Spanish Bible Study

The Spanish bible class at this time is offering a study of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament concurrently.  We discuss the readings and how it affects us personally in our daily lives.  The class is done entirely in Spanish and is done orally with no writing or written assignments.  Please join our group in learning more about our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Word of Life

The Word of Life program is a Gospel–based program that seeks to help each participant make the Gospel a part of his or her daily life.  It provides an introduction to the spirituality of unity, but is not intended as a "membership drive."  The main point of the program is to take the Gospel from a merely intellectual understanding to everyday practice so that Christ's prayer "that all may be one" can become a reality.  Although there is a specific focus of each meeting  (ex. "God who is love," "the will of God," etc.),  an integral part of each gathering is the sharing of concrete experiences of living the Gospel – putting the Word of Life meditation for the month into practice.

Bible Timeline – The Great Adventure

Step One – If you have ever wanted to read the Bible, but did not know where or how to begin, then ''The Great Adventure'' – The Bible Timeline 24 Week bible study is for you.  The Bible Timeline makes reading the Bible not only easy, but exciting.  In this study, you will learn the major people, places, events, and themes of the Bible – getting the "big picture" of salvation history.  Perhaps for the first time in your life, you will understand the overview of the Bible story, including many AH-HA moments!  This then makes your Bible reading and even the Sunday Mass readings come alive like never before (all for the cost of a weekly cup of coffee).  Past participants from St. Joseph all offer high praise for this study.

• Read fourteen narrative books of the Bible and discover the amazing story woven throughout Scripture.
• Learn how the key people, places, and events in the Bible fit together to reveal God's plan for humanity.
• See how the events in the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament by Christ and the Church.
• Study the Bible from a Catholic perspective and see how our faith is rooted in Sacred Scripture.
• Gain a greater appreciation for the Scripture readings you hear in Mass.
• See how God reveals Himself to us through Scripture and learn how God's word applies to your life today.
• Develop a life–long hunger for knowing God in His word and lay a strong foundation for further Bible reading and study.

Matthew – The Great Adventure

Step Two – Building directly on the foundation laid in The Bible Timeline, Matthew: The King and His Kingdom, shows how Jesus builds on the foundation laid in the Old Testament to inaugurate the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.  Experience how Jesus relived the life and struggles of Israel to become the faithful and victorious King, and see how the promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled in Christ and His Apostles.  This series is an ideal follow-up study to the basic narrative of Scripture taught in The Bible Timeline course.

• See Jesus as the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the new Moses, the true manna, the new Temple – and learn what this means for us today.
• Learn how Jesus reconstituted the struggling kingdom of Israel around Himself and brought it to a new level in the Kingdom of God, open to all people.
• Witness the seeds of the Church in the foundation Christ built on the twelve apostles, with Peter as His vicar.  Discover the roots of the sacraments, and see how Jesus' words and actions are reflected in the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
• Watch Jesus re–live the life and history of Israel as the obedient Son who trusts the Father to the very end, defeats death, hell, and the grave, and rises to new life.

Acts – The Great Adventure

Step Three in The Great Adventure Bible Study Program, Acts: The Spread of the Kingdom, builds on The Bible Timeline and Matthew by showing how Christ's Kingdom on earth is empowered to carry out his work in the world.  The book of Acts shows the Church, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, teaching, preaching, healing, and restoring outcasts in the same way that Jesus did on earth.  The Acts of the Apostles provides a historic framework for understanding the rest of the New Testament.  Paul's letters in particular come alive in a new way when they are read within the context of the Acts narrative.

• See how the Gospel witness spread outward in waves, from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth.
• Share with the early Christians the joys and struggles of living the life of Christ and learn how these apply to us today.
• See how the Holy Spirit guided the apostles into Truth.
• Observe the way the Spirit–filled Church adapted to new cultures when proclaiming the Gospel.
• Watch the seeds of Church structure and authority take root and see how conflicts were resolved even at that early stage.
• See your place in Christ's Church and how you should live day–to–day as a disciple of Christ.