Sunday School August 24th, 2014

What is Repentance? - Returning to God
Hosea 14

Apologizing isn't easy. Saying "I'm sorry" "I was wrong" is often humiliating. Tell your neighbor the worst apology you ever heard - and the best.

After a couple of minutes, ask for a few answer to be shared with the group.

What makes an apology bad or insincere? What makes an apology acceptable and believable?

What is repentance? Apologizing is a lot like repentance. We realize we've been going the wrong way and need to turn around. But repentance is much deeper - it's between you and God.


I want us to think about the motivation to repent.

Why should anybody repent? From God’s point of view, He wants us to repent because He made us, knows us and loves us.

Think about the people to whom Hosea was preaching:

• Was God angry with them? Yes
• Was God hurt by their waywardness? Yes
• Was God threatening punishment? Yes

Why didn’t God just get rid of them? Because that’s not the way love works. God is love and love is patient. God doesn’t want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to come to Him.
Now turn the coin over. What’s the motivation to repent from man’s point of view? If a person repents and returns to God, will it solve all his problems? Will it relieve all his pain?
No! Getting your heart right with God will not immediately fix

• your spouse
• your marriage
• your children
• your boss at work
• the economy or the government

Getting right with God will not relieve the pain of living in a fallen world. The gospel is the power of God for salvation.

Repentance fixes what can be fixed: that is our hearts.

When we know what is repentance and come to God, the world will still have problems and pain. We still will suffer the consequences of a sinful world. However, our hearts will be changed so that we have the strength to trust God to do his will. We will be able to truly love others, despite the problems and pain of life.


 Please open your Bibles to Hosea.
The book of Hosea is a message about impending doom and destruction because the northern kingdom of Israel had become spiritually wayward.
God’s judgment was coming because

• The people were worshiping Baal, the Canaanite fertility god.
• The priests had stopped teaching God’s laws.
• The society in general had experienced a complete moral breakdown.
• The nation had turned their back on God by making alliances with foreign nations.

But, despite their low spiritual condition, and their unrepentant heart, God continued to love them.

Hos. 11:1 When Israel was child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.

Hos. 11:4 I led them with cords of human kindness; with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them.

Hos. 11:8 How can I give up on you Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.

What these people needed was a repentant heart.
Before we talk about what is repentance in more detail, let’s read Hosea 14:1-9.


Using these verses, let’s define what is repentance.
1. Repentance involves a permanent change of direction

Hosea 14:1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God.

Rebellion is turning from God to a life of Sin. What is repentance? - It's the journey back -- turning from sin to God.

The Prodigal Son in Lk. 15 said, “I will go back to my father.” He changed his direction from leaving his father and his morals to returning to his father and his guidance.

Perhaps the clearest way you can tell the genuineness of a person’s repentance is how long it lasts.

Hosea 6:1-4 - Their repentance was very short term; like the early morning dew, it was gone by noon.
Secondly, what is repentance?

2. Repentance involves a clear awareness of sin

Hosea 14:2 Take words with you - Say to Him, “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously.”

Repentance is more than a general commitment to change. You have to have a clear idea of what you are repenting of.

Again the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 is an excellent example. The son said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you….”

Thirdly, what is repentance?

3. Repentance involves a desire to know God better

Hosea 14:2 that we may offer you the fruit of our lips.
Too often, the motivation to repent is sustained by the hope that circumstances will change and painful feelings will go away.
The motivation here is worship -- To be a person who is knowing God better and learning to praise God.

Lastly, what is repentance?

4. Repentance involves the admission that worldly resources will let you down

Hosea 14:3 Assyria cannot save us
Hosea 14:3 We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made.

What is repentance? To let go of your commitment to “self manage” your life. We will never trust God until we admit that all of our ideas have not worked. Often, the problem is that we always have one more idea to try.

Shortly after the events of 9/11 we received a letter from an asset management company. It said, "Mahatma Gandhi once said, "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." The letter went on to say that faith will carry us forward - faith in humanity, faith in the economy, faith in freedom. This is not the teaching of Hosea. When we come to God, we realize that only faith in our Lord Jesus will save us.

The reality is: true repentance is personally painful.
It’s painful

• to change directions
• to admit that you have sinned
• to realize that knowing God will not eliminate all other problems
• to acknowledge that we don’t have the resources to make life work

and because it’s so painful, our pride may try to convince us that it’s not worth the price.

I want us to recognize why repentance is worth the pain.

The pain is worth it because -

1. God will heal our waywardness

Hosea 14:4 I will heal their waywardness and love them freely.

There is no promise that God will fix all of our circumstances and relieve all our pain, but there is a promise that he will heal our heart. He doesn’t make us perfect, but He does change our desires so that the compulsive longing to sin no longer masters us.



2. God will strengthen our faith

Hosea 14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel; Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow.

