Study The Church

New Testament Texting Class

--This class is intended to last for 7 weeks; Monday-Saturday, no class on Sunday
--You can always feel free to email me at marknickens@gmail.com
--This is a free class.
--I only have two requests: (1) If you use this class please let me know, and (2) Let me know any comments people make about this class (I try to improve it, so any comments would be welcome).
--Feel free to share this with other leaders in your church or other churches.
--Each text (except for the first and last days) is set up like this:

Answer from previous day's question
Lesson for that day
Question, with answer given the next texting day

Back to Contents

1: Mon [Continued from the last text in the OT texting class.]
Lesson: The NT has 27 books & the OT has 39 books, and so it would seem that the NT is just a little shorter than the OT. But the OT is 4 times as long as the NT. Why is it so much smaller? Let’s look at some numbers: the OT has 929 total chapters in the 39 books, which is an average of 24 chapters per book. The NT has 260 chapters with 27 books, which is an average of 9 ½ chapters per book. So 24 chapters per book for the OT and 9 1/2 chapters per book for the NT. Plus, the two longest books in the NT are Matthew and Acts with 28 chapters, but the OT has 13 books longer than 28 chapters. That is why the OT is so much longer than the NT./ Question: The book in the Bible with the most chapters is Psalms. How many chapters does it have?

2: Tues [Roman Empire]
A: 150 chapters / L: Before we talk about the NT, we have to talk about Romans and Jews. Why? Think about this: if you meet new friends, you probably want to know something about them. In the same way, we talk about Romans and Jews first so we better understand the backgound of the NT. During the time of Jesus, the Roman Empire controlled the whole area. After the Romans conquered a nation, the people could stay at home & pay taxes to the Romans. The Romans only wanted two things, as much land as they could get & ___ / Q: What else did the Romans want? (Remember, they required people to pay taxes.)

3: Weds [Pax Romana or Roman peace]
A: Money. The Romans operated a huge empire & it needed a lot of money / L: The time during Jesus’ life & 150 years afterwards is called “Pax Romana," which is Latin for "Roman peace." The Romans brought peace to the whole area around Israel. They protected travelers, built wonderful roads, used the same money everywhere (so people did not have to exchange their money when going to a different country), and used the same language throughout the Empire. / Q: What language was that? (Hint: the New Testament books were written in this language.).

4: Thurs [Jewish religious groups]
A: Greek / L: “Pax Romana” was important for Christianity. If Jesus had lived 100 years earlier, Roman Peace would not have existed, & the Apostles would not have traveled around and told people about Jesus. But God prepared that entire area to have peace so that, after Jesus died, the Apostles & others could travel anywhere in peace. In the same way, God prepares events, situations, & people in your life. / Q: The Jews during Jesus’ life had 2 main groups (which are mentioned in the NT), the Pharisees and the _______. Who was this second group?

5: Fri [Jews]
A: Sadducees / L: Jesus had disagreements with Pharisees & Sadducees. Both groups were Jewish, but each had different ideas. For example, Pharisees believed the land of Israel belonged to Jews & wanted the Romans to leave. The Sadducees liked the Romans and wanted them to stay in control because they brought peace (Pax Romana), even though the Jews had to pay high taxes. Both groups followed the Law of Moses (Exodus-Deuteronomy), but Pharisees believed in extra ideas not found there, such as life after death; the Sadducees did not believe that. So the two groups disagreed on many things./ Q: What is the name of the main building where Jews worshipped during the time of Jesus?

6: Sat [Jews]
A: The Temple / L: It was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 (40 years after Jesus) & has not been rebuilt. The Dome of the Rock, one of the most holy Muslim places, is built where the Temple used to be. Today the Jews want to rebuild the Temple but cannot because the Dome of the Rock is there. This is very significant because it means the Jews cannot sacrifice animals like the Law of Moses said to do. The Jews have not been able to sacrifice since the year 70. That is one reason there is tension in the Middle East between Israel and other nations. / Q: What is the name of the city where the Temple used to be (and where the Dome of the Rock is now)?

