BACK TO BASICS

at

Newport Anglican Church

An eight week series of sermons, Bible studies

and daily Bible readings.

Weeks 1-4

Welcome to our first term series!

Over the next 8 weeks, I hope and pray that we will be able to be reminded of the basics of the Christian life. We will be thinking about this in 2 ‘halves’. In February, we will look at the gospel, which will conclude with a talk on February 24

“What is a Christian and how do I become one?” This would be a good day to invite people to church!

In March, we spend 4 weeks looking at what it looks like to live as a Christian, as we think about listening to God, talking with God, meeting with God’s people and making disciples of

all nations.

As we spend this time on Sundays, there will also be material provided to encourage us in our daily Bible reading and Bible studies. Each week there will be a Bible study on the same theme as the sermon from the previous Sunday

(although not the same passage) and a series of suggested daily Bible Readings. It is my hope that as many of us as

possible will commit to reading the Bible and praying each day. There are times when we all find this difficult! If we can

be doing this together, then I hope that we can be encouraged to begin and continue this habit. As you do each day’s reading, a helpful thing can be always remember to use

SOAP! That is:

S for Scripture – read the passage.

O for Observe – note anything you find interesting and what the main idea of the passage seems to be.

A for Application – is there anything I need to change in my belief or behavior as a result of God’s Word is saying?

P for Prayer – what can I pray for out of the passage today?

Week 1 (Feb 3-9)

God (Revelation 4)

(Use this page for notes on the sermon if you wish)

Weekly readings (If you are having trouble, don’t forget to use SOAP!)

Monday: Genesis 1

Tuesday: Isaiah 6

Wednesday: Ezekiel 1

Thursday: Exodus 34:1-7

Friday: Ephesians 3:14-21

Saturday: John 1:1-18

Bible Study (Job 38)

1. How do you picture God: How do your friends/colleagues/neighbours think of God (when they do)?

2. Read Job 38 together. What are the different ways in which God’s power is demonstrated?

3. How often do we think of God as being in charge of these things today.

4. How involved in our world is God?

5. Who is in charge of the world?

6. Read Job 40:1-4. What do you think of Job’s response to God?

7. Given God’s power and control, how should we treat him and why? (Choose as many options as you wish)

a) as an equal

b) as a more powerful human

c) as a friend

d) with fear

8. How does God’s revelation of himself in Job 38 differ from how our world thinks of him?

9. How might we change our response to God in light of this chapter?

Week 2 (Feb 10-16)

Humanity (Mark 7:1-23)

(Use this page for notes on the sermon if you wish)

Weekly Readings (If you are having trouble, don’t forget to use SOAP!)

Monday: Genesis 2

Tuesday: Genesis 3

Wednesday: Ecclesiastes 3

Thursday: Matthew 6:25-34

Friday: Colossians 1:16-20

Saturday: Ephesians 2

Bible Study (Psalm 8)

1. “He tells me that I have a soul. How does he know?” Imagine you were in a discussion about whether humans are any better than animals. What sort of points would you make for either point of view?

2. Read Psalm 8. Why is God’s name majestic in all the earth?

3. In comparison to the earth, how big do humans look?

4.Where does the psalmist locate humans in God’s creation? How does the psalmist feel about that?

5. What role has God given to humans?

6. How does this differ from the view that humans are just lumps of matter in the universe?

7. What difference should it make to our lives?

8. Read Jeremiah 17:9. How does this verse compare to Psalm 8?

9. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. In this passage the writer quotes from Psalm 8. But who is he talking about?

10. What does this tell us about Jesus?

11. If Jesus is like this, what confidence does that give us?

Week 3 (Feb 17-23)

Jesus (John 3:16-21)

(Use this page for notes on the sermon if you wish)

Weekly Readings (If you are having trouble, don’t forget to use SOAP!)

Monday: Hebrews 1

Tuesday: Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Wednesday: Matthew 21:33-46

Thursday: Galatians 4:1-7

Friday: Hebrews 4:14-5:10

Saturday: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Bible Study (Romans 3:21-31)

1. What is the basic problem between God and us?

2. Can we make ourselves right with God?

3. Read Romans 3:21-31. Are there any words or ideas you don’t understand? Make a note of them.

4. Where does our righteousness come from?

5. How do we obtain this righteousness?

6. How are we justified? (Justified is a legal term meaning declared right)

7. How does God show his justice?

8. Why did God need to show his justice?

9. If we are a Christian, can we boast in what we have done?

10. Who can trust Jesus?

11. Are we right with God because of what we do or who we trust in? Why?

12. Where is my trust today?

Week 4 (Feb 24-Mar 2)

What is a Christian and how to become one? (Romans 10)

(Use this page for notes on the sermon if you wish)

Weekly Readings (If you are having trouble, don’t forget to use SOAP!)

Monday: Mark 1:1-15

Tuesday: 1 Thessalonians 1

Wednesday: Acts 16:16-40

Thursday: Genesis 15

Friday: Romans 4

Saturday: Romans 8:1-17

Bible study (Romans 6)

1. What would you say to a person who told you that because they were Christian, they could do what whatever they liked because they trusted Jesus to forgive them?

2. Read Romans 6:1-4. Does Paul agree?

3. What reason does Paul give?

4. What is the significance of Jesus’ death for us?

5. What happened to us when Jesus died and rose again?

6. If we are united with Christ, how does that affect what we do, according to Romans 6?

7. What are some ways that we might be tempted to ‘offer our bodies to sin’

8. What is the difference between a slave of righteousness and a slave of sin?

9. Go back to the person in question 1, how would you respond to them now that you have looked at Romans 6?

10. Is there anything in our own lives which we need to ‘put to death’ as we are now united with Christ?