all right well you notice the funnel

most fundamentals of the faith lesson

one introduction the first thing we just

did you see that their prayer requests

and praises and well we'll do that

probably as time permits but most of the

time we will not do praises and prayer

requests at the beginning of this class

somebody asked why because we don't

think prayer is important wrong right of

course that's not true we think prayer

is of utmost importance that's why we

have a specific designated time for

prayer at 9:15 and we ask you to come to

that you can share requests we actually

take time to pray for those requests

we're not minimizing prayer but this

hour this time actually it's a little

less it's about 45 minutes is going to

be devoted to the curriculum because

there is so much ok there's so much to

get through and some lessons will have

to be divided into two and so we want to

try to get through as much of the

material as we can and and that's going

to require basically all the time in the

class now if the Spirit tells us hey you

do what I say not what you want then

we'll do that but I believe God is a God

of order and so our plan is to go

through this book and to teach what is

in it and and and we'll pray in the

prayer time if you would if I could get

two quick volunteers to help me out

come up here Mitchell come up here Louie

come up here miss Linda three works I

need y'all to grab some of these books

and just go ahead and pass them out okay

now just take a book don't don't share

just take one initially every single

person take one initially and and I'll

explain if you don't want the book later

or whatever that's okay to the front row

got forgotten just go ahead and take a

book and we'll go through some of the

basic details in the book and when you

get the book in your hand this is the

first day of school this is your

syllabus is that all of them anybody

else need a book that doesn't have one

you need a sheet okay we have any sheets

left okay

can you grab those for me and just

handle one dimittimus mr. Terry and then

mr. Doug in the back needs a sheet shame

shame you know your name oh he was doing

his other job my bad

we got another book we good anybody need

a book need another book okay can you

pass that straight back all right there

anybody else book or or sheet okay

everybody got a book raise your hand

everybody got a sheet say Amen everybody

got a book raise your hand

everybody got a sheet same in everybody

got okay I'm just seeing if you're awake

all right good okay so this is the first

day of school aren't you glad you're

back in school all the kids are like in

no way and all the adults are like I

wish right you're still working first

day school this is basically your

curriculum for the entire time we're

gonna be meeting together in all

seriousness this is a university level

type curriculum okay don't let that

scare you and remember this for this

time for this class what you put in is

what you'll get out you all say that

with me what you put in is what you'll

get out one more time what you put in is

what you'll get out okay so so it's up

to you what you do I don't want to be a

drill sergeant I'm gonna clearly define

the expectations of the class so I'm

gonna I'm gonna have you reach and aim

high okay if you don't do all these

things if you are not able that's okay I

don't think that's true

that last part I don't think anyone in

here is not able to do what I'm about to

ask you to do but if by chance you don't

do it you're not condemned you're

covered by the blood of Christ amen and

so we go by grace we walk by grace and

by faith and and so remember that as we

go through this but the first thing I

want you to do is turn to page what

five page five page number five in your

workbook and if we're all on the same

page say Amen hey Dave are we really

gonna go over the table of contents yes

we are because I want you to see I want

you to get excited about what we're

gonna be studying in this and just get a

glimpse the first two lessons are all

about the Word of God that should get

you excited right their introduction to

the Bible okay some basic things if you

go to lesson 1 you'll see it talks about

the Pentateuch talks about the first

five books talks about the different

books in the Bible and so you're gonna

go home and you're gonna do some

homework in this book and this is one of

the reasons I want every single person

to have a book because I want you to do

your own homework right as a guy

attended even in college to be tempted

to say okay I'm one of my wife to do

this for me right and it was my

responsibility so I want us to take

personal responsibility and and go

through the workbooks on an individual

basis but introduction to the Bible

we're gonna talk about canonicity who

knows what canonicity is yeah how did we

come to that right and we're gonna be

talking about that a little bit we're

gonna be talking about what went into

those decisions and and how those

decisions were made ultimately what

we'll see is that it was already the

Bible we just kind of like the light

went on like we realized it okay didn't

become the Bible when it was canonized

it was already the Word of God it was

already the Bible but but that's when it

was official I guess you could say in in

so many words

also not lesson number two how to know

the Bible that's a little bit more about

studying you'll see some familiar stuff

in that lesson it'll be observation

