Download The twelve specific beliefs, practices, and actions that are essential

The twelve specific beliefs, practices, and actions
that are essential to living the life of a disciple.
springdale
nazarene
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Table of Contents
Page
Introduction
Twelve Beliefs, Practices, Actions
Group Covenant
Week 1 – God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Group Session
Week 2 – Death and Eternity
Group Session
Week 3 – Salvation: Works vs. Grace
Group Session
Week 4 – Prayer, Worship, and Study
Group Session
Week 5 – Biblical Community
Group Session
Week 6 – Single Mindedness / Sanctification
Group Session
Week 7 – Self-Sacrifice / Stewardship
Group Session
Week 8 – Evangelism / Missions / Spiritual Gifts
Group Session
Appendix
Articles of Faith
Evaluation
1
4
6
8
17
20
25
28
35
38
53
56
64
67
76
81
89
93
107
109
110
117
INTRODUCTION 1
Ø Fellowship time
Ø Prayer—Giving time to God.
Ø Review and sign class participation covenant—help people commit to Passages,
involvement, study and issues of confidentiality.
Discipleship and Passages
Passages at SNC is born out of five common expectations we have of ourselves and one another
as Christians. We need to note an important distinction between an expectation and an
assumption. An assumption is based on the belief that something has already taken place. An
expectation is the hope and belief that something WILL happen.
At SNC we expect that:
1. Everyone is journeying with someone.
2. Everyone is reading The Bible.
3. Everyone is involved in the life of the church.
4. Everyone is serving someone.
5. Everyone is making disciples of Jesus Christ.
Passages is designed to introduce you to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to engage you
in conversations involving how we live out these expectations. The 10-week study is designed to help
participants define a basic understanding of the key components of living the Christian life as an
apprentice to Christ. In the coming weeks, we will look at twelve basic beliefs, practices, and actions that
one who is a disciple holds dear.
In between our weekly time together, there will be three homework assignments. These are designed to
help you dig into the next week’s topic. They are not meant to overwhelm you with “one more thing to
do this week,” but to help you go deeper in your journey with Jesus. The group sessions are to be
completed with your fellow travelers; it will be helpful to preview this work so that participation is more
meaningful.
We will spend most of our time in the Word of God - The Bible. All Scripture references will be from the
New Living Translation (NLT). If you do not have a Bible, ask your facilitator for information on how
and where to find one. If you do not have the resources for a Bible, we will make sure you have one.
In addition, there will be one memory verse that relates to the next week’s topic. Memorizing Scripture is
essential to our spiritual health and growth. There are no tests on how well you have memorized
Scripture—that is between you and God. Here is what Howard Hendricks says on the importance of
study and memorization:
“The greatest changes God has brought about in my life have come through the process of meditation—
just allowing the Word of God to filter and percolate through my mind and into my life. What have you
got cooking on the back burner of your mind? You say you have a hard time thinking, especially
thoughts that are God’s, not yours or Satan’s. No, the problem is you are starving your brain, leaving it
open to grab ‘junk food.’ Through Bible memory and meditation, you can constantly be simmering His
word in your mind, for healthy and godly living.” 1
1
Howard & William Hendricks Living By The Book. Moody Press
2 INTRODUCTION
What is a disciple?
One thing is for certain—you are somebody’s disciple. You learned how to live from somebody
else. We prefer to think of ourselves as independent and self-made people. The truth is, we are
very much influenced by the actions of people around us.
c Who might some of the people be who taught you how to live?
Author, Dallas Willard says—“It is a major transition in life to recognize who has taught us,
mastered us, and then to evaluate the results in us of their teaching. This is a harrowing task and
sometimes we just can’t face it. But it can also open the door to choose other masters, possibly
better masters, and the one Master above all.”2
Jesus is the “One Master above all.” He longs for us to become His disciples. A disciple is
literally, an apprentice—one who has decided to be with another person, under appropriate
conditions, in order to become capable of doing what that person does or to become what that
person is.
If I am Jesus’ disciple, that means I am with Him to learn from Him how to be like Him.
With this definition in mind, use your own words to describe a disciple of Jesus. Share your
definition with the rest of the group.
In Your Bible
Turn to Matthew 7:13-27.* Read the passage aloud. Jesus tells four stories about what it means
to be his disciple—The Narrow Gate, The Good Tree, The True Disciple, and The House on the
Rock.
The Narrow Gate:
˜ Where does the narrow gate lead?
˜ What are some characteristics of the “Highway to Hell”?
˜ What could you infer about the characteristics of “Gateway to Life”?
The Good Tree:
˜ What are the differences between the bad tree and the healthy tree?
˜ What might the “fruits” of a good tree be?
2
From The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas Willard. HarperSanFrancisco,
1998. pg. 272
*
Matthew is the first of the four Gospels. The word Gospel comes from the Greek word Euangelion meaning,
“Good News.” The Gospels are the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We’ll dig into that more in the
coming weeks.
INTRODUCTION 3
The True Disciple:
˜ What is the decisive issue in entering the Kingdom of God?
˜ Where does that leave doing “religious” things? Is it the actions or the motivations behind
the actions? What’s the difference?
The House on the Rock—
˜ What are the characteristics of a wise person who builds their house on a solid foundation?
4 INTRODUCTION
12 Essential Beliefs, Practices, and Actions of a disciple of Jesus Christ
1. God - I believe the God of the Bible is the only true God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 13:13.
2. Death & Eternity - I believe in sin and that sin leads to death, but that God offers me a place
in eternity with Him. I believe there is a heaven and a hell and that Jesus Christ is returning
to judge the earth and to establish his eternal kingdom. Romans 6:23; John 14:1-4.
3. Salvation - Works v. Grace—I believe a person comes into a right relationship with God by
God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9.
4. Prayer - I connect with God and seek God’s will for my life by talking with and listening to
God daily. Individually and with others, I pray with words, silence, and actions.
Psalm 66:16-20; Luke 22:41-42
5. Worship - Both corporately and individually, I praise God by remembering how God has
rescued, redeemed, and restored me. I respond to Him through singing, praying, giving,
hearing God’s Word, and living out God’s call in my life. Romans 12:1-2; Psalm 95:1-7
6. Bible Study - I believe I am significant because of my position as a child of God. I read the
Bible to know God, His Truth, and to find His direction for my daily life. 2 Timothy 3:1617; Hebrews 4:12
7. Biblical Community - I celebrate my life in Christ by living in intentional community with
other Christ-followers and by inviting others to join us. Acts 2:44-47
8. Single-Mindedness/Sanctification - I focus on God and God’s priorities for my life.
Matthew 6:33
9. Self-Sacrifice - Stewardship - I believe that everything I am or own belongs to God. I give
away my life, my faith, my time, my talents, and my treasures to fulfill God’s purposes.
1 Timothy 6:17-19; Romans 12:1; Ephesians 6:19-20; Colossians 3:17;
2 Corinthians 8:7
10. Evangelism - I believe all people are loved by God and need Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Jesus calls us to share that Good News with the world through our words and our actions.
John 3:16; Acts 8:26-31
11. Missions - God has called me to share God’s love with the world by meeting people’s needs
in my community and in the world. I seek to serve Jesus by sharing my resources and myself
with God’s people around the globe. Matthew 28:18-2
12. Spiritual Gifts - I know and use my spiritual gifts to accomplish God’s purposes.
Romans 12:4-5
INTRODUCTION 5
Why Passages?
Pas-sage [pas-ij]
1. Part of a path or journey.
2. An act or instance of passing from one place, condition to another; transit.
3. A portion or section of a written work; a paragraph, verse.
Passages is all these things. It is a journey from one spiritual place to another and from one state
of relationship to another. With the passages of Scripture as our map, we’ll journey further up
and further into our relationship with God, ourselves, and our traveling companions.
We hope Passages will be more than a “class” that you are taking, but a life-changing
experience. It is our sincerest hope and prayer that your experience in Passages will inspire and
give you the tools necessary to go deeper in your life-long journey with Jesus!
Passages and the 16 Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene
Springdale Nazarene Church belongs to the Church of the Nazarene denomination. Our rich
heritage has its roots in Wesleyan Theology (we’ll talk more about John Wesley in the coming
weeks) and the Holiness movement of the 19th Century.
The Church of the Nazarene is built on the Sixteen Articles of Faith3 which are the theological
foundation for our denomination. These Sixteen Articles succinctly state what we believe and
how we function as a Christian Church.
The 12 Basic Understandings of a Christ-Follower are not meant to replace the 16 Articles but
are instead meant to be what we at SNC believe are the practical beliefs, actions, and practices of
one who follows Jesus Christ. The 12 Basic Understandings are not meant to be a theological
foundation for a denomination, but a hands-on “On-The-Job” training of a Disciple of Jesus
Christ.
Passages and the 12 Basic Understandings were written from a Wesleyan Holiness perspective.
3
Manual/2009-2013 Church of the Nazarene—History, Constitution, Government, Ritual Nazarene Publishing
House Kansas City, MO. Pg. 28-40.
6 INTRODUCTION
Passages Group Covenant
Covenant (Ko-ve-nent) 1. n. an agreement, bargain; a sealed contract or clause of such contract;
the agreement between God and God’s chosen people, the Israelites 2. v.t. to agree to by
covenant; to enter into formal agreement; to agree4
A covenant is more than a contract. It is more of a commitment or bond between people who
care for each other. God has a covenant relationship with His people—it is not a relationship
based on equality, but built on blessings in exchange for fidelity. There are also covenant
relationships between equals—people committing to protect and bless each other through the
context of relationship and mutual respect.
In Passages, we will be committing to both these relationships. This covenant is vital to the
course experience. The more we put into preparation and interaction, the more we will learn and
grow. Your facilitator will hand out and keep the signed covenant on behalf of all participants.
To each other and to God #1 - Believing that communication, trust, and confidentiality are the foundation for healthy
relationships, we covenant to speak openly and listen with sensitivity, maintaining
confidentiality so as to remain worthy of one’s trust.
#2 - Believing that each person is of value to God and thus to the group, we covenant to treat one
another with respect, courtesy, honesty and patience.
#3 - Believing that each person has unique insight, personal experience, and something valuable
to share, we covenant to participate in discussions and to allow others time to participate as well.
#4 - Believing that our time belongs to God, we covenant to be prepared for each time this small
group meets.
#5 - Believing that we are called to hold one another up before God in prayer, we covenant to
pray regularly for one another and the concerns we have shared.
#6 - Believing that it is through the Word that we come to know Christ better, we covenant to be
diligent in our study of the Bible.
#7 - Believing that each person is uniquely gifted and called by God for a specific purpose and
ministry, we covenant to support one another in our specific ministry endeavors through the
sharing of help, ideas and information, time, and prayer.
#8 - Believing that God has called us to be examples of Jesus Christ, we covenant to hold one
another accountable to our individual walk with Christ and to uphold His ways.
#9 - Believing that God wants us to have fun in what we do, we covenant to help maintain one
another’s joy in the adventure of serving Christ.
By signing the covenant, we are agreeing to these principles in our relationship to God and to
each other.
Signature _______________________________________________________
4
New Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus of the English Language, Lexicon Publications, 1995.
INTRODUCTION 7
Key Things to Remember—
If I am Jesus’ disciple, that means I am with
Him to learn from Him how to be like Him.
People and Things to Pray About This Week
Use the following space to write down personal prayer requests, as well as things to pray about
for your fellow group members. Make sure to include praises and requests. Spend a few
minutes each day praying for these things. Then, when you come back next week, ask those
people for an update!
Ø Close in prayer for each other
8 WeekOneSelfStudy
1
Father, Son, Holy Spirit
God
I believe the God of the Bible is the only true God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Verse of the Week: 2 Corinthians 13:13* **
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be
with you all.
How do you explain God? You can’t, especially in a few pages of homework and one day’s
lesson. At the same time, how can we not? J.I. Packer says,
As it would be cruel to an Amazonian tribesman to fly him to London (or Cincinnati,
OH), put him down without explanation in Trafalgar Square (or King’s Island) and leave
him, as one who knew nothing of English or England (or Buckeye football), to fend for
himself. So we are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing
about the God whose world it is and who runs it. The world becomes a strange, mad,
painful place and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not
know about God. Disregard the study of God and you sentence yourself to stumble and
blunder through life blindfold, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding
of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.5
Really, Passages is all about God and how God longs for us to be in relationship with God.
This first week’s homework, though, will specifically look at some important aspects, attributes
and understandings of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
5
J.I. Packer, Knowing God, Intervarsity Press, 1973, p. 15.
Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace, Penguin, 1998, p. 214.
* Verses in Passages are quoted from the New Living Translation. In the New International Version, the reference
for this verse is found in 2 Corinthians 13:14
** st
1 and 2nd Corinthians were written by the apostle Paul to the church in Corinth. The Christ-followers were
struggling with living out their faith journey in the midst of a very idolatrous and immoral society.
5a
WeekOneSelfStudy
9
Read this week knowing that there is so much more to God. It is impossible to put God in a box,
and our hope and prayer is that we don’t come across as doing so. This is merely the appetizer,
the tasting, a basic sampling of who God is. Read on and let your appetite grow for more…
One so often hears people say, “I just can’t handle it,” when they reject a biblical image of
God as Father, as mother, as Lord or judge, God as lover, as angry or jealous, God on a
cross. I find this choice of words revealing, however real the pain they reflect: if we seek a
God we can “handle” that will be exactly what we get. A God we can manipulate,
suspiciously like ourselves, the wideness of whose mercy we’ve cut down to size.
— Kathleen Norris.5a
Day One: Father
God always was. There was never a time when God wasn’t. Max Lucado says, “No one
breathed life into God. No one sired Him. No one caused Him. No acts brought Him forth….
Though He created, God was never created. Though He makes, He was never made. Though He
causes, He was never caused.”6
God is and may be known—these two affirmations are basic for all religions that believe in a
god. It is both a statement of faith and a statement of experience—
FAITH - There are no scientific formulas or experiments that conclusively prove God’s
existence. It is by faith that people believe in God.
c How would you define faith?
EXPERIENCE - Since God transcends all God’s creation, God can only be known through what
God reveals to humanity.
c How do you know there is a God?
What is distinctive about Christianity is that it claims that God wants to be known personally by
humanity. God accomplishes this relationship through the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the life
of the disciple and by revealing Himself through His creation and in the Holy Scriptures. The
Bible is not written to prove that He exists, but to reveal God to humanity.
6
Max Lucado, Safe in the Shepherd’s Arms: Hope and Encouragement from Psalm 23, J Countryman Press,
2002, p. 15.
10 WeekOneSelfStudy
God’s Being
God is completely independent from Creation. Theologian Clark Pinnock says, “The world
exists by grace. It was not strictly necessary. It did not have to exist…. God is bound together
with us by [God’s] choice.”7
Genesis 1:1 tells us: “In the _______________ God ____________ the heavens and the earth.”
Read Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14)*
˜
How did God create everything?
Reflect on what Clark Pinnock said:
˜ What does that say about the worth of humanity? Write down your thoughts.
God’s Nature
Read Genesis 1:2
˜ What was hovering over the water?
God is pure spirit. Jesus tells us in John 4:24* that “God is Spirit.” That means that God is not
bound by any physical limitations of time and space as we are, but God is essentially unlimited
and every element of God’s nature is unlimited. Read the following verses that describe God’s
infinite qualities.
God Is Infinite in Time - Eternal
Read Psalm 41:13**
˜ What words does the Psalmist use to describe God’s infinite presence?
Read 1 Timothy 1:17***
˜ What does God deserve forever and ever?
˜ What words does Paul use to describe God?
˜ How many gods are there?
7
Clark Pinnock, The Flame of Love, Intervarsity Press, 1996, p. 45.
Genesis is the first book of the Bible. It tells the story of creation, the fall, the flood, and the Hebrew people in
covenant with God. It is a history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and shares God’s deep love for God’s people.
*
John is the last of the four Gospels. Throughout the book, John weaves the important theme that Jesus is the Son
of God. He was one of Jesus’ three closest friends. He is referred to as the one that Jesus loved—the beloved
disciple.
**
Philip Yancey says of the Psalms—“Located in the exact center of the Bible, the Psalms give us a comprehensive
record of life with God through individually fashioned accounts of how the spiritual life works…. more than any
other book in the Bible, Psalms reveals what a heartfelt, soul-starved, single-minded relationship with God looks
like.” (From The Bible Jesus Read, Zondervan Publishing, 1999, p. 114.)
***
Paul wrote 1st and 2nd Timothy to his young fellow Christ-follower, Timothy. Paul wrote this letter to Timothy
while Timothy was teaching and leading the church at Ephesus.
*
WeekOneSelfStudy 11
God Is Infinite in Space - Omnipresent
Read Psalm 139:7-12
˜ Where can one go to hide from God?
˜ What does this passage say about your worth to God and the lengths God will go to be with
you?
God Is Infinite in Knowledge - Omniscient
Read Proverbs 3:19****
˜ By what did God found and establish the earth and the heavens?
˜ Using your own words, give a definition of these things—
Read Romans 11:33*
˜ What does Paul say about God’s wisdom?
˜ What does Paul say about our ability to understand God’s wisdom?
God is infinite in power—Omnipotent
Read 1 Chronicles 29:11**
˜ From what you have read, describe the attributes of God’s power—
˜ How do you respond to this description of God’s power and what we should do in light of
that greatness?
Read Isaiah 14:26***
˜ Describe God’s involvement in the world—
Read Jude 1:25****
˜ What belongs to God and for how long?
****
Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings and good advice for daily living. Many of the proverbs come from
King Solomon and are reflections on the importance of God-given wisdom.
*
Paul wrote Romans to the church in Rome. Paul had never been to visit the Christ-followers in Rome, but felt a
special affinity with them in their budding faith. In his letter, Paul outlines what it means to be a Christ-follower and
how to live like one who is Christ’s disciple.
** st
1 Chronicles was written after the period of Israel’s exile. After being invaded by greater forces, the people
were moved from their homes and land and made to settle in other parts of the empire. 1st Chronicles recaps the
history of Israel as God’s chosen people so that those exiled would regain and remember their history.
***
Isaiah was a prophet during the lives of five different kings of Israel. Prophets stood as God’s special
representatives. The role of the prophet was to speak for God, confronting and calling people back to God’s
commands and promises.
****
Jude was one of Jesus’ brothers (along with James). He wrote his letter to warn Christ-followers about false
teachers and those who would mislead and corrupt in the name of Christ.
12 WeekOneSelfStudy
Reflect on what you have just read. What does it mean to you that God who is infinite in time,
space, knowledge and power created you? How does that reflect on your worth and purpose?
Day Two: Son
“Everything in Christ astonishes me. His spirit overawes me, and His will confounds me.
Between Him and whoever else in the world, there is no possible term of comparison. He is
truly a being by Himself…. I search in vain in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or
anything which can approach the Gospel. Neither history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor
nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it.
Here everything is extraordinary.”—Napoleon
Two thousand years ago, in what amounted to a little more than a cave full of animals, Jesus was
born. No fanfare for the man Christians believe to be both fully God and fully human. Jesus
made remarkable claims on who He was.
c Who does the world say Jesus is?
Read John 10:30, John 17:5, and John 14:6
˜ Who does Jesus says He is?
˜ How does He describe Himself?
˜ Who does He relate Himself to?
Reflect on Jesus’ claims. Explain your answers.
˜ What is He saying about Himself?
˜ How are His words different from what the world says about who Jesus was?
˜ In which camp do you put yourself?
c If you place yourself with the world’s idea of who Jesus was, what would it take to change
your position?
WeekOneSelfStudy 13
In the first homework assignment, we learned about God the Father. We learned that God was
eternal, ever-present, all-knowing, and all-powerful.
Read Hebrews 4:13-16*
˜ Verse 13 describes God. Write down God’s attributes.
˜ What will we have to do before God on judgment day?
˜ What title does the author give Jesus?
God the Son, Jesus Christ, provides the link with God the Father that we as finite and sinful
human beings needed to be able to approach God. Since God is sinless and perfect, our
sinfulness keeps us away from God. We needed someone who could experience our humanness
and at the same time, be sinless so as to approach the Father.
The prophet Isaiah told of Jesus’ coming thousands of years before His birth. He said that Jesus
would bear, “the sin of many, and made [make] intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12).
Jesus lived out this prophecy at His death on the cross when He called out to God, “Father,
forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34)**. We’ll talk more about
the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the coming weeks. For now, let’s keep looking at
Hebrews 4.
c What makes Jesus accessible to us?
c What do you think about Jesus being fully human and fully God? That He knew what it was
like to be tempted, but never gave in to it?
c How does this help us when it comes time to meet a God who knows everything about us?