7: Mon [NT Apocalyptic book]
A: Jerusalem / L: This week we will look at interesting facts about the NT. The OT has 4 sections (History, Wisdom, Prophets, Apocalyptic) & the NT has 4 sections: The 4 Gospels, 1 history book (Acts), 21 Letters, & 1 Apocalyptic book. The 4 Gospels describe the life of Jesus, who died, was crucified, buried, and resurrected in AD 30. The history book (Acts) covers the church after Jesus & up to around AD 62. The 21 letters & the Apocalyptic book were written from about AD 48 (the first NT book written was probably James) to around 98 (the last book written was probably III John)/ Q: The OT and NT each has one apocalyptic book: what are they and what does “apocalyptic” mean?

8: Tue [NT chapters/verses]
A: Daniel & Revelation. Apocalyptic means “looking to the future.” / L: An interesting fun fact about the NT: when the NT books were written they did not contain chapters & verses. The authors of the books wrote them just like you would write a paper for school: just words. For over 1000 years the NT did not have chapters or verses. Around the year 1200 a church leader in England named Stephen Langdon divided the NT into chapters. Then around 1550 a book printer in Paris named Robert Stephanus divided the NT into verses. / Q: How many books in the NT have only 1 chapter & what are they?

9: Weds [Prophets and Apostles]
A: 4: Philemon, II John, III John, & Jude / L: The Bible is not only a special book but a sacred or holy book because it is the only book in the world from God. God spoke directly to prophets before Jesus and to Apostles after Jesus. Look up Ephesians 2:19 & 20: Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith, and the prophets and Apostles are the foundation of our faith, with the church being the house built on those two. Therefore, Bible books are either from prophets or Apostles or relatives of Jesus & so we can have total trust in the Bible. (Note: prophets in the OT period are different than people who claim to be prophets today.) / Q: This is very tricky: how many different people wrote books in the NT?

10: Thurs [Different authors]
A: 8: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James, Peter, Jude, & Anonymous / L: OK, I have to explain the last one. No one knows who wrote the book of Hebrews, & so the author is unknown or anonymous. But discussing the author of this book makes a good point: all the info in the NT books were from Apostles, although they might not have been written by Apostles. NT scholars agree that the author of Hebrews learned everything from Paul, who was an Apostle. So the information in Hebrews was from Paul. Mark and Luke are the same way: neither were Apostles but they both traveled with and learned from Apostles. / Q: Which Apostles were Mark and Luke linked with?

11: Fri [Different authors]
A: Mark traveled with Peter & Luke traveled with Paul. / L: Out of the 7 authors we know, Matthew, John, & Peter were part of the original 12 Apostles & Paul became an Apostle later. We have already discussed Mark, Luke, and Anonymous, & that leaves James and Jude. They were not Apostles but both knew Apostles & had an extra special relationship to Jesus: they were his half-brothers. Matthew 13:55 & 56 mentions that Jesus had sisters & 4 brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (he was also known as Jude). / Q: Why do we say that they were half-brothers and not full brothers?

12: Sat [Order of NT books]
A: Because they shared the same mother (Mary) but not the same father / L: The NT is arranged this way: 1st, the stories of Jesus (the Gospels); 2nd, the history after Jesus and up to the year 62(Acts); 3rd, the letters of Paul (of all the Apostles he understood Jesus the best, more on that later); 4th, the book of Hebrews, since the info came from Paul; 5th, James, who was the leader of the church in Jerusalem and half-brother of Jesus; 6th, I & II Peter, since he was the lead Apostle up to Paul (we will discuss this later); 7th, I, II, & III John, who was an Apostle; 8th, Jude, half-brother of Jesus; & last, Revelation, which looks to the far future. / Q: How many of the NT books were written by John?

13: Mon [Life of Jesus]
A: 5: the Gospel, I, II, & III John, and Revelation / L: This week we look at the life of Jesus. Today we cover a quick overview of his life, & the other days will look at different details. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, 6 miles from Jerusalem & was raised in Nazareth, 65 miles from Jerusalem. Jesus’ earthly father was a carpenter, & Jesus was raised to be a carpenter. When he was 30 years old, Jesus was baptized & started preaching. He was crucified when he was 33 years old. He was raised to life 3 days later &, after several weeks, went to heaven. / Q: What was Jesus’ mother’s name?

