Bible Study
Note: We will not meet Tuesday 8/4/09 due to Samara being ill. Please pray for her and baby to get well soon.
Week 11 (8/11/2009)
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Preparation for Week 11: Read the second part of chapter 6 (pp. 147-157) of the book (this will complete the readings)
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
- Read the entire Book of Psalms over a period of 30-45 days. Read about 5 psalms a day (more if the psalms are shorter; less if the psalms are longer)
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Week 10 (7/28/2009)
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Preparation for Week 10: Read the first part of chapter 6 (pp. 129-147) of the book
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
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Eschatology of the Psalter by Geerhardus Vos
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Week 9 (7/14/2009)
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Preparation for Week 9: Read the second part of chapter 5 (pp. 114-128) of the book
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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Week 8 (7/7/2009)
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Preparation for Week 8: Read the first part of chapter 5 (pp. 99-113) of the book
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
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Week 7 (6/30/2009)
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Preparation for Week 7: Read chapter 4 (pp. 77-98) of the book
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
- Read to Rejoice (Ps 1:1-3) by Sam Storms
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Week 6 (6/9/2009)
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Preparation for Week 6: Read chapter 3 (pp. 51-75) of the book
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
- Psalm 1: Thinking and Feeling With God by John Piper
- The Psalms as Wisdom Literature by Bob Deffinbaugh
- God’s Prescription for Happiness (Ps 1:1-3) by Sam Storms
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Week 5 (6/2/2009)
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Preparation for Week 5: Read pp. 39-50 of the book
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
- Prayer in the Book of Psalms
- The Forms of Hebrew Poetry by George B. Gray (utilizes the traditional view of poetic parallelism, but notice that his definitions, exceptions and caveats of Hebrew parallelism seem to fit the newer view)
- How to Read and Apply Biblical Poetry by Phil Long
- Part 1 – Audio Lecture | Lecture Transcript | Study Guide
- Part 2 – Audio Lecture | Lecture Transcript | Study Guide
- Part 3 – Audio Lecture | Lecture Transcript | Study Guide
- Part 4 – Audio Lecture | Lecture Transcript | Study Guide
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Week 4 (5/26/2009)
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Preparation for Week 4: Read pp. 27-38 of the book
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
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Week 3 (5/19/2009)
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Preparation for Week 3: Read pp. 11-25 of the book and several Psalms of lamentation:
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
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Singing the Blues with Jesus by Michael S. Horton
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Week 2 (5/12/2009)
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Preparation for Week 2: Read pp. 1-10 of the book and several Psalms of praise:
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Agenda: Discuss the assigned reading, prayer, and fellowship.
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For Further Study:
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Week 1 (5/5/2009)
- Agenda: Meet, greet, and get to know each other better. Introduce the idea of the Psalms as inspired songs moving from lamentation to praise, suffering to glory.
- For Further Study:
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Overview of the Psalms (MP3 audio) by Mark Dever
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General Information
- The Day: Tuesday nights.
- The Time: Arrive from 6:45 to 7:00pm and start at 7:00pm sharp, ending the study at 8:30pm. This time is flexible depending on what family and children’s schedules are like, but let’s start with this for now.
- Timeframe: About 11 weeks.
- Childcare: Provided.
The Study: Join your neighbors and others as we discover how our joys, desires, doubts, sufferings, and hopes are expressed in the ancient book of Psalms. We will learn how to better understand and appreciate Hebrew poetry, and apply it to worshiping God and living the Christian life. God’s people love the Psalms—pray them, sing them, meditate on them. Transformed by Praise will help you understand them more deeply and love them more. Out of the depths of his own suffering and from his intensive study, Mark Futato has found in the Psalms a compelling portrait of Christ himself. The Psalms take us from lament to praise through a life-transforming encounter with their divine Author.- The Study Materials: Your Bible (any version) and the book called “Transformed by Praise” by Mark Futato.
- First Meeting: Tuesday, May 5.
- Affiliation: Heritage Presbyterian Church (PCA).
what do you meant by hedonism?
That’s a good question. One dictionary definition of hedonism is “The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good.” That’s not really what John Piper means by his term “Christian Hedonism”. He writes that the first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism can be modified to clarify what it originally meant:
Q1. What is the chief end of man?
A1. Man’s chief end is to glorify God by enjoying (instead of “and enjoy”) him forever.
So what Piper means by Christian Hedonism (and I agree with him) is that God created people to pursue pleasure, but that pleasure is only truly found in fellowship with God through Christ.
Piper describes what he means by Christian Hedonism here.