interpretation what's the last one

application good job yeah and so we'll

just see how we go about studying the

Word of God and then number three God

his character and his attributes we want

to know who God is this sound familiar a

little bit right it's kind of what we've

been doing with the other curriculum but

this is going to be a little bit more

concentrated and and we always go to the

word of

out asking who God is right we don't go

to the Word of God just for the simple

fact of rules we don't want to be just

rule followers okay that makes for

legalists and hypocrites many times

right Christianity the thing that makes

Christianity different from every other

religion is a relationship with Jesus

Christ it's a relationship with God

through His Son Jesus Christ and so we

live from grace we live from love the

rules are good for us because they tell

us truth from error but we do those

things we follow the rules not because

someone says you have to but because

that someone loves us so much and we

want to honor him and please him and get

to know him better amen lesson for the

person of Christ lesson 5 the work of

Christ what's the difference there well

just in the words themselves right we're

gonna see that Christ is God himself and

then the work of Christ is going to be

his earthly ministry his earthly works

and ultimately his death burial and

resurrection that's his greatest work

because he attained salvation for us

when he did those things 6 is salvation

and we'll touch on salvation even in in

Lesson number one next week a little bit

we'll talk about that and you say well I

already know these things I'm already

saved any objection to that anybody

thinking that right now raise your hand

if you're honest good good you're not

thinking that well if you're lying right

now here's the thing we need to know

these things not just a little bit hey

Theron can you come over on this side

for me I made everybody else do it so

I'm gonna have to make you do it perfect

man thank you so you want to know this

stuff like the back of your hand okay

and this repetition of these things will

help you do that why would that be

important in your Christian life first

Peter 3:15 says

yeah you want to you want to be able to

know how to answer someone when they ask

you the hope that lies within you right

hopefully you're living such a godly

life and this will help you do that too

that somebody says well what about this

or what about that or what about God in

this way or what about Jesus or what

about the Bible you have some

information and you even have a book

that you can go to right and say here's

here's the evidence for that here's what

I know

okay we'll get into that in just a

moment as well

continuing on lesson seven the person

Ministry of the Holy Spirit the Holy

Spirit I believe is the number one thing

that Baptists leave out and he's not a

thing he's a person right that's another

thing that we're gonna be talking about

he's a he's a person of the Godhead

lesson eight prayer and the believer we

know that prayer is important lesson

nine the church fellowship in worship

less than 10 spiritual gifts how many

y'all are interested in that one I mean

I think that's gonna be an exciting one

okay and so the goal of that part of

that section of that lesson will too

happy to help you begin to recognize

your spiritual gifts and not just

recognize it but start to implement them

by doing something about it by serving

in a specific way not just here in the

church but in life okay and so that'll

be less than 10 less than 11 evangelism

and the believer we all are scared of

evangelism amen amen light means let it

be so so maybe we shouldn't say amen to

that but we are nervous a little bit

we're scared of rejection that will help

bolster your confidence in evangelism

lesson 12 obedience in less than 13

God's will and guidance the number one

thing that most people ask about is the

will of God believers that is how do I

know God's will for my life so that'll

be a good good lesson turn over to page

number six it helps a little bit doesn't

it helps give you a little bit of an

overview of what we're gonna be doing

where we're gonna be going and and even

if you look at one of those chapters and

you wake up in the morning and you say

oh yeah this is lesson 7 and Mitchell

says I already know that

the person in ministry of the holy

spirit I already know all that I don't

need to go to church don't believe that

that's a lie from the enemy come to

church anyways amen all these things

don't take them for granted don't think

all I know it all already none of us do

and so we can always learn more but page

number 6 if somebody would do me a favor

and read that first paragraph could I

get a volunteer a minute I'm gonna put

the microphone in front of your mouth so

just to give you a warning Brogan says

that's me Jay you don't need a

microphone

go ahead Jay

thank you perfect so a lot different

right in there because you just saw some

things that were different first we're

not grace community church are we last

time I checked we're Cornerstone Baptist

Church and anybody familiar with the

pastor of Grace Community Church

anybody know who he is dr. John

MacArthur okay

highly recommend listening to sermons

and in fact you will listen to some of

his sermons if you go through this class

but Bible believing Bible teaching the

Word of God spirit filled man

and so as believers we do this all the

time as pastors we do this all the time

we look to other churches who are

following a biblical model and we say

wow that's that's of the Lord we need to

be doing that so that's all we're doing

with this study but there's a few things

in here you notice that are different it

says 10 students now look around it's a

lot more than 10 students isn't there

right I hope every single one of you

comes back even if only half of you

comes back there you go brother even if

only half of you come back that's still

more than 10 students so what we're

doing this for is specifically I

mentioned it in the prayer anybody catch

it why are we doing this class right

here right now with you

what's that Amen to grow ourselves and

also it's for future new members so

every new person that comes to

Cornerstone that wants to be a member of

Cornerstone is gonna have to go through

this class you say wow really I can't

just come up and join no why would that

be why would we do that things this way

that's number one we want them to

understand what our church is all about

we want them to understand the gospel we

don't want them to understand who Jesus

Christ is the fundamentals the

fundamental doctrines of the faith so

that way they don't come in here and

start whispering into somebody else's

ear doctrines we don't agree with right

that's one reason what's another reason

why would we require them to go through

this

absolutely so they themselves can

evangelize especially new believers they

need that this is all in and to sum it

up a little bit more broadly this is

discipleship right this is me equipping

you for the work of ministry so when a

person comes into Cornerstone Baptist

Church we want to make sure that they

know how to pray how to read the Bible

how to evangelize right all the basics

of the faith and so that's another

reason any other reasons yes ma'am miss

rosemary thank you you hit the buzzer

word it's a commitment and to be a part

of our church is gonna cost you

something not just in the class but

future wise right the number one reason

that they say in church studies that

people leave a church is simply because

they're not held accountable okay

both in their spiritual walk and also in

terms of serving and being being a part

of the body the body of Christ the Word

of God calls the body Christ a family

right and so in a family if your son or

daughter does something wrong if you

just turned a blind eye to them every

time they did something wrong would that

be loving absolutely not right and so

it's the same way in the church we want

to make sure that they know that they

need to commit to the family that the

church does not just exist for them it

does exist for them in a way but

ultimately it exists for others and for

the glory of God amen

it's mainly for the glory of Jesus

Christ that's our first and foremost

reason for meeting together but also

it's so other people can hear the good

news of the gospel of Jesus Christ

all right so accountability is a big one

there let's continue reading in the

introduction a common testimony at Grace

Community Church is from people who

thought they were saved and then took an

FoF class only to see that they did not

really understand the gospel through the

class they finally learned the truth

about Christianity and then saw their

lives transformed by the gospel it is

impossible to tell how many people have

come to saving faith through these

classes but it is easily the most

effective evangelistic tool we have used

just what we talked about a moment ago

and I hope this happens with some of you

nobody particularly comes to mind but

perhaps or someone in here who is of the

mindset that I can work my way to heaven

that I can do enough good things and

they will outweigh my bad things and God

will see that my good things outweigh my

bad things and then he'll let me into

heaven that is a false gospel that is

not true if you believe that you are on

your way to eternity separated from God

this class will very clearly define what

it means to be saved and it is the death

burial and resurrection of Christ

placing your faith in Him alone for

salvation amen we want to make that

abundantly clear continue on FoF is the

outgrowth of the belief that the essence

of Christianity is truth truth about God

the Father Christ and the Holy Spirit

truth about man's sin and God's plan of

salvation and truth about God's revealed

will for the church in our individual

lives what you believe matters and it

matters eternally wrong beliefs about

God lead people to hell Matthew 7:22

through 23 Christianity is a faith

anchored on the truths in the Bible

which is God's only inspired written

revelation this material is best used in

a small group of committed people if you

commit to attending these classes doing

the work beforehand and participating

you will gain an increased understanding

of the fundamentals of the Christian

faith now we're gonna get into what's

expected of you you ready same in how to

use this lesson on the bottom of page 6

number 1 prepare for each session by

downloading the assignment message from

wwg tyg org backslash FoF and i just

lost half of you because you said what

is that I don't know what to do there

why are we doing this get me out of here

right any that scare anybody honestly a

little bit okay don't be scared of that

what is there is the message for the

week that will be pre lesson it's by dr.

MacArthur okay it'll be John MacArthur

John MacArthur sermon I listen to the

first one this week it's exciting it's

interesting it's about 45 minutes long

give or take

sometimes it's a little longer okay but

you'll want to do that you'll want to

listen to those messages you say I don't

have time and if you say that to my face

I will call you a liar right or if

nothing else your priorities are messed

up am i right okay

every one of us has time maybe you have

to give something up that's fine give it

up okay

don't watch that TV show don't go for

that walk I don't know what you got to

do make time to listen to the message

and everybody that doesn't have internet

anybody not have internet access you

might not have a mobile phone that has

internet access okay if you don't how

many of you have a library card you can

go to a library the library have have

they has computers you can go to library

you can listen online they will even

teach you know the library has free

classes how to use the Internet

and so what I'm what I'm simply saying

is there's not a there's not a really

good excuse to why you can't listen to

this every week also on top of all that

if you say I'm not gonna listen on my

phone I'm not gonna listen I don't have

a computer at home I don't know how to

do this stuff if you come to this church

in the week I will take personal time to

set up in for you in another room on a

computer with headphones so you can

listen to it yourself okay I'll do

whatever it takes Mitchell how do you

listen to it you'll have to listen to it

the when every year with your parents at

home okay anybody else any questions on

that

let's finish reading that that little

paragraph prepare for each session by

downloading the assignment message from

gty org backslash FoF taking notes and

identifying questions you may have and

filling in the answers in the workbook

now this is really important so you see

in lesson one everybody look on page

number six you see there's some blanks

right there right and then the next

several page have other blanks that you

will be filling in you will be filling

those in you ready say Amen not in class

all right cuz I'm not even gonna give

you the answers I don't think in class I

might I might at the very end if we need

to go through some of them but that is

the main homework okay that is what

you're going to be doing not just

through the sermon it's mainly just

through your own study because look how

easy it is number one the Old Testament

39 books the Pentateuch five books list

the books of the Pentateuch in the order

you find them in your Bible what's

number one Genesis right how do you know

that well it's the book of beginnings

creation man sin redemption God's nation

all right number two Exodus right so

it's not rocket science

okay gets a little harder later on but

if you have a question you can come talk

to me okay don't call me up by like

12:00 at night hey Dave I'm missing

number three I can't get I can't figure

it out but you can come talk to me that

next Sunday will review all of these

because they're important so you'll want

to go ahead and fill those out that that

is the homework assignment listen to the

message and then fill in the blanks in

the lesson in your book number two the

class or group sessions will not involve

filling in the answers in the workbook

we just talked about that class time

will be used to expand and discuss key

topics with the lesson and to answer any

questions that you have relative to the

lesson now listen to me I'm not gonna

get up here and preach to you okay

that's not what this is gonna be I'm not

gonna you can get up here and

specifically teach to you even though I

will be doing that it's gonna be more of

a dialogue just like we do in our other

Sunday morning class right you're gonna

have an opportunity to talk back and to

input information I don't want some of

you introverts to get scared I'm not

gonna call on you randomly and point you

out and say hey you know if you want to

participate you will be encouraged to

participate if I call on anybody like

that it will simply be like hey what do

you think about this and if you say

you know I don't know you get all

clammed up I'll just say hey Terry would

you help them out she's all clammed up

right okay we'll move on it won't be a

big deal we won't embarrass you much

amen got it number three the better you

prepare the better you will be able to

participate in the more you will benefit

from the class interaction we just

talked about what you put in is what you

get out okay so don't forget that one

thing that's not in here that I'd like

to interject real quick is go to bed at

a decent time on Saturday night not just

for this class but maybe then you'll be

able to get up and come to prayer time

but even if you don't come to that at

least you'll be ready and wide eyed and

and ready to hear from the Lord amen

that's a small thing that if you start

doing will reap big dividends in your

life so I'm not your mom and not your

dad I'm not gonna call you and wake you

up but you got you guys know you know

how valuable that is to get up and be

