Survey of The Creeds and Confessions
In the Spring of 2016, we will survey some of the historic Creeds and Confessions of the early church and also of Presbyterian (Reformed) history in particular. The Creeds and Confessions are important because they show the continuity and development of belief and teaching over the centuries. These teachings connect us with believers from all times and sharpen reflection in our personal faith. They also highlight the example of faithful followers of Christ after the Biblical era and up to the 20th century. From these examples we can draw inspiration and learn more about how Christians apply their faith throughout the centuries, often influencing the course of history.
There are two books used in this study:
The Book of Confessions, Presbyterian Church USA (any edition) – There are a few copies of this thin book in our classroom. This is the book needed for those who want to read the creeds/confessions on their own and refer to them in our class discussions.
Presbyterian Creeds – A Guide to the Book of Confessions, Jack Rogers – This book is optional and is only needed by those who want to study the background of each confession in more detail. The teachers will be using this supplemental book to provide depth to the discussions.
| March 20 | Why Study the Creeds and Confessions? | Massie |
| March 27 | Easter fellowship | n/a |
| April 3 | The Apostles Creed | Adamson |
| April 10 | Pastor Sims party | n/a |
| April 17 | The Apostles Creed | Adamson |
| April 24 | The Apostles Creed | Adamson |
| May 1 | The Nicene Creed | Massie |
| May 8 | The Scots Confession | Massie |
| May 15 | The Heidelberg Catechism | Massie |
| May 22 | The Westminster Confession | Reynolds |
| May 29 | The Westminster Confession | Reynolds |
| June 5 | The Barmen Declaration | Massie |
John 13-21 The Book of Glory
Here is our teaching outline leading into Easter 2016. Please note we are adding the idea of a “minor” to our curriculum this year. The John Ortberg video series Soul Keeping will be interspersed about 20% of the time to give us variety and compliment our major study.
| December 27, 2015 | Intro and John 13 | Massie |
| January 3, 2016 | John 14 | Adamson |
| January 10, 2016 | John 15 | Reynolds |
| January 17, 2016 | Soul Keeping Video 1 | Massie |
| January 24, 2016 | John 16 | Reynolds |
| January 31, 2016 | John 17 | Adamson |
| February 7, 2016 | John 18 | Massie |
| February 14, 2016 | John 19 | Massie |
| February 21, 2016 | Soul Keeping Video 2 | Massie |
| February 28, 2016 | John 20 | Adamson |
| March 6, 2016 | Who is this Man? video | Massie |
| March 13, 2016 | John 21 | Reynolds |
Advent 2015-16 Oakmont Adult Sunday School
Here is our lesson planning into 2016. Please let Roy know of any changes or coordinate with another teacher if you cannot teach on the dates shown.
| November 29, 2015 | Video 2 – Who is This Man? | Massie |
| December 6, 2015 | Video 3 – Who is This Man? | Massie |
| December 13, 2015 | Matthew 2 | Massie |
| December 20, 2015 | Luke 2 | Reynolds |
Genesis – Foundations of Faith
Genesis Teaching Outline Oakmont 2015
Genesis: Foundations of Faith
We will study the book of Genesis by surveying the Patriarchs and their relationships. Some Chapters are left out of our survey (e.g. 34-36) and others will be de-emphasized in favor of others. The teacher each week will select the portion of their assigned text they feel makes the best character and life application study for the class’ spiritual encouragement and growth.
| Sept 20 | Chapters 1-5 (Adam) | Massie |
| Sept 27 | Chapters 6-10 (Noah) | Adamson |
| Oct 4 | Chapters 11-16 (Abram) | Reynolds |
| Oct 11 | Chapters 17-21 (Abraham) | Massie |
| Oct 18 | Chapters 22-25 (Abraham & Isaac) | Adamson |
| Oct 25 | Chapters 26-29 (Isaac & Jacob) | Reynolds |
| Nov 1 | Chapters 30-33 (Jacob) | Massie |
| Nov 8 | Chapters 37-41 (Joseph) | Adamson |
| Nov 15 | Chapters 42-45 (Joseph pt 2) | Reynolds |
| Nov 22 | Chapters 46-50 (Joseph pt 3) | Massie |
| Nov 29 | surplus date if needed due to changes | tbd |
Draft : The dates may still change as we factor in teacher absences and church events.
Please leave comments on this page or send Roy an e-mail for date changes or other topics.
Male Spirituality (Father Rohr)
Some time back in our Theology and Ethics group at Oakmont Presbyterian, we looked into the Eastern Church and its mystical/contemplative spirituality. I found it interesting, but not very accessible for application. However, there are also some Catholic and Protestant contemplatives I find easier to grasp. Here is a link to a YouTube interview with one of the best I have found from that group.
I hope you enjoy Father Richard Rohr talking very practically, yet deeply about Male Spirituality in today’s world.