God will help stabilize our lives. He’ll give us a deeper confidence in Him.


3. God will make our life attractive
Hosea 14:6 His splendor will be like a an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.

There is an attractive glow and an sweet aroma that comes from a person who has humbled himself before the Lord.


4. God will make our life a blessing to others.
Hosea 14:7 Men will dwell again in his shade.
The old cliché is -- it can’t happen through you until it happens to you.

In his book Fresh Power, Pastor Jim Cymbala tells the story of David Berkowitz, the infamous "Son of Sam" from the New York City murders in 1977. After his arrest he pled guilty to killing five women and one man as well as wounding many others. He was sentences to over 300 years in prison. In 1987 an inmate, Ricky Lopez approached him and said, "David, Jesus loves you and has a purpose for your life." Berkowitz laughed and said, "You don't know who you are talking to. No one could love someone who had committed such horrible crimes." Ricky talked to him every day and gave him a small New Testament with Psalms. David's turning point of repentance was Psalm 118:3. "In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help." Soon after, he knelt by his bunk and asked Jesus Christ to be his Savior. Today, Berkowitz is not only a follower of Jesus - he is the chaplain's Assistant at the Sullivan Correctional Facility. Cymbala writes, "David has now spent half his life behind bars. He will never be paroled. In fact, he has never asked me or any other minister or organization to plead for his release. He knows his crimes were so serious that he deserved to be locked up for life and he says the prison is his God-ordained sphere of ministry. To leave his setting, he says, would be to run from the call of God on his life, the way Jonah did. There's plenty to do here."

Once we have dealt with the sin in our own life, we become a channel of blessings to others. He will heal our sin, strengthen our faith, and use us for His glory.

---

Discussion Questions
1. Looking at the definitions of "what is repentance", which are the easiest/hardest for Christians today?

2. Confession of sin is a very important part. What is the best way to repent? Is there ever a need for a "public" confession of sin?

3. In what ways are we committed to keep control (management) of our own lives? Why is it hard to give up?

4. Today we identified four fruits of repentance. These fruits reveal the power of God to change our lives. As we manifest this fruit, how may it impact people who don't yet know the Lord?

Sunday School August 17th, 2014

Three Ways to Manage Stress

Philippians 4:4-9

In 1984 Baltimore Colts owner, Robert Irsay moved the team to Indianapolis. A couple sued them for $30 million because his actions caused them "to suffer severe depression, severe physical and emotional disability, severe disturbance of mental and emotional tranquility and mental distress of a very serious kind." All this is to say that you know you're in trouble when your emotional stability is based on the NFL. This might seem melodramatic, but sometimes little things cause us a lot of stress. The leading causes of stress are often identified as finances, work, and family. This week, what was your leading cause of stress? Tell the person sitting next to you.


If we are alive, we have stress. Good and bad experiences both contribute to the stress in our lives. However, Philippians 4 teaches us how to manage it - so it doesn't rule us, our emotions, and our actions.


Read Philippians 4:4-9

The first of Philippians' three ways to manage stress is: Rejoice

The apostle Paul instructs us to Rejoice in the Lord!
What does that mean? It means that we can have joy even though we are in a difficult circumstance. Most people are emotionally controlled by their own internal moods or their external circumstances. Paul gives us another way.
When we rejoice in the Lord we are placing our confidence in Jesus. This is a choice that we can make. To reflect a spirit of joy in the midst of difficulty is a powerful witness to the strength Jesus gives His followers.

In my sales career, I have observed that most of my collegues are happy when they make the sale and sad when they lose the sale. At a certain level, this is understandable. But often, their whole week, month and year is influenced by how many sales they are making. They seem like total victims to the way their personal production is going.

Jesus wants us to draw our joy from the smile on His face. Some days will go well -- and other days will not. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. When He is the source of our joy, personal circumtances do not carry as much weight.
The second of Philippians' three ways to manage stress is: Pray
 
Stressful situations generate a natural form of anxiety. Paul says that instead of being overcome by the worries of life we should cast our cares upon God by praying. People who pray tend to not worry. People who tend to worry, often forget to pray. It's really that simple.

Of all the psychiatric prescription drugs prescribed in 2009 the top seven drugs are used to treat anxiety. I do believe that there are legitimate needs for these drugs. There are a lot of anxious people in the world. Could we alieve some of this anxiety through prayer? I think so. When we pray, we are no longer depending our our power, our ideas, our wisdom. We are now depending on the Creator of the Universe' power, ideas, and wisdom. That brings peace.

The God that parted the Red Sea; the Jesus that calmed the wind and the waves; the Jesus that healed the woman - this same God and Jesus are ready to help you when you pray. Take your burdens to the throne of grace and ask for help. God cares about every detail of our life and is waiting for us to pray. God never promises strength for next week, just for today.

The last of Philippians' three ways to manