Bible study is held on Sunday mornings from 9:00–9:45 am. If you would like to receive a Zoom link, please email us. Handouts are posted below for each session.
Bible study
zechariah
In post-Christian and postmodern America, religion is not what it used to be. The glory days of cultural Christianity have long since passed. Christians are no longer the sole dominant force in society. Christians live as one group among many, and their lives are a work in progress. All this sounds a lot like the exiles who returned home to Jerusalem. Their glory days had long since passed. They were no longer the dominant force in the Persian Empire, but they were simply one group among many. What's more, their lives were a work in progress. During the seasons of Lent and Easter, we'll see how Zechariah pointed people to their suffering Messiah, who would be rejected and killed by his own people, but who came to give hope to his people. As we study the book of Zechariah, we'll see how his encouragement to the Israelite exiles still encourages us today, as we live as foreigners who await our real home in heaven.
march 9: opening call
Today we overview the setting of the prophet Zechariah's ministry and watch a video that explains the flow of the whole book. We'll begin by studying Zechariah's opening call to repentance, as the theme of the whole book. Far more than just wanting the temple to be rebuilt, Zechariah wanted to bring his people closer to God. Our goal for today is to explore why this book is relevant and practical for Christians living in post-Christian America today.
Download the study guide here: L1_Opening_Call.pdf
march 16: night visions, part 1
Today we introduce Zechariah's eight visions by looking at the first three. Visions in apocalyptic literature work much like a painting in a museum: instead of simply telling you the way things are or should be, they depict a scene in an indirect way that causes you to contemplate it even more. Through the three opening visions, we see God's promises to direct and govern world affairs and restore and bless the lives of his people—and how that would have been very comforting to the people of Zechariah's day. Our goal for today is to see how you can reassure yourself or someone you know when it seems like this world is falling apart.
Download the study guide here: L2_Visions_A.pdf
march 23: night visions, part 2
Today we focus on the important center of Zechariah's eight visions, both of which speak about Israel's high priest and governor. The first describes clean clothes for the high priest, a picture of Christ's forgiveness, and the second describes empowerment by the Holy Spirit for the high priest and governor. Both positions foreshadowed our Savior Jesus, who is the ultimate priest and king. Our goal for today is to journal about the comfort of knowing that God has cleansed us of the worst mistakes we've made in life.
Download the study guide here: L3_Visions_B.pdf
march 30, night visions, part 3
Today we focus on the last three of Zechariah's eight visions, all of which speak about judgment in some way. Though judgment is a hard topic for modern Western society to accept, it actually would have been quite comforting to Zechariah's original audience, who had been oppressed by numerous violent world powers throughout its history. Our goal for today is to make the case for why Christianity needs to retain the teaching of judgment in our modern secular world.
Download the study guide here: L4_Visions_C.pdf
april 6: crown for joshua
Today we focus on the bonus vision that follows Zechariah's eight visions, which further comments on the important center of the first eight visions, which had to do with Judah's governor and high priest. In this bonus vision, Zechariah sees the crowning of Judah's high priest, Joshua. A crown was given to Judah's kings, not priests, and we'll explore how this vision depicts both offices, priestly and kingly, coming together in the coming Messiah, our ultimate priest and king. Our goal for today is to respond to someone who is so turned off by religion and politics that they don't want Jesus as a king in their lives.
Download the study guide here: L5_Crown.pdf
april 13: fasting
Today we focus on the middle section of Zechariah, an admonition against the outward show of fasting while the Israelites were neglecting matters of the heart. On the outside, it looked good, but on the inside, it was not. So Zechariah urges his people to consider their motives, all while promising them that the Lord will graciously bless them, despite their inconsistent actions. Our goal for today is to respond to the objection that the Christian church is full of hypocrites by describing the ideal the church is meant to be, both in Zechariah's day and in ours.
Download the study guide here: L6_Fasting.pdf