14: Tues [Life of Jesus]
A: Mary / L: Originially Mary was a young teenage girl living in Nazareth. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, a local carpenter. But before they married, an angel appeared to Mary & told her that God had decided to come to earth in the form of a human. God had chosen her to become pregnant and part of God, called the Son (Think about the Trinity), would be born as Mary’s child. This was a miracle because it happened without Mary & Joseph having sex. Mary agreed & became pregnant with Jesus. / Q: What is the technical, proper word for God coming to earth as a human?

15: Weds [Life of Jesus]
A: Incarnation means God coming to earth as a human. / L: Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant & thought she had slept with someone else & wanted to divorce her. But God told him in a dream that Mary was pregnant because it was a miracle from God, & so Joseph agreed to marry Mary. About the same time the Roman government wanted to count everyone, and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem, his hometown, with his pregnant wife Mary to be counted. While in Bethlehem, Jesus was born. / Q: Who came to visit baby Jesus after he was born?

16: Thurs [Life of Jesus]
A: Shepherds and wealthy scholars/wise men visited Jesus. / L: The local king, Herod, heard about a special child & wanted to kill him. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus went to Egypt to hide. After Herod died, they moved to Nazareth. When Jesus was 12 years old, he, his parents & a lot of friends visited Jerusalem. After several days they all went back to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in the Temple. Mary and Joseph realized that he was missing & went back to the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus was there teaching the teachers about God. Mary and Joseph took Jesus & went back to Nazareth. / Q: How old was Jesus when he was baptized?

17: Fri [Life of Jesus]
A: When Jesus was 30 years old he was baptized by John the Baptist and began preaching, teaching, and healing (known as his “ministry”). Jesus got baptized to show that he was leaving his old life (probably as a carpenter) behind and was now starting his ministry. / L: He picked 12 men to be his Apostles & spent 3 years with them. He told people that He came so that people could understand God better & God could forgive their sins & have a relationship with them. He also taught people using stories and illustrations / Q: What were those stories and illustrations called?

18: Sat [Life of Jesus]
A: Parables. / On the last night of His life, Jesus ate the Last Supper with his Apostles, which was a Passover meal (Extra Q: When did Passover start?). At that meal he began the celebration called Lord’s Supper or Communion. He was arrested because the religious leaders believed he caused problems and they convinced the Roman governor to crucify Jesus. After three days Jesus came back to life (resurrected) and met with many people for several weeks. He then lifted up into the sky and went to heaven. / Q: Question review from many weeks ago: The Jews ate the Passover meal, and Jesus ate the Passover meal, and so why do Christians not eat the Passover meal?

19: Mon [Gospels (Synoptic vs John)]
A: At the Last Supper, Jesus replaced Passover (the release of Jews from Egyptian slavery at the time of Moses) with Communion (remembers the sacrifice of Jesus) / L: The NT has 4 Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The first three (MML) tell many of the same stories & John tells mainly new information about Jesus. Why? John was written last & he did not want to repeat information from MML. For example, MML include parables of Jesus but John does not have any parables. / Q: What event does John describe at the Last Supper that MML does not describe?

20: Tues [Why 4 Gospels]
A: Jesus washing the Apostles’ feet. MML describe Communion & John describes foot washing. / L: The 4 Gospels describes 4 different views or perspectives of Jesus’ teaching. Imagine this: a street intersection with 4 people standing on the 4 corners & an accident happens. The 4 people have different views of the accident. So, the 4 Gospel writers give 4 different view of Jesus' life. This does not mean 1 is right & others are wrong, but, like 4 people at the intersection give a complete story of the accident, the 4 Gospels give a complete picture of why Jesus came to earth. / Q: For example: Matthew 1 tells about Jesus’ ancestors. Who is the first one?

21: Weds [Gospels’ themes]
A: Abraham. / L: This is important for Matthew: He was trying to show Jews that Jesus was a spiritual messiah (or leader) instead of the military messiah many of them were looking for & so links Jesus to the first Jew (Abraham). Mark focused on showing that Jesus loved to serve and heal people; it has more healings than any other Gospel per chapter. Luke focused on showing that Jesus had compassion on people; for example, Luke includes more stories about Jesus helping women than other Gospels. John focused on showing that Jesus was God. Add all 4 together to get a complete picture of Jesus. / Q: Which Gospel does not describe the ascension of Jesus (Jesus going up to heaven) at the end of the Gospel?

