection of God, the law giver, 3) how does it apply to me. How does it change the way I live? God says you are not to ganav because you are made in ...
Nov 15, 2020
Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with a focus on the fifth and sixth of the Ten Commandments. Mark dives deep into the fifth Commandment: Honor your Father and your Mother (Ex. 20:12), and the sixth Commandment: You shall not murder (Ex. 20:13). Mark looks at the kaved, or weightiness, of the commandments as a direct reflection of the Law Giver.
Nov 08, 2020
Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with a focus on the fifth and sixth of the Ten Commandments. Mark dives deep into the fifth Commandment: Honor your Father and your Mother (Ex. 20:12), and the sixth Commandment: You shall not murder (Ex. 20:13). Mark looks at the kaved, or weightiness, of the commandments as a direct reflection of the Law Giver.
Nov 01, 2020
Mark continues with A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character with a focus on the third of the Ten Commandments. Mark looks in depth at the third commandment "Thou shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain", and the question, "what's in a name?". Mark shows throughout scripture how the word "name", translated from the Hebrew word "shem", is often used as a label or identifier reflecting a...
Oct 25, 2020
Mark continued with Lesson 5 in A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: AReflection of God’s Character with a focus on the first 2 of the Ten Commandments. Mark explained in referencing documented laws from the ages how law has always been a reflection of its author(s), and the Ten Commandments area reflection of God’s character. Commandment 1-I am the LORDyour God...You shall have no other gods before me. Commandment 2-You shall not make for yourself a carved image... God is not only everywhere...
Oct 19, 2020
Mark continued with Lesson 4, How Does the Law of God Reflect God’s Character, in the Series: A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character. Law is a system of principles which are ordained or established rules of conduct as regulating the actions of its member and enforced by penalties. God gave the biblical law to the Israelites. God was Israel’s king. God gave the people what they needed to know His character: infinite, personal, and moral. We find God through His la...
Oct 11, 2020
Mark continued with Lesson 3, How Does the Law of God Reflect God’s Character, in the Series: A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character. God gave Israel signs to show they were separate from the nations. This showed the national identity of Gods people. Common questions arise: 1) Is the Old Testament Law applicable to Christians today? 2) What parts of the Old Testament are applicable today? 3) What is the justification for accepting parts of the Old Testament as bi...
Oct 04, 2020
Mark taught week two in the new series, "A Trial Lawyer's Brief on Biblical Law: A Reflection of God’s Character,” focused on Biblical Law in Cultural Context. Was anything unique about Biblical Law? Mark used the following process to compare and contrast legal codes from that era and area: Define the approach: How the question will be answered. — Time and location to other legal codes before and after Sinai Compare and contrast the other legal systems/codes with Biblical Law. The earliest known...
Sep 27, 2020
Mark introduced a new series that focuses on the law as found in the Torah. After giving an overview of different types of law, Mark explained that Biblical law is more than a rule of conduct or action prescribed by a controlling authority; God reveals Himself through the law. By the time of Jesus, the law held a central place in Jewish life. Biblical law can tell us what to do, but it doesn’t give us life. And the law wasn’t the source of eternal life. God reveals himself as gracious through th...
Sep 20, 2020
Sep 13, 2020
Sep 06, 2020
Mark interviewed Pastor Brent Dyer for a joint session to discuss the power and theology of worship in song: bringing praise to our Creator. 3 areas of consideration: 1. Knowing Brent: An only child whose father and grandfather were pastors. Grew up in Dallas and attended Baylor University. He is married and they have a son and daughter. 2.The theology or philosophy of worship -Romans 12:1-2 . Worship is the day-to-day way we live our lives in sacrifice to God. 3.Q&A -Individualworship vs co...
Aug 30, 2020
This week Mark taught on the power of singing praises to God. The lesson had 3 areas of focus: 1.Biblical instruction -The Bible tells us to sing, to worship God, to bless, honor, and praise what God has done. 2. Historical practice -Worship is giving God His natural place. Singing affects the way we shape thoughts, actions, and feelings. 3. Practical exercises -Worship and singing needs to focus on our target: God. Worship is not entertainment, but a place of holiness. We learn that singing req...
Aug 23, 2020
Mark’s lesson focused on Knowing God, based on the book by J. I. Packer. Mark provided the different meanings of the wordknowin Hebrew and Greek. He taught three points: 1. Perspective: Be a watcher not a doer. We want to knowGod, not simply know about God. 2. Practical: Wegrow our relationship through Jesus, fellowship, the Holy Spirit, and personal exercise of faith. 3.Payoff or Result:We were created for intimacy with God, true peace, contentment, confidence, joy, and purpose to bring glory t...
Aug 16, 2020
The Road toEmmaus Series (Luke 24) continues with Mark showing us pictures of Jesus from the Old Testament. Mark focused on Jesus, Abraham & Us from the passage: John 8:48-59. Jesus as the power of resurrection, the great I Am. Abraham who exceedingly rejoiced to see Jesus’ day -Genesis 22:1-14 in comparison with John 3:16 and John 15:9.Comparisons betweenIssac who carried the wood like Jesus carried his cross until he was fatigued.God provided the lamb for Issac & Abraham saw the day wh...
Aug 09, 2020
Mark continued with The Story on the Road to Emmaus and what Jesus may have said to His followers. Mark used Isaiah 6 where it captures Isaiah’s vision of the Lord. The class focused on Isaiah’s calling in three areas: 1) Historical context 2) Detailing the vision 3) How to find Jesus in the passage. The passage shows how Isaiah’s vision provides a picture of the characteristics of God, the angelic worship of God, and Isaiah’s reaction to God’s call. Listen to Mark show howIsaiah’s calling paral...
Aug 02, 2020
Mark continued with Part 2 of Ezekiel 37, The Valley of Dry Bones. The book of Ezekiel can be viewed as two books: judgment and redemption. Markoffers three points to consider with anin-depth look at Ezekiel 37. 1) Context:Putting our minds back into the people and culture who lived 2,600 years ago. 500 to 600 years before Jesus. 2) Scripture:God spoke His Spirit into dry bones that brought the dead to life and 3) New Testament colors: Scripture that shows how Ezekiel 37 is fulfilled in the New ...
Jul 27, 2020
Mark starts with a review of past lessons that show Jesus in the tabernacle, temple, and sacrifices of the Mosaic system. He explains theBiblical story arc is one of evil and deception which finds its victory in Jesus. Mark then focuses on Ezekiel 27, thestory of the dry bones which shows a story steeped in foreign language andculture, death and life, suspense and advent, plus love. We find God’s story becomes personal as it is shownover and over in different shapes, forms, and colors through th...
Jul 19, 2020
Jul 12, 2020
Mark taught Part III on the series about the Tabernacle as Jesus may have explained on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24). This week’s focus is the Tabernacle Service and what went on inside there. Marks address three questions: 1. The ministry of the priests in the tent of meeting. 2. The ministry of the high priest in the holy of holies. 3. The relationship of the earthly shadow (tabernacle) to the heavenly reality of Jesus as our perfect High Priest. Listen to Mark compare and explain the responsib...
Jul 05, 2020