Read and ponder this quote from C.S. Lewis
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about
Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be
God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of
things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level
with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must
*
Hebrews is a book in the New Testament. We’re not sure who wrote it, but it is written to Jewish Christians
struggling with the issue of staying with their newfound faith in Christ, or returning to Judaism.
**
Luke is the third of the four Gospels. It was written by Luke - a physician and historian who sought to chronicle
the complete story of Jesus Christ and the early church.
14 WeekOneSelfStudy
make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God or else a madman or something
worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can
fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense
about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”8
Ø Conclude by journaling your thoughts on today’s lesson.
Day Three: Holy Spirit
Carolyn Slaughter says, “Most of us understand who God the Father is, who Jesus is, and the
relationship between the two. However, when we add the Holy Spirit to the conversation, we
sometimes become confused.”9
The Spirit is God at work in our lives. When God is said to do something, God does it through
the Spirit. The Spirit is the member of the trinity that is closest to our personal experience.
c What images or thoughts come to mind when you think of the Holy Spirit?
Read John 3:8
˜ How does this passage describe the Holy Spirit?
Read John 14:16,17,26
˜ What titles does Jesus use to describe the Holy Spirit?
˜ Who sent the Holy Spirit?
˜ Why can’t the world accept the Spirit?
The word “counselor” has been translated from the Greek word Parakletos (par-ak'-lay-tos) or
Paraclete. Paraclete has two meanings—someone called to one’s side in order to aid, and one
who pleads another’s cause before a judge as counsel for defense. Let’s look at these two
separately.
Called Alongside
This is an active presence where the Spirit comes and works with us in our daily walk with God.
Read Titus 3:5*
8
9
The Holy Spirit Saves Us
C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Barbour and Company, 1943, p. 45.
Carolyn Slaughter and Sherry Douglas, A Follower’s Life: 12 Group Studies on What it Means to Follow Jesus,
Group Publishing, 2002, p. 42.
WeekOneSelfStudy 15
˜ How and why did the Holy Spirit save us?
The Holy Spirit Convicts Us
Read John 16:8
˜ What does the Holy Spirit convict us of?
The Holy Spirit Teaches Us
Read John 14:26
˜ How will the Holy Spirit teach? What will the Holy Spirit teach us?
Counsel for Defense
The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us before God. The Holy Spirit acts as our spokesperson
before God and the world.
The Holy Spirit Testifies Before God and the World that We Are God’s Children
Read Romans 8:15-16
˜ What is the difference between a slave and a son or daughter of royalty?
˜ Why do you think we need reminded by the Spirit that we are God’s children?
The Holy Spirit Seals Us as God’s Possession
Read Ephesians 1:13-14*
˜ What must we do to gain the Spirit to seal us as God’s?
˜ What might be God’s inheritance?
Clark Pinnock says this about the Holy Spirit, The “Spirit is known by prayer as well as by
study...to know the Spirit we must become persons of prayer who are willing to yield in
complete openness to God. Waiting in silence and patient receptivity will cultivate a heartknowledge of our Life-giver.”10
Reflect on what Pinnock said
˜ In order to hear the Holy Spirit and be in tune with the Spirit’s leading, what two things must
we do?
*
Titus was a Greek Christ-follower who was taught and nurtured by Paul. He stood in the church as a living
example of what Christ was doing among the Gentiles. Paul nurtured and discipled Titus in his faith. He walked
beside Titus as he grew into a leader in the church.
*
The city of Ephesus was a powerful center of trade in the Roman world. It was also home to an effective and
prominent church in the early stages of Christianity. Ephesians is a letter of encouragement written by Paul from a
Roman prison cell awaiting execution.
10
Clark Pinnock, The Flame of Love, InterVarsity Press, 1996, pp. 12-13.
16 WeekOneSelfStudy
˜ How might these two areas allow the Spirit to come alongside you in your everyday life?
˜ Have you ever had someone come alongside you in a crisis or difficult situation? How did
their presence make a difference in that situation?
˜ How might the Holy Spirit act as that presence in your life? How would you know the Spirit
was coming alongside you?
˜ What experience do you have with the intervening of the Holy Spirit? How has the Spirit
encouraged you or corrected you in your walk with God?
WeekOneGroupSession 17
1
Group Session
Ø Beginning - Fellowship Time
Ø Prayer - Giving time to God
Ø Group Building Activity
v Question and Answer Time - jot down your answers to the following questions. We will
share our answers with each other.
o My idea of a great vacation__________________________________
o The greatest challenge I have ever faced is ____________________________
Review What You’ve Learned
Think back to last week’s discussion on what a disciple is. The definition of a disciple that we
gave was—
A disciple is an apprentice—one who has decided to be with another person, under appropriate
conditions, in order to become capable of doing what that person does or to become what that
person is. If I am Jesus’ disciple, that means I am with Him to learn from Him how to be like
Him.
The Triune God
We have spent the past week learning about the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is not three separate gods, but one God who eternally exists in three
persons. There is no explanation of the Trinity that does not fall short of properly explaining the
Trinity. It is best understood and appreciated as a mystery. The more we dig deeper into the
mystery, the more that is revealed to us and the more questions it raises for us also.
c From your homework this week, how have you learned that God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit are the same God?
c What distinctive traits about each have you learned as well?
18 WeekOneGroupSession
In the winter Olympics, one of the most watched events is the couples ice skating competition.
What are some characteristics of those athletes as they dance on the ice?
c How can you relate that to what you have learned about the Triune God?
What Now?
“So God is one God but with three distinct parts. What does that have to do with me?” It has
everything to do with you. God desires nothing more than to be in relationship with us. God
wants us to share in the dance with God!
Read Psalm 139:1-18 aloud
˜ What are some words that describe God’s knowledge of us?
˜ What are some words that describe God’s proximity to us? Where does God stand in
relationship to us?
˜ What do these two things mean for us?
What separates Christianity from other religions, is that we believe in a God who wants nothing
more than to be with us. God is all about relationships, and God wants us to be all about
relationships with God.
God is in a constant state of wooing us. When we talk about people coming into relationship
with God, we often describe it as, “receiving God,” “trusting in Christ,” “being born again,” and
being “saved.” The truth is, that when we are introduced to God, God has already been working
behind the scenes to make that introduction a reality. Turn to John 15:16. Read that passage
aloud together as a class.
Because of God’s love for us and desire to be in relationship with us, God has sought and
continues to seek us out. The theological term for this is God’s Prevenient Grace - God working
in our hearts to bring us to God. Ultimately, it is our choice whether we accept God or not, but
God is constantly working within us to bring us to that point.
Talk for a minute about Prevenient Grace - God wooing us to God. What imagery comes to your
mind? How does that make you feel that God - the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal
God - wants to be with you?
Not only does God draw us to God, but God also promises not to leave us hanging there. When
God commits to a relationship, God doesn’t break God’s promises!
Read Hebrews 13:5 aloud
˜ How do you respond to the promise that God will never leave you?
Key Things to Remember—
God the Father - Creates us in His own image.
God the Son - Relates to us by becoming a man and living with His creation.
God the Holy Spirit - Aids us and continues to help us grow closer to God.
WeekOneGroupSession 19
Ø People and Things to Pray About This Week
Last week, you may have written down prayer requests and praises from your fellow Journey
members. Make sure to ask for follow-ups on how things went, or on how you might pray
differently.
Use the following space to write down personal prayer requests, as well as things to pray about
for your fellow group members. Spend a few minutes each day praying for these things.
20 WeekTwoSelfStudy
2
Death and Eternity
Death and Eternity
I believe in sin and that sin leads to death, but that God offers me a place in eternity with Him. I
believe there is a heaven and a hell and that Jesus Christ is returning to judge the earth and to
establish His eternal Kingdom
Verse of the Week:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23
Dr. Jerry Walls, professor of philosophy at Asbury Theological Seminary, writes extensively on
heaven and hell. Walls states that vague and fuzzy notions of heaven and hell have contributed
to the lax moral climate in western society. Walls shares:
“Here is how heaven and hell change the picture. They bring God in! And at once everything
looks different. No compromise is necessary. If we are eternal persons whose lives have an
eternal context, then self-interest dictates that we follow the laws of heaven. Heaven is the true
fulfillment of all human desire. And so without seeing ourselves as heaven's citizens, we cannot
order our desires the right way. We will desire lesser goods (the goodness of sexual acts) over
higher ones (the goodness of fidelity). In other words, we cannot redefine our wants without
challenging the secular definition of who we are.”11
What are death and eternity? Why is this belief important? Understanding who God is and how
God wants us to be with God, not just for a little while but forever, gives our lives purpose and
direction.
This week, your journey will focus on the biblical understanding of death and life. Spend time in
your study with the idea that you are learning about your eternal destination and how that may
influence the way you live in the here and now.
11
Dr. Jerry Walls, “Can We Be Good Without Hell?”, Christianity Today, June 16, 1997, Vol. 41, No. 7,
p. 22.
WeekTwoSelfStudy 21
“A record of God’s faithfulness in the past combines with hope in a better future for one end –
to equip us for the present.”12
Day One: Eternity
In week one, we learned that God is eternal—God always was, always is and always will be. No
one made God and no one can unmake God.
Read Revelation 22:13*
˜ There are three sets of characteristics that Christ uses to describe Himself to the reader. List
those three sets below 1.
2.
3.
˜ What do these three things tell you about the nature of God?
˜ What does all this mean for us?
Read Genesis 1:26
˜ What two things set us apart as God’s special creation?
˜ What does it mean for you to be made in God’s image and likeness?
Created for Eternity
Colossians 1:16 says “everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible,
everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” (The Message) We humans had a
finite beginning—a definite time and place where we were created. We were born into this
world. But while we have a beginning, when God created humanity in God’s image and likeness,
God created us for eternity. While we may go through the process of dying, it is only a stage we
go through. There is an eternal existence after death.
12
Philip Yancey, Reaching For The Invisible God, Harper Collins, p. 80.
The Apostle John while in exile on the island of Patmos wrote Revelation. Revelation is a book of hope and
warning. It proclaims the victorious return of Jesus Christ to reclaim His followers, and it tells of how we should
live in preparation for that return.
*
22 WeekTwoSelfStudy
Read Ecclesiastes 3:11
˜ What does it mean that God planted eternity in our hearts?
Read Matthew 25:31-46
˜ What will Christ do upon His return (v.32)?
˜ What things make a person a sheep or a goat?
˜ Where will the sheep and the goats go?
˜ While these are two different places, they both have a similar quality. What is it?
˜ According to Matthew, there is an eternal destination for all people. With that in mind,
reflect on what it means that you are an eternal being.
WeekTwoSelfStudy 23
Day Two: Hell
In 1992, England’s Secretary of Education and Science, John Patten, suggested that the reason
crime was rising in the UK was because the fear of hell was declining. Patten stated that the loss
of belief in heaven and hell has had a “profound effect on personal morality - especially on
criminality.”13
Philosopher Jerry Walls says, “We need God, heaven and yes, even hell, to make sense of
morality. Indeed we need to define our very selves in light of these eternal realities. If there is
no God, no heaven, no hell, there simply is no persuasive reason to be moral.”14
c How do you react to the above quotes by Patten and Walls?
The Bible and Hell
What we learn about hell in the New Testament mostly comes from Jesus Himself.
Read Mark 9:43*
˜ What is hell like according to this passage?
Read Matthew 25:30
˜ What is hell like according to this passage?
Read Matthew 7:21-23
˜ What is Jesus’ response to those who did not do the will of the Father?
All three descriptions of hell have one common characteristic.
Read Matthew 25:46.
˜ How long are people to experience hell?
Hell is described as a place of fire and darkness. Whatever the physical characteristics of hell
are, it is definitely a place where God’s presence is absent. Jesus describes hell as an eternal
destination; it is not a sentence that one serves, then is released. The choices one makes today
have eternal consequences.
A commitment to Jesus requires us to admit the existence of a final place of judgment. The price
we pay for rejecting the Bible’s teaching about hell is the price of Jesus Christ being wrong, and
if Jesus is wrong about hell, what makes us so sure we can trust Him to be right about anything?
c How do you feel about a hell as a real and eternal place?
13
Daily Telegraph (London), April 17, 1992.
Jerry L. Walls, “Can We Be Good Without Hell?”, Christianity Today, June 16, 1997,Vol. 41, No. 7, p. 22.
*
Mark is the second of the four Gospels that tells the Good news of Jesus Christ. It is the first written and shortest
of the accounts of Jesus. In quick succession, Mark omits the birth of Jesus and moves directly into His public
ministry. The other three Gospels all use Mark as a reference.
14
24 WeekTwoSelfStudy
Day Three: Heaven
c What do you think of when you think of heaven?
We learned on day one that we were created for eternity. Humanity has a deep longing for
something other than what this world offers. C.S. Lewis put it this way—“If I find in myself a
desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was
made for another world.”15 The other world that we desire is what Lewis calls, “my true
country”16 - heaven.
What is Heaven?
When we think of heaven today, many people think of “Precious Moments” heaven—harps,
clouds, halos, wings and white robes. The truth is, we don’t know what heaven looks like at all.
The Bible uses metaphors and symbolism to describe paradise because its beauty is too much for
ordinary words. The apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthian church, said, “Now we see
but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I
shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).* If, as we learned earlier this
week, hell is the absence of God’s presence, then heaven is where we are completely engulfed in
the presence of God.
Read the following verses. Write down what you learn about heaven:
˜ Philippians 3:20**—
˜ John 14:2-3 ˜ 2nd Corinthians 5:1-4 ˜ 1st John 3:2* ˜ Revelations 21:27 ˜ Revelation 21:3-4 15
C.S.Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 115.
*
Paul was a Jewish leader who had a real encounter with Jesus while he was at the task of persecuting Christians.
After his experience, Paul set about taking the Good News of Jesus to the world. Corinth is one of the cities where
Paul mentored a fledgling Christian community in their walk with Christ.
**
Philippians is Paul’s joy letter. This church in Macedonia had been a source of great encouragement to Paul in
his ministry. Paul’s main themes throughout this letter are of rejoicing and joy.
*
1st John was written by the Apostle John, the author of the fourth Gospel and the book of Revelation. It was
written to warn Christ-followers about dangerous false teachers and those who would mislead them.
WeekTwoGroupSession 25
2
Group Session
Ø Beginning - Fellowship Time
Ø Prayer - Giving time to God
Ø Group Building Activity - helps people make connections with each other. Helps with
names, important life moments, current life status, and dreams for the future.
v The divided circle - break up into groups of two (with someone you don’t know). Draw a
circle on a piece of paper and divide into three parts. Each partner will describe the other
person’s pictures to the rest of the group – so listen carefully to your partner.
o Part #1 - draw a picture of a childhood memory from when you were ten years old
o Part #2 - draw a picture of yourself today
o Part #3 - draw a picture of what you would like to be in ten years
Review What You’ve Learned
˜ What is a disciple?
˜ What are the roles of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit?
˜ God the Father_____
˜ God the Son_____
˜ God the Holy Spirit_____
Eternal Beings
This week we have focused on what it means to be eternal beings, eternal punishment (hell) and
eternal life (heaven). It is kind of difficult to talk about eternity, since we are creatures bound,
for a time anyway, to the clock.
c From your homework this week, what have you learned about eternity, hell and heaven?
c What ideas about heaven and hell (if any) have you had to modify or abandon after this
week’s study?
26 WeekTwoGroupSession
The Key to Eternal Life
So if we are eternal creatures striving for an eternal existence, how do we get there? The answer
is Jesus Christ - God the Son.
Sin - the Disease
Read Isaiah 53:6; Romans 3:10; Romans 3:23; and John 3:19
˜ Based on these passages, come up with a definition of sin -
Read Isaiah 59:2; Romans 6:23; and Romans 14:12
˜ Based on these passages, what are the results of sin Jesus—the Antidote
Read Isaiah 53:5; Romans 5:8-9; and Titus 3:5
˜ Based on these passages, what did Jesus do to save us?
˜ Based on these passages, what was our condition before and after Jesus’ death and
resurrection?
Repentance and Forgiveness—What the Antidote Does
Read Isaiah 55:7; 1 John 1:9; John 1:12; and Acts 16:31*
˜ Based on these passages, what must we do to receive salvation in Jesus and enter into a
personal relationship with Him?
Read Romans 5:1; Romans 8:1; and 2 Corinthians 5:17
˜ What does salvation in Jesus mean to us
*
Acts was written by Luke the physician who also wrote the third Gospel. It was written as a continuation of his
previous book. It recounts the beginning of the church that Jesus inspired. It focuses on the works of the apostles
Peter and Paul after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
WeekTwoGroupSession 27
Bringing it all together—Draw a picture, a diagram or a word picture that describes how these
four things are related to each other.
C.S. Lewis says this about the after-life:
"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and
those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell, choose it. Without
that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will
ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened."17
˜ What do you think about Lewis’ description of heaven and hell?
Key Things to Remember—
We were created for eternal life with God. God has given us the choice to live forever
with God as our Lord and Master, or to live our lives for ourselves.
17
C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce, McMillan Publishing, 1946, pp. 72-73.
28 WeekThreeSelfStudy
3
Works vs. Grace
Salvation: Works v. Grace
I believe a person comes into a right relationship with God by God’s grace,
through faith in Jesus Christ.
Verse of the Week: Ephesians 2:8-9
God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a
gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can
boast about it—
Brennan Manning is a prolific Christian author who writes often and passionately about grace.
In his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Manning writes:
“Justification by grace through faith is the theologian’s learned phrase for what Chesterton once
called “the furious love of God.” He is not moody or capricious; he knows no seasons of change.
He has a single relentless stance toward us: he loves us. He is the only God humanity has ever
heard of who loves sinners. False gods - the gods of human manufacturing - despise sinners, but
the Father of Jesus loves all, no matter what they do. But of course this is almost too incredible
for us to accept. Nevertheless, the central affirmation of the Reformation stands: through no
merit of ours, but by his mercy, we have been restored to a right relationship with God through
the life, death and resurrection of his beloved Son. This is the Good News, the gospel of
grace.”18
This might be a hard week for some. We as Americans take pride in the fact that we are
individuals who go our own way and pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Grace throws a
huge wrench into that way of thinking. Grace says - there is nothing, nothing, nothing you can
do to earn your way onto God’s good side. You can’t pay enough, be good enough or succeed
enough. Neither can you be bad enough or go far enough away from God that God doesn’t offer
you the same thing. Eternal life is a gift that you just don’t deserve.
18
Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Multmonah Books, p. 18.
WeekThreeSelfStudy 29
This week, Passages will ask questions such as, what is grace? What does it mean to receive
salvation through grace? What part, if any, do our actions (our works) play in our salvation?
13
even though I used to scoff at the name of Christ. I hunted down his people, harming them in
every way I could. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14Oh,
how kind and gracious the Lord was! He filled me completely with faith and the love of Christ
Jesus. - 1 Timothy 1:13-14
Day One: Works
God is eternal and perfect (week one). We were created for eternity and God wants us to be with
God forever (week two). But how do we get to eternity? What can we do to achieve this eternal
existence with God?
If God is perfect, then can God be with imperfect people? God, who is holy, or pure, cannot be
in the presence of unholy people. Sin is a barrier to being with God in God’s presence. So if
there are sinless people, then they could be in God’s presence, right?
Read Romans 3:23
˜ According to Paul, who qualifies as a person good enough to be in God’s presence?
How about if we try being better people - then would we qualify? If we tried harder to follow
God’s commandments? The Bible refers to things that we do which are good, as works—our
actions that are intended to help other people or are good and noble activities. Maybe if we tried
harder to do good works, we could qualify for eternity?
Read Romans 3:10-20
˜ What do you learn about humanity through this passage?
˜ What can you do to become holy enough to enter God’s presence?
Read Matthew 19:16-22
˜ What does this passage tell you about following all the rules?
Read Matthew 7:21-23
˜ What does Jesus say about “religious” people who did good things in the church?
30 WeekThreeSelfStudy
Reflect on what you have read - what does that say about good people? Mother Teresa. Gandhi.
Martin Luther King Jr. These were good people trying to do good things. If they were trying to
earn their holiness by being or doing good, the passages we read say they still wouldn’t cut it.
How does that confirm or contradict what you believe about people? About yourself?
WeekThreeSelfStudy 31
Day Two: Grace
So if we do not deserve eternity because of our sin, and if we cannot work our way into eternity
by being a good person, what hope do we have?
Read Ephesians 2:8-10
˜ What does Paul say is the only way to be saved?
The New Living Translation says, “God saved you by His special favor.” Other translations
refer to God’s saving grace. Just what is grace?
To be a gracious person is a high compliment, isn’t it? Cynthia Heald says grace, “is a lovely
word and a prized attribute, manifesting itself in steadfast kindness and benevolence.”19
Grace means, “pure unrecompensed kindness and favor.”20 To show grace is to extend favor or
kindness to one who doesn’t deserve it and can never earn it.
