Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

  We were able to attend our church and hear Pastor Alvis preach this sermon titled "The Stimulation of Christian Hope." The sermon focused upon Christ coming again in the rapture, to take all His church home and to resurrect all saints from the grave, no matter where their body is. We learn the beautiful truth that when a believer dies, it is falling asleep in Christ.  If you are able to listen and see this sermon, it will show you where our hope is.  Bob

Ephesians 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  7) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  I remind us that Ephesians 1:3-12 is one long sentence in the Greek and I will keep the texts in front of us while we study through them. The subject matter is "all spiritual blessings" God has given to each believer in Christ.  There are two kinds of spiritual blessings. We have been given practical blessings needed to live out our faith in this life. We have

Ephesians 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  4) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  We will complete verse 5 in this post as we deal with another very broad topic that Paul brings before us. This is the subject of a believer's adoption into the family  of God. It is another of the "all spiritual blessings in heavenly places" that have been given to each believer   because  of our faith in Jesus Christ.  Adoption is another very important topic for us to understand.  I do not know what your childhood and home life was like growing up. I only know the environment I grew up in and it was not Christian. However, I can say with confidence to each

  Good morning to all of our Readers from around the world! Below is the YouTube link to Pastor Alvis's Sunday sermon titled "Jesus' Hour of Glory" from John 17 and other texts in the gospel of John. This sermon put the glory of Christ's cross on display so that we always remember what it cost God to save us from Hell. May the Word of God do it's mighty work in each of our hearts today. Bob

  I apologize for not getting Pastor Alvis's sermon links posted sooner. This is the link to his sermon titled "Living In Accord with the Gospel" from June 23, 2021. Pastors sermons continue to show his clear understanding of the scriptures and the depth of Christian character that God has built into him during more than three decades of pastoral ministry.

Predestination: The beauty of God's perfect will. Ephesians 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  Paul used some really important words that have generated controversies and schisms in the past. However, if we can understand what God means in relation to words like "predestination", foreknowledge", "election" or "chosen", then I think we will all praise God for His marvelous, mighty works.  some things in the Bible are challenging to understand because they are perfectly inspired Divine truths communicated within the limitations of human language. I will do my best to help us see what God says so we might clearly understand what the words actually mean.  We are only going to get through the first part of verse 5 in this post.   The verb "predestinated" literally means to predetermine to do something or to decide before hand. A word that is very

No man is able to adequately describe all that God the Father has done for each believer in Christ, because of our repentant faith in the Son of God. We are studying the beautiful, priceless and precious truths of God that impacts all who are born again and mere words are limited in their ability to convey heavenly truths.  We previously learned that every believer has been given all spiritual blessings in heavenly places for those who are "in Christ." Trying to think about them is like looking at the most beautifully crafted diamond and being dazzled by brilliant light reflecting from each of it's carefully cut facets.  God chose us before He made the world! Ephesians 1:3-4   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4)  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  I put verse 3 together w

An amazing introduction to spiritual realities.  Ephesians 1:1-2  Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:  2)  Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  Every letter Paul wrote to a church included a formal greeting. In the majority of his letters Paul named his standing as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The word  "apostle"  means one who is sent forth by Christ with orders and a mission.   In this case, he made it clear  that his calling into apostleship was by the will of God. God determined to make Paul an apostle to the Jews and Gentiles of the world.  Who was Paul writing to? Remember his last words to the Ephesian elders and the  obvious bonds of love they had for each other? (See Acts 20). Paul was certainly addressing the elders and church leaders at Ephesus but he specifically wrote to the saints at Ephesus.  A "saint" is a bo