Word Works is great for...
- Learning how to read the Bible
- Preparing to lead Bible studies
- Reading through the Bible on your own
- Getting small group leaders and members ready for a series on a book of the Bible
- Preparing for biblical studies in seminary
The Word is the lifeblood of the church. Without it, we cease to be under Christ's rule. Distorted, we become something other than Christ's church. We share with you the knowledge that God’s Word repays careful study and demands faithful interpretation.
In this spirit, Word Works is 2 days designed to help Christians to learn to read the Bible better. We encourage you to make the effort to be equipped for reading the Bible faithfully, in order to minister to the saints and to the growth of God’s people (Eph 4:11-12).
Over the event's 2 days, therefore, the aim is to so equip participants with the understanding of the basic framework of structure, themes, context, flow, major arguments, critical issues and theological application that, with time and further study, the student may return to their churches ready to interpret and apply the Bible for the good of all God's people.
Each year's selection of books reflects this commitment to God's unity and diversity in Scripture. We cover one book from each Testament annually and usually we aim to give exposure to the biblical genre by selecting a book that does this e.g. Genesis and Deuteronomy for the Pentateuch.
The lecturer for each book will design the 2 days to maximise the learning but we usually adopt the approach of lectures and group work accompanied by tutorials and sermons to best expose the book and to do justice as far as possible to the book over the limited time. There is also an option of learning some sermon or Bible study preparation for each particular book.
It is our prayer and hope that through this conference you will be encouraged to learn more about God and to read the Bible correctly and faithfully. May we be equipped to do good works through a better understanding of God through his Word.
Isaiah is sometimes called the “Fifth Gospel”. In this work of immense power and breathtaking scope, the God of Israel announces himself as the God of all the world, and reveals his great plans for Israel and the nations. The book of Isaiah deals with themes that are foundational to the gospel by which we are saved: themes of sin, judgment, grace, faith, atonement, salvation, justification and hope. Isaiah contains the clearest indications in the Old Testament of the universal scope of God’s plans for the world. It focusses on a figure called the “servant”, whose sacrificial death will bring justification for many, and will lead to Spirit-empowered evangelists proclaiming the good news to the world. That’s why the New Testament refers to Isaiah so often!
If you really want to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, you need to get a handle on the themes of Isaiah. But Isaiah is a very big book. It covers centuries of ancient history; it contains long passages about nations who lived long ago; it’s got page after page of visions and promises and warnings.
That’s why this Word Works is designed to give you a bird’s-eye view of the book of Isaiah. Where does it begin, where does it end, what are the different sections and how do they fit together? Which bits of Israel’s history is Isaiah referring to, and why? We will be exploring these themes by looking at some key passages in the book, and by seeing first-hand how Isaiah deals with these themes that undergird the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Speaker
Lionel Windsor and his wife Bronwyn were married in 1998, and they have been blessed by God with three children, Adelaide (8), Harry (6) and Eleanor (3).
Lionel is an ordained pastor, trained in Moore Theological College, Sydney who is currently studying for a PhD in biblical studies at Durham University, England. He has a special interest in the relationship between the Old and New Testaments, and he has a passion to help people understand God’s Word in all its richness.
What happens at Word Works
Word Works is all about helping you to read the Bible properly. Over the 2 days you will get:
- Lectures on the book
- Time to study the text in small groups
- A demonstration of how a preached sermon is brought from the work of interpreting the Bible text
- Q & A with the lecturer
- Ministry elective seminars on either preparing a sermon outline, a Bible study, or a Sunday School lesson.
Electives on offer
- Handling the Gospel faithfully in Preaching – Outline Preparation (max 6 spots)
- Handling the Gospel faithfully in Small Group Discussion – Bible Study Preparation (max 6 spots)
Details
| Date | Fri 10 - Sat 11 September 2010 |
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Empress Hotel, Sepang
Jalan ST 1C/7, Medan 88 http://www.empresshotelsepang.com/
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In the beginning . . .
It is no far-fetched statement to say that these 3 words are foundational in every sense of the word.
Yet, it is increasingly under threat. It is often said "We cannot know who we are without history", but in reality we are increasingly less concerned about history, content to let the past remain in the past and the now determine the shape of the future.
The effect of this a-historicalism is obvious. A quick perusal of current issues both in the church and society lead the keen obsesrver to conclude easily that we cannot begin to understand ourselves and our present without at least a knowing glance back to the past. Can Paul be mistaken when he addresses the congregations in the life of the church based on the writings of the Old Testament thousands of years in the past (1 Cor 14, 1 Tim 2)?
Thus it is that the inaugural Word Works in 2008 begins where it all began! Genesis 101! Genesis will help us understand our origins and thus explain both our lives in relation to God and the message of the Bible.
Over two days we wlll have the opportunity in small groups to try our hand at interpreting key passages in Genesis. Of course we will have the help of listening to lectures on reading interspersed with small group discussion and tutorials.
So don't miss out on being the first to attend the first Word Works!
About the Speaker
Robin Gan is married to Joy and they have 3 children - Ilona, Alethea and Latimer. He loves teaching the Bible and is also passionate about people reading the Bible for themselves.
He graduated from Moore Theological College with a Bachelor of Divinity. He also worked as a Ministry Apprentice in the church at the University of NSW prior to Bible college, and has served in various churches both locally and overseas. He is currently serving his curacy at St Paul's Anglican Church, Petaling Jaya.
The material with law in the Old Testament often puzzles the contemporary reader.
Some can be shocking:
If you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.
Some seem unrealistic:
However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you.