Read Psalm 103:1-14
˜ Summarize David’s characterizations of God’s graciousness to himself and others.
Read Isaiah 30:8-19
˜ Describe God’s response to Judah’s rebellion.
God longs to give us eternal life. There is nothing we can do to earn it—it is an undeserved gift
that can never be repaid. But, God is still a perfect and holy God who cannot be with the
imperfect and unholy. If God wants us to be with God, but we cannot be with God without
losing the stain of our sin, what needs to happen?
19
20
Cynthia Heald, Becoming a Woman of Grace, Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1998, p. vii.
Lewis Sperry Chafer, Grace, Zondervan Publishing, p. 4.
32 WeekThreeSelfStudy
Jesus - The Sacrifice for Our Sins
In the Old Testament, God promised God’s love and presence to God’s chosen people, the
people of Israel. In order for them to be clean enough to be in God’s presence, God gave them a
set of laws to follow. If they could not follow the laws, if they became “unclean” because of
their sin, then they needed to offer a sacrifice to God in their place. The sacrifice was a young
lamb without any blemishes or flaws.
In order to wipe away our sins permanently, God the Father, sent God the Son to earth in order to
be a perfect human sacrifice in our place. We believe that Jesus was completely human and
completely God at the same time. That meant that He lived a perfect, sinless life. Because the
world feared Jesus’ power, they killed Him by hanging Him on a cross. At that moment, all the
sins of the world were on His shoulders. The perfect Lamb took our place on the sacrificial altar,
so that we could have eternal life with God.
Read John 3:16
˜ What is the free gift offered to us?
Read Hebrews 9:11-22
˜ What has the death of Jesus accomplished? How are we made holy so that we can be in the
presence of God?
Jesus was killed on a Friday afternoon. On Sunday morning, He arose from the dead! God
demonstrated God’s power over death by raising Jesus back to life! Now we have opportunity to
live with God forever because of the sacrifice Jesus made and His victory over death.
Read the following by Chuck Swindoll “In order for anyone to stand securely and be at peace before a holy and just God, that person
must be righteous. Hence, our need for justification: the sovereign act of God whereby He
declares righteous the believing sinner while still in his sinning state…. To be justified does not
mean “just as if I’d never sinned.”…. That weakens the full impact. Justification really means
this—even though I still sin periodically and have found myself unable to stop sinning on a
permanent basis, God declared me righteous when I believed. And because I will continue to sin
from time to time, I find all the more reason to be grateful for grace. As a sinner I deserve
vengeance. As a sinner I’m afraid of justice. And so, as a sinner, my only hope for survival is
grace. In its purest form, it makes no earthly sense!”21
Reflect on Swindoll’s words
˜ What do you think about Jesus’ sacrifice for you?
21
Chuck Swindoll, The Grace Awakening, Word Publishing, 1990, p. 42.
WeekThreeSelfStudy 33
˜ Why does grace make no earthly sense?
Day Three: Grace
Author Philip Yancey says this about grace “Grace makes its appearance in so many forms that I have trouble defining it. I am ready,
though, to attempt something like a definition of grace in relation to God. Grace means there is
nothing we can do to make God love us more - no amount of spiritual calisthenics and
renunciations, no amount of knowledge gained from seminaries and divinity schools, no amount
of crusading on behalf of righteous causes. And grace means there is nothing we can do to
make God love us less - no amount of racism or pride or pornography or adultery or even
murder. Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God can possibly love.”22
We’ve talked about trying to be good enough to earn God’s favor, but what about the opposite?
Is there anything so bad that God wouldn’t want us?
Reflect on Yancey’s definition of grace
˜ How does that fit with your understanding of justice?
In the first week of homework, we read from Psalm 139. David talked about not being able to
hide from God - by going so high or so low, in light places or in extreme darkness. Since all
have sinned and all have transgressed God’s perfect holiness, then no sinner is worse or better
than another. God’s grace is sufficient to cover it all.
Read Luke 7:36-50
˜ Compare the woman and the Pharisee. What assumptions did the Pharisee make about the
woman? What does Jesus tell the woman who was a sinner?
Read Luke 23:33-43
˜ What does Jesus tell the criminal on the cross next to Him?
22
Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace?, Harper Collins, 1997, p. 62.
34 WeekThreeSelfStudy
˜ Reflect on what you have read. What does one have to do to receive God’s forgiveness and
free gift of life?
˜ If you have not yet accepted God’s forgiveness and free gift of life, what is stopping you?
God wants nothing more than to be with you. God longs for you to accept God’s gift of love and
forgiveness; all you have to do is ask for it. If you have not yet accepted this gift, and you would
like to, spend some time talking with God. You might say something like this—
“God, I know that I cannot be good enough to earn your love, and I cannot be so bad that you
would love me less. I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness and love to heal me. Come into
my heart, Lord Jesus, and cleanse me. Make me a new creation and bring me into a right
relationship with You. Thank you, Lord, that you loved me so much that you paid the price for
my sin. Forgive me. Bring me into Your presence. Amen.”
Read 2nd Corinthians 5:17
˜ What does Paul say about those who have become Christians? What has happened?
Whether you have accepted Jesus into your life for the first time, you have recommitted yourself
to Him, or you are a life-long Christ-follower, you are a new creation. The old sinful self has
passed away. You have been made new!
c What does it mean for you to be a new creation?
c What does it mean for you that the old is gone?
“God rejoices. Not because the problems of the world have been solved, not because all human
pain and suffering have come to an end, nor because thousands of people have been converted
and are now praising him for his goodness. No, God rejoices because one of his children who
was lost has been found.”23
“We have all of us been told that grace is to be found in the universe. But in our human
foolishness and shortsightedness we imagine divine grace to be finite….But the moment comes
when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends,
demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in
gratitude.”24
23
24
Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Doubleday Publishing, 1994, p. 14.
Isak Dinesen, Anecdotes of Destiny and Ehrengard, Random House, 1993.
WeekThreeGroupSession 35
3
Group Session
Ø Beginning - Fellowship Time
Ø Prayer - Giving time to God
Ø Group Building Activity - helps people make connections with each other. Helps with
names, important life moments, current life status, and dreams for the future.
v My favorite childhood memory is________________________________
Review What You’ve Learned
˜ What is a disciple? (pg. 6)
˜ What were we created for? (pg. 24)
Grace
This week we have focused on grace. Grace means, “unmerited favor.” It is something we do
not deserve and can never earn, but God gives it freely to us.
c From your homework this week, what have you learned about grace? What preconceived
notions about grace and works came into question due to what you learned this week? What
changes have you had to make in your understanding?
So if we are eternal creatures striving for an eternal existence, how do we get there? The answer
is Jesus Christ—God the Son.
Grace and Works
What role do our works play then? Why, if grace is all we need, do we have to do anything
good? It is all about the attitude and motivation behind what we do.
Read the following vignette—
A man in his mid-forties suddenly collapses with chest pains. His heart feels like it will explode
in his chest. He is rushed to the hospital where the surgeons decide that immediate surgery is
needed to save his heart and his life.
He is prepped for surgery and as he drifts into
unconsciousness, he is placed on a respirator.
36 WeekThreeGroupSession
The respirator is designed to breathe for him while he rests. It is a machine that allows his body
to recover while he sleeps. When he awakes from the coma, he has two options. He can fight
against the respirator and try to breathe on his own, which will cause him trouble and extreme
pain, or he can change his way of thinking and continue to rest until the doctors think he has
recovered enough to breathe on his own.
Read Matthew 11:28-30
˜ What does Jesus tell us to do with our burdens?
˜ How is the load Jesus gives us compared to the load we carry ourselves?
˜ With this verse in mind, compare Jesus to the respirator in the above vignette.
Jesus is like a Holy Respirator - He wants to live through us, if we are willing to change our
thinking and allow Him to do the work.
Read Ephesians 2:1-10
˜ What words does Paul use to describe the human condition? Beginning at verse 4, what
happens that is so incredible?
˜ According to this passage, what role have we played in our own salvation, and what claims
do we have on achieving that salvation? What has God done to take away our ability to
claim responsibility for our own salvation?
˜ What role do works play in the life of the person who has been saved?
˜ How do these passages speak to your worth and importance to God?
It is through God’s undeserved and unmerited favor that we are saved. It has nothing to do with
what we can do. When Jesus saved us, we were given a new life—a life that was created by
Jesus Christ to serve Jesus Christ.
Read Romans 8:9-11 and Matthew 25:35-40
˜ How do you know if you belong to Christ?
˜ What happens when we serve? Who are we taking care of?
When we are believers in Jesus because of the free gift of Grace, something incredible
happens—
v Jesus lives in us. We cease to live and it is Christ living in us that makes us who we are.
v When we allow Jesus to live in us, when we serve others, we are really serving Him!
Our motivation for serving others, for doing good works, is not to earn points with God, but it is
to allow Jesus to live in us and work through us. Then we are given the unique opportunity to
actually serve Him by serving others!
WeekThreeGroupSession 37
Key Things to Remember—
Grace is a free, unmerited and undeserved gift from God.
Serving others comes out of a desire to allow God total control of our lives
and the privilege of serving God by serving others.
Ø People and Things to Pray About This Week
38 WeekFourSelfStudy
4
Prayer, Worship, Study
Pray specifically for God to bring a renewed understanding of grace in your life. Pray that God
would change your way of thinking about serving others from one of earning God’s favor, to one
of allowing God to work through you.
Prayer
I connect with God and seek God’s will for my life by talking with and listening to God daily.
Individually and with others, I pray with words, silence, and actions.
Verse 1 of the Week: Psalm 66:19-20
But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer
and did not withdraw his unfailing love from me.
Worship
Both corporately and individually, I praise God by remembering how God has rescued,
redeemed, and restored me. I respond to Him through singing, praying, giving, hearing God’s
Word, and living out God’s call in my life.
Verse 2 of the Week: Psalm 95:1-3
Come let us sing to the LORD! Let us give a joyous shout to the rock of our salvation! Let us
come before Him with thanksgiving. Let us sing Him psalms of praise. For the LORD is a great
God, the great King above all gods.
Bible Study
I believe I am significant because of my position as a child of God. I read the Bible to know
God, the Truth, and to find His direction for my daily life.
Verses 3 & 4 of the Week: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Hebrews 4:12
WeekFourSelfStudy 39
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what
is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God's way of
preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.
For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into
our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.
This week signals a shift in Passages from our basic beliefs to basic practices. You may find
that this portion of the study is more practical and experiential. Try to give yourself room to
experiment and experience in ways you might not have considered in the past. This week, strive
to become naïve. Lose every preconceived notion of prayer, worship, and study. Allow God to
write on your heart what God wants you to know. It won’t be a how-to list, but an intimate
conversation on prayer, worship, and study and why these practices are important to your
relationship with God.
True, whole prayer is nothing but love.25
To worship is to experience Reality, to touch Life. It is to know, to feel, to experience the
resurrected Christ in the midst of the gathered community. It is a breaking into the shekinah of
God, or better yet, being invaded by the shekinah* of God.26
Such reading of the Bible applied with an honest heart transforms the nature, enables the
prostitute to love holiness and become an angel of mercy, and raises the beggar and the drunkard
to set them among the princes of the earth.27
25
St. Augustine.
Shekinah means the glory or the radiance of God dwelling in the midst of God’s people. It denotes the immediate
presence of God as opposed to a God who is abstract or aloof.
26
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, Revised Edition, Harper Collins
Publishing, 1988, p. 158.
27
Dr. Howard Atwood Kelly quoted in E. Stanley Jones, Conversion, Abingdon Press, 1959.
*
40 WeekFourSelfStudy
Day One: Prayer
We have been talking about what it means to be a Christian. We are loved and pursued by a God
Who wants nothing more than to be in relationship with us, God’s creation. God doesn’t want it
to be just any relationship, but a deep and intimate relationship. That intimacy and depth come
through prayer.
“Prayer,” says Richard Foster, “catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the
spiritual disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion
with the Father.”28 Greg Ogden says prayer is, “Transparent dialogue. It is a conversation
with God in which we address Him and in quiet, are addressed by Him.”29
c What are your greatest difficulties in praying?
c Have you ever sensed an inner yes for a particular concern or request? Maybe a presence of
some kind? If so, what effect did it have on your prayer and praying?
c How have you experienced any disappointment with God that causes tension in the way you
pray or hinders you from trusting God to answer your prayers?
Read Jeremiah 29:12-13*
˜ What does God promise to do when we pray?
˜ What will happen if we search for God?
Read Matthew 6:1-13
˜ The Lord’s Prayer is set in Matthew 6, where Jesus contrasts true and false ways of showing
devotion to God. How is the Lord’s Prayer an expression of true love for God?
˜ Why does Jesus start with honoring the name of the Father?
28
Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Harper Collins Publishing, 1992, p. 33.
Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ, Intervarsity Press, 1998, p. 46.
*
Jeremiah was a prophet of God sent to warn God’s people about their wickedness. It was written twenty years
prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
29
WeekFourSelfStudy 41
˜ In verse 9, Jesus says, “pray like this” implying that this is a model of prayer. If you were to
outline the different stages of the Lord’s Prayer, in your own words, what would it look like?
Prayer is about developing your relationship with God. It is intimate communication. Prayer is
transparent dialogue with God. It is how we cultivate and grow our relationship with God. We
pray not only to share our hearts with God, but also to know God’s heart.
So what should we talk about with God? How do we begin talking with the Creator of the
Universe? In any conversation, there are topics of discussion. There are four types of prayer
that are summarized in the acronym A.C.T.S. - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving,
Supplication.
Adoration
“Adoration is the spontaneous yearning of the heart to worship, honor, magnify and bless God….
in adoration we enter the rarefied air of selfless devotion. We ask for nothing but to cherish
Him. We seek nothing but His exaltation. We focus on nothing but His goodness. In the prayer
of adoration we love God for Himself, for His very being, for His radiant joy.”30
Adoration is praise - giving glory to God for who God is in Himself. This is different from
thanksgiving where we give glory to God for what God has done for us.
Read Hebrews 13:15 and Revelation 5:11
˜ How can we continually offer a sacrifice of praise? What does it mean to proclaim the glory
of God’s name?
Adoration must be learned. Richard Foster suggests that we begin with the simple, small
things—listening to the wind through the trees or the laughter of children playing at the park.
Observe the flowers in an arrangement or the movement of the river’s current. Be an observer
instead of an analyzer—use all your senses.
Foster says that through this experience, we move from awe and inspiration from the thing
observed to awe and inspiration for the One who created.
c What sights, sounds and smells can bring you into an experience of adoration for God?
Confession
Greg Ogden writes, “When we fill our hearts with the glory of God and pray as Jesus taught us,
‘Hallowed be your name,’ the natural movement of our hearts is to see the darkness of our lives
in light of His radiance.”31
In Greek, the word confess (homologein) means to “acknowledge sin and guilt in the light of
God’s revelation.”32 To confess our sins is to see ourselves as God sees us. “By making
30
Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, Harper Collins, 1992, p. 81.
Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials: A Guide to Building Your Life in Christ, Intervarsity Press, 1998, p. 50.
32
The New Bible Dictionary, Intervarsity Press, 1996, p. 225.
31
42 WeekFourSelfStudy
confession a regular part of our conversation with the Lord, we are giving Him permission to
show us our lives through His eyes.”33
c What comes to mind when you think of confession?
Read Psalm 51:1-4
˜ What is the progression of David’s confession before the Lord?
˜ Using David’s prayer as an example, write your own prayer of confession to the Lord. You
may want to write it on a separate sheet of paper or in a journal to keep it private. Then read
Psalm 103:12 and receive God’s forgiveness!
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving naturally follows confession. It is where we give thanks and praise to God for
what God has done in our lives.
Read Jeremiah 20:13
˜ What is Jeremiah giving thanks to God for?
Think back on your week. What are five things that you can give thanks to God for? Write them
in the space below.
Supplication
Supplication means to, “ask with intensity, earnestness and perseverance, to ask and keep on
asking.”34 Why does God answer prayers? Because, like any good parent, God delights in
giving to God’s children. God has always wanted to provide for us out of God’s love for us.
There are two parts to supplication—petition and intercession. Prayers of petition are prayers on
behalf of ourselves. Prayers of intercession are prayers we ask on behalf of others. In
relationship with God, we invite God to act, out of a dependence on God.
Read Matthew 7:7-11. The Greek words for asking, seeking and knocking imply a continuous
process. It is not just a one-time thing, but an ongoing action. It also implies that if we ask, seek
and knock, then God will act. God wants and longs for us to ask God so that God can act. “The
encouragement to bring human needs to God in prayer is not to inform or to persuade, but is an
expression of the disciples’ relation to God as dependent children who ultimately are not in
control of their own lives.”35
˜ With this in mind, rewrite Matthew 7:7-8 in your own words.
33
Ogden, p. 50.
Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials, Intervarsity Press, 1998, p. 51.
35
The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary Volume VIII: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Abingdon Press,
1995, p. 213.
34
WeekFourSelfStudy 43
In Palestine, the traditional wafer of bread looks very much like small round stones, and the eellike fish that was common for food, looked very much like a snake. Jesus is saying that if we
who are sinful would not play such a cruel joke on our own children, then how much more will
our heavenly Father take care of our needs?
Reread Matthew 7:7-11
˜ How do you feel about your worth to God after reading these verses? What have you
learned about how much God wants us to ask, seek and knock so that God can meet our
needs?
Read Exodus 17:8-13*
˜ What did Moses have to do in order for the people of Israel to defeat the Amalekites?
˜ What does this passage imply about the importance of intercession? About the importance of
corporate (more than one person) intercession? About the ability of humanity to engage in
activity without intercession?
Prayer Exercises—Choose one of the following ideas to enhance your prayer life.
1. Begin your time of intercession by writing down the name of the person you are praying for.
As you enter into intercessory prayer for that person, use your imagination to picture how
that person or situation should be. Write down what you see and keep that picture in your
mind’s eye as you pray continuously for them today.
2. Brother Lawrence was a French Carmelite monk in the 1600’s. During his years as the cook
and cobbler of the monastery, Brother Lawrence tried to live every moment in the presence
of God. In his everyday menial tasks, Brother Lawrence entered into the presence of God by
keeping certain thoughts at the forefront of his mind. “Sometimes I think of myself as a
stone before a carver about to make a statue…. My God, here I am, totally devoted to You.
Lord, shape me after the pattern of Yourself.”36 Begin your day by imagining yourself as the
stone before the carver. Write Brother Lawrence’s prayer on a 3x5 card and carry it with you
all day. Remember to pray this prayer before you begin any task no matter how large or
small.
*
Exodus takes its name from one of the greatest miracles God performed out of love and devotion to God’s
people—when He led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. It contains the story of Moses and how he heard
and responded to the call of God.
36
Ibid. pp. 55, 65
44 WeekFourSelfStudy
WeekFourSelfStudy 45
Day Two: Worship
For our
discussion on worship, two things are important to note from our previous studies - God is a
Holy God and God saved us through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus so that we could also be holy
as we come before God. As a people saved from death to eternal life, all we have to offer is our
worship.
What is worship?
The word worship comes from the Old English roots weorth, meaning, “honor” and
“worthiness,” and scipe, signifying “to create.”37 We don’t create God’s worthiness - He is
already worthy because of who He is. What we do in worship is find ways that honor God and
speak of His worthiness.
William Temple writes that worship “is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to
feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open
the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.”38
c Pick two of the statements in Temple’s definition of worship. Using your own words,
describe what they mean to you.
c Based on these two definitions of worship, come up with your own definition and write it in
the space below. Worship is—
God took the initiative through Jesus to make us holy. It is through God’s actions that we can
even begin to enter into true worship. “Until God touches and frees our spirit we cannot enter
this realm.”39
What has been your experience of worship in the past? How have you thought of worship and
the role you play? Knowing that worship comes from God “touching and freeing” us, and that it
is all about what He has done for us, how have your ideas of worship been challenged?
Read 2 Samuel 6:12-23*. The Ark of the Covenant was the sacred, moveable throne of God,
built by Moses as the people of Israel made their Exodus from slavery in Egypt to their new life
as the People of God. It contained very sacred objects such as the stone tablets that carried the
37
Marva J. Dawn, Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down: A Theology of Worship for the Turn-of-the-Century
Culture, Eerdmans, 1995, p. 76.
38
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 158.
39
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p. 158.
*
1 and 2 Samuel were written by the last of the Judges, Samuel. The Judges were Israel’s heroes, good and bad,
who ruled during the period between Joshua and the kings of Israel. In his second book, Samuel recounts the fortyyear reign of David.
