Download discussion questions:  Exodus 20_1-17
Calvary Institute – Fall 2018 Index

What Do We Do With God’s Law?

In last week’s study and discussion, the apostle Paul was unambiguous about the source of justification, our right standing with God.  That justification does not come through following the law:

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Galatians 2:15-16, emphasis added.

With that in mind, what do we do with the Ten Commandments?  Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  Galatians 2:14-21
Calvary Institute – Fall 2018 Index

Law(s) in our Lives

After ten minutes looking at the passage individually, we began our discussion with the questions, “What law or laws have you seen imposed on Christians, especially on you?  What effect did that experience have on you?”

As with last week’s question about awkward or uncomfortable conversations, there was no lack of response about our experiences of law imposed on us.  The examples included:

• Moral and cultural expectations
• Observance of Halloween
• Verse-by-verse exposition as the only valid form of preaching
• Necessity of home-schooling children
• Parenting in general, discipline of children

Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  Galatians 2:3-14
Calvary Institute – Fall 2018 Index

Awkward, Controversial, Uncomfortable Situations

We began our time together with the following topic:  Think of an awkward, controversial, or uncomfortable conversation you had recently.  How did you handle it?  What do you wish you would have done differently?

Without much delay, several people had examples, some recent events, some still lingering from the past.  Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  Galatians 1:15 – 2:4
Calvary Institute – Fall 2018 Index

Becoming Disciples, Making Disciples

Continuing the Calvary Institute theme of making disciples who make disciples, we started with an outline shared with me by our pastor at Calvary Restoration Church:

• Invest in the lives of people – time, energy, money, resources.
• Invite people into your life – your home, your leisure time, your story
• Introduce people – to other Christians and ultimately to Christ

Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  Galatians 1:9-17
Seven Questions – Inductively From Galatians
Calvary Institute – Fall 2018 Index

Making Disciples

One of the reasons for the existence of Calvary Institute at Restoration Church is to “make joyful, passionate disciples who make joyful, passionate disciples…”  A quotation from a seventeenth-century Puritan is a good reminder:

The mind of man is capable of receiving continual supplies in the increase of light and knowledge, if they are improved unto their proper end in obedience unto God.  But without this the mind will be quickly stuffed with notions, so that no streams can descend into it from the fountain of truth. [1] Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  Galatians 1:1-9
Seven Questions – Inductively From Galatians
Calvary Institute – Fall 2018 Index

This week in Calvary Institute, our discussion started at the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Galatians.  Last week we looked ahead (like reading the end of a novel first) to see where the apostle was headed.  One of the goals over the next weeks will be to see how the letter leads to his exhortations to “walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25) and to “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). Continue reading →

Download discussion questions:  Galatians 5:25 – 6:5

This Sunday we started a new series in Calvary Institute at Restoration Church (8:30AM on Sundays, 3401 S. Chambers Road, Aurora, CO 80014).  Last Spring, Calvary Institute was focused on separate, month-long units (the letters of John, the Apostles’ Creed, etc.).  The current series will continue at least through the end of 2018 (d.v. [1]).  This series is intended as a training opportunity in becoming and making “joyful, passionate disciples of Jesus Christ,” the church’s stated mission as part of CFC, the Calvary Family of Churches. Continue reading →