Some just seem plain weird and quite irrelevant:
Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
And some verses of course are much used and abused:
Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
But there are some verses we recognise as profound and echoed in the New Testament:
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
These may be some of the reasons why reading Deuteronomy presents specific challenges and also potential discouragement for Christians. Even worse, Christians sometimes speak of the Old Testament as being largely irrelevant and cite Deuteronomy as proof. Non-Christians also often take verses like those above as reasons for rejecting the ‘Old Testament God’ or for rejecting Christianity altogether.
And yet, at the end of the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy stands as an important pillar in understanding the Old Testament and is a landmark in the history of salvation, at an important point in the relationship between Israel and God.
In fact, for every generation of Christians, Deuteronomy has great blessing for the Christian in understanding God’s character, His holiness, His mercy, love, justice and His patience with a sinful people. So many of the concepts for how God relates to His people are found here in Deuteronomy that it would be a tragedy for Christians not to know how to read it.
For the Old Testament instalment of WW 2009, Word Works brings you the 2nd of its workshops on the genre of the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy.
The Gospels are read often by both individuals and the church. Even non-Christians often regard the ‘stories’ surrounding Jesus’ life with some interest. Children in Sunday School learn to flip to the Gospels for some interesting tidbit about Jesus. Even to Muslims it is the ‘Injili’. It goes without saying that, for many, the Gospels are assumed to be written for evangelism.
This broad appeal however should not mask the fact that accessing the Gospels requires great skill and literary appreciation of the genre. Critical scholarship demonstrates to us how fragmented our reading of them can become, both in the harmonization of all 4 accounts as well as in the extraction of particular stories out of their context according to incident or a particular theory held. Whilst many of us may not know of the history of critical scholarship in this area, picking up a Children’s Bible will often suffice to demonstrate the need to come to grips with how we are to deal with four Gospels. The writers of the Gospels were not at the end of the day merely imitating a known genre of literature. The reality of Jesus could not be contained by a simple imitation of common biographies. Their work deserves careful study.
In line with GGF’s foundational aim of biblical literacy, therefore, we bring you the 2nd instalment of Word Work’s coverage of the Gospels. Moving from John, we now examine Mark as an introduction to the Synoptic Gospels. During the 2 days, both lectures and small groups will consolidate your own preparatory study as we work towards becoming proficient in this important legacy of the apostles’ Gospel.
Don’t miss this vital opportunity to study and prepare for ministering to your church through God’s work in the Word. The Gospel of Mark challenges us to examine our understanding of Christology, thereby provoking thorough reflection on the nature of the kingdom of God, our following of this King and the content and character of the apostolic Gospel. In a time when much of preaching, evangelism and ministry lay emphasis on spiritual and visual phenomena, Mark’s message written in the context of Rome will prove decisive for our own lives and ministry. To know how Mark conveys that message is to know the power of the Gospel in a way vital for faithful ministry in our time and in the Klang Valley.
John tells us that he wrote his Gospel "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).
In John's Gospel, we come face to face with Jesus Christ, God's eternal Son, the one who was God and who was with God in the beginning, yet who became one of us so that we might have life. In an account of exquisite beauty and prfound insight, John guides us through the story of Jesus' life as he reveals his glory and prepares his disciples for his upcoming death and resurrection. John gives us a unique opportunity to "listen in" on Jesus' intimate conversations with his Heavenly Father and with his own disciples.
Along the way we learn what it means to be God's children, and about sin, life, death, judgement, resurrection and worship. Readers of the Gospel come to trust and follow Jesus as the good shepherd, the bread of life, the light of the world.
John's language is simple, but the truths he teaches are profound. Each sentence and phrase is weighted with meaning, for (as John tells us in chapter 1) it comes from the lips of the Lord of the Universe.
The aim of these 2 days is to help us to get a grasp of the overall structure and some of the key ideas in the Gospel. Participants will practice reading and interpreting sections of the Gospel themselves in the light of these key themes, so that those whom they teach will also know Jesus personally, and may have life in him.
About the Speaker
Lionel and Leonie were married in July 1998 - which means they're about to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary! They have been blessed by God with three children, Adelaide (5), Harrison (4) and Eleanor (1).
Lionel is a pastor at St Michael's Anglican Cathedral, Wollongong (just south of Sydney), with particular responsibility for teaching young adults in the Christian faith, training new gospel ministers, and co-ordinating evangelistic teams and events. He has a passion to help people understand God's word in all its richness, and is currently pursuing a research degree looking at Old Testament foundations for the apostle Paul's ministry to the nations. For more information, check out http://www.lionelwindsor.net.
Set Free for Freedom
Someone has said that Galatians is spiritual dynamite and is therefore impossible to handle without explosions! This was certainly true for Luther in his time as it is for us in our times.
In the pursuit of holiness, Christians have often created for themselves rules and regulations to live by. Paul refuses to allow salvation to depend on anything other than the finished work of Christ on the Cross. He flatly refutes all who would seek righteousness through dependence on the observance of rules and regulations and vehemently rebukes those who subject others to this teaching which puts them back into the bondage of law-keeping and, ultimately, spiritual death.
His letter to the Galatians is simultaneously a sharp thorn in the flesh to his opponents and salve for all who ache under the unbearable burden of guilt. For, as Paul says, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Paul’s teaching was crucial to the Galatians then. It is equally crucial to us now who are similarly justified by grace alone through faith alone. These are comfortable words indeed!
Speaker
Nick Loi is married to Jessie. They have 2 children, Anna and Amy and one cat named T-Rex (aka Rexy). He (Nick – not the cat) graduated with a Bachelor of Divinity from Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia. The family currently attends Christ Church in Ipoh, where Nick serves as the pastor.