22: Thurs [Acts]
A: John, who mainly gave new information about Jesus. He did not include that because MML did./ L: The book of Acts is the history book of the New Testament. Jesus died around the year AD 30, and Acts describes the early church development from AD 30 to around AD 62. The first part of Acts focuses on the actions of Peter. The second part of Acts focuses on Paul. Peter and Paul each had a unique trait or characteristic that made him unique. Peter had incredible courage and Paul had incredible insight or understanding. / Q: They were both Apostles, but which one became an Apostle first?

23: Fri [Acts]
A: Peter became an Apostle right after Jesus was baptized, & Paul after Jesus had ascended to heaven. / L: The first part of Acts focused on Peter & the second part on Paul, but why? Because God needed them for different reasons. After Jesus ascended to heaven, Christians were afraid of being persecuted & crucified themselves. God chose someone with incredible courage as an example: Peter. Later God needed a brilliant person to explain this new faith to people, and that was Paul. So God uses the different abilities we have for different reasons and at different times. / Q: How many letters did Peter write and how many letters did Paul write?

24: Sat [Paul’s ideas]
A: Peter wrote 2 & Paul wrote 13. Paul did not write Hebrews, although it is full of Paul’s ideas. / L: What did Paul understand about Jesus that was so important? That the OT period, which was full of laws and rules and sacrifices, was over with the crucifixion & resurrection of Jesus. Before Jesus, people had to follow many rules (such as do not kill & do not steal), but, after Jesus, people need to love each other with the Holy Spirit’s help. If you love people, you will not kill them nor steal from them. Do you see how this is a higher obedience to God? / Q: (Tricky) Why are Paul’s 13 letters arranged the way they are? (It is very hard to figure out, but once I tell you it will seem like an easy answer.)

25: Mon [Romans]
A: If you look at a list of Paul’s letters, you see letters to churches (or cities) & to people. The letters to churches come first & people second. Plus, each of those lists is arranged from longest to shortest. For example, Romans is the longest book to churches & II Thess. is the shortest to churches. / L: Paul traveled for years as a missionary & then wanted to go to Rome. He was in Corinth & wrote a letter to churches in Rome so they could prepare for him. Since they had not met him before, Romans explains Paul’s ideas fully (that we covered briefly in Saturday’s text). / Q: Paul traveled to many places as a missionary. How many missionary trips did he make?

26: Tues [I Cor]
A: The book of Acts describes Paul going on 3 missionary trips. After the last one he was arrested while in Jerusalem & taken to Rome to meet the emperor & stayed in Rome for 2 years under house arrest. / L: Paul visited Corinth around the year 51 & stayed there for 1 ½ years. After he left Corinth, the churches (called house churches since they met in people’s homes) he had started began having problems. Paul wrote I Corinthians while in Ephesus to solve many problems in the Corinthian house churches. / Q: What country is Corinth in today?

27: Weds [II Cor]
A: Greece. / L: After Paul wrote I Corinthians, he continued on his missionary trip because he thought he had solved the problems in Corinth with is letter. Then he heard that some of the Christians in Corinth did not want to follow Paul’s advice & even said he wasn’t an apostle. Paul wrote II Corinthians to prove he was an apostle and to solve other problems in the house churches in Corinth. / Q: What is the longest letter that Paul wrote to churches?

28: Thurs [Galatians]
A: Romans. It is the longest letter (or book) that Paul wrote to churches, and so is first in the church list. / L: But Romans is not the first letter Paul wrote. Galatians is the first letter that Paul wrote, which he wrote around AD 50 (20 years after Jesus). Galatians is unique because Galatia is not a city but an area, like a county. (The other letters from Romans to II Thessalonians were written to house churches in cities.) Paul traveled through Galatia on his first missionary trip and then on his second missionary trip (plus on his third missionary trip). On his second trip he found out that the Christians were still following the Law of Moses even though Paul told them not to on his first missionary trip. After leaving that area, he wrote Galatians to explain why that was wrong and that God only asks people to have faith in God through Jesus. / Q: What is the longest letter the Paul wrote to individuals?

