Our Courses
The Equipping Ministry runs on the semester system, with classes beginning in January, May, and September of each year. The schedule is usually posted a month before the start of each session. To see the schedule and/or register for classes, please see our Home page.
We offer the four Level One classes nearly every semester, while the Level Two courses rotate each session. You can read descriptions of each class below. For information about our Discovery classes, including Discovering Your Gifts (Serving with Purpose), please visit our Discovery Classes page.
Level 1 Courses
Gospel and Culture: How to Share Your Faith
Gospel and Culture: How to Share Your Faith will enable you to learn the biblical Gospel in the way God revealed it from Genesis to Revelation. This approach will help you grow in your understanding of the Gospel as seen through the lens of all Scripture. Gain a greater understanding of our post-Christian society, better understand other worldviews, and be able to articulate the Gospel more effectively.
Defending Your Faith
In Defending Your Faith, students will learn to engage people in meaningful discussions about their faith, defend their faith against difficult questions and talk about the uniqueness of Christ as the only way to God in a pluralistic culture, while increasing their confidence in the trustworthiness of the Scriptures.
What We Believe
What We Believe provides the student with an overview of the key areas of biblical doctrine, with emphasis on the biblical support for these key beliefs, how our beliefs affect our practice in the local church, and how what we believe should make a difference in our daily lives.
Grasping God's Word
Grasping God’s Word teaches the student to read and study God’s Word with greater clarity and comprehension; to understand Scripture in light of the context in which it was written; to see how Scripture was given to change the way we think, feel, and act; and to apply God’s unchanging Word to our changing world and to our own lives.
Level 2 Courses
Deeper into God's Word 1
A course which builds on the techniques and tools learned in Grasping God’s Word, in which students learn to apply the those tools to an in-depth study of a New Testament letter. They begin to understand how to make informed decisions about the meaning of biblical words, and comprehend more thoroughly how a New Testament epistle applies to the modern believer. In so doing, students move beyond mere acquisition of facts by learning to apply the truths they discover to their lives.
From God to Us - Wednesday
This course is a basic introduction to canonization of Scripture, the history and science of textual criticism, and the basic issues inherent in Bible translation. Students will come to understand the process by which the canon of Scripture was confirmed by God’s people, the means by which the text of Scripture has been preserved and passed down through the ages, and to gain an obejctive approach to the evaluation of Bible translations. It will increase your confidence in God’s Word and better enable you to defend your faith.
Advanced Apologetics
Advanced Apologetics teaches us: (1) to better understand the Faith; (2) to defend our faith; (3) to have winsome, meaningful discussions with others about our faith; and (4) to defend Christ as the only way to God. We use video modules of presentations by leading international subject matter experts to identify, and effectively answer, key current challenges to our faith. This is followed by both leader-led class discussion and student-led table discussions to enhance the practical value of our learning.
What They Believe
This two-semester course provides an overview of the major world religions and cults, their worldviews and basic tenets, and how to build bridges of friendship with them.
From God to Us - Sunday
This course is a basic introduction to canonization of Scripture, the history and science of textual criticism, and the basic issues inherent in Bible translation. Students will come to understand the process by which the canon of Scripture was confirmed by God’s people, the means by which the text of Scripture has been preserved and passed down through the ages, and to gain an obejctive approach to the evaluation of Bible translations. It will increase your confidence in God’s Word and better enable you to defend your faith.
Inside Out: Becoming Like Christ from Within
This course helps students understand the biblical idea of spiritual formation by exploring the Seven Questions of Spiritual Theology, and working in small groups to foster and facilitate spiritual formation in one another.
Jesus described the new life He spoke of as a transformation that began on the inside of us and worked itself out: poor in spirit, pure in heart, born again, speaking out of the abundance of what is in our hearts. That process is not simply the acquiring of knowledge, but a relationship with the Eternal God that changes who we are from the inside out. This is biblical spiritual formation. It is not just knowing, but being.
overview
Purpose
The Equipping Ministry provides believers with the necessary tools to grow in their walk with the Lord, and helps them to live out the Gospel wherever God has placed them.
Leadership
Steve has a real passion to see us, as believers, truly engage our culture with the good news of the Gospel and to pray for a great revival in our nation.