46 WeekFourSelfStudy
words of the Ten Commandments.** It had been captured by enemies and, for the first time, was
being brought back to Jerusalem.
˜ What does David do to worship as the Ark is brought into the city?
˜ Describe the scene as they brought the Ark into the city. What was visually and audibly
going on?
David was overwhelmed with worship. He was completely “lost” in worship. Worship leader
and songwriter, Matt Redmon says about David,
“He wasn’t just one of the crowd at this event, he was the king. Here was a man of great stature,
with a public image to protect, a man trusted with more power, authority and wealth than we
could ever imagine. Yet he led the way, ‘losing’ himself so publicly in his worship of God and
so on fire with praise that it burned right through any inhibitions or pride. True worship always
forgets itself.”40
How should we worship? Is there a right way or a wrong way to worship? This is the subject
that has caused strife and disruption within the church since the beginning. The mode of worship
is not as important as the attitude and intention behind the worship.
What is important in worship is what and how we give to God as well as receive from Him. Jack
Hayford outlines four things that worship must do.41
1. True worship treasures God’s Presence. Read Exodus 33:7-15. When we come to God
with a willing and open heart, God welcomes us into His presence.
˜ How would you describe the relationship between Moses and God?
˜ What is the promise God makes to Moses and the People of Israel?
God wants us to yearn for Him. In our study, Group Session One: God the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit (pg. 17), we talked of prevenient grace—God wooing Himself to us. When we
enter worship with a hunger and thirst for the Living God, He honors our longings with His
presence.
2. True worship humbles the heart. In our study of prayer, we talked about how adoration
leads to confession. The same is true of worship: worship leads to confession. Read Isaiah
6:5. Isaiah’s confession, “was not an achievement of intellectual analysis, but of self**
Moses was the author of the first five books of the Old Testament (The Pentateuch). These books contain the
story of the Hebrew people as they moved from slavery to freedom. The Ark of the Covenant is explained in
Exodus 25:10-22 and 37:1-9.
40
Matt Redmon, The Unquenchable Worship: Coming Back to the Heart of Worship, Regal Books, 2001, p. 42.
41
Jack Hayford, “How God Evaluates Worship—Putting Good Theology into Congregational Practice Involves
More than Just the Mind”, Leadership Journal, Spring 1999, Volume 20, Number 2, p. 29.
WeekFourSelfStudy 47
discovery made upon entering God’s presence…. It was a breakthrough of grace that
produced a break up of pride.”42 True worship involves a loss of self - there is no room for
pride.
Read Psalm 51:17
˜ What is it that God wants?
˜ What specifically do you need to give to God before you can truly worship Him?
3. True worship sacrifices and then expects something from God.
Read Hebrews 11:6
˜ What must we sincerely do for God to reward us?
Hayford says, “worship always brings a sacrifice to God, that ‘he that comes,’ whether with
praise, an offering, or by ‘laying down’ something instructed by the Holy Spirit, is presenting
something of himself to God. Simultaneously, we are told that the worshiper is to believe
something will be given in return by God Himself—something rewarding, benevolent and
good.”43
Read Malachi 3:10
˜ What must we do for God to reward us? How much does God want to bless us in return?
˜ Knowing that God wants to bless us more than we can imagine, what gets in the way of
you giving your all to Him?
4. True worship extends God’s love.
Read Matthew 22:37-39.
˜ What is the greatest commandment?
˜ What is the second commandment?
At the same time we are instructed to reach up with our worship to God, we are also
instructed to reach out to others as a natural outpouring of our love for God. True worship
spurs us to love others as well. In extending God’s love to others, we are sharing Him with
the rest of humanity.
42
43
Hayford, p. 29.
Hayford, p. 29.
48 WeekFourSelfStudy
Practicing Worship
As with prayer, worship is not something that is just for “Sunday morning” or for “church” but it
is an on-going attitude that we cultivate on a daily basis. Find a quiet place to sit and reflect on
the four things that worship does.
˜ True worship treasures God’s Presence. What are some ways you can cultivate a desire to
be in God’s presence?
˜ True worship humbles the heart. What are things you need to give to God or confess in
your own life so that you can have a humble heart before God?
˜ True worship sacrifices and then expects something from God. What can you give to God
as an act of worship?
˜ True worship extends God’s love. To whom can you show God’s love, as a result of your
worship of Him?
Day Three: Study
What kind of images or experiences does the word “study” conjure up for you? “Cramming” for
a test. “All-nighters” before finals. “Burning the midnight oil” trying to finish that big paper.
These may be your memories of studying. Maybe high school, college or graduate school left a
bad taste in your mouth for studying. But study is so much more than getting a good grade on a
paper or test.
Study takes us below the surface. It drives us deeper so that we can transcend the narrow and
superficial and see more deeply into reality. It is what we pursue to improve our lives in our
relationships and our work.
˜ How has study helped you go deeper and see more clearly in a specific area of your life?
Study also helps transform old habits. Studying helps change patterns of thinking and living—it
makes us aware of what is not working and opens our eyes to how we should live better.
Read Romans 12:2
˜ What does Paul tell us not to do?
˜ How are we to be “transformed?”
WeekFourSelfStudy 49
You’ve heard the expression, “garbage in, garbage out”—what we focus on and digest mentally
will influence what comes out in what we say and do. Paul warns us that by focusing on what
the world has to offer, we will become disciples of it instead of disciples of Jesus.
Read Philippians 4:8
˜ What are we to fix our thoughts upon?
˜ What are we to think about?
Read Psalm 119:1-16
˜ Who is characterized as a “blessed” or “happy” person?
˜ How can a young person stay pure?
˜ How do you respond to this passage from the Psalms?
The Psalmist makes it clear—studying, meditating and remembering the Word of God is the only
way to stay pure and be happy. By being in the Word, our behavior is influenced and our actions
reflect what we’ve been thinking.
“But it is so old. How is any of this relevant for me today?” While the Bible is definitely set in a
different place, point in time, and culture, it is still relevant for where we are today. The Truth
transcends the time—the biblical characters of the Old and New Testament resonate with us
because the underlying stories of their lives—sin, suffering, disappointment, fear, joy, hope,
goodness, love—are the underlying stories of our lives as well. While the settings and ways of
life have changes, how God acts in the world and relates to His people has not.
How do you study the Bible? Here is an overview of study -- Background, Reading,
Observation, Application and Memorization (BROAM). You might use these pages as a
resource to turn to when you are ready to study a portion of scripture.
Before You Begin
It is important to prepare yourself with prayer and silence before beginning to study the Word of
God so that you are receptive to the Truth that is interwoven throughout the words of the Bible.
Choose a passage of Scripture to study. Choose one that is meaningful to you personally or one
that you want to learn more about. If you aren’t sure where to start, perhaps choose one of the
teachings of Jesus from the book of John.
Background
Who wrote the passage, book or letter you are reading? To whom was it written? What were the
circumstances surrounding its writing? Was it written for a specific purpose? A good place to
begin asking these questions is by reading the introduction page in a study Bible.
50 WeekFourSelfStudy
Read
It is important to come to the Scripture with an open mind—try to leave all your preconceived
ideas of what the text says. Try and come to the Scripture with a clean slate and allow the Word
to inscribe itself on your brain.
Begin with an overview
. Skim over the material several times. Try and find the main themes of the passage.
Observation
In observation, we are asking the question, “What does the text say? Look for divisions in the
passage. Try to establish an overall picture of what the scripture passage is saying or addressing.
Ask Six Investigative Questions. Any good reporter asks six specific questions in preparing a
story –Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Ø Who are the main characters in the passage and how are they described? Note any
supernatural, human or non-human characters mentioned.
Ø What is happening? Note verbs, commands, promises, conditions stated or implied, local
customs, flow of conversation.
Ø Where do the events occur? Note geographical locations, distances, sacred places, same
location in other passages of Scripture.
Ø When do the events occur? How long does each event take? Note rulers, ages of characters,
lapse of time, genealogies, culture differences, and seasons.
Ø Why do the events occur? Are there any reasons given for why things happen? Are there
other passages in Scripture where the same thing happens? Special holidays or events?
Seasonal activities?
Ø How do the events occur? Is a ritual explained? A pattern of behavior? An order to things?
Summarize What You Have Learned. Write down the main thrust of the passage. Note any
unanswered questions or unsolved problems. Make a note of questions that require different
resources such as a commentary or Bible dictionary. This helps you bring together the breadth
of what you have learned and help focus your discoveries from the passage.
Application
Once careful observations have been made, the next step is to meditate prayerfully on the text
and make specific, personal applications. These applications can relate to any part of your life—
home, family, work, church, friends, money and so on.
WeekFourSelfStudy 51
Begin by digging deep into your observations.
Ø Definitions—What do key words, phrases and sentences mean? What might their modern
equivalents be? List any surprising terms used, as well as figures of speech—similes,
metaphors, puns, plays on words, hyperbole.
Ø Relationships—look at phrases, words, ideas and characters—are there similar connections
between these things? Do these things begin or close a part of the passage? Why do you
think they might be in the passage?
Ø Implications—what is the full significance of a particular phrase, idea or word? Make sure
not to spiritualize or allegorize phrases, but try and look at them on their face value.
Ø Ask application questions—Is there a promise to claim? Is there a command to obey? Is
there a sin to confess? Is there an example to follow? Is there a behavior to change? Is there
an encouragement to receive? Is there an insight to gain? Is there an issue to pray about? Is
there a reason to worship God?
Memorization
Memorization produces the most far-reaching and long-lasting effects of Bible study. It is
through memorization that we have available at our disposal, the promises, stories, and Truth
that we gleaned from the application process. As our minds are filled with these positive and
enriching thoughts, these verses become helpful when facing difficult situations, temptation, fear
or choices that you need to make.
c How might memorizing a portion of your study help you in times of need?
52 WeekFourSelfStudy
Another Way
There is another way to study Scripture. The ancients called it “Lectio Divina” or “Divine
Reading”. It is - according to Dr. Douglas Hardy of Nazarene Theological Seminary - a way of
reading the Bible that moves the reader of Scripture, “to a deep level of engagement with the text
and with the spirit that enlivens the text.”44 Lectio Divini is, “a time-honored tradition of
listening for God through His Word.”45
Take the same passage of Scripture that you studied above and experience it through the
following lens Ø Silence - Dr. Douglas Hardy says that silence, “affirms that the primary posture of the
believer when approaching the Bible and/or prayer is one of open, receptive listening.”46
Before you open your Bible, take a moment to quiet your mind and your heart. Invite God to
speak to you through God’s Word.
Ø Read the passage - Read without any preconceived notions of what you may have read or
heard about the passage in the past. Read with a fresh set of eyes. You might consider
reading the text out loud.
Ø Meditate - Imagine yourself in the scene. Smell the smells, see the sights, and hear the
people. You might connect with a word or a person in the narrative. Think about the meaning
of that word or that person to you. Where do you connect with it? What does it mean to you
in you?
Ø Pray - Ask God to open your heart to what God has to teach you in this passage. Invite God
to address your will and—instead of you dissecting the Scripture—give God permission to
dissect whatever God needs to in your heart and soul.
Ø Contemplate - Allow God’s Word to convict, lead you to repentance, and heal. Dr. Timothy
Green says contemplation is a time of “yielding oneself to God’s will.”47
Ø Compassion - This is where we act on what God has shown us through God’s Word. “This
is the ultimate test of our engagement with the Bible as God’s Word: do we live it in ways
that are visible to those around us, especially those with whom we live and work. Whatever
insight, feeling, or commitment emerges from our time with Scripture is to be shared as grace
for others.48 Reading Scripture devotionally leads us to action. Where has the Spirit shown
you where to take what you have learned and live it in your life?
Take a moment and compare the two study experiences. What did you learn? Where did you
hear from God? Where can you make room in your life for both these types of study?
44
Dr. Douglas S. Hardy, Lectio Divina: A Practice for Reconnecting to God’s Word, Preacher’s Magazine: A
Preaching Resource in the Wesleyan Tradition, 83:1 (Lent/Easter 2009). Pg. 38-41
45
Dr. Timothy M. Green, Listening for God Through Philippians: Lectio Divina Bible Studies, Wesleyan
Publishing House, 2005. Pg. 3
46
Hardy, Lectio Divina. Pg. 38
47
Green, Listening for God Through Philippians. Pg. 4
48
Harvey, Lectio Divina. Pg.40
WeekFourGroupSession 53
4
Group Session
Ø Beginning - Fellowship Time
Ø Prayer - Giving time to God
Ø Group Activity v While growing up I saw God as________
v One thing I have learned about myself in the past year is________
Review What You’ve Learned
˜ What is our role in our salvation?
Prayer, Worship and Study
From your homework, what have you learned about prayer, worship and study?
Richard Foster says,
“We need not be overly concerned with the question of a correct form for worship. The issue of
high liturgy or low liturgy, this form or that form is peripheral rather than central. We are
encouraged in this perception when we realize that nowhere does the New Testament prescribe a
particular form for worship…. We are free in Christ to use whatever forms will enhance our
worship, and if any form hinders us from experiencing the living Christ---too bad for the
form.”49
Reflect on what Foster says
˜ Does that shed light on the importance of one worship style over another worship style?
Explain your thinking.
˜ What about these practices were reaffirmed, you had to relearn, or needed thrown out
completely?
49
Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, Harper Collins, 1988, p. 159.
54 WeekFourGroupSession
c Which prayer or worship exercises did you do? Did you apply any study techniques
(BROAM) to a particular passage of scripture? Explain your experience with any of these
three exercises.
Finding Time to Pray, Worship and Study the Word
“I am so busy; I don’t have time to breathe!” We are so stretched with commitments to family,
work, school, and even things at church that our spiritual lives suffer. Gordon MacDonald,
author of Ordering Your Private World, says that we can sustain life without having a structured
and ordered inner world, but someday it will all come crashing down on us.
“[Our inner world] never screams out immediately when ignored. I could neglect my spiritual
disciplines, and God did not seem to shout loudly about it. I could make it just fine for a
while…. These things could be ignored for a while without adverse consequences. And that is
why they were so often crowded out when I did not budget for them in advance. Other less
important issues had a way of wedging them aside week after week. Tragically, if they are
neglected too long, when family, rest, and spiritual disciplines are finally noticed it is often too
late for adverse consequences to be avoided.”50
Read Psalm 1:1-6
˜ What are characteristics of a well-planted tree? Why is location so important?
˜ What do we have to do to be like the well-planted tree?
“A key ingredient in authentic Christianity (a healthy inner-world; a well-planted life) is time.
Not leftover time, not throwaway time, but quality time; unhurried, uninterrupted time.”51 Bill
Hybels compares our lives to motor engines—they are designed to run at a certain RPM
(Rotations Per Minute). If we rev the engine consistently at higher RPM than it was designed
for, we will eventually blow up. What we have to do is learn to reduce the RPM to a manageable
level.
c How does Hybels’ analogy compare to your life?
Reducing RPM
Journal writing—a journal is a place to write down your experiences, observations, and
reflections. It is, “looking behind the events of the day for their hidden meanings; recording
ideas as they come to you.”52 Gordon MacDonald suggests writing in a spiral bound notebook
every day. Begin by limiting yourself to one page a day. Write whatever you want in your
journal—thoughts, reflections, appointments, people you encountered, etc. The purpose of
journal writing is to give us opportunity to examine our lives—where we have come from and
where we are going. Also, “the very act of journaling—sitting down, reaching for the notebook,
focusing our thoughts on our life, writing for five or ten minutes—will reduce our RPMs.”53
50
Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World, Thomas Nelson Publisher, 1986, p. 84.
Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not to Pray, p. 100.
52
Ibid. p. 102.
53
Ibid. p. 103.
51
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Set Goals—A key way to reduce the RPM is to set concise attainable goals in your quiet time.
Commit to ten minutes a day in study—complete the first steps in your study exercise—prayer,
background and read. In a journal, commit to writing down half a page worth of overview or
observations. Continue your journaling throughout the week until you complete all the steps of
study. Do not bite off more than you can chew, but set a goal of two weeks at ten minutes; then
up your time by five.
Key Things to Remember—
Prayer is a cultivation of a relationship through conversation with God. It involves talking and
listening. It can involve adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication.
Worship is offering ourselves as a holy and pleasing sacrifice to God.
Study of the Word of God conforms our inner-world to God’s will and
transforms our outer-world to reflect God’s Image.
56 WeekFiveSelfStudy
5
Biblical Community
Biblical Community
I celebrate my life in Christ by living in intentional community with other Christ-followers and
by inviting others to join us.
Verse of the Week: Acts 2:44-47
And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their
possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple
each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and
generosity - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day
the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.
The Church Jesus inspired was a group of people who lived life together. Through good and
bad, they shared their lives with each other - their financial resources, their food, their joys and
their sorrows. They lived as the Body of Christ - together living in unity waiting expectantly for
the return of Jesus.
What does community mean? Maybe you have images of cults like Jonestown or Waco. Or
maybe cloistered communities, like nuns or monks. Maybe community has more of a civic
sound to it—like belonging to the Rotary, Kiwanis or Neighborhood Watch. Or maybe
community is just your house on your street in your town. Is that all there is to community, or is
there more?
This week we will look at what Biblical community is and how we are to live as that community
in our 21st century world. We will talk about bearing one another’s burdens, hospitality, sharing
meals and working together in service. We will learn how we can live in Biblical community
within our local church body and the larger global church.
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Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the
community. Alone you stood before God when He called you; alone you had to answer that
call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God.
You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone you
are rejecting Christ’s call to you and you can have no part in the community of those who are
called…. But the reverse is also true: let him who is not in community beware of being alone.
Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of
the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on
the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you
scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude
can only be hurtful to you….54
54
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Harper & Row, 1954, pp. 77-78.
58 WeekFiveSelfStudy
Day One: Community
In our first week of Passages, we talked about the relationality of God the Father, God the Son
and God the Holy Spirit. They interact with each other in perfect harmony, like dancers on the
ice (pg.16). God also wants to share that relationship with us—that is why God has gone
through so much to woo us to Himself.
Read Romans 8:14-19
˜ What is our position if we are in relationship with Christ?
˜ What is the difference between children and slaves?
If we are in relationship with God, we are children of God. That makes us brothers and sisters!
˜ What are some characteristics of a healthy family?
˜ What do they do for each other?
A healthy family knows their individual roles, they take care of each other, they teach each other,
and they encourage each other. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to be the same for
each other.
What is a time in your life when you experienced life in a healthy family setting? It may or may
not have been with your biological family. How did your “family” support and care for you, or
how did you support and care for your “family?”
Read Acts 2:41-47
˜ To what did these new Christians devote themselves?
˜ What did their actions reveal about these new believers?
˜ Why did the believers have everything in common?
˜ Why did these Christians sell their possessions for the sake of those in need?
˜ What conclusion can we draw from their practice of meeting together?
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˜ How did the Lord bless their efforts?
The early church was a community dedicated to living out their relationship with God. They
studied together, they worshipped together, they ate together and they took care of each other’s
basic needs.
They serve as a model for how we are to live with each other. Our whole faith is based on
relationship—God with humanity, humanity with God, and humanity with humanity. We reflect
our relationship with God in the way we relate to others.
c How are ways your relationship with a close friend resembles your relationship with God?
60 WeekFiveSelfStudy
Day Two: The Body
Read
Romans 12:3-5
˜ As Christian believers, what is our proper attitude toward ourselves?
˜ What does Paul use to illustrate Christian unity? Why is that a good comparison?
˜ When have you been most grateful for the fellowship of other Christians?
˜ At what point(s) of your life do you feel you have contributed most to the Christian
community?
Read Romans 12:5 again. There is a sense of mutual dependence—no one part is above any
other and there is no one part that is separate from the others. Each part is needed and each part
belongs to the other.
˜ What do you think about belonging? What are the “perks” of belonging? What are the
responsibilities of belonging?
˜ The implication of verse five is that we belong to each other. Is there a difference between
belonging to each other and belonging with each other? How do you feel about belonging to
the Body of Christ?
˜ What do you think about being an indispensable part of the Body of Christ?
˜ What does that say about your importance and worth to God and others?
“For Paul,” writes Greg Ogden, “‘the body of Christ’ is not just a metaphor or a helpful word
picture, but it also points to the reality that Jesus dwells among His people and gives His life to
them.” In other words the church is not a human organization that has contracted by common
consent to keep alive the memory of a great historical figure. On the contrary, the church is a
divine organism mystically fused to the living and reigning Christ, who continues to reveal
Himself in His people.55
The theological word for Christ’s presence on earth as both God and human is “incarnation”—
God with skin on. If we are followers of Christ, if we have accepted His free gift of grace and
He has restored us to relationship with Him, then we are members of the Body of Christ—we are
called to live incarnationally—to be Jesus with skin on to each other and to the world.