ready and be open and and awake to hear

from God so try to do that number four

come prepared to interact and learn

please come with a heart that's engaged

and wanting to give some feedback please

expect the Lord to speak to you if you

didn't know something and you're excited

about that share it with the group okay

there's gonna be a lot of opportunity

for those things as we go through this

curriculum all right we're gonna speed

up a little bit why this curriculum

ephesians 4 11 and 12 anybody know what

ephesians 4 11 and 12 says it's the one

that talks about he gave some to be

apostles and all those things beforehand

and then i believe it's verse 11 says

for the equipping of the Saints for the

work of the ministry okay so that's one

of the reasons we want to equip you we

want to get you ready once you give you

the tools the mental tools the spiritual

tools to do the work of the ministry

okay to evangelize to pray to help the

needy to serve to use your spiritual

gift to do all those things that's one

of the reasons also you see their

fundamentals provide
a foundation for proper growth one of

the biggest things you see in the

Christian Church is just an erosion of

the fundamentals the basic doctrines

because now churches are doing whatever

they can to get people in we get a show

we give them a very encouraging message

right how many you guys are are you're

more extroverts your emotion driven you

do things and then you think anybody

like that it's okay to be like that okay

and then there's the others who think

think think think think and sometimes it

takes them a long time to do something

and they're very introspective and think

neither one of those is wrong God has

made us different but what happens in

the church is when when we get to

doctrine the people who are like let's

go let's go let's go let's go let's

serve let's do this let's go evangelize

let's go do all these things they don't

take time listen to get the fundamentals

down and so they messed up in the

practice okay the number one thing that

will help you in your Christian walk is

theology theology knowing the right

things knowing who God is knowing the

gospel knowing the basic doctrines will

further your walk with Christ and will

help you serve him better it will build

a foundation for your life

second Timothy 2:15 study to show

thyself approved unto God a workman who

needeth not to be ashamed rightly

dividing the word of truth like I

mentioned before this class will be a

part of our next steps class does

everybody understand exactly what that

is our next steps class

this is gonna be step number either 1 or

2 combined with a membership class and

the membership class we'll be going

through a book one Saturday one time

it's a very very thin book and we're

just going to go through the

requirements of that with new members

and so there's basically I think three

right now we have three steps it's this

it's the one-time membership class on a

Saturday and then what else there's a

service oriented class basically that's

a one-on-one with one of the pastors or

pastors wives if you're a lady you'll go

with a pastor wife because we want you

to acclimate to the church find your

spiritual gift and get you plugged in

okay so those are some of the steps

there might be four I'm debating on one

more but this will help long term with

closing the back door what will you need

this workbook everybody hold your

workbook up like this am I the only one

that's hot that's cuz I'm up here moving

around okay

you have your workbook if you do you see

in parentheses there everybody looked

down and with your god-given eyeballs at

this what's in the parentheses it says

if you do not plan on doing the workbook

please do not take the workbook if you

take the workbook you're telling me I'm

going to do this and I'm going to do it

all the way through okay because these

things cost money and we want we're

gonna eventually have to get more for

future members okay so if you're not

gonna do it that's okay I'm just gonna

look at you condescendingly and say

thank you I'm not gonna do that I'll

just say thank you and it'll be all good

okay you get what you can out of the

class no judgement here for that but at

the same time holding you to a higher

standard okay do the work but keep the

workbook if you'll do the workbook you

also need a Bible that should be first

right

the order is messed up there my bad a

journal or notebook for personal notes

how many y'all journal or notebook okay

mostly girls guys this is not a bad

thing alright to write down your

thoughts when you're going through and

studying the Word of God

you'll want that in here specifically

when we're speaking and teaching and

going through the lesson you'll want

something to write in so pick up you

know a dollar-fifty workbook from

Walmart or something to write in the

next time we meet and then the last one

a friend because everybody needs a

friend why would I put that there

say it loud say it proud what do you

mean

so like in the group here okay that's a

good thought I wasn't thinking that