Reflection on Job 4-7
Reflection on Job Chapters 4-7
Another member of the club
Recall a season of loss in your life. Not just a day or two, but weeks or more where you felt such upheaval you knew things would never be the same for you. Even if they got better, you would be different because you would know loss. It could be the death of a loved one, prolonged illness, financial loss or a setback in your career. For me, this was the death of my father. I also lost other, older family members around this time and it marked the beginning of a new era in my life. In the same few years many of my colleagues lost their positions at our company. The chapters in my life had turned toward a plot that rubbed off some of the easy convenience I had enjoyed in earlier phases. My experience is not unusual. In fact, it is common among people near my age. But that objective viewpoint did nothing to change the subjective significance in my life.
When I was in eighth grade, there was a boy in our school named Billy whose mother had died the year before. It was a little awkward and it was a subject to be avoided, but it was as workable as it could be for kids that age. But in eighth grade, Billy’s father also died when their house burned down. Billy went to live with his grandmother and she did the best she could for him. He continued to go to our school. What had been an awkward, but workable, presence around him was now much harder. What could anyone say? How could we relate? We could not. Billy persevered fairly well, all things considered. But he could never be the same. Billy’s life trajectory had changed dramatically in less than two years.
If we live long enough we will each experience some suffering in our life (and it usually doesn’t take very long). It spares no one and respects neither the privileged nor those in pitiful circumstances. To be sure, we do not suffer equally. But the universality of human suffering is a subject which all the major religions and philosophies of the world agree. And it may be the only topic that can claim that distinction. Yes, indeed, we all suffer at least a little.
The stories in the Bible present many types of struggle and suffering but none are more poignantly portrayed than Job. The poetic structure of Job as tragedy literature is well-studied and I find this interesting. But in chapters 4 through 7, my thoughts are directed more to experiences in my life and the lives of others I have observed. I think of Job as president of the Job Club; the club all of us end up in sooner or later. The club where admission requires nothing more than being human and experiencing some suffering.
One more thing Job lost
I imagine Job as president of the Job club because of everything he lost. In Job chapters 1-3 we are told about his loss of children, possessions and eventually his health. His wife is driven to her wit’s end seeing the suffering of her husband (not to mention her own). But there is one other thing Job lost. We are told about the wealth and extent of blessings Job enjoyed. In ancient Israel, wealth was seen as an indication of God’s blessing on one He favored. And the community reasoned if a man enjoys great material and family blessings as an external sign of God’s favor, then that man should be a leader. Job was a patriarch.
Just as Boaz (in the book of Ruth) goes to the city gate to reason with the other elders and receives various signs of respect to go with his wealth, so would Job. Job’s societal duties would require him to adjudicate disputes, assist those in need and coordinate with neighboring communities. He was a person of respect. But, if the community inferred his position of respect from his blessings, they could infer just the opposite when all those blessing were suddenly and tragically lost. Job lost his identity and like his peers he saw this as the loss of God’s favor. Job no longer knew who he was, but he also could not understand God as he thought he had before. On top of everything else, he was losing himself. Who was he now?
IMAGINE A TIME OF SERIOUS LOSS IN YOUR LIFE.
NOW IMAGINE YOUR COMMUNITY, CHURCH AND WORKPLACE SEE YOU AS LESS THAN YOU WERE.
MOST OF THEM STAY AWAY FROM YOU SINCE YOU ARE CLEARLY NO LONGER IN GOD’S FAVOR.
THIS IS JOB’S CIRCUMSTANCE.
Work in progress – to be continued… Read the rest of this entry »
How To Really Waste Your Vote
Does My Point of View Have a Chance?
In mid-2015 we are entering primary season and the usual discussions about which candidates really have a chance to win are starting. There are some points related to this subject that are worth keeping in mind as we evaluate the candidates and how we will vote, or even contribute money.
Your voice is louder than you may think
- Every vote counts because every one of them is tallied by the FEC
- 2012 Federal Election results http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2012/federalelections2012.pdf
- On p 178 over 100 political groups are listed because all their votes are accounted for
- Even write-in candidates are counted in many states. If enough people wrote in votes, instead of voting for the “inevitable” candidates, you can be sure political professionals would investigate why and adjust their plans.
- Examples from the data
- In Louisiana – We The People Party got 1,767 votes
- In Wisconsin – the Americans Elect and Constitution Parties, got 118 and 119 votes respectively
2. Your individual contribution can help your Presidential candidate qualify for matching FEC money
- Matching money rules – http://www.fec.gov/info/chone.htm
- Examples of obscure candidates who submitted for the funds http://www.fec.gov/finance/2012matching/2012matching.shtml
- Note the rules about caps and individual contributions disproportionately help obscure candidates more than mainstream ones
- Contribute to who you really believe in; your contribution is not wasted. Political experts look at money just as much as votes – individual contributions say something important about the candidate from a different perspective than voting
- With this detailed FEC data and the recent techniques of micro-targeting in U.S. politics, your political views do not have to be mainstream to become part of a trend that sends a message. The mainstream candidates want to gather voters from different viewpoints they can absorb. But they have to see at least some voter presence in those minority views to consider them.