55
Greg Ogden, Discipleship Essentials, Intervarsity Press, 1998, p. 178.
WeekFiveSelfStudy 61
Theologian Thomas Oden said,
“Christianity is distinctive as a religious faith in that it understands itself to be living as a
continuing community through the living Christ…. Its uniqueness lies in its particular
relationship with its founder…it is the resurrected presence of the living Lord that continues to
be the sole basis of the present reality of the church. Jesus is not merely the one who founded
the community and left it, but rather the one who is present to the community now and in each
historical period as the vital essence of the church.”56
c What does it mean for you to be “incarnational”—Jesus with skin on?
c How are ways you can be incarnational with your Christian brothers and sisters?
c How are ways you can be incarnational with the people in your family? Your workplace?
The rest of the world?
56
Thomas Oden, Agenda for Theology, Harper & Row, 1979, pp. 117-118.
62 WeekFiveSelfStudy
Day Three: Connect Groups
God likes working through a small group of people.
Read Judges 7:1-7*
˜ How many men did Gideon originally have in his army? How many men did he have before
they attacked the Midianites?
˜ Why do you think God wanted smaller numbers?
Read 2 Samuel 23:8-19
˜ Describe the qualities these three men had that made them such a powerful group.
˜ How did they function as a group?
Read Mathew 10:1, Mark 3:14, Mark 4:11, Luke 8:1 and Luke 9:12
˜ According to the Scripture passages, what did Jesus do with the twelve disciples?
˜ How would you characterize their relationship with Jesus? With each other?
Through small groups, God does two things—God demonstrates God’s power in the face of
insurmountable odds and God pours Himself into the lives of the small group.
1. Demonstrates God’s Power—God wants to make sure that we know God is the one doing
the work through us and it is not our own strength. An army of 32,000 could take credit for
victory, but an army of 300 would take a supernatural intervention for success. A group of
three men would demonstrate God’s approval of David more than a huge army of followers.
And a band of twelve disciples with extreme differences among themselves and no formal
training would be the perfect group of people for God to use in building God’s church.
2. God pours Himself into the lives of a small group of people. The Gospel passages
demonstrate Jesus’ care in choosing, teaching, empowering and preparing His small group
for life and ministry together.
Small groups today provide a way for God to continue demonstrating God’s power and pouring
God into the lives of God’s people.
*
Judges recounts the history of the heroes of the twelve tribes of Israel who rule in the time between the Exodus
from Egypt and the kings of Israel. It begins after the death of Joshua, Moses’ second in command, and ends with
Samuel, the last Judge before Saul is made king of Israel.
WeekFiveSelfStudy 63
Read Hebrews 10:23-25
˜ Each verse contains a directive from Paul, what are they?
˜ How can spurring each other on to love and good deeds and meeting together for
encouragement, demonstrate God’s power and outpouring?
John Wesley was an 18th century preacher who began a revolution in England. It was not a
political revolution like in America, or a bloody and chaotic revolution like in France. Instead
England’s revolution was a quiet and spiritual revolution. Wesley believed that people who came
to saving relationship with Christ would grow in their faith if they met regularly with other
Christians in small groups which he called “classes.” These small groups provided a place for
faith to be hashed out in the lives of the individual members. Through accountability, study,
prayer and service, Wesley’s small groups transformed lives and became a formidable movement
in England and in the United States.
The classes were composed of 10-12 people who met weekly. When they were together, they
asked each other hard questions about how they were living their lives as Christians. “What
known sins have you committed since our last meeting?” “What temptations have you met and
how were you delivered?” “How can we support you in your Christian walk this week?” “What
are you doing to grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus Christ and what are you doing to
share that relationship with others?” The small groups would spur each other on to love and
good deeds and would encourage each other as they tried to live lives that were completely
devoted to God.
c What is your experience with small groups? How have they helped encourage you on your
journey?
c Was there ever a time when your small group kept you accountable in your relationship with
God? How was that helpful or how might it be helpful to you in the future?
c How could small groups help you grow in your relationship with God?
c What would be your reservations about being in a small group that functioned like Wesley’s
class meetings?
Connect Groups at Springdale
Connect groups are an important part of the life of our Springdale Church family. It is how we
connect with God and with each other. It is how we encourage each other, grow in relationship
with each other, help each other in times of need, and minister with each other to the rest of the
world. We feel so strongly about the importance of Connect Groups, that we are committed to
helping you find your place in a group. If you are interested in finding a Connect Group to call
your own, let your Journey Guide know that you are interested. He or she will make sure that
you are helped in finding the group that best fits your needs. Be aware though—involvement in
Connect Groups at Springdale will challenge you to grow deeper in your relationship with God
and others! It will not be a “social club” but rather a group of people who will love you and help
you in your journey as a Christ-follower.
64 WeekFiveGroupSession
5
Group Session
Ø Beginning—Fellowship Time
Ø Prayer—Giving time to God
Ø Group Activity—Share an experience when you felt a true belonging in community.
Review What You’ve Learned
˜ What is worship? (pg. 48)
Biblical Community
This week we have learned about what it means be children of God, what it means to be the
Body of Christ, and how God uses small groups to pour God into and demonstrate God’s power
to the world.
c From your homework, what have you learned about community that was meaningful and
important?
c What about community was reaffirmed, you had to relearn, or needed thrown out
completely?
Community and Forgiveness
In our first week together, we talked about the Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three in
One. We learned that each role of God is different and distinct, but that the three roles are in
perfect relationship with each other. We also learned that God wants nothing more than to share
that relationship with us—that is why God created us! Not only does God want that kind of
relationship with us, God wants us to have that kind of relationship with each other.
c What are things that keep us from having that type of relationship with each other?
Read Luke 15:11-24
WeekFiveGroupSession 65
˜ In asking for his inheritance, the younger son was saying, “I wish you would die now so that
I can have what belongs to you!” How could the father have responded to that request?
˜ How could the father have responded to his young son when he did come back?
˜ How did the father respond to his younger son?
This is the picture Jesus gives us of our heavenly Father. Though we have willfully left God in
rebellion, God longs to run to us, wrap God’s arms around us and call us God’s sons and
daughters once again. Through His death and resurrection on the cross, Jesus made the
restoration of our relationship with Him possible. We celebrate Baptism to symbolize our own
death and resurrection. Through Baptism, we receive His forgiveness and are accepted into a
forgiven and forgiving community.*
c Reflect on the Luke passage and the definition of baptism. What does baptism mean for
you?
What does forgiveness mean?
What is forgiveness anyway? Dr. Toddy Holeman of Asbury Theological seminary defines
forgiveness as “the process of laying aside my entitlement to rage and vengeance for an injustice
committed against me. I choose to view the wrongdoer through the eyes of mercy and grace. I
extend “agape”** love to him/her—unmerited and undeserved good favor. I am motivated to do
this because I have received a greater forgiveness through Jesus Christ.”57
c With this definition in mind, write your own definition for forgiveness.
David Augsburger wrote, “Forgiveness is a moral action in response to memory of an injury. It
is not forgetting, not condoning, not pardoning. All three of these fall short of authentic
forgiving. Forgetting drops the act down the memory hole; condoning accepts it within the
memory collection, while denying its significance. Pardoning recognizes its significance but
cancels the consequences.”58
c Why might a sufferer choose one of these three ways of dealing with the injurious event and
call that forgiveness?
c How do these three ways of dealing with hurt fall short of true forgiveness?
*
If you have not yet been baptized or would like to reaffirm your baptism, please talk with your Passages Guide.
They will make sure that one of our pastors at Springdale Nazarene Church contacts you.
**
“Agape” is one of three Greek words for love. It implies a strong God-sized love that is given to us by our
Creator. It is a sacrificial love, a love only revealed to us through Jesus Christ.
57
Virginia Todd Holeman, “Forgiveness in the Counseling Process” Course, Spring 2000, Asbury Theological
Seminary.
58
David Augsburger, Helping People Forgive, Westminster John Knox Press, 1996, p. 32.
66 WeekFiveGroupSession
c How does today’s discussion relate back to what you have learned about Biblical community
this week?
Key Things to Remember—
Christ-followers are sons and daughters of God. We are a part of the Body of Christ.
We learn how to live like Jesus would live.
People and things to pray about this week:
WeekSixSelfStudy 67
6
Single-Mindedness
Single-Mindedness / Sanctification
I focus on God and God’s priorities for my life.
Verse of the Week: Matthew 6:33
And He [your heavenly Father] will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him
and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
For the last several weeks, we have been learning about God’s relentless pursuit of us. Through
His death on the cross for our sins and His resurrection from the dead, Christ has cleared the way
for us to have a one-on-one personal relationship with God. The Spirit longs to dwell in our
hearts and touch the world through us. God wants us to claim our birthright as sons and
daughters of God. What an awesome God!
We are on this Journey of discipleship for one reason—to be with Jesus, so we can learn from
Jesus, how to be like Jesus. Passages is not just a Sunday morning event—it is a life-long
process of growing into the men and women God wants us to become.
This week, we will look at having the mind of Christ. How do we make our relationship with
God a regular part of our day? Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 to, “Fix your thoughts on what is
true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think
about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” How exactly do we do that? We will look
at the Wesleyan concept of sanctification and we will learn how to have the mind of Christ.
Come to this week expecting to learn how to apply what we have been learning in this segment
of Passages—prayer, worship, study and community. This week, we make it real to our
everyday lives.
68 WeekSixSelfStudy
Year of grace, 1654
Monday 23 November, Feast of St. Clement….
From about half past ten at night to about half an hour after midnight,
FIRE!
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob—
not the philosophers and scholars….
Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace.
God of Jesus Christ….
My God and Your God
Your God shall be my God
The world forgotten, everything except God….
O righteous Father, the world has not known You, But I have known You.
Joy, joy, joy, tears of Joy….
May I never be separated from Him.59
59
Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, scientist and author of Pensees. From a piece of paper found after his death
in August of 1662. It was stitched into the lining of his coat, over his heart. Story taken from Dennis Kinlaw, The
Mind of Christ, Francis Asbury Press, 1998, p. 31.
WeekSixSelfStudy 69
Day One: The Mind of Christ
On an airplane there are many gauges and dials that help the pilot fly the plane properly. One
vital piece of equipment is the “artificial horizon” gauge, which allows the pilot to know where
the plane is in relation to the ground. Once the pilot loses sight of the ground, it is easy to
become disoriented and actually turn upside down. By using the artificial horizon, the pilot can
properly adjust the positioning of the plane so that he or she is flying safely. The pilot has no
internal sensors that tell him or her if he or she is right side up or upside down, but must rely on
the artificial horizon to correct his or her perception.
Similarly, we have no internal gauge that tells us which way we are flying. “Our bodies bear
witness to the fact that we need guidance from outside ourselves,”60 writes Dennis Kinlaw.
Read Jeremiah 10:21-24
˜ What has happened to the “shepherds” of the people? In turn, what has happened to the
“flock”?
˜ Rephrase verse 23-24 and make it personal. What does it mean when Jeremiah says that no
one is able to plan his/her own course?
˜ What is the plea in verse 24?
˜ Compare this passage with what the world says about being responsible for our own destiny
and being self-made men and women.
If we are people who need direction from outside of ourselves, then we need to find the compass
that keeps us on the right path. As Christ-followers, we have asked Him to be the gentle courseadjuster that Jeremiah talked about. He is the internal gauge that steers us in the direction in
which He wants us to follow.
c How is Christ the eternal course adjuster? What are scriptures that you have read in your life
or during Passages, which point to His desire and ability to put you on the right path? What
are examples in your own life in which you have experienced God’s gentle correction?
60
Dennis Kinlaw, The Mind of Christ, Francis Asbury Press, 1998, p. 12.
70 WeekSixSelfStudy
Read Philippians 2:1-11
˜ If verse one were a question, how would you answer it? Be as specific as you can, using
examples from your own life.
˜ If your answer to verse one was yes, then how should we live (v. 2-4)?
˜ Verse five tells us to have the same attitude or mind that Christ has. How would you define
the mind or attitude of Christ?
Read Philippians 4:4-9
˜ Paul gives us a glimpse into what it means to have the mind or attitude of Christ. What are
words or phrases he uses to describe what our attitude should be?
˜ What are words or phrases Paul uses to describe how and what we should focus on?
˜ Take the space below to compare Paul’s instructions on having Christ’s attitude with your
own attitude. This is your personal time for reflection—you will not be asked to share what
you have written with anyone else in your group. If you journal in a separate book, this
might be a good entry for today. After you are finished, do not go any further today. We
will revisit what you have written later in the week.
Prayer of Examen *
Pray that God would open your eyes to your own attitude and behavior.
Examen *
How does my attitude measure up to Christ’s attitude? How am I full of joy? Am I considerate
in all I do? Do I worry? What do I think I need and what do I really need? Am I focusing on
what is honorable and right, pure and lovely? If not, what am I filling my mind with? Try to be
as honest and open as you can. Often a tendency is to focus on the negative; try also to examen
how you are already exhibiting Christ’s attitude.
______________________________
*
“Some small explanation should be given for the use of the rather unfamiliar word examen. It is, of course,
immediately identifiable with the commonly used word examination, and it carries much the same meaning minus
the academic context. Examen comes from the Latin and refers to the tongue, or weight indicator on a balance
scale, hence conveying the idea of an accurate assessment of the true situation.” Richard Foster, Prayer, Harper
Collins, 1992, p. 27.
WeekSixSelfStudy 71
Day Two: Surrender
“We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches. We shall
fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight on the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the
hills. We shall never surrender.”61
c When you hear the word surrender, what images or thoughts come to mind?
Surrender is not considered a noble thing. It is a defeat by a greater force of insurmountable
odds. Our modern day examples of surrender are from World War II when the Japanese
surrendered unconditionally in the wake of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Surrender carries
connotations of disgrace and humiliation.
The Oxford English Dictionary says surrender means to hand over, relinquish, submit and to give
up rights to something. Surrender is different from defeat—defeat implies a lack of choice,
while surrendering is a willful choice that one makes. Surrender is, according to Brennan
Manning, “a moment when the unconscious forces of resistance cease effectively to function.
The Christian now no longer evades the call of the Spirit but accepts it.”62
Surrender is an important part of our relationship with God. Surrendering all that we are
to God is a key component of being a Christ-follower.
c What passages of Scripture that you have read in Passages so far tell us to give up or
surrender to God? What specifically do we have to give up? Write the references in the
space provided.
Read 2nd Kings 5:1-14*
˜ What did Naaman have to surrender in order to be cleansed of his leprosy?
Remember back to what you learned in school about Greek mythology—in order to receive
something great, the Roman and Greek characters had to perform seemingly insurmountable
tasks to acquire the prize. Naaman would have preferred an insurmountable task to merely
taking a bath. He had to surrender his rank, his ethnicity, and most importantly, his pride, in
order to be healed. Not only did God take away Naaman’s leprosy, but God also restored his
skin to a youthful quality. Imagine, a war-hardened general with the scars of his battles - the cuts
and bruises, the calluses and blisters all gone because he surrendered his all to God!
61
Sir Winston Churchill on a speech to the House of Commons concerning the evacuation of Dunkirk and the
possibility of an invasion by Hitler’s Germany. Given on June 4, 1940.
62
Brennan Manning, The Gentle Revolutionaries: Breaking Through to Christian Maturity, Dimension Books,
1970.
* nd
2 Kings continues the story of the great prophets Elijah and Elisha. It also tells the history of the northern
kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah until they were both conquered.
72 WeekSixSelfStudy
Read Mark 10:17-22
˜ What was the man doing right? Was he a bad person? Was he trying his best to live a
certain way?
˜ What did the man have to surrender?
˜ Read verse 21 again. Using your creative imagination, think about how the man’s life could
have been different if he had been willing to surrender to Jesus.
In the Gospels, when someone besides a disciple asked Jesus a question, it was usually for the
purpose of trapping or discrediting what he was saying. The “religious leaders” did not care for
what Jesus was teaching about Himself and about God, so they tried to trick Him into saying
something that would cause the people to turn from Him. When Jesus finished turning their
questions around and discrediting the religious leaders, the Gospels say they went away angry or
plotting other ways to finish Jesus’ ministry.
But the man in Mark 10 is different. He comes as one who is trying to find some real answers.
In contrast to the religious leaders, as he leaves Jesus, he is sad because he is unable to surrender
everything.
Yesterday you spent some time examining your life as it relates to Philippians 4:4-9.
c How was that process for you?
experience?
What made it difficult?
What made it an affirming
c Take the space provided below or write in your journal. Ask yourself, “From this exercise,
what things do I need to surrender to God? What is getting in the way of my relationship
with God? What do I need to surrender control of, or what do I need to ask for the strength
to surrender control of?
c After you have reflected on what you have written, take time to pray. Offer what you can to
God—either the specific thing that you have to surrender, or the strength and desire to
surrender to God all that you need to surrender to God.
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What do I have to Surrender to God?
My Prayer of Surrender
74 WeekSixSelfStudy
Day Three: Spiritual Disciplines
This week, we have discussed what it means to have the Mind of Christ—surrendering our whole
self to God. It is more than accepting Him as our Savior; it is giving Him complete reign over all
that we are and all that we do.
How do we get there? What do we have to do to surrender? When will it “stick”? The last few
weeks we have been studying about prayer, worship, study and biblical community. These are
the central practices of our faith. A more traditional term would be spiritual disciplines.
c What images come to mind when you hear the word discipline?
According to Dallas Willard, a discipline is, “any activity within our power that we engage in to
enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort.”63 Practice is discipline—learning to do
something well through repetition. Practice allows us to break old habits and form new ones in
their place. Spiritual disciplines are cultivated to provide rich soil in which the Holy Spirit can
bear the fruit of transformation in our lives as we repeatedly submit to the Will of God.
“Help us be active and effective in the spiritual realm of our own heart, now spiritually alive by
grace, in relation to God and His kingdom. They are designed to help us withdraw from total
dependence on the merely human or natural (and in that precise sense to mortify the ‘flesh’, kill
it off, let it die) and to depend also on the ultimate reality, which is God and his Kingdom.”64
c In your own words, write a definition of spiritual discipline.
As we go deeper in our practice of prayer, worship, study and biblical community, we grow
closer to having the mind of Christ. This happens through the working of the Holy Spirit who
opens our hearts and minds to a deeper understanding of God.
Read Matthew 14:22-33, Matthew 16:5-12 and Matthew 16:21-26
˜ What are words and phrases that Jesus uses to describe His disciples, especially Peter?
Peter was the type of guy who spoke before he thought about what he was going to say. He was
a rough and tumble fisherman who was ready to live and die for what he believed. He was
headstrong and outspoken. He also had a fragile faith and misplaced priorities. He and the other
disciples were an unlikely group of men who were to take the Good News of who Jesus was to
the world. They had three years of day-to-day living with Jesus, but they were still ruled by their
fears, anxieties, and sin.
63
64
Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, p. 353.
Ibid. p. 353.
WeekSixSelfStudy 75
Read Acts 1:1-8
˜ What happens when the Spirit comes?
As you continue to read the book of Acts, you see an amazing transformation in the lives of the
disciples. No longer are they timid, afraid, or ruled by their own way. But they are bold,
courageous, and preach the Gospel of Christ to everyone they encountered. The change came
through the Holy Spirit. Even with three years of being with Jesus, it took the Holy Spirit to
infiltrate and change their lives.
c In your own mind, connect our discussion about spiritual disciplines with the movement of
the Holy Spirit. Can you have the disciplines without the Spirit? What is the difference?
In week one, we talked about prevenient grace (pg. 17) - the hole in our hearts that yearns for
God to fill. Just as we need God wooing us to Himself, we need God the Holy Spirit working in
our lives to take us deeper in that relationship. Through prayer, worship, study, and biblical
community, the Holy Spirit takes us closer to the heart of God and brings us more and more in
line with the Mind of Christ.
The hard part of the spiritual disciplines is that you never arrive at a point of “having it all
together.” We are constantly learning, growing, and maturing in our relationship with God.
Thomas Merton once said, “We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact
that we will never be anything else but beginners, all our life!”65 The goal is that our thoughts
become thoughts of God and what God wants for our lives. We lose the desire to ask the
question, “How does this benefit/affect me?” And instead we ask the question, “How does God
want to use me? How does this draw me closer to God?”
˜ Reflect on these questions. How hard is it for you to make that switch in focus from selfcentered living to God-centered living? Is it possible to do it on our own? Could it be one of
those things that requires a God-sized presence in our lives? How can you ask God to bring
you to that place of God-centered living? How do prayer, worship, study, and biblical
community all work to bring you to that point?
v Prayer
v Worship
v Study
v Biblical community
65
Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer, Doubleday, 1969, p. 37.