29: Fri [Ephesians]
A: I Timothy / L: The last chapter in Acts describes Paul arriving in Rome & being placed under house arrest. While under arrest he wrote 4 books: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, & Philemon. These are known as Prison Letters or Epistles. “Epistle” is the Greek word for “letter.” (Remember that the NT was written in Greek). On his second missionary trip Paul spent 3 years in Ephesus, longer than in any other city. Unlike the other letters we have covered, the churches in Ephesus did not have problems, and so Paul gave them deeper spiritual teachings. / Q: Did Paul become an apostle before Jesus was crucified or after Jesus ascended to heaven?

30: Sat [Philippians]
A: About 3 years after Jesus ascended to heaven. / L: Paul stopped in Philippi on his second & third missionary trips. The Christians in Philippi had heard that Paul was under arrest in Rome & sent him money to help buy better food and supplies. Paul wrote to thank them for the money. Also, even though the Philippian Christians did not have any problems, Paul knew that a problem was coming soon & some of them would be persecuted. His advice? To be thankful for being persecuted. / Q: Why would Paul tell them to be thankful that they would be persecuted?

31: Mon [Colossians]
A: Because they would better understand the suffering that Jesus had on our behalf. / L: Paul usually wrote to a city or area he had visited, except for Romans & Colossians. Paul wrote Romans and then was held as a prisoner there, but he never visited Colossae. But, while he was in prison in Rome, he learned that the Christians there were hearing many false teachings. He wrote Colossians in order to reassure them that Jesus was part of God who came to earth in human form in order that we could have a relationship with God. / Q: This is a hard question: In Ephesians to II Thessalonians, Paul spends the first part of the letters writing about the situation in the churches and then, in the second part, tells them how to live as Christians. Why did he include that second part? (The answer is not in the Bible.)

32: Tues [I & II Thessalonians]
A: Paul wrote his letters in the years 50-64. The Gospels were written after Paul had died. Therefore, since the Gospels had not been written when Paul was alive, Paul wrote Christians instructions on how to live in his letters since they could not read the Gospels. / L: In I & II Thessalonians Paul basically discusses the same thing: the return of Jesus. I Thessalonians (especially 4:13-5:3) discusses the rapture (when Christians are taken up to meet Jesus) & II Thessalonians (especially 2:1-12) discusses the man of Lawlessness (also known as the antichrist, who comes before the return of Jesus). / Q: What is the longest letter that Paul wrote an individual?

33: Weds [I Timothy]
A: I Timothy is the longest letter that Paul wrote to an individual. The other letters to individuals are II Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. / L: Timothy was one of Paul’s main assistants. Their relationship was so close that Paul wanted Timothy to carry on his work after Paul died. After they had been together for a while, Paul sent Timothy to Ephesus to be a pastor for the first time. Timothy was a young man &, after he was in Ephesus a short time, Paul sent him a letter that explained in great detail how to be a pastor. That is why he wrote I Timothy. / Q: Which four letters did Paul write while he was in prison?

34: Thurs [II Timothy]
A: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. / L: Reminder: Paul’s letters are not arranged in order when he wrote them but are divided into 2 sections: letters to churches & letters to individuals. Each section is arranged from longest to shortest. Paul’s first letter was Galatians, & his last letter was II Timothy. Around the year 64, Paul was in Rome and the emperor was persecuting Christians. Paul knew he would soon be caught and put to death. He wrote a letter to his favorite assistant, Timothy, and give him instructions right before he died: that is II Timothy./ Q: Another hard one: Paul and Peter died on the same day. How did each of them die? (The answer is not in the Bible.)

35: Fri [Titus]
A: Peter was crucified upside down. After learning that he would be crucified, Peter said he was not worthy to be crucified like Jesus & asked to be crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded. / L: Titus was also an assistant of Paul. On one missionary trip they stopped on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. The house churches were having many problems, & Paul left Titus there to help solve the problems. Later Paul learned that Titus was still having problems & wrote a letter with additional instructions on how to lead churches: that is the letter of Titus / Q: Why was Paul beheaded instead of being crucified?

