New Creation
Gymea/Miranda Uniting Church Young Adults Group
BIBLE STUDY 2004
Date The Study Home
Tues, Dec 7th So Many Questions:  Q15-17 - Lynda Young
What does the bible say about homosexuality? It is wrong: Romans 1:26-27, Genesis 19, Judges 19:22-24, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Leviticus 20:13, Leviticus 18:22
Isn't Christianity responsible for a great deal of the environmental disaster in our world? God gave us ownership of the land (Genesis 1:28-31) Just as God work is good, so too must we be able to say that our work in the land is good also: Whatever our hands find to do, do it with all our [godly] might (eccles 9:10). There are consequences of abusing that ownership: Jeremiah 2:7, Isaiah 5:8, Revelations 11:18, the Great Flood (Genesis 7:21-23), Sodom was destroyed by brimstone (Genesis 19:24-25) etc. It is not the environment itself that is the important issue. It is our relationship with God. When we have a close relationship with God, we see things through God’s eyes. We respect everything and everyone, including the environemt: 1 Corinthians 9:9-10
Aren't Christians just hypocrites? If we act like we aren't sinners, then yes, we are hypocrites (Matthew 23:13-29). We need to acknowledge that we are sinners. (Romans 7:14-16) We are saved not by our works, but by the grace of God alone. (Ephesians 2:8-9)		 Calendar
Tues, Nov 30th So Many Questions:  Q12-14 - Lynda Young
Can't we just be good enough to please God? This is impossible to do on our own (Romans 3:23). We cannot earn God's favour (Ephesians 2:8-10). Being "good" isn't what it is all about (John 6:28-29). We are meant to rely on God, not ourselves (Philippians 2:13).
Do you have to go to church to be a Christian? No, but it helps Christians because fellowship is crucial to our spiritual well-being. Church is a place to worship God together, Church is a place of learning (Mark 12:24) Church is a place to "shine" (Matthew 5:14-16), and we find completion in fellowship (Romans 12:4-5) 
Could it be said that the Bible is sexist? It could, but then we wouldn't be entirely accurate. Both male and female were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), all are one in Christ (Galatians 3:28), all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:22-24). Powerful women are mentioned throughout the Old and New testaments including Deborah who led all of Israel, Esther, Sarah, Hannah, Ruth, Naomi, Rahab, Mary and the list goes on. We discussed far more points also than is written here.		  
Tues, Nov 23rd So Many Questions:  Q9-11 - Lynda Young
What about those people who have never heard about Jesus? God as the perfect Judge: Proverbs 24:12, Revelations 20:11-15, John 9:35-41 God as all seeing: Psalm 139:1-12, Hebrews 4:12-13, Proverbs 15:3 
What about other religions: are they all true? Jesus as the only way: John 14:6, Acts 4:10-12 The call to stop idol worship: Joshua 24:23, Exodus 20:4
Aren't all people basically good? Being good is not good enough: Romans 3:23, James 2:10 The point is that we are saved by God's Grace and not by our works. We often make the mistake of comparing ourselves to each other when we should compare ourselves to God. When we compare ourselves to God, we realise only then how far we fall short, even the very best of us.		  
Tues, Nov 16th So Many Questions:  Q6-8 - Lynda Young
How do we account for all the suffering in the world? We discussed that we often have a false expectation of what the world should be like: God did not claim we would be saved from suffering. We discussed the Fall of Man and the consequences of that fall (Genesis 3, Ezekiel 33:31, Luke 8:1-15, Luke 13:1-5). God can draw good out of bad situations: Suffering has a way of turning our eyes to Him. Further bible passages and verses that we discussed were: Jonah, 1 Peter 4:12-16, 1 John 3:16 and more. 
Does 'faith' mean believing things we can't accept? We discussed the common misconception of faith as opposed to the true meaning of Faith. (Hebrews 11:1, Proverbs 3:5-6) There is nothing 'blind' about our faith. Instead we are asked to think about our faith and think about God's Word so that we can gain a deeper relationship with God. Luke 8, the parable of the sower, was also discussed: it is what we do with the word we hear that makes the difference. 
Can Miracles actually happen? The DVD had a very scientific approach to answering this question: saying that there are no laws of nature when God uses nature to bring about a miracle. The parting of the Red Sea wasn't instantaneous, but happened overnight with the aid of a "strong east wind" (Exodus 14:21). We spoke of the many different reasons for miracles: John 14:26, Acts 2:22, John 20:30-31: To show God's glory, because Jesus had compassion, to make things happen, to punish, to warn, to save.		  