76 WeekSixGroupSession
6
Group Session
Ø Beginning—Fellowship Time
Ø Prayer—Giving time to God
Ø Group Activity—How have you seen God work through a crisis in your life (personal,
traumatic, medical, relational)? How did you know God was working in the situation?
Review What You’ve Learned
˜ What is one thing you remember about forgiveness? (pg. 57)
Single-mindedness
This week we have studied how our beliefs and our practices join to bring us to the point of
single-mindedness—having the mind of Christ.
c Using your own words, define single-mindedness?
c Growing up, what was one area in which you were single-minded?
WeekSixGroupSession 77
Sanctification
Look at the diagrams on page 75. First, consider the circle in the upper left corner. Take a few
minutes and label the “slices” as they represent your life. Feel free to add more divisions or
combine spaces as necessary.
The black circle in the center of the diagram mentioned above represents our carnal nature. How
do you define the “carnal nature?” (Romans 8:5-9)
The middle diagram represents the salvation experience. Do you feel this diagram accurately
depicts the Christian life? How do you relate to this experience? Why is this diagram
incomplete?
How does the bottom diagram depict the Christian life? How is this circle different from the
middle diagram? How does this transformation happen? How do you relate with this
experience?
When we studied grace, we learned about prevenient grace (pg 17) - the grace that God gives us
that woos us to Himself. God also gives us sanctifying grace - the work of the Holy Spirit
perfecting in us our response to the relationship God offers us.
1
2
3
78 WeekSixGroupSession
The circle represents my life. Each segment in the circle
represents an area in my life to which I dedicate time,
resources, and/or relational energy. How would I label
the segments in my circle?
8v5-9
Carnal Nature
Romans
3v23
Carnal Nature
Romans 8v5-9
Romans 3v23
ME
Salvation
Romans 5v8
John 3v16, 17
Romans 10v8-10
Jesus
Sanctification
JESUS
1 Thessalonians 5v23
John 17v17
Romans 12v2
2 Corinthians 3v17-18
WeekSixGroupSession 79
Sanctification and the Holy Spirit
Read Romans 8:12-17
˜ What role does the Holy Spirit play as we become sons and daughters of God?
Once we accept Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and begins to “clean
out” the sin that has built up in our hearts. When we go to the dentist, we hear about “plaque
build-up” and “calculus” or “tartar.” Plaque is a filmy substance that develops on the teeth.
Regular brushing and flossing helps control the plaque, but it takes a skilled hygienist and dentist
to remove the plaque with the proper tools. Calculus or tartar is plaque that has hardened to the
tooth. The more plaque we have, the more calculus deposits form and the more likely cavities or
gum disease will cause you pain, anxiety and expense.
The Holy Spirit comes in to remove the plaque, calculus, and cavities that sin leaves in our lives.
It can be a painful process, but it is a necessary one if we are to develop fully into the men and
women God desires us to be.
Read Romans 8:6
The exercise of Examen this week was a time for you to become very personal with the issues
that separate you from God. You were asked to write down those areas that blocked your
intimacy with God, and then surrender those areas to the Lord.
˜ Without sharing what it was you wrote down or surrendered to God, what was it like going
through that process of Examen?
˜ How does the removal of those barriers by the Holy Spirit bring you to a place of life and
peace?
The Greek words for life means “supernatural life.” Peace means “freedom from anxiety; inner
rest; reconciliation with God.”66
˜ With these definitions in mind, how would you define life and peace in your own life? Is
that something you want?
Sanctification and Righteousness
The process of sanctifying grace returns us to the way God intended us to be in the beginning.
Read Genesis 1:26-31; 2:18-23; 2:25; 3:8
˜ How were we originally intended to be? What was our relationship with each other and with
God originally designed to look like?
66
Friberg’s Greek Lexicon, BibleWorks software version 4.0, 1996.
80 WeekSixGroupSession
Read 1st Corinthians 15:20-23
˜ Through whom did sin enter the world? Through whom did the world receive redemption?
Through Adam and Eve we were created in the image of God. Adam and Eve spoiled that image
by falling into sin. 67 Through the redemptive power of Christ’s death on the cross and
resurrection from the grave, God has made it possible for our image to be restored! Like
Naaman receiving his childlike skin, we have the opportunity to return to the image that God
originally intended His creation to resemble: His own!
c How would you describe the original image of God that we were created to resemble?
Sanctifying Grace Empowers Us for Living
Read John 15:1-17
˜ Explain the role of the vine, the branches, and the fruit produced.
˜ How is this analogous to the way our relationship with God ought to be?
Howard Hendricks writes, “Jesus Christ wants to renew every area of your life [personal, family,
friends, work, play….]. That’s why Christian growth is a process—a dynamic process. Every
day I wake up and realize that there are still areas of my life over which the Lord does not have
control….So I’ve got to come to the Word of God throughout my lifetime. Spiritual growth is a
long-term process. And unless I heed the Word of God, I’ll never arrive at the goal of
Christlikeness.”68
It is hard to be a work in process. Sometimes it would be easier to think and act like we have
arrived at some level of faith and stay there. But we never arrive, but are always journeying
deeper and deeper….
c What is one way you can go deeper this week?
Closing Prayer—“Father, to have my voice, but have You speaking; my steps, but Your Spirit
leading; my heart, but Your love beating—in me, through me, with me. Oh, to be more You, and
less me; to tap Your strength when mine expires, and feel the force of heaven’s fires, raging and
purging wrong desires. O Lord, could Christ become my self-entire? So much Him, so little me,
that in my eyes, it’s Him they see. What’s it like to a servant be? No longer I, but Christ in
me….Amen
Key Things to Remember….
Single-Mindedness is the work of the Holy Spirit transforming our minds to reflect the Mind
of Christ. It is the continual process of handing over ourselves to God’s control through
prayer, study, worship and biblical community.
67
68
See Genesis chapter 3
Howard and William Hendricks, Living By The Book, Moody Press, 1991, p. 297.
WeekSevenSelfStudy 81
7
Self – Sacrifice / Stewardship
Self-Sacrifice / Stewardship
I believe that everything I am or own belongs to God. I give away my life, my faith, my time and my
money to fulfill God’s purposes.
Verses of the week: Romans 12:1 and 1 Timothy 6:17
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and
holy sacrifice - the kind He will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to
ask?
Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be
gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell
them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give generously to
those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they
will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life.
We are moving into the final section of Passages. In the first section, we studied our beliefs as Christfollowers—the theology that drives our faith in God. In the second section, we discovered our
practices—the disciplines we practice so that our relationship with God deepens. In the third and final
section we talk about our actions—our ministry to each other and to the world.
Money is not an easy topic to discuss. Coping with finances is a leading cause of divorce in America—if
a husband and wife have problems dealing with and talking about money, how much more difficulty do
we have talking about money with each other!
This week, we will unpack stewardship - what it is and what we are stewards of. Come with an open
mind and heart to what God may be prompting you to give over to God. Leave the baggage about
discussing stewardship locked away and come with a willingness to give yourself completely over to
God.
There are two seas in Palestine. The Sea of Galilee receives, but does not keep, the Jordan River. The giving and
receiving go on in equal measure. The other sea is shrewder, hoarding its income jealously. It will not be tempted
by a generous impulse. Every drop it receives it greedily keeps. The Sea of Galilee gives and lives. The other sea
69
gives nothing; it is called the Dead Sea.
69
Bruce Barton, (Attributed).
82 WeekSevenSelfStudy
Day One: Stewardship
What is stewardship? It is the work of a steward. A steward is one who is responsible for
managing another’s property. A steward does not own, but takes care of, manages, and
oversees for the person who does own.
c What are some examples of stewards that you can think of?
Read Psalm 50
Pagan religions around Israel thought that their sacrifices were for the purpose of “feeding” a
hungry god. God is addressing people who have the wrong attitude toward giving—they think
that God needs their sacrifice, when in fact, God needs nothing from them.
˜ According to the Psalmist, why doesn’t God need our sacrifices?
˜ If everything in the world belongs to God, what do we have to offer God?
˜ What can we claim as ours?
Read Matthew 6:26 and James 1:17
˜ Who gives us everything we need?
˜ With the above definition in mind and knowing that everything belongs to God and that God
gives to us what we need, what is our role with the resources God has entrusted to us?
˜ Write out your job description as a steward of all that God has entrusted you with.
God is pretty clear about God’s independence from us and our complete dependence on God.
God doesn’t need anything we can give God because all that we have belongs to God. Our job is
to manage - take care of and be responsible for all that God has given to us.
The Deed
To help recognize God’s ownership of all that we have, we will “transfer ownership” of property
that we have to God. A deed is a document where ownership of property is transferred from one
person to another. This deed is not legally binding nor will you be asked to give it to anyone. It
will be used to establish a time when we acknowledge God’s ownership of all we have.
WeekSevenSelfStudy 83
Spend time in prayer. Ask God to reveal to you areas you need to relinquish ownership to Him.
Ask God for the strength to turn over the keys to your possessions to God.
In the deed, reflect on your property—your home, car, job, savings, retirement, television,
stocks, jewelry, collectables, etc. Reflect on those things that you own that you consider yours.
Reflect on the areas for which you have responsibility. Give them over to God in the deed.
Recognize God’s role as owner and your role as steward. At the bottom of the page, sign and
date the deed. If you wish, there is space for your spouse, family, close friends, or fellow
journey members to sign as witnesses to your transaction. If you are married, consider filling out
the deed with your spouse.
The deed is located on the last page of today’s homework. Please complete the deed before
continuing with Day Two.
c Reflect on the work you did with the deed. What was it like returning ownership of your
property to God? How did the process feel emotionally, spiritually, and physically to you?
Other reflections?
84 WeekSevenSelfStudy
The Deed to My Possessions70
This deed, made on the _____ of __________, in the year _____________
From: _________________________________________________________
To:
The Lord________________________________________________
I hereby transfer to the Lord the ownership of the following possessions:
Witnesses who will hold me accountable in the recognition of
the Lord’s ownership: Stewards of the above possessions:
___________________________
____________________________
___________________________
____________________________
___________________________
70
This document is not a binding legal document and cannot be used to transfer property. Concept taken from
Crown Ministries Small Group Financial Study Practical Application Workbook, Crown Ministries Inc., 1995, p.
18.
WeekSevenSelfStudy 85
Day Two: Stewardship
Your attitude toward money is an indicator of your heart toward God. Do you have a constant
search for more, or a peace about what you have? Do you confuse needs with wants, or are you
satisfied with where you are? Do you feel anxious or content? The Oxford English Dictionary
defines contentment as a “satisfied state; tranquil happiness.”71
c Is there contentment in your life toward money and possessions or are you constantly
searching for more?
c Would you like to feel contentment toward your money and possessions? What would that
contentment look like?
Read 1st Timothy 6:6-11
˜ What is great wealth according to Paul?
˜ Who are trapped and fall into temptation?
˜ What is the root of much evil? Where have some who crave great wealth wandered?
Notice Paul’s language in verses 9 and 10. It is not a forgone conclusion that the pursuit of
wealth will plunge you into ruin. But the chances are greater than among those who are content.
˜ Why do you think this is the case? What is it about the pursuit of wealth that brings such
temptation and fallenness?
Read Hebrews 13:5
˜ What reason does the author of Hebrews give for choosing contentment over the love of
money?
Read 2nd Corinthians 12:9
˜ Who and what is sufficient for all our needs?
71
The Pocket Oxford Dictionary of Current English, Oxford University Press, 1996.
86 WeekSevenSelfStudy
Wealth inspires a sense of self-sufficiency. God wants us to be completely dependent on God.
God is sufficient for all our needs. God wants us to trust God for everything we need and not
trust in our income and accumulated wealth.
Is Wealth wrong?
Read Matthew 25:14-29
˜ What did the master do with his three servants before his journey began?
˜ Compare the first two servants with the last servant. What did they each do with what they
were given?
˜ How was the third servant wrong in what he did?
The master entrusted his property to the servants. The New Living Translation says he “gave
them money to invest for him while he was gone.” Slaves in ancient Rome had opportunities to
earn money and buy property. House servants held managerial roles and were often given the
task of running the estate whenever the patron left for a journey. They were expected to work
the estate and manage the financial responsibilities on behalf of the master as if the master
himself were doing the work.
God expects us to work hard and multiply what God has given us—that is the job of a steward—
to manage and be responsible for what God has entrusted to us. The first two servants
understood that they needed to act in the best interest of the master who owned the resources
assigned to them.
When we are being good stewards, we are acting on behalf of God as if God were doing the
work. We ask the question, “How would my God want me to be responsible for the resources
God has entrusted to me?” Keeping that question at the forefront of our minds helps us navigate
the treacherous terrain of temptation that accompanies money.
c What are your earning and spending habits that you need to change in order to reflect a
steward of God’s resources? In what areas do you need to ask, “How would my God want
me to be responsible for the resources God has entrusted to me?”
WeekSevenSelfStudy 87
Day Three: Stewardship
The story is told of a man who was down and out, desperate, and with only two dollars left to his
name. As he sat in church one day, praying, he decided to place his last two dollars in the
offering plate, believing that God would honor his faith and bless him in return.
As it turned out, the man walked out of the church and immediately stumbled onto a business
opportunity that required no initial investment and earned him a fortune within a matter of
months. This same, now very wealthy gentleman, returned to the church where he had made his
faith pledge. Before the sermon, he began to tell the man next to him about how he had sat in
that very spot just months previously, in rags crying out to God, and then how he deposited his
last two dollars in the offering plate. “As a result,” he related, “God made me a millionaire.”
After a moment of reflection the young man sitting next to him responded, “You gave all you
had to your name?” The gentleman proudly replied, “That’s right!” The other man paused again
for a moment and then said in a low voice, “I dare you to do it again!”72
c How do you relate to this story? Is it easier to give to God when you have more or when you
have less?
c What keeps us from giving our wealth to God?
In day one of this week, we learned that all that we have belongs to God and we had opportunity
to turn over “our” wealth and property to God. In day two, we learned the true meaning of a
steward—one who works and manages God’s resources as God would manage God’s resources.
c Talking about wealth and resources can be a very stressful thing. How have you felt about
dealing with this notion of God’s ownership and our stewardship?
Tithing
What is a tithe? A tithe is resources that are set apart for God.
Read Leviticus 27:30, 32-33*
˜ According to Leviticus, what is a tithe?
72
Willow Creek Church, Walking With God Series Leader’s Guide Two, Zondervan Publishing House, 1992, p.
170.
*
Leviticus means, “about the Levites,” or God’s priests. It contains commands for following God. These
commands were given to help the Israelites worship and live as God’s holy people.
88 WeekSevenSelfStudy
˜ What are acceptable tithes to give to God?
God does not leave anything out when God talks about our tithe—for the culture of Bible times,
food and cattle were the main ways one earned a living. You either grew crops or tended
animals in the field. Nothing was exempt from the tithe. It is a willful and deliberate part of our
financial lives that we set aside on a regular basis for God.
Offerings are separate from tithes. Offerings are gifts given in specific response to what God is
calling us to do. In the Old Testament, offerings were given for different occasions—burnt
offerings, drink offerings, meat offerings, etc. These were given to God in response to specific
events—forgiveness of sin, thanksgiving, celebration, remembrance, etc.
The tithe serves as a constant reminder to us that we are stewards. God owns all that we have
and want us to be dependent on God for everything that we do. When we give our tithe to God,
we are saying to God, “You are in control of our finances and property. We give back to You so
that we remain dependent on You.”
Tithing is more than giving our financial resources—it is also an attitude. Tithing is not about
us, but all about God.
Read 2nd Corinthians 8:1-5
˜ What do you learn about the financial state of the Macedonian churches?
˜ What were they able to give to God?
˜ What was the attitude behind their giving?
˜ What important principles about giving can we learn from the Macedonian churches?
The church in Macedonian was poor by worldly standards. They had suffered much financial
hardship—maybe the economy or natural disasters—and the results were deep poverty. But
despite their own financial difficulties, they gave, and not just a little, but more than they could
afford to give. Their complete dependence on God brought them great joy. They counted their
giving as a privilege. The church in Macedonia is our model of stewardship. We give through
our tithes and offerings, our time and talent, because we are completely dependent on God for
everything. Because God loves us so much, we trust that God will continue to meet our needs.
John Wesley once said, “Earn all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.”
c Name one area in which you can decrease your spending and increase your giving. Pray and
ask God to help you as you turn this area over to God. Ask God for strength and joy as you
learn to give back to God.
WeekSevenGroupSession 89
7
Group Session
Ø Beginning—Fellowship Time
Ø Prayer—Giving time to God
Ø Group Activity—Think of a time you were blessed unexpectedly and share your experience
with the group?
Review What You’ve Learned
˜ What is the definition of a disciple?
Stewardship
This week we have learned about stewardship. We talked about giving control of our resources
and possessions to God, tithing, offerings and attitude.
c From your homework, what is your job description as a steward (p. 70)?
c If you worked on the Deed, what was that process like for you?
Advantages to Stewardship
When we are practicing stewardship, we are giving to God. When we give to God, we also give
to others.
c How does good stewardship of our time, talent, and tithe help others? Be specific—what are
some examples from your own life where you have had the opportunity to see your
stewardship or giving help others?
In his book Your Money Counts, Howard Dayton says, “According to God’s economy, if a gift
is given with the proper attitude, the giver benefits more than the receiver.”73
73
Howard Dayton, Your Money Counts: The Biblical Guide to Earning, Spending, Saving, Investing, Giving and
Getting Out of Debt, Crown Ministries Inc., 1996, p. 74.
90 WeekSevenGroupSession
c Why do you think the giver benefits more than the receiver?
c How have you benefited from giving to others? In what specific ways have you come away
richer from giving of your time, talent, and tithe?
Stewardship Increases Intimacy with God—
Read Matthew 6:19-21
˜ What is the difference between storing up treasures on earth and treasures in heaven?
˜ How could storing up treasures in heaven draw us closer to God?
˜ What does Matthew mean when he says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.”?
Investments for Eternity
When we die, there is nothing we get to take with us - not time, not money, not things. Instead,
we are given the opportunity to store up treasures in heaven through our stewardship and giving
to others.
˜ What do you think our stored-up treasures are good for in heaven?
Stewardship Develops Character
Because of sin, human character is by nature, selfish. Our first actions are toward selfpreservation and self-advancement. This is contrary to the nature of God, which is selflessness.
God gave everything so that we could be in relationship with God. “One of the key ways our
character becomes conformed to Christ is by habitual giving.”74
Read 1st Timothy 6:17-19
˜ For what are we to use our resources?
˜ In what things should we be “rich”?
˜ If we do this, what kind of life will we “take hold of”?
˜ What is the difference between life and life that is “truly life” or “real life”?
74
Howard Dayton, p. 75.
WeekSevenGroupSession 91
Read 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.
Premeditated.
How to Give
Paul outlines three “P’s” of giving—Personal, Periodic and
Giving Should Be Personal
Giving financially for some is easier than for others. Likewise, giving of one’s time is less of a
sacrifice for some than others. When we give sacrificially, to the point that it is a real giving of
ourselves, then we are giving personally.
˜ From the passage, which part suggests personal giving?
˜ In what areas do you need to give personally? Financially? With your time?
Giving Should Be Periodic
Giving regularly of our time, talents, and tithe, consistently brings us to God.
˜ From the passage, what does Paul suggest as a good time to give?
˜ How can we adapt the idea of set times for stewardship into our week? Month? Year?
Giving Should Be Premeditated
Stewardship is not a task to be taken lightly—it should involve thought, planning, and prayer.
Read Hebrews 12:2 and 2nd Corinthians 9:7
˜ How did Jesus go to the cross?
˜ How are we to enter stewardship and giving?
To Whom Do We Give?
The Family—Read 1 Timothy 5:1-8
˜ Why is it important to give to our families?
The Local Church, Christian Workers, and Ministries—Read Numbers 18:21*
˜ What is the purpose of the tithes of the people of Israel?
*
Numbers was written by Moses and tells the number and organization of the Israelites around the tabernacle. The
Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years in disobedience before the new generation stood at the door of the
promised land of Canaan.
92 WeekSevenGroupSession
Throughout the Old and New Testament, there is an emphasis on supporting God’s ministry with
tithes and offerings. The Levites were the chosen priests of Israel—they prepared the sacrifices
and went before God on behalf of the people. In the New Testament, the Body of Christ was
expected to take care of the different ministries of the Church with their resources and time.
Through serving and supporting, the church took care of the needs of the church and the
missionary efforts to the ends of the earth. Giving regularly of our time, talent and tithe to
Springdale Nazarene Church not only supports the ministry of the church locally, but also
reaches out from us to touch millions of people around the world.
