At First Irving we desire to equip the church for the work of ministry, and we accomplish this in two different formats. Both formats are structured differently but seek to accomplish the same aim of building up the body of Christ for the glory of God. Both of these groups meet on Sunday Morning at 9:30 AM, along with our Family Ministries dedicated to our children.
Our Family Ministries Sunday School, Preschool, Kids, and Students occur at 9:30 AM. Within each ministry, this time is meant to teach our children about the the glories of Jesus Christ and the Gospel.
The first format, Adult Bible Fellowships (ABFs), are small groups that meet continuously year-round on Sunday mornings. These small groups walk through books of the Bible together and follow the traditional Sunday school model. Each of these groups tend to be broken up by age and/or stage of life.
The second format is through our Seminar Classes. These classes are about 6 weeks each that teach through a particular truth of God’s Word and how the Christian can live it out. There are three main categories we focus on in these classes:
Every individual has a hermeneutic, a method, for how they read their Bibles. How we read our Bibles matter because our reading leads us to interpret the Scriptures. These classes are meant to teach the grand narrative of Scripture and how each book and story relates to the greater story surrounding Jesus Christ. They’re mean to teach us how to arrive at the authorial intent of the writer so that we can rightly apply the truths of God’s Word to our lives.
It has been famously said by A.W. Tozer, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” While this is true, what comes to our minds about God must only be what God has revealed to us through His Word. Our aim in these classes is to teach what the church has believed about God historically.
What we believe drives how we live. The Scriptures make it clear that God's Word transforms and renews our minds and our hearts and that it will encourage, admonish, correct, and teach us how we are to change and live. The aim of these classes is to encourage the church to pursue and grow in godly living in the home, among the church, and every other part of one's life.