Tues, Nov 9th So Many Questions:  Q3-5 - Lynda Young
Tonight's set of questions started with, Wasn't Jesus just another great religious teacher? The bible says he is much more. He was in the beginning (John 1:1-18, Colossians 1:15-17), he was sinless (John 8:46, 1 Peter 2:23), he is God (John 10:30, Colossians 2:9). Many more verses were discussed. The next topic was, Did Jesus really come back from the dead? All the gospels, Zechariah 12, Isaiah 53, John 10:17-18 plus more were discussed, all supporting Jesus' resurrection. Also discussed in depth was Historical evidence, as found in the scriptures and the way the scriptures were written, other documentations, and the lack of legendary developments. We finished the night with, Hasn't science disproved Christianity? 1 Kings 18 is a fabulous example of God's power over science where God lights an altar that "scientifically" should not have burnt. Hebrews 1:3 is a great verse explaining that God is the sustainer of all things... this includes science. It would be naive of us to think that science, ie, knowledge of the natural world, could explain things outside of nature eg God. The scriptures are God's Word, and Nature is God's works. That is, God uses nature to get things done and God is the reason things are explicable.		  
Tues, Nov 2nd

So Many Questions:  Intro, Q1-2 - Lynda Young
Tonight we looked at the importance of being prepared, and learning how, to answer the difficult questions about Christianity. Thinking about questions that we may not normally think about, has a surprising effect of deepening our own faith. The first question was How do I know God exists in the first place?  See Romans 1:20 (plus many other verses were discussed). Watching a DVD, we learnt that science also can help answer this question, when looking at the extremely delicate balance of the Universe. Our Second questions was Is the New Testament story about Jesus reliable? We talked about how ancient documents and monuments and historians support the Scriptures, we spoke of what we had learnt in Alpha and of a studies earlier in the year with Bob McSwan. 

  
Tues, Oct 26th Spiritual Maturity -  Lynda Young
Looking up many passages in the New Testament, beginning with Ephesians 4:7-15, we talked about what spiritual maturity truly is, why God wants us to be spiritually mature, and how we can become spiritually mature. Perseverance was a recurring theme in this study, as well as the importance of turning our focus on God, gaining an understanding of God, and growing a relationship with God.		  
Tues, Oct 19th True Religion - Andrew Donaldson
Reading Matthew 23:1-24 and James 1:27, 2:14-26, we talked about hypocrisy and how to avoid it. We learnt that by having a good and close relationship with God, we begin to see things though His eyes: our desires become His desires. Justice, mercy and faithfulness become the basis of our behaviours.		  
Tues, Oct 12th Repentance - Lynda Young
Bob McSwan came for an unexpected visit and joined us as we read through David's journey of repentance as recorded in Psalm 51. We learnt the meaning of repentance, the necessity to do a 180 turn back to the Lord, and the importance of repentance in our spiritual lives and in the lives of others within our sphere of influence. 		  
Tues, Oct 5th Faith #9 - The Finale of Faith -  Lynda Young
Tonight was the last study in this series on Faith. Reading 2 Timothy 4:6-18, we learned about Paul's perseverance to the end, and his Faith in God. We can all use Paul as an example and be confident in the Lord's steadfastness and love.		  
Tues, Sep 28th Faith #8 - In Jesus' Name - Faith that Asks -  Lynda Young
Tonight we learnt the meaning of praying in Jesus' name, using John 16: 16-28, as our basis. We learnt that the focus of our prayers and what was in our hearts is that matters. We need to remember to ask for things that Jesus would want for us and for things that would grow his Kingdom, and then to trust him with the answers he gives us. 		  
Tues, Sep 21st Faith #7 - The Focus of Faith -  Lynda Young
Studying Hebrews 12:1-11 led us into discussions on how our Christian lives resemble a race. Staying focused on the finish line (God and God's Kingdom), prevents us getting distracted from the other runners or spectators (comparing ourselves with others). To run a race well, we must work hard in the training (learning of God and devotions). A race is rarely easy; we are bound to come across hills, but should not be discouraged.		  
Tues, Sep 14th Faith #6 - David: Faith that worships -  Lynda Young
Tonight we discussed our reactions during and after moments of great disappointment. Reading 2 Samuel 7:18-29 and using David's example, we learnt that by focusing on God, and God's plan, our reactions to disappointment can become positive and worshipful. 		  
Tues, Sep 7th Faith #5 - Faith without action -  Lynda Young
Studying James 2:14-26, our main focus was how faith and action work together. We learnt that true faith must by it's very nature be reflected by deeds. Good deeds however do not necessarily reflect true faith. We examined how we might show evidence to others of our true faith in Christ. We then shared the evidences we saw in each other of our faith and learnt more about each other and ourselves than ever before. It was a very affirming bible study.		  
Tues, Aug 31st Faith #4 - Naaman: Faith without Fireworks -  Lynda Young
The story of Naaman, found in 2 Kings 5:1-15, is a brief story, but makes a very good example of how we should live our lives. Tonight we saw the effectiveness of a simple act of faith in God. We don't need to see the bright lights or the flashy miracles, for God to do His work through us.		  
Tues, Aug 24th Faith #3 - Righteousness by Faith -  Lynda Young
Tonight we read Romans 3:19-26 and had a look at the challenging concept of not needing to "pay" for our mistakes or to earn forgiveness because of God's gift of Grace to us. All we have to do is to accept that gift through our faith in Jesus Christ and to reflect that faith in our lives. 		  
Tues, Aug 17th Faith #2 - Abraham: Faith under Construction -  Lynda Young
Reading Genesis 12:1-9, we learnt how Abraham found faith to obey the Lord even without great knowledge of what was to come, and in the face of many outward setbacks.		  
Tues, Aug 10th Faith #1 - In Praise of Faith -  Lynda Young
Tonight we had a look at what Faith  and Hope is and, using the examples shown in Hebrews 11:1-16, we had a look at some Old Testament Greats who lived their lives by faith. We learnt that faith is a knowing of a Truth: the eternal Truth that is God, and putting our trust in that knowledge.		  
Tues, Aug 3rd The Lord's Prayer #2 -  Giles Wilkie  
Tues, Jul 27th The Lord's Prayer #1 -  Giles Wilkie  
Tues, Jul 20th Old Testament Characters #12:  Moses -  Lynda Young
Tonight was the last of our studies on the Old Testament characters. We read through Exodus 2:11-25 and Acts 7:20-29 to learn about Moses' mistake when dealing with an injustice. He created a second injustice by taking matters into his own hands. We learnt the importance of relying on God to show us the correct way to help in such situations, and the importance of acting in a God-like manner in every situation we face. 		  
Tues, Jul 13th Old Testament Characters #11:  David - Lynda Young
Bob McSwan joined us tonight while we studied 1 Samuel 24. We learnt about the biblical definition of love and how David acted with love toward Saul who wanted to kill him. Loving our enemies, our neighbours, our friends can sometimes be inconvenient or even difficult, but it is a thing we must practice until it becomes second nature. Viewing others through God's perspective takes our own judgementalism out of the equation. It is not about their actions or lack of action, it is about us doing what is right by God.		  
Tues, Jul 6th Old Testament Characters #10:  Esther - Lynda Young
Tonight we took a closer look at the places we are at in our lives, and how we might serve God in those situations. We used Esther's example as a model, reading Esther 4.		  
Tues, Jun 29th Old Testament Characters #9:  Daniel - Lynda Young
reading Daniel 1.  Tonight we learnt how we respond to pressures to compromise our commitment to Jesus.		  
Tues, Jun 22nd Old Testament Characters #8:  King Saul - Andrew Donaldson
Andrew did a brilliant job leading tonight's study on 1 Samuel 15:1-23. We learnt that the "near enough is good enough" attitude when doing almost all of God's Will, is not good enough after all. We also learnt how easy it is for us to deceive ourselves that we are doing all of His Will, when in truth we are not. We shouldn't let self-doubts, laziness, pride etc get in the way of God's power and blessings in our lives.		  
Tues, Jun 15th Old Testament Characters #7:  Achan - Timothy Young
A huge thank you to Timothy for taking over leadership of the bible study tonight. We learnt about a man named Achan who, by his sin, affected the whole Israelite community in a devastating way. Our readings were from Joshua 6:17-19, 24-25 then Joshua 7. 		  
Tues, Jun 8th Old Testament Characters #6:  Elijah - Lynda Young
Tonight, reading 1 Kings 18: 16-40, we learnt about God's power and it's relevance to us and our daily faith. Elijah's faith in God and God's power was rock solid. Not once did he waver when facing enormous odds. Just as Elijah had done, we too can rely on God's power in every situation of our lives. 		  
Tues, Jun 1st Old Testament Characters #5:  Caleb & Joshua - Lynda Young
Reading Numbers 13:26-14:10 we learnt that it is possible to overcome the impossible. We need to stand strong and trust God despite the sea of doubt around us. Again we came back to the importance of putting God first in our lives.		  
Tues, May 25th Old Testament Characters #4:  Abraham - Lynda Young
It was a small gathering tonight due to work and study commitments and the like. Reading Genesis 12, we took a look at what it means to follow God's call. We talked about the things that might hold us back: our fears, laziness, other priorities. We discussed leaving our comfort zone, not only for our own sake, but for the sake of those who need to hear his message, just as Abram had done.		  
Tues, May 18th Old Testament Characters #3:  Samuel - Lynda Young
Tonight we learnt about hearing God's voice. Our reading was 1 Samuel 3 where Samuel, as a young boy, hears God's voice for the first time. Often the rush of daily life distracts us from God's word, to a point where we often miss the messages that God is trying to speak to us. Tonight we learnt the necessity of opening ourselves to the Lord by daily devotions, prayer, reading his Word and then simply stopping and listening for his voice.		  
Tues, May 11th Old Testament Characters #2:  Hannah - Lynda Young
This was a study where we learnt a little more about each other. Reading  1 Samuel 1, we learnt the importance of prayer and, just as Hannah didn't give up but put her trust in God, so too we should persistently pray and know deep in our hearts that the Lord hears our prayers and wants what is best for us. 		  
Tues, May 4th Old Testament Characters #1:  Jonah - Lynda Young
Tonight we learnt that it is impossible to run from God. He has given us gifts for us to use for His good. He will never give us a task that is beyond our abilities. 
Tues, Apr 27th Religions of the World: Judaism - Jayson Fox
Tonight was a very interesting study on Judaism and how, by learning the background and understanding their beliefs, we might be able to teach them about Jesus Christ as the Messiah.
Tues, Apr 20th Religions of the World: Islam  - Jayson Fox
Tonight we looked at the origins of the Islamic faith, their main teachings and beliefs, and its similarities and differences to the Christian faith.
Tues, Apr 13th The inevitability of the Cross #2 - Lynda Young
What is “The Cross” that Christians are asked to carry? We looked at Luke 14:25-33 and Luke 9:18-23, focusing on what it means to deny self, to take up Christ's cross and to follow him. 
Tues, Apr 6th The inevitability of the Cross #1 - Lynda Young
Why did Jesus have to die on the Cross? We looked at Luke 24: 13-27 and then focused on God's Plan to save us from the very beginning, culminating with Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
Tues, Mar 30th The Bible and Archaeology - Bob McSwan
Tonight was Bob's last study on the Bible and Archaeology. We looked at the Roman rule at the time of Jesus. It has been a fascinating series that has touched all of us in different ways.
Tues, Mar 23rd The Bible and Archaeology - Bob McSwan
Tonight Bob taught us the significance and history of the Temple site in Jerusalem. He once again brought alive both the words of the bible and our history as children of God. 
Tues, Mar 16th Religions of the World: Hinduism - Jayson Fox
Tonight we compared Hinduism and Christianity. We looked into the Hindu range of beliefs, their many gods and Karma. The main element that stood out the most was that their hope of attainment is based on their effort, and their works whereas a Christian's hope is given to them as a gift.  
Tues, Mar 9th The Bible and Archaeology - Bob McSwan
We learnt about the amazing discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, and why they were the "greatest manuscript discovery of modern times". For example, one of the scrolls contained a copy the book of Isaiah which dated 1000 years earlier than the earliest known copy at that time. We also compared the Qumran Community (the original owners of the scrolls) with the teachings of Jesus. 
Tues, Mar 2nd Religions of the World: Buddhism - Jayson Fox
Tonight Jayson led us through an interesting comparison between Buddhism and Christianity. We had a look at the basics of Buddhist's philosophical beliefs, their main teachings, how they practice their beliefs, and the differences and similarities between the two religions. Most importantly, we considered how we might start talking to a Buddhist about Christ. It was a fascinating study.
Tues, Feb 24th The Bible and Archaeology - Ian Naylor
Tonight Ian led us through an interesting overview of this subject with a focus on very early findings and the Great Flood. He concluded with an eye-opening list of archaeological confirmations of the biblical events and another list of biblical structures which have been excavated. There are far more than I ever realised.
Tues, Feb 17th The Bible and Archaeology - Bob McSwan
Tonight we looked at Belshazzar. Was he a man or a myth? The series of archaeological discoveries presented tonight showed the steady progression from the claims that "the rule of Belshazzar was fiction" through to "Belshazzar was fact". Looking at Daniel 5 we learnt that it is right and good to honour God. I for one do not wish to be judged and found wanting.
Tues, Feb 10th The Bible and Archaeology - Bob McSwan
This study focused on King Hezekiah and the Assyrians. We looked at how the Assyrians threatened the Judeans and the archaeological evidence of the attacks. We learnt that Hezekiah went to the Lord for help - as we can - and because of his faith, the Lord delivered his people. 2 Kings 18-19, repeated in Isaiah 36-37 and summarized in 2 Chronicles 32:1-23		  
Tues, Feb 3rd The Bible and Archaeology - Bob McSwan
It was a fascinating study with a focus on the Hebrews in Egypt. We learnt tonight that while archaeology can't prove everything in the bible, it can help to add historical credibility to it. Bob helped to bring alive the plight of the Israelites during the time of Moses and of Abraham. It had never seemed so real before.  We concluded with Hebrews 11 -  no amount of archaeological evidence means anything without faith.