that's not where I was going but I like

it anybody else did you say invite

invite someone basically yeah that's

what I'm saying this is a great

opportunity to trick somebody into

hearing the gospel okay not really you

can be honest with him up front and say

hey we're gonna talk about the Bible

we're gonna talk about where the Bible

came from we're gonna talk about God and

who he is do you want to know any of

that or maybe somebody's been asking you

those things already great introduction

to just say hey why don't you come to

this class we're just starting it my

pastor just did you know like a

45-minute lesson on the introduction

which I think was a waste of time but

that means you have more time to come

now right okay so you have an

opportunity to invite somebody next time

and any time don't if they don't get

here in time for the start that's okay

invite them to whatever session you can

okay so a friend what is expected this

was my favorite part in highschool

sports our coach would sit us down

before we ever snapped the ball or shot

a basket or threw a baseball and he

would say listen here's what I expect

from you it would get real serious and

it'd be scary okay don't be scared

but I want to be clear about the

expectations for this class commit to do

the homework commit is a word that gives

the connotation of a decision right so

it's a decision so don't come to me and

say I didn't do the homework because I

had too much work this week okay that's

not gonna fly and I'll deduct $500 from

your checking account being silly now

but just commit commit to do the

homework commit to be here faithfully

commit to listen to the message online

at gty dot org backslash FoF and commit

to prayer and preparedness prepared

preparedness is that a right word said a

word preparedness all right all right we

got a few minutes left I want to I want

you to listen

- just a bit of this sermon because it's

pretty good well I'm getting this set up

look at what are the class goals

somebody read out loud the class the

first class goal to me to have assurance

of eternal life that's the first thing

we mentioned that already once what else

to become what to become equipped we

talked about that as well equipped for

ministry and what's the last one to know

God more deeply and so those are all the

goals of this class and you can look at

those passages at your own time later I

mentioned there at the bottom will take

our time as we go through this so one

lesson might turn into two but we will

be as efficient as possible and we'll go

through the lessons any questions before

you hear this last little section

anybody Bueller Bueller yes ma'am

of course yes we are not gonna hand me

over the head if you you know if you say

you know what I'm gonna be gone for a

week or two weeks or three weeks because

of vacation or work or what-have-you

that's okay okay again we're not don't

don't misinterpret my my demeanor here

I'm just trying to set the bar high but

so you know what's expected but if you

miss for something like that what you do

is you just take the homework with you

take the book with you fill it out and

then also listen to the sermon online at

gty org backslash FoF and then number

three we're gonna be recording these

okay and we'll put them on the website

so you can catch up okay don't let that

be an excuse to not come because we want

that interaction right but well those

three things will be available for you

good good question anybody else all

right this is only just a few minutes

long part of the sermon right in the

middle of the sermon and just found it

extremely interesting
he's talking about in this part he's

talking about the word of God he's

talking about how people mocked the Word

of God how all these elite thinkers find

contradictions in the Bible talks about

one of these contradictions right here

stories that he tells stories historical

accounts that he tells and and so I just

wanted to pique your interest a little

bit because I mean I'll be honest when I

was a kid that's what I thought - you

mean quail we're all stacked on the

ground two feet I mean for two feet five

feet high I'm that's gross and how I'm

though it made me question my faith and

most you already knew that but what a

simple answer and he goes through about

three or four other examples like that I

want to encourage you when you listen to

the message listen to it as a couple

listen to it as a family make it a

weekly thing that you do and also

actually listen okay don't get

distracted don't answer the phone

put your phones away all those things do

whatever you got to do to actually

listen okay the Bible talks about the

word Shima

it has the word Shima in there and

translated it means listen but to the

Hebrew people it was a dual thing it

wasn't just listen it always had the

connotation of listen and obey

it's the both and God would say you

you're hearing that's why you hear in

the New Testament he says you hear with

your your ears but you're not you're not

listening you're not hearing what I'm

saying

so listen to the messages get quiet

along with the Lord and listen to those

any