First Principles

Please join us for an eight-week class focusing on our foundational principles as individual Christians and as a body of believers. We meet Sunday evenings from 5:45-7:00 pm at the church; the class will run from September 13th – November 15th.

Week 1 (September 13) ~ Theology: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

Assigned Reading: B. B. Warfield, “A Brief and Untechnical Statement of the Reformed Faith”

  • Essay mp3 (read by Dustyn Eudaly)
  • Essay PDF
  • Lecture Slides (from September 13)
  • Lecture mp3
Week 2 (September 20) ~ The Heart and the Mind: What God Has Joined Together, Let No Man Separate

Assigned Reading: B. B. Warfield, “The Religious Life of the Theological Student”

  • Essay mp3 (read by James Ritchey)
Week 3 (October 4) ~ The God Who Is

Assigned Reading: Cornelius Van Til, “Why I Believe In God”

  • Essay mp3 (read by Dustyn Eudaly)
  • Essay PDF
  • Lecture Slides
  • Lecture #1 by Steve Light (Video)
  • Lecture #2 by Steve Light (Video)
Week 4 (October 11) ~ What Is True Ministry, Biblically Defined?

Assigned Reading: Geerhardus Vos, “The More Excellent Ministry”

  • Abridged Essay PDF
  • Essay PDF
  • Essay mp3 (read by Dave Brittain)
  • Lecture Slides
  • Lecture mp3
Week 5 (October 18) ~ Family, Church, and State: Three Institutions UNDER God

Assigned Reading: John Murray, “The Christian World Order”

  • Essay PDF
  • Essay mp3 (read by Steve Light)
  • Lecture Slides
  • Lecture mp3
Week 6 (November 1) ~ Building AND Defending: Controversy in the Church

Assigned Reading: Cornelius Van Til, “Calvin as a Controversialist”J. Gresham Machen, “The Good Fight of Faith”

Week 7 (November 8) ~ What Does the Church Exist to Do?

Assigned Reading: J. Gresham Machen, “The Mission of the Church” & J. Gresham Machen, “The Christian View of Missions” & John Piper podcast, “Church Growth God’s Way”

Week 8 (November 15) ~ What Happens When Human Reason Seeks to Usurp God’s Word?

Assigned Reading: Richard Gaffin, “Total Depravity and Business Ethics”

  • Essay PDF
  • Essay mp3 (n/a)
  • Lecture Slides (n/a)
  • Lecture mp3 (n/a)