Heavenly Father:

Open our minds and our hearts; enlighten us this year. We want to follow You wholly and have sound doctrine to stand on. Strengthen and guide us as we work through Your Word.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Memory Verse

“‘He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.’ And they were glorifying God because of me.”
Galatians 1:23b–24, NASB

Background

Only Jesus Christ alone. This is the Gospel the churches in the region of Galatia learned from Paul and Barnabas. They preached the pure and simple Gospel of grace through Jesus. But shortly afterward, others sought to “add” to this Gospel. We see this heresy today through legalism, among other things. Paul is writing to set them back on the right path. We need to sit up and take notice. This heresy—and others—infiltrates our churches today. Legalism, liberal denial of orthodox Christianity, Prosperity Gospel, Social Gospel, New Age practices, and NAR (New Apostolic Reformation), which rewrites the definition of church offices (apostle and prophets), all depart from biblical doctrine and are false teachings. The best defense against these encroachments is sound biblical doctrine so that we recognize when truth is distorted. The books we study this year will help us develop ears that can’t be tickled!

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
2 Timothy 4:3–4, ESV

Study Guide Available

For the corresponding study guide, please contact Melissa Renner at melissar@stonebriar.org.