Hope Lutheran Church currently has a three different Bible studies. You are welcome to come to the church to participate in them. All of these are possible to join in person and online via Zoom. If you would like to take part online, please ask the church office (helc@shaw.ca) or the pastor (pastorhelc@shaw.ca) for the Zoom link.
Current Studies
Book of Daniel Study – Tuesdays at 10:00 am
The book of Daniel presents some interesting challenges. How do faithful Christians live in a predominantly non-Christian culture? What should we do when those in authority command us to sin? What will happen in the end times? Join us in answering these questions at the church, join us online via Zoom (contact Pastor Chandler for the link at pastorhelc@shaw.ca), or watch the recordings of these Bible studies in a playlist on Hope Lutheran’s YouTube channel.
Lunch and Learn – First Wednesday of the Month, 12pm for the Lunch and 1:00 pm for Learning
Many different topics, often coming from the Bible studies found in Tapestry magazine which is published by the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League of Canada. However, Pastor Chandler also touches on the feast days of the Church Calendar and exploration of Old Testament passages that should be talked about more often.
Past Bible Studies
All Hope Lutheran Church’s Bible studies past and present are recorded and available on Hope’s YouTube page. We covered,
Lutheran Theology which went into theology in general from a specifically Lutheran perspective. Explored were distinctive views on: the Word of God, Law and Gospel, Vocation and Vocation to God’s Creation, Two Kingdoms theology, the Two Kinds of Righteousness, and an extensive look into devotional life with prayer (oratio), meditation (meditatio), and spiritual attack (tentatio). While discussing these subjects, responses are given to conflicting opinions held by non-Lutheran denominations.
The book of Job is Pastor Chandler’s specialty. Almost every major doctrine (and many minor doctrines) can be found in this book. It presents the picture of a believer who is in dire need of God’s presence while those around him do not understand neither his needs nor the truth of God.
End of Life Issues looks to how Christianity understands life and its value then proceeds to deal with topics like abortion, suicide, and assisted suicide (particularly looking to Canada’s MAiD program). Self-sacrifice and allowing death are also discussed as distinct from actively ending lives.
The early history of the Christian Church begins from the origins of the Church leading to Pentecost and exploring the early Church Fathers in the ancient world until the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD.
The LGBTQ+ Bible study starts with how we should approach all people as sinners in need of Christ before looking to the development of the LGBTQ+ Movement as a political phenomenon built on Gramscian Marxism and Post-Modernist Feminism. Rather than view people through that political lens, we should look to individuals as they are and guide them through the biblical view of sexuality, never forsaking the promise of Christ’s forgiveness.
The book of John has many intriguing facets in addition to its huge main message. “These things are written that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31) The gospel provides a look into the life and work of Jesus Christ with major themes and metaphors all centred on salvation in Christ.
John composed his letter of 2 John following his gospel in preparation for visiting a Christian congregation somewhere near Ephesus. A lot of the themes of the gospel (and 1 John) are present with Christ as the Truth, the joy of new life, the love of God as salvation and as loving your neighbour, and establishing boundaries of fellowship against false believers.
Introduction to Faith and the Scriptures goes through a lot of topics from the beginning in Genesis and John to the end with Joshua and Revelation. What is creation? What is sin? Who is Jesus? Who are the patriarchs and the Apostles? This Bible study moves back and forth between the Old Testament and New Testament to show how the Lord has revealed Himself throughout history and what He has done (and is doing) for us.