The Poor— Read Deuteronomy 15:11**; 1 Samuel 2:8; Proverbs 14:31
˜ Describe God’s relationship with the poor, the needy, and the voiceless people of the world.
World Vision is a Christian ministry that seeks to feed, clothe and educate the world’s poor.
Their website*** has reports from Africa, Latin America and Asia—millions of people around the
world are dying from starvation due to war, famine, sickness, and drought. Here in the
Springdale area, 23% of the population, roughly 2,576 people, live under the poverty level of
$10,980.00 a year.75
˜ From what you have learned in Passages, what should our relationship to the poor, the
needy, and the voiceless be?
Key Things to Remember—
Stewardship is giving of our Time—our Life’s Breadth, Talent—our Life’s Bent, and Tithe—
our Life’s Blessing. It is an attitude and a lifestyle that involve handing over all that we are
and all that we have to God.
**
Deuteronomy was written by Moses to remind the next generation of the Israelites of their history and all that
God had done for them. It recounts the laws and commands that they should follow in order to obey God. This
book was Moses’ last words before he died. Moses never entered the Promised Land.
***
World Vision’s website on the internet is www.wvi.org
75
Information from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/39/3974104.html
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8
Evangelism, Missions,
Spiritual Gifts
Evangelism
I believe all people are loved by God and need Jesus Christ as their Savior. Jesus calls us to
share that Good News with the world through our words and our actions.
Verse 1 of the Week: John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him
will not perish but have eternal life.
Missions
I believe God has called me to share God’s love with the world by meeting people’s needs in my
community and in the world. I seek to serve Jesus by sharing my resources and myself with
God’s people around the globe.
Verse 2 of the Week: Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus came and told His disciples, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given
you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Spiritual Gifts
I know and use my spiritual gifts to accomplish God’s purposes.
Verse 3 of the Week: Romans 12:4-5
Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,
so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of His one body,
and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ,
we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
“Evangelism and missions? Isn’t that for pastors and missionaries?” A common misconception,
but the truth is evangelism and missions are for you!
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During our time together, we have learned how God wants to be in a loving relationship with us.
God has cleared the road of all the things that block us from God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
died as a holy and perfect sacrifice for our sins. If we are Christ-followers, we have come into
that relationship with God by accepting Christ as our Lord and King. We have given our lives
totally over to Him. Our relationship with God grows and goes deeper when we pray, worship,
study God’s Word, and spend time with fellow believers.
When we have a relationship with God, we need to share it with as many people as we can. But
how do we do that? Tracts? Knock on doors? Carry our Bibles around with us all the time?
Drag people to church? This week, we will look at what evangelism is, our role in it, and
different ways to share our faith with friends, neighbors and strangers.
Before we can begin our ministry, we need to know what it is we are called to! This week we
will look at what each of us are called to be—ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the
practical, hands-on part of our journey together—this is where the “rubber meets the road.” Here
is where we learn how God uniquely works through each of us to share Himself with a hurting
and needy world.
You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go
always, not only to those that want you, but to those that want you most….[it is your business] to
bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance, and with all your power to build them
up in that holiness without which they cannot see the Lord.76
No Christian has his/her gift for private use, benefit and enjoyment. All gifts are to be used for
the common good and edification of the Body. When spiritual gifts are exercised outside of
God’s love in Jesus Christ, then they become like a noisy gong, or a clanging cymbal. Agape
love is the essential quality for the Christian life and the basis for using spiritual gifts.77
76
77
John Wesley (1703-1791) speaking to new Methodist preachers.
R. Wayne Jones, Using Your Spiritual Gifts, p. 29.
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Day One: Evangelism
c What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word evangelism?
Televangelists. Tracts. Pushy preachers waving their finger and pounding on the pulpit. “Hell
fire and brimstone” sermons. These are words that may come to mind when you hear the word
evangelism. But what is evangelism?
The word evangelism comes from the Greek word, “Euangelion” which means, “good news.”
Evangelism is sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the rest of the world.
c Do negative images come to mind when you hear the word evangelism? What effects do
these stereotypes have on your efforts to share your faith?
We live in a world today where the individual defines truth. “What is true for you may not be
true for me” is a common saying. Truth is relative instead of absolute—it can be compared and
dependent on the context instead of being definite and unconditional.
c What effects might relative truth have on discussions of one’s Christian faith?
Read John 14:6
˜ How many ways are there to the Father? What does this have to do with relative truth versus
absolute truth?
The problem with relative truth is that, as Christ-followers, we believe in an absolute Truth, THE
Absolute Truth. The New Testament is emphatic—there is only one way to the Father through
Jesus Christ the Son.
c How does that understanding change the way we view other ideas of truth?
Knowing that we have the absolute truth makes our mission to take the message of Jesus to a
hurting world all the more urgent. The question becomes how do we evangelize without turning
people off and alienating family and friends?
How Do We Evangelize?
Read Acts 3:1-26
˜ How was healing the beggar a way for Peter and John to evangelize?
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˜ How did the miracle prepare the crowd for Peter’s message?
˜ Would you say that Peter’s message was effective evangelism? What elements of his speech
give you that impression?
Peter and John saw a way to evangelize, not just the man begging on the street, but the crowds
around them. They saw a need that God could meet (the crippled man), they allowed themselves
to be agents of God’s power, and Peter presented hope to a hopeless people through the story of
Jesus Christ.
Read Acts 4:1-22
˜ How did Peter and John respond to the hostility of those who opposed the message they were
sharing?
˜ How would you react if you had to defend your faith before a hostile audience?
˜ Why were the disciples unwilling to stop preaching in the name of Jesus?
When we are Christ-followers and are in relationship with God, we cannot help but share that
with the rest of the world. God models what a healthy and loving relationship should look like.
God wants to develop that kind of relationship with us. God wants us to develop that kind of
relationship with each other. God wants others who are not in relationship with God to
experience God’s unconditional love and grace.
Read Matthew 5:14-16 and Romans 10:17
˜ Matthew and Paul illustrate two distinct but necessary components to evangelism. How
would you describe them?
˜ Why is it not enough to only witness through our actions or our words? Why do we need
both?
Read 1st Peter 3:15-16
˜ How does Peter bring together the two different types of evangelism?
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Your Relational Map
˜ Write your name in the center circle with God. Each additional circle represents a group of
people with whom you have frequent interaction and opportunity for relationships. (ex.
family, co-workers, sports team, neighbors, etc.)
˜ Think of the names of the people you know who are in each group. Write each name around
the circle he/she is associated with.
˜ Prayerfully consider three names you believe God is calling you to invest in for His
Kingdom. These should be people you believe need to begin a relationship with Jesus or
need to take a “next step” with Him.
˜ What areas of common ground do you share with these three people? Write these similarities
in the space above. (Examples - children the same age, both enjoy professional sports,
working in the yard, in same line of work, like the same kind of music, etc.).
˜ What are some steps you can take to begin to open doors of communication with them?
(Examples—do something together with all the kids, watch a football game together, share
tools and work together on a project, have lunch to discuss mutual business interests, go to a
concert, invite them to a special event at church, etc.).
˜ How can you avoid giving the person on your list the impression that he or she is your
“evangelistic project?”
Spend time in prayer over these three names. Ask God to make their hearts receptive to the
Good News.
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Day Two: Evangelism & Missions
Yesterday, we looked at the why of evangelism. We looked at the framework of evangelism and
we made an Relational Map of people and how we might begin building bridges to them. Today,
we will look at six different evangelistic styles and how you can use them to share your faith to
different people.
Six Evangelistic Styles
There are different ways to share our faith with others—some situations may be more delicate,
some may require more reason, some may require us “calling a spade a spade.” The following
styles will help you find a way in which you can share your faith that suits the situation and fits
your personality. The styles are Confrontational, Intellectual, Testimonial, Relational,
Invitational, and Service-oriented.78
Confrontational/Intervention
Read Acts 2:37-40. Confrontation is not necessarily a bad thing. Confrontation means coming
face to face with a problem or situation; hitting it head-on; calling a spade a spade. There are
times for confrontation—where you have to stand up for what you believe. Peter found himself
in such a position.
˜ What evidence can you find that Peter’s bold style of evangelism had measurable results?
˜ What are pros and cons to confrontational evangelism?
Intellectual
Read Acts 17:16-34. Sometimes people need a reasoned and well-thought-out presentation
before they can make their decision. They need some facts or arguments so that they can be
clear in their mind of the impact their decision will make. C.S. Lewis is an example of a person
who looked at the facts before deciding on giving his life to Christ.* A modern-day example
would be Lee Strobel, author of The Case for Christ (Zondervan, 1998).
˜ Why did Paul present a reasoned defense of the faith to the Athenians?
Testimonial
Read John 9:13-34. Stories help us connect with others. They normalize our situations and
make them applicable. By sharing our stories of salvation by grace through Jesus Christ, we
connect with people on a deeper level—it is a more experiential way of sharing our faith.
Sharing our stories makes us vulnerable and real with other people.
˜ What made the testimony of the blind man before the Pharisees so effective?
78
Walking With God Series—Leader’s Guide 2, pp. 239-241.
Lewis became a Christian in September of 1929. He had stayed up half the night debating with friends, one of
which was J.R.R. Tolkein, author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
*
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Relational
Read Mark 5:18-20. Relational evangelism is similar to testimonial evangelism but it is
centered on family and close friends. It is much more intimate and, for that reason, more
difficult. Sharing ourselves with people who know us because they have lived with us can be a
harrowing task. They have seen us at our best and our worst. They are connected to our story in
very real and tangible ways.
˜ Why did Jesus send the man who had been released from demons home to his family?
Invitational
Read John 4:1-30, 39-42. Any of the styles of evangelism have some sort of invitational
component—giving people room to make a decision. But specifically in invitational evangelism,
that invitation is very intentional in its presentation.
˜ How would you characterize the style of evangelism Jesus demonstrated to the woman at the
well?
Service-Oriented
Read Acts 9:36-42. This type of evangelism brings the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand
words” to life. It is consistently other-centered. It evangelizes by taking up the towel that Jesus
used to wash His disciples’ feet and serves others in practical and much needed ways. Mother
Teresa working with the forgotten people of Calcutta, India is a great example, as is Millard
Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity.
˜ How did Tabitha demonstrate effective evangelism for the poor of Joppa?
˜ What reasons for caution or potential problems do you see with any of these styles of
evangelism?
˜ Which of the above styles would work best for the people on your Relational Map? Why?
Four Essentials to the Gospel Message
There are four different areas that are essential for people to understand as they consider making
a decision for Christ—God, Humanity, Christ, You.
1. God—Read 1 John 4:16; 1 Peter 1:15-16; and 2 Thessalonians 1:6
˜ How would you describe God’s character to a non-believer?
2. Humanity—Read Romans 3:23
˜ How does God regard the human condition?
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3. Christ—Read John 1:14; 1 Peter 3:18
˜ How did Christ end this separation between God and people?
4. You—Read 2 Corinthians 5:7; and 1 John 1:9
˜ What happens when a person responds to the Gospel message?
˜ How can you use these four words with the people on your Relational Map?
Spend some time in prayer for the three names on your Relational Map. Ask God for courage
and insight on how best to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them. Pray that God would
be working in the lives of your three people to bring them to the point of recognizing who God is
and how much God wants to be in relationship with them.
Missions
Missions and evangelism are closely linked. Missions is the call to live out the Great
Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Evangelism is a way in which we live out that call. Missions
involve reaching out beyond ourselves to evangelize the larger world. It involves meeting
peoples’ needs locally and globally, spiritually and socially, and for us and for them.
Locally and Globally
Read Acts 1:8; 11:19-29
˜ What is the progression of places in which Jesus tells His disciples to witness?
Jerusalem was their local community and Judea their country. Samaria was the country adjacent
to Judea and also a people who were looked down upon by the Jews. Finally, the end of the
world was everywhere else—places further than any of the Christ-followers had traveled or
imagined.
˜ What is your—
v Jerusalem—
v Judea—
v Samaria—
v Ends of the World—
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Spiritual and Social
Read Acts 4:32-37; 6:1-5
˜ What did the believers do with their possessions?
˜ How did the believers take care of the needy?
Not only did the first Christ-followers take care of the spiritual needs of people; they also took
care of their pressing social needs. They provided the necessities of life to people—health, food
and clothing. Missions and evangelism are concerned with the physical needs of people as well
as spiritual needs. Meeting physical needs gives us the opportunity to minister on a level that
gives us permission and access to the spiritual needs of an individual.
c What are social concerns that weigh heavily on your heart? How can meeting peoples’ social
needs allow you to go deeper with them spiritually?
For Us As Much As For Them
Read Psalm 67
˜ Identify the blessings the Lord wants to bring the nations.
˜ What would those blessings look like if they came to your “Jerusalem”—to your culture?
˜ Consider how these blessings would affect other nations in the world.
˜ What is the relationship between the blessings God wants to give Israel (the “us” in verse
one) and the other nations?
Sharing the Good News of Jesus with others benefits us as much as it benefits them. We are
reminded of our own salvation and our own place as “sons and daughters” of God. We also are
given a glimpse into how God works in others’ lives. A doctor or surgeon, while healing and
giving obvious benefits to his/her patients, also receives benefits through being a part of the
healing process.
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Day Three: Missions & Spiritual Gifts
Our Involvement in Missions
Having a mission-minded perspective has several positive benefits to the Christ-follower as an
individual, to Springdale Nazarene Church, to the community of churches, and to the global
body of Christ.
Mission-minded individuals are growing in Christ - they are using their SHAPE (their
Spiritual gifts, Heart’s passions, Abilities, Personality and Experiences) for a purpose: sharing
the love of God with others. It is hard work, but rewarding work. It draws us close to the heart
of God. Mission-minded individuals are not only sharing their faith; they are growing in their
faith through prayer, worship, study and community.
˜ How do you see mission-mindedness as growing in prayer, worship, study, and community?
A mission-minded church, Springdale Nazarene Church, is a vibrant and growing church We are using our gifts together to reach a hurting world. That means that we are building each
other up, praying for each other, as well as worshipping and fellowshipping with each other. We
are constantly looking to “grow our family” because we want to share the incredible love and life
that we experience with each other, with more and more people.
˜ How can we be a mission-minded church?
A mission-minded community of churches - The Body of Christ is not isolated to Springdale
Nazarene Church! We are working with our brothers and sisters in different congregations and
in different denominations to bring the Gospel of Jesus to more and more people. If our church
is growing, our hope and prayer is that other area churches are growing as well.
˜ How might this statement be true?
A mission-minded global Body of Christ - As the global body of Christ grows, then we come
closer and closer to fulfilling God’s mission for us - going, making, baptizing, and teaching a
world of disciples.
Where Do I Start?
Take another look at those three names on your Relational Map. They are your immediate
mission field. They are the three men and/or women that you are praying over and coming up
with a plan of action with whom to share your faith. But it doesn’t stop there. Your involvement
in missions outside your “Jerusalem” is required also.
c How might you get involved in the mission to your Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the
world?
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There are many opportunities for your involvement in missions: discovering your spiritual gifts,
getting involved in the ministry of the church, reaching out to your three people, praying for the
church’s mission, supporting others as they evangelize in different parts of the world, stepping
out of your comfort zone and going out to minister locally, regionally, and globally. Springdale
Nazarene offers many different opportunities for local and global missions. For more
information, please contact your Journey Guide or talk to one of our pastors.
End your time in studying Evangelism and Missions by again lifting up the three names on your
Relational Map. In addition, ask God what other names God wants you to add to your Relational
Map—names of other people, names of cities, regions and countries. Consider how you might
become involved in missions. Ask God for direction and guidance as to where you might serve
when it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20, and Acts 1:8.
Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are the special abilities that God has given each of us so that we can fulfill God’s
work in this world.
Read Romans 12:4-8
˜ Summarize in a sentence or two, what Paul is trying to convey in this passage.
˜ What is the source of the different functions in the body of Christ?
The Greek word normally translated spiritual gifts is charismata, the singular of the word
charisma. The root word, charis is the Greek word for grace. A spiritual gift is a grace-gift—
“a supernatural ability or capacity given by God to enable the Christian to minister and to
serve.”79
Dr. Kenneth Kinghorn outlines five basic principles regarding spiritual gifts:
1. God imparts spiritual gifts according to God’s divine grace; they cannot be earned through
human merit.
2. God gives spiritual gifts according to God’s own discretion; God is not bound by human
wishes.
3. God wills that every Christian exercise spiritual gifts; these grace-gifts are not limited to a
few believers.
4. God provides gifts for the purpose of ministry and service; they are not given in order to
draw attention to us.
5. God intends that the ministry of the church be accomplished through spiritual gifts; human
talents are not adequate for ministry.80
79
80
Kenneth Kinghorn, Gifts of the Spirit, Abingdon Press, 1976, p. 22.
Kinghorn, pp. 22-30.
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c With our definition of spiritual gifts in mind and the five principles outlined above, write
your own definition of spiritual gifts. Make the five principles personal to you—insert your
name wherever you can.
What Are the Spiritual Gifts?
Spiritual gifts can generally be grouped into four different categories—gifts that communicate
God’s word, gifts that educate God’s people, gifts that demonstrate God’s love, and gifts that
celebrate God’s presence. Under each category, there are several specific gifts that Scripture
touches on.
Stop for a moment and pray. You are about to read about the different spiritual gifts. Ask God
to open your eyes, ears and heart. Ask God to point out where your giftedness may be. As you
read through the following list of gifts and as you read the related Scripture passages, circle ones
that stick out to you—“Yes! This described me perfectly!” or, “This could be something that I
sense about God’s gift for me.”
Gifts That Communicate God’s Word
Preaching—Read 1 Corinthians 14:3. The ability to publicly communicate God’s Word in an
inspired way that convinces unbelievers and both challenges and comforts Christ-followers. The
ability to persuasively declare God’s will.
Evangelism—Read Acts 8:26-40. The ability to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ
to unbelievers in a positive, non-threatening way. The ability to sense opportunities to share
Christ and lead people to respond with faith.
Missions/Apostle—Read 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 and Romans 15:20. The ability to adapt to a
different culture in order to reach unbelievers and help believers from that culture.
Leadership—Read Hebrews 13:7-17. The ability to clarify and communicate the purpose and
direction (vision) of a ministry in a way that attracts others to get involved. The ability to
motivate others by example to work together in accomplishing a ministry goal.
Gifts That Educate God’s People
Teaching—Read Ephesians 4:12-13. The ability to educate God’s people by clearly explaining
and applying the Bible in a way that causes them to learn. The ability to equip and train other
Christ-followers for ministry.
Encouragement (exhortation)—Read Acts 14:22. The ability to motivate God’s people to
apply and act on biblical principles, especially when they are discouraged or wavering in their
faith. The ability to bring out the best in others and challenge them to develop their potential.
Wisdom—Read 1 Corinthians 2:1, 6-16. The ability to understand God’s perspective on life
situations and share those insights in a simple, understandable way. The ability to explain what
to do and how to do it.
Discernment—Read 1 Corinthians 2:14. The ability to distinguish between the spirit of truth
and the spirit of error.
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Gifts That Demonstrate God’s Love
Service— Read Acts 6:1-7. The ability to recognize unmet needs in the church family, and take
the initiative to provide practical assistance quickly, cheerfully, and without a need for
recognition.
Mercy—Read Romans 12:8. The ability to manifest practical, compassionate, cheerful love
toward suffering members of the Body of Christ.
Hospitality—Read 1 Peter 4:9-10*. The ability to make others, especially strangers, feel
warmly welcomed, accepted, and comfortable in the church family. The ability to coordinate
factors that promote fellowship.
Pastoring (Shepherding)—Read 1 Peter 5:2-4. The ability to care for the spiritual needs of a
group of Christ-followers and equip them for ministry. The ability to nurture a small group in
spiritual growth and assume responsibility for their welfare.
Giving—Read 2 Corinthians 8:1-7. The ability to generously contribute material resources and
or money beyond the 10% tithe so that the Body may grow and be strengthened.
Music—Read Psalms 150. The ability to celebrate God’s presence through music, either vocal
or instrumental, and to lead the church family in worship.
Arts and Environment—Read Exodus 31:3-11. The ability to build, maintain, or beautify the
place of worship for God’s glory.
Intercession—Read Colossians 1:9-12*. The ability to pray for the needs of others in the
church family over extended periods of time on a regular basis. The ability to persist in prayer
and not be discouraged until the answer arrives.
Faith—Read Romans 4:18-21. The ability to trust God for what cannot be seen and to act on
God’s promise, regardless of what the circumstances indicate. The willingness to risk failure in
pursuit of a God-given vision, expecting God to handle the obstacles.
Administration (Organization)—Read 1 Corinthians 14:40. The ability to recognize the gifts
of others and recruit them to a ministry. The ability to organize and manage people, resources,
and time for effective ministry. The ability to coordinate many details and execute the plans of
leadership.
