Two classes run simultaneously. One class consistently walks through a book of the Bible, and the other takes a more topical approach. If you haven’t made it to a Sunday morning class yet, make plans to join us for one of the following:

Doctrines of Salvation

Mystery lies at the heart of many Christian doctrines. Last semester, we studied how God is both one in essence and three in person in our class on the Trinity. We marveled at the confession that Jesus is both truly God and truly man in our class on the Apostles’ Creed. This semester as we study the doctrine of salvation (soteriology), we’ll affirm both God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.

Our goal will be to pursue knowledge from God’s Word and to restrain our curiosity. We won’t be able to solve every riddle, and that’s ok. Where God closes his holy mouth, we need to be content. But he has revealed a great deal to us about election, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, and more. As we increase in our knowledge, our appreciation for God’s mercy and grace ought to deepen, leading us to echo the prophet Jonah’s grateful declaration: “Salvation belongs to the LORD!”

In our Connections Class for new members, we stress that the teaching at Trinity, by and large, conforms to the Reformed understanding of sin and election. This class will be an opportunity to spend some more time thinking through what that means. For the next five Sundays, we’ll consider the pervasiveness of man’s sinful condition, the basis of God’s election, who Christ died for, the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, and whether or not someone can fall from grace. Be prepared to examine the Scriptures and survey these doctrines throughout church history.

(If you want a sneak peek at the first class hand-out, click here.)

Here are a pair of fairly recent books that will prove useful if you’d like to dig into these subjects on your own. The first is For Calvinism by Michael Horton. Horton explains and defends the Reformed view, often called “Calvinism.” This view maintains that God is the sole active agent in salvation; it is not a process of human cooperation with God’s grace. The second book is Against Calvinism, in which Roger E. Olson offers objections from a non-Calvinist perspective. Olson’s classical Arminian view maintains that salvation is attained through a cooperative process between God and human beings.

This class will be followed by ten weeks of looking at major turning points in church history, then four weeks considering the devotional theology of some selected hymns.

The Minor Prophets

This semester Ryan Fields and others will continue to survey all twelve books of the minor prophets. The goal is to understand the text from the perspective of the biblical writers within their own historical context while also tracing out the storyline of the Bible as it culminates in the person and work of Jesus. We’ll be starting with Micah chapter 1.

We hope to see you Sunday morning at 9:15 am!