36: Sat [Philemon]
A: Roman citizens could not be crucified, & Paul was a Roman citizen. Paul was also a Jew and no one knows how he became a Roman citizen. / L: Philemon is the shortest of Paul’s letters to individuals & is also a Prison Epistle. Unlike the other letters, Philemon is a personal letter. Paul was in prison and met Onesimus, a slave who had run away from his owner. Onesimus became a Christian & Paul encouraged him to return to his master. Onesimus was afraid of being beaten & Paul wrote a letter to his master, Philemon, asking him not to harm Onesimus. That is the letter of Philemon. / Q: Why can Paul be for slavery but today we say that slavery is a bad thing? (This is not in the Bible.)

37: Mon [Hebrews]
A: During Paul’s life, the Roman government did not help poor people. So, many poor people sold themselves to wealthy people to get food, etc. Contracts were sign & the wealthy person took care of the poor person for life in exchange for work. Slavery back then was a necessary part of society to take care of poor people; today it is just mean. / L: The next book, Hebrews, was written for a simple reason: many Jews became Christian, but some thought becoming a Christian was a mistake. One of Paul’s assistants wrote a book to convince these Jewish Christians that they should remain Christian and not go back to only being Jews. / Q: What is the last book in the NT? (We will be there on Saturday.)

38: Tues [James]
A: Revelation. / L: The 21 letters in NT are divided into 2 sections: Paul’s letters & everything else, which we call the General Epistles (“Epistles” is Greek for “letter”). Paul wrote letters to specific cities or to individuals. The rest of the letters (including Hebrews) are written to large groups of people or to all Christians & are called General Epistles. James was orobably the first NT book written around the year 48 (Jesus was crucified in 30). Its main focus is action: once someone becomes a Christian, they need to act like one. / Q: I mentioned this earlier: James was not one of the Apostles but was the half-brother of Jesus. He also led an important church: where was that located?

39: Weds [I & II Peter]
A: Jerusalem. / L: Earlier we discussed how Peter had incredible courage & Paul had incredible insight. Peter was the main leader after Jesus. 20 years after Jesus the Council of Jerusalem met & Paul took on the leadership role of the early church. We don’t know what happened to Peter after that, but he was put to death because he was a Christian around 67. Before he died, he wrote 2 books: I & II Peter. Both books gave much general information to Christians, but the focus of I Peter was for Christians to stay strong during persecution, whereas II Peter warned Christians against false teachings. / Q: How did Peter die?

40: Thurs [I John]
A: Peter was crucified upside down / L: The Gospel of John, I, II, & III John, & Revelation were all written by the Apostle John. He was the only apostle to die a natural death; the other Apostles were killed (martyred) in different ways. He died around AD 100 & wrote I, II, & III John in the late 90s. I John is like II Peter because both warned against false teachings, plus I John encourages Christians to love others. / Q: Peter was the chief apostle while Jesus was alive. Which Apostle betrayed Jesus?

41: Fri [II & III John & Jude]
A: Judas / L: Today we cover 3 books, but they are each 1 chapter long & so this won’t be bad. (Since they are each one chapter, whenever you quote a verse you don’t say one & then the verse but only the verse, like II John 10 means the tenth verse in II John.) II John is like I John because it also warns about false teachings & encourages people to love one another. III John is a personal note to Gaius. He is in a house church with a mean pastor. John encourages Gaius to stay strong & warns the pastor. Jude is like II Peter and warns against false teachings. / Q: John’s brother was also an apostle. What was his name?

42: Sat [Revelation]
A: James. This is a different person than the author of the book of James, who was the half-brother of Jesus & head of the churches in Jerusalem. / L: We are at the last book of the Bible! Congratulations! Here we go: Revelation is known as an apocalyptic book because it tells about events far in the future. Chapter 1 is an introduction, Chapters 2 & 3 are 7 short letters to churches in 7 cities, Chapters 4 & 5 is John in heaven and begins to see future events, and Chapters 6-22 tell about those future events. / Q: What is the last word in Revelation (and also the last word in the Bible)? (If you don’t know, once you see it you will say “Of course! That makes sense.” You will have to look this one up yourself.)