Conversely here’s how to waste your vote
- Vote for someone you don’t really want because others say they’re the only one with a real chance to win; but you still need to help guarantee their victory. This is fallacious, circular reasoning – it assumes the victory of a particular candidate before any votes are cast. The fruits of this flawed thinking are evident in how dissatisfied we are with our government; but we the voters are the most culpable for believing it’s a good approach.
- Don’t vote at all. We will eventually lose even more of our voting power if too many of us neglect our duty to vote. Some Machiavellian politician will step in to fill a power vacuum left by our disinterest in choosing a better leader.
Send Your Message
There are obstacles to each of our primary votes being equally important (because of the big political parties practices in Iowa and New Hampshire). But, the Federal election laws are not rigged against us. No one is entitled to your vote; it is yours to invest in our country’s long term future. It will be noticed no matter the outcome of the election. Vote your conscience, not someone else’s punditry.
Romans: God’s Righteous Plan
Romans Teaching Outline Oakmont 2015
Romans: God’s Righteous Plan
We will study the book of Romans at a chapter and verse level.
| July 5 | 1:1 – 2:11 | Massie |
| July 12 | 2:12 – 3:31 | Massie |
| July 19 | Chapters 4 & 5 | Adamson |
| July 26 | Chapters 6 & 7 | Reynolds |
| August 2 | Chapter 8 | Reynolds |
| August 9 | Chapter 9 | Adamson |
| August 16 | Kick off Sunday in Fellowship Hall | None |
| August 23 | Chapters 10 & 11 | Massie |
| August 30 | Chapters 12& 13 | Massie |
| Sept. 6 | 14:1 – 15:13 | Reynolds |
| Sept. 13 | 15:14 – end | Adamson |
Draft : The dates may still change as we factor in teacher absences and church events.
Please leave comments on this page or send Roy an e-mail for date changes or other topics.
Job – Finding life after loss
Oakmont Presbyterian class schedule May-June 2015
We will survey the book of Job covering the main contours of Job’s experience, advice from his friends and God’s role in his plight. As we are able, we will also refer to the so called “5 stages of Grief” (Denial, Anger, Depression, Bargaining and Acceptance), especially in Job’s speeches.
We will only plan to cover the first cycle of dialogues between Job and his three main advisors. If you want to put in material from other chapters of Job to supplement the assigned text, please feel free to do so. The three interlocutors (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar) go through more rounds of advice than is in our study plan, but the character of their content is pretty consistent so our plan just uses the first round of conversation. However, you may find their other comments (other chapters) helpful to illustrate the nature of their advice to Job, so use it as you see fit.
We will try to differentiate the nature of each advisor and how it represents the voices we often hear when we go through trials.
The fourth advisor, (Elihu) will also be covered even though he only has one round of dialogue, not three. Since his speech is the last one before God’s reply to Job, we will keep Elihu fairly brief and use some of that class as a time of reflection and class discussion about suffering, before we move on to God’s reply, the final week of the study.
| May 10 | Intro and Chapter 1-3 | Reynolds |
| May 17 | 50th anniversary – no Sunday school | n/a |
| May 24 | Chpts 4-7 Eliphaz and Job’s 2nd speech | Massie |
| May 31 | Richard’s party – no Sunday school | n/a |
| June 7 | Chpt 8-10 Bildad and Job’s 3rd speech | Adamson |
| June 14 | Chpt 11 Zophar & 29-31 Job’s final speech | Reynolds |
| June 21 | 32-37 Elihu and reflections about Job so far | Massie |
| June 28 | 38-42 Gods response and Epilogue | Adamson |
As for Job’s speeches, we will look for the human element in suffering and try to identify with Job in our times of loss and suffering. We would also like to orient the class to a schema used by many today which identifies five stages (really responses) to grief. The link below can provide some background reading and there is also an article attached which may be helpful in showing how these 5 responses are evident in Job.
Our purpose in introducing these five responses to the class is to provide a popular modern coping mechanism to compliment the ancient wisdom literature in Job. It is also quite evident in several portions of Job indicating the timelessness of both Job and the relevance of modern assistance. The “stages” can be helpful to our self and to others in our lives when we identify specific patterns in grief are normal and even somewhat predictable. While this does not alleviate the suffering, it can add a measure of comfort and perhaps a feeling of control in an otherwise confusing emotional situation, not only to the one most in grief, but also to those near them.
Please note the fives “stages” are not sequential stages. Different people experience them in various orders and degrees of these “stages” throughout their grieving experience and possibly their whole life. And as with any theory they are not universally agreed upon so we will not be dogmatic about their relevance.
Amateur Scholar 