Introduction - Raising the Standard
a practical Christian discipleship course. Introduction and Contents Many times I have wondered what it must have been like in ‘Barny’s...
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Raising the standard
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1. God the Father
The Master's Instructions about Himself, Matthew 5:43-6:34 The Bible word for ‘father’ comes from the same root as words meaning ‘one who...
2. God the Son
The Master's Instructions about Himself. Colossians 1:9-2:10. Paul wrote about Jesus Christ as if he had known Him for years on this...
3. God the Holy Spirit
The Master's Instructions about Himself. John 14-17. It is a mystery that God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is for ever One and yet...
4. The Process of Christian Growth
The Master's Instructions about Himself, Colossians 3:1-17. The Christian life has to be lived. Paul describes it in Galatians 2:20:...
5. Worshipping God
The Master's Instructions about Himself. Psalm 34:1-22. Our worship of God should be both private and public. The Bible contains many...
6. The Gospel - Why do we need it?
The Master's Instructions About the Gospel. Genesis 1-3. The Greek word translated ‘gospel’ simply means ‘good news’. Paul describes the...
7. The Gospel - What is it?
The Master's Instructions about the Gospel. Luke 22:66-24:12. While the bad news for man is that his sin separates him from God, the...
8. The Gospel - How should we respond to it?
The Master's Instructions about the Gospel. Acts 2:1-47. The first sermon ever preached in the history of the Christian church concludes...
9. Receiving and Relying on the Holy Spirit
The Master's Instructions about the Christian life. John 14:15-15:8. When you begin to think about all that is involved in living the...
10. Learning to Please God
The Master's Instructions about the Christian life. Romans 7:21-8:39. In Romans 8:1 we have assurance of forgiveness of sins in Jesus...
11. Learning to confess sin
The Master's instructions about the Christian life. (1 John 1:5-2:6). There is not a Christian alive who does not want to be a better...
12. Learning in Fellowship
The Master's Instructions about the Christian life. (Ephesians 4:1-16). Just as God has ordained that a human baby should have...
13. Learning how to pray
The Master's instructions about the Christian life. (Matthew 6:5-15). One of the main keys to developing a good relationship with God is...
14. Learning how to learn
The Master's Instructions about the Christian life. (1 Timothy 4:1-16). Prayer has sometimes been likened to the air we breathe. If...
15. Living as a Christian at home
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (Colossians 3:1-17) In this section on Everyday Life we will see that Christianity...
16. Living as a Christian at work
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (1 Peter 2:11-21). Peter told the early Christians that they should expect to be...
17. Living as a Christian child
The Master's instructions about everyday life. Colossians 3:18-4:1. Genesis records God planning family life right at the beginning of...
18. Living as a Christian husband and father
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (Ephesians 5:25-6:4). There can be no doubt that this is the most important...
19. Living as a Christian wife and mother
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (Ephesians 5:21-6:4). So where does that last lesson leave the Christian woman in her...
20. Living as a single Christian
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (1 Corinthians 7:1-40). In Matthew 19:11-12, Jesus said that some people are given a...
21. The Christian attitude to money
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9) It has been said that a man’s money represents himself....
22. The Christian attitude to time
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (Psalm 90:1-17). The Bible begins before the beginning of time and it shows us that God...
23. The Christian attitude to sickness
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (Job chapters 1 and 2) As Christians we should thank God for our health and strength day...
24. The Christian attitude to other people
The Master's instructions about everyday life. (Luke 10:25-37). God has always wanted mankind to love both God and his neighbour. At...
25. The Christian attitude to the future
The Master's Instructions about everyday life. (Matthew 24:1-51). Many people share deep concerns about the future. Uncertainty,...
26. The Christian's attitude to his own abilities
The Master's Instructions about everyday life. (Matthew 25:14-30). The Bible records the stories of many men and women who used their...
27. The Christian's attitude to his own body
The Master's Instructions about everyday life. (1 Corinthians 6:12-20). Like everything else we have, our bodies are on trust from God....
28. How to overcome temptation
The Master's Instructions about specific Christian problems. Matthew 4:1-11, It is not a sin to be tempted to do wrong. Jesus was...
29. How to know God's will for your life
The Master's Instructions about specific Christian problems. (Jonah chapters 1-4). The Bible tells us that God has a plan for each...
30. How to pray
The Master's Instructions about specific Christian problems. (Psalm 51, Psalm 63). Psalm 51 is the prayer that David prayed after...
31. How to fight the spiritual battle
The Master's Instructions about specific Christian problems. (Ephesians 6:10-20). To live as a Christian is not easy because we live in...
32. How to lead another to Jesus Christ
The Master's Instructions about specific Christian problems. (Acts 8:26-40). Firstly, spend some time thinking about how you became a...
33. How to grow through problems - Joseph
The Master's Instructions about specific Christian problems. (Genesis chapters 37-50). I have heard of several groups of Christians who...
34. Born into the family of God
The Master's Instructions about Christian's together. (Matthew 16:13-19). God does not intend anyone to live an isolated Christian...
35. Brought up in the family of God
The Master's Instructions about Christian's together. (Ephesians 4:1-32). Just as a baby should grow into maturity, and God ordained...
36. Becoming what God wants me to be in the body of Christ
The Master's Instructions about Christian's together. (1 Corinthians 12:1-31). The ministry of Jesus Christ should be the natural and...
37. The authority of God's word
The Master's Instructions about the Bible. (Matthew 7:24-27). The parable Jesus told in Matthew 7:24-27 shows that the foundation for...
38. The value of God's word
The Master's Instructions about the Bible. (Psalm 119). From a simple study of the Bible’s longest chapter, Psalm 119, we can learn the...
39. Ways of studying God's word
The Master's Instructions about the Bible. (2 Timothy 2:1-26). It is possible to read the Bible out loud in about seventy-eight hours....
40. The place of Jesus Christ
Mark's life and ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 1:1-13). Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ. The gospel of Mark is the...
41. The purpose of Jesus Christ
Mark's Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 1:14-34). In this scripture the goals that Jesus Christ set for Himself, here on...
42. The prayer life of Jesus Christ
Mark's life and Ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 1:35-39) Even in the busiest life, time must be found for prayer. On one of my filing...
43. The miracles of Jesus Christ
Mark's life and ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 2:1-12) You do not have to read far in Mark’s ‘life of Jesus’ to come across a miracle....
44. The message of Jesus Christ
Mark's life and ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 4:1-20) Satan did not like Jesus teaching because he knew he would lose his own grip on...
45. The man Jesus Christ
Mark's life and ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 4:35-41; 6:45-52; 9:2-13) How would you get to know new people if they moved in next...
46. Jesus taught the sinfulness of the man
Mark's life and ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 7:1-23) According to Jesus, your inner self is the cause of your sinfulness. Your...
47. Jesus taught the sufferings of the Son of Man
Mark's 'Life and Ministry' of Jesus Christ. (Mark 8:31-9:1) Jesus knew that He would suffer. He planned His life to make sure He was in...
48. Jesus taught the resurrection
Mark's life and ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 16:1-8) The word ‘Easter’ comes from the Germanic language, celebrating the feast day...
49. Jesus taught the coming of the Son of Man
Mark's life and ministry of Jesus Christ. (Mark 13:1-37) Verse 31 speaks of the permanence of Jesus Christ compared with the passing...
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