*
1st Peter was written by the apostle Peter to the Christ-followers in Asia Minor. They were being persecuted for
their faith and Peter wrote to encourage them in their faith.
*
Colossians is the third letter written by Paul from prison in Rome. It was written to strengthen the Christians of
Colosse in dealing with false teachers claiming to speak for Christ.
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Gifts That Celebrate God’s Presence
Healing—Read James 5:14-16. The ability to pray in faith specifically for people who need
physical, emotional, or spiritual healing and see God answer. The ability to sense when God is
prompting you to pray this kind of prayer.
Miracles—Read Mark 11:23-24. The ability to pray in faith specifically for God’s supernatural
intervention into an impossible situation and see God answer. The ability to sense when God is
prompting you to pray this kind of prayer.
Praying with my spirit (tongues/interpretation)—Read 1 Corinthians 14:13-15. The ability to
pray in a language understood only by God or one who is given the gift of interpretation at that
time.
c Write down the top three gifts that describe you exactly or that you feel might be a gift God
has given you. We will share our gifts together when we gather as a group.
c How do you believe these gifts are evidenced in your life?
In the space provided below, write down any questions you may have concerning any of the
mentioned spiritual gifts, as well as any others you feel may have been left off this list.
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8
Group Session
Ø Beginning—Fellowship Time
Ø Prayer—Giving our time to God
Ø Group Activity—Who has invested in you for the Kingdom? Share an example with the
group.
Review What You’ve Learned
˜ What is something you possess that God could use to leverage into the life of someone else
for His Kingdom?
Missions & Evangelism
˜ In the first week’s self study (pg 10) we learned that God is omniscient (all knowing). So, if
God knows everything already (i.e. who will and will not follow Him) are missions and
evangelism really necessary?
˜ What are some ways (good or bad) you have experienced evangelism in the past?
˜ What are the critical elements of effective evangelism?
Read John 14:6 and Matthew 28:16-20 together. How do these Scriptures inform our
understanding of missions and evangelism?
˜ In the day one section of this week’s self study material (pg 84) you were asked to fill in your
relational map. Talk with group about this experience.
˜ Who is God calling you to invest in for His Kingdom? What does/will this investment look
like?
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Spiritual Gifts
˜ According to 1 Corinthians 12:7 who has received a spiritual gift and for what purpose was it
given?
˜ How has God used some else and his/her spiritual gift(s) to help you in your discipleship
process?
˜ Tell the group about a spiritual gift you believe God has given you? How have you come to
discover this gift? In what ways are you using it?
˜ If you are not sure about your spiritual giftedness, how do you plan to explore this part of
your spiritual development?
Concluding Thoughts
You have completed an intense study in discipleship, but it has only been a taste—a sampling of
a great feast that we are invited to as Christ-followers! Our hope and prayer is that you have
experienced the love of God by growing closer to God—through your study and sharing, through
the prayers and gifts of those who are supporting you through the study, and through the sharing
of yourself with your new small group of brothers and sisters.
In the Old Testament, at the conclusion of a particular journey, Godly leaders would often build
an altar of remembrance in order to recall the Lord’s provision and protection. To mark God’s
work in this study, spend some time before our group session answering these questions as a sign
of remembrance.
1. The insights that I have learned about myself during this journey are…
2. The surrenders that I’ve had to let go of during this study are…
3. List some new understandings that you have about your faith and then next to them, share
how they inform how you live or how you view yourself?
4. Looking back through the seemingly monstrous 9-weeks, what has God begun to kindle in
you or renew in you?
5. How has your idea of what it means to be a follower of Jesus changed or been reaffirmed?
6. I still don’t understand these things:
7. I feel that my next steps on my journey need to include the following:
Key Things to Remember –
Evangelism is sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the rest of the world.
Missions is the call to live out the Great Commission. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Spiritual gifts are the special things that God has given each of us so that we can fulfill
God’s work in this world.
Appendix 109
NEXT STEPS?
Connect Groups - Connect Groups are made up of 6-12 people who meet weekly for an evening
of planned sharing, study, prayer, and in some groups, worship. Some of these groups discuss
the sermon from the week before and covenant to live life together.
SHAPE Course – Do you feel like Passages Bible Study just whets your taste buds for how God
may have gifted you to serve? If you want to explore your Spiritual Gifts, Hearts passions,
Abilities, Personality and Experiences in this context, then sign up!!
Bible Studies – The men’s and women’s ministries offer Bible studies during the week that take
you deep into God’s Word with other travelers.
Emmaus – Emmaus is a 3-day spiritual retreat where you draw close to God’s heart for you
through community, teaching, experiences, and song.
Small Group Facilitation (SGF) – SGF is our first course in our Leadership Academy. This
course acquaints you with necessary skills for leading discussions, preparing lessons,
shepherding members and more. It is also a requirement for most leadership positions here at
Springdale Nazarene!
Personal Coaching – Are you unsure of your next steps, but you know that God is leading you
somewhere? Call the church office to speak with Pastor Kevin Johnson to talk through these
options and more.
110 Appendix
ARTICLES OF FAITH81
I. The Triune God
1. We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of the
universe; that He only is God, holy in nature, attributes, and purpose. The God who is holy love
and light is Triune in essential being, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
(Genesis 1; Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Isaiah 5:16; 6:1-7; 40:18- 31; Matthew 3:16-17;
28:19-20; John 14:6-27; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corin- thians 13:14; Galatians 4:4-6; Ephesians
2:13-18; 1 John 1:5; 4:8)
II. Jesus Christ
2. We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Tri- une Godhead; that He was eternally
one with the Father; that He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin
Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say the Godhead and manhood, are thus
united in one Person very God and very man, the God-man.
We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He truly arose from the dead and took
again His body, together with all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature,
wherewith He ascended into heaven and is there engaged in intercession for us.
(Matthew 1:20-25; 16:15-16; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1-18; Acts 2:22-36; Romans 8:3, 32-34;
Galatians 4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:12-22; 1 Timothy 6:14-16; Hebrews 1:1-5;
7:22-28; 9:24-28; 1 John 1:1-3; 4:2-3, 15)
III. The Holy Spirit
3. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Triune Godhead, that He is ever present
and efficiently active in and with the Church of Christ, convincing the world of sin, regenerating
those who repent and believe, sanctifying believers, and guiding into all truth as it is in Jesus.
(John 7:39; 14:15-18, 26; 16:7-15; Acts 2:33; 15:8-9; Romans 8:1-27; Galatians 3:1-14; 4:6;
Ephesians 3:14-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 3:24; 4:13)
IV. The Holy Scriptures
4. We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66
books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will
of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained
therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.
(Luke 24:44-47; John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter
1:20-21)
V. Sin, Original and Personal
81
Published by the authority of the Twenty-Eighth General Assembly held in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A., June
23-27, 2013. Nazarene Publishing House, 2013.
Appendix 111
5. We believe that sin came into the world through the disobedience of our first parents, and
death by sin. We believe that sin is of two kinds: original sin or depravity, and actual or personal
sin.
5.1. We believe that original sin, or depravity, is that corruption of the nature of all the offspring
of Adam by reason of which everyone is very far gone from original righteousness or the pure
state of our first parents at the time of their creation, is averse to God, is without spiritual life,
and inclined to evil, and that continually. We further believe that original sin continues to exist
with the new life of the regenerate, until the heart is fully cleansed by the baptism with the Holy
Spirit.
5.2. We believe that original sin differs from actual sin in that it constitutes an inherited
propensity to actual sin for which no one is accountable until its divinely provided remedy is
neglected or rejected.
5.3. We believe that actual or personal sin is a voluntary violation of a known law of God by a
morally responsible person. It is therefore not to be confused with involuntary and inescapable
shortcomings, infirmities, faults, mistakes, failures, or other deviations from a standard of perfect
conduct that are the residual effects of the Fall. However, such innocent effects do not include
attitudes or responses contrary to the spirit of Christ, which may properly be called sins of the
spirit. We believe that personal sin is primarily and essentially a violation of the law of love; and
that in relation to Christ sin may be defined as unbelief.
(Original sin: Genesis 3; 6:5; Job 15:14; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Mark 7:21-23; Romans
1:18-25; 5:12-14; 7:1-8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:1-4; Galatians 5:16-25; 1 John 1:7-8
Personal sin: Matthew 22:36-40 {with 1 John 3:4}; John 8:34-36; 16:8-9; Romans 3:23; 6:15-23;
8:18-24; 14:23; 1 John 1:9-2:4; 3:7-10)
VI. Atonement
6. We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by the shedding of His own blood, and by His
death on the Cross, made a full atonement for all human sin, and that this Atonement is the only
ground of salvation, and that it is sufficient for every individual of Adam’s race. The Atonement
is graciously efficacious for the salvation of those incapable of moral responsibility and for the
children in innocency but is efficacious for the salvation of those who reach the age of
responsibility only when they repent and believe.
(Isaiah 53:5-6, 11; Mark 10:45; Luke 24:46-48; John 1:29; 3:14-17; Acts 4:10-12; Romans 3:2126; 4:17-25; 5:6-21; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Galatians 1:3-4; 3:13-14;
Colossians 1:19-23; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:9; 9:11-14; 13:12; 1 Peter 1:1821; 2:19-25; 1 John 2:1-2)
112 Appendix
VII. Prevenient Grace
7. We believe that the human race’s creation in Godlikeness included ability to choose between
right and wrong, and that thus human beings were made morally responsible; that through the
fall of Adam they became depraved so that they cannot now turn and prepare themselves by their
own natural strength and works to faith and calling upon God. But we also believe that the grace
of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed upon all people, enabling all who will to turn
from sin to righteousness, believe on Jesus Christ for pardon and cleansing from sin, and follow
good works pleasing and acceptable in His sight.
We believe that all persons, though in the possession of the experience of regeneration and entire
sanctification, may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be
hopelessly and eternally lost.
(Godlikeness and moral responsibility: Genesis 1:26-27; 2:16-17; Deuter- onomy 28:1-2; 30:19;
Joshua 24:15; Psalm 8:3-5; Isaiah 1:8-10; Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:1-4; Micah 6:8;
Romans 1:19-20; 2:1-16; 14:7-12; Galatians 6:7-8
Natural inability: Job 14:4; 15:14; Psalms 14:1-4; 51:5; John 3:6a; Romans 3:10-12; 5:12-14,
20a; 7:14-25
Free grace and works of faith: Ezekiel 18:25-26; John 1:12-13; 3:6b; Acts 5:31; Romans 5:6-8,
18; 6:15-16, 23; 10:6-8; 11:22; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14; 10:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Galatians
5:6; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 4:10a; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 2:1-3; 3:12-15; 6:4-6; 10:26-31; James 2:18-22; 2 Peter 1:10-11; 2:20-22)
VIII. Repentance
8. We believe that repentance, which is a sincere and thorough change of the mind in regard to
sin, involving a sense of personal guilt and a voluntary turning away from sin, is demanded of all
who have by act or purpose become sinners against God. The Spirit of God gives to all who will
repent the gracious help of penitence of heart and hope of mercy, that they may believe unto
pardon and spiritual life.
(2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalms 32:5-6; 51:1-17; Isaiah 55:6-7; Jeremiah 3:12-14; Ezekiel 18:30-32;
33:14-16; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 3:1-14; 13:1-5; 18:9-14; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 17:30-31; 26:1618; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:8-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9)
IX. Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption
9. We believe that justification is the gracious and judicial act of God by which He grants full
pardon of all guilt and complete release from the penalty of sins committed, and acceptance as
righteous, to all who believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior.
9.1. We believe that regeneration, or the new birth, is that gracious work of God whereby the
moral nature of the repentant believer is spiritually quickened and given a distinctively spiritual
life, capable of faith, love, and obedience.
Appendix 113
9.2. We believe that adoption is that gracious act of God by which the justified and regenerated
believer is constituted a son of God.
9.3. We believe that justification, regeneration, and adoption are simultaneous in the experience
of seekers after God and are obtained upon the condition of faith, preceded by repentance; and
that to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.
(Luke 18:14; John 1:12-13; 3:3-8; 5:24; Acts 13:39; Romans 1:17; 3:21-26, 28; 4:5-9, 17-25;
5:1, 16-19; 6:4; 7:6; 8:1, 15-17; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Galatians 2:1621; 3:1-14, 26; 4:4-7; Ephesians 1:6- 7; 2:1, 4-5; Philippians 3:3-9; Colossians 2:13; Titus 3:4-7;
1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 1:9; 3:1-2, 9; 4:7; 5:1, 9-13, 18)
X. Christian Holiness and Entire Sanctification
10. We believe that sanctification is the work of God which transforms believers into the likeness
of Christ. It is wrought by God’s grace through the Holy Spirit in initial sanctification, or
regeneration (simultaneous with justification), entire sanctification, and the continued perfecting
work of the Holy Spirit culminating in glorification. In glorification we are fully conformed to
the image of the Son.
We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which
believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire
devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.
It is wrought by the baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one
experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy
Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service. Entire sanctification is provided by the blood
of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by grace through faith, preceded by entire consecration; and
to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.
This experience is also known by various terms representing its different phases, such as
“Christian perfection,” “perfect love,” “heart purity,” “the baptism with or infilling of the Holy
Spirit,” “the fullness of the blessing,” and “Christian holiness.”
10.1. We believe that there is a marked distinction between a pure heart and a mature character.
The former is obtained in an instant, the result of entire sanctification; the latter is the result of
growth in grace.
We believe that the grace of entire sanctification includes the divine impulse to grow in grace as
a Christlike disciple. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and careful attention
given to the requisites and processes of spiritual development and improvement in Christlikeness
of character and personality. Without such purposeful endeavor, one’s witness may be impaired
and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately lost.
Participating in the means of grace, especially the fellowship, disciplines, and sacraments of the
Church, believers grow in grace and in wholehearted love to God and neighbor.
114 Appendix
(Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17; John
7:37-39; 14:15-23; 17:6-20; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 15:8-9; Romans 6:11-13, 19; 8:1-4, 8-14; 12:1-2; 2
Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Galatians 2:20; 5:16-25; Ephesians 3:14-21; 5:17-18, 25-27; Philippians
3:10-15; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Hebrews 4:9-11; 10:10-17; 12:1-2; 13:12;
1 John 1:7, 9)
(“Christian perfection,” “perfect love”: Deuteronomy 30:6; Matthew 5:43- 48; 22:37-40;
Romans 12:9-21; 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 13; Philippians 3:10-15; Hebrews 6:1; 1 John 4:17-18
“Heart purity”: Matthew 5:8; Acts 15:8-9; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:3
“Baptism with the Holy Spirit”: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew
3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 15:8-9
“Fullness of the blessing”: Romans 15:29 “Christian holiness”: Matthew 5:1-7:29; John 15:1-11;
Romans 12:1-15:3; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:17-5:20; Philippians 1:9-11; 3:12-15;
Colossians 2:20-3:17; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:7-8; 5:23; 2 Timothy 2:19-22; Hebrews 10:19-25;
12:14; 13:20-21; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2 Peter 1:1-11; 3:18; Jude 20-21)
XI. The Church
11. We believe in the Church, the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, the covenant
people of God made new in Christ, the Body of Christ called together by the Holy Spirit through
the Word.
God calls the Church to express its life in the unity and fellowship of the Spirit; in worship
through the preaching of the Word, observance of the sacraments, and ministry in His name; by
obedience to Christ, holy living, and mutual accountability.
The mission of the Church in the world is to share in the redemptive and reconciling ministry of
Christ in the power of the Spirit. The Church fulfills its mission by making disciples through
evangelism, education, showing compassion, working for justice, and bearing witness to the
kingdom of God.
The Church is a historical reality that organizes itself in culturally conditioned forms, exists both
as local congregations and as a universal body, and also sets apart persons called of God for
specific ministries. God calls the Church to live under His rule in anticipation of the
consummation at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Exodus 19:3; Jeremiah 31:33; Matthew 8:11; 10:7; 16:13-19, 24; 18:15-20; 28:19-20; John
17:14-26; 20:21-23; Acts 1:7-8; 2:32-47; 6:1-2; 13:1; 14:23; Romans 2:28-29; 4:16; 10:9-15;
11:13-32; 12:1-8; 15:1-3; 1 Corinthians 3:5- 9; 7:17; 11:1, 17-33; 12:3, 12-31; 14:26-40; 2
Corinthians 5:11-6:1; Galatians 5:6, 13-14; 6:1-5, 15; Ephesians 4:1-17; 5:25-27; Philippians
2:1-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:13; Hebrews 10:19-25; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 13; 2:4-12,
21; 4:1-2, 10-11; 1 John 4:17; Jude 24; Revelation 5:9-10)
XII. Baptism
Appendix 115
12. We believe that Christian baptism, commanded by our Lord, is a sacrament signifying
acceptance of the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ, to be administered to believers and
declarative of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and full purpose of obedience in holiness
and righteousness.
Baptism being a symbol of the new covenant, young children may be baptized, upon request of
parents or guardians who shall give assurance for them of necessary Christian training.
Baptism may be administered by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, according to the choice of
the applicant.
(Matthew 3:1-7; 28:16-20; Acts 2:37-41; 8:35-39; 10:44-48; 16:29-34; 19:1- 6; Romans 6:3-4;
Galatians 3:26-28; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:18-22)
XIII. The Lord’s Supper
13. We believe that the Memorial and Communion Supper instituted by our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ is essentially a New Testament sacrament, declarative of His sacrificial death,
through the merits of which believers have life and salvation and promise of all spiritual
blessings in Christ. It is distinctively for those who are prepared for reverent appreciation of its
significance, and by it they show forth the Lord’s death till He come again. It being the
Communion feast, only those who have faith in Christ and love for the saints should be called to
participate therein.
(Exodus 12:1-14; Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; John 6:28-58; 1
Corinthians 10:14-21; 11:23-32)
XIV. Divine Healing (2*)
14. We believe in the Bible doctrine of divine healing and urge our people [to seek] to offer the
prayer of faith for the healing of the sick. We also believe God heals through the means of
medical science.
(2 Kings 5:1-19; Psalm 103:1-5; Matthew 4:23-24; 9:18-35; John 4:46-54; Acts 5:12-16; 9:3242; 14:8-15; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; James 5:13-16)
XV. Second Coming of Christ
15. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again; that we who are alive at His coming
shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but that, if we are abiding in Him, we shall
be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the
Lord.
(Matthew 25:31-46; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18;
Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 9:26-28; 2 Peter 3:3-15; Revelation 1:7-8; 22:7-20)
116 Appendix
XVI. Resurrection, Judgment, and Destiny
16. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, that the bodies both of the just and of the unjust
shall be raised to life and united with their spirits — “they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
16.1. We believe in future judgment in which every person shall appear before God to be judged
according to his or her deeds in this life.
16.2. We believe that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who savingly believe in, and
obediently follow, Jesus Christ our Lord; and that the finally impenitent shall suffer eternally in
hell.
(Genesis 18:25; 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalm 50:6; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2-3; Matthew 25:31-46;
Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-31; 20:27-38; John 3:16-18; 5:25-29; 11:21-27; Acts 17:30-31;
Romans 2:1-16; 14:7-12; 1 Corinthians 15:12-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10;
Revelation 20:11-15; 22:1-15)
(1*) Scripture references are supportive of the Articles of Faith and were placed here by action of
the 1976 General Assembly but are not to be considered part of the Constitutional text.
(2*) Constitutional changes adopted by the 2013 General Assembly are in the process of
ratification by the district assemblies at the time of printing. Where changes are being made,
words in italics are new words and words in brackets [ ] are words being deleted.
Appendix 117
Passages Evaluation
Congratulations! You have completed Passages! We are excited for what God is doing in your
life. Know that you have been prayed for, supported, and loved throughout your time.
Hopefully, you have walked away with a deeper understanding of your relationship with God
and your fellow Christ-followers.
In order to make Passages the best course it can be for future travelers, we would like you to
take a few moments to give us your thoughts on your recent experience.
Overall Impressions
1. As a whole, Passages has been (circle one)—
Not very helpful
1
2
3
4
5
Very helpful
6
7
8
9
10
2. The best things about Passages were (weeks, particular days, activities)—
3. Ways Passages could be improved (weeks, particular days, activities)—
Environment
1. The environment, the setting that we journeyed together was (circle one)—
Not conducive to learning
1
2
3
Very conducive to learning
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2. Changes I would make in the environment—
Facilitator
1. Did the facilitator enrich your study? How?
2. What might be a growing edge/something that would help him/her better facilitate future
groups?
Any additional thoughts you would like to share with us about your experience in Passages?
Optional information about yourself—
Name_______________________________________________________
Phone______________________________________________________
E-mail______________________________________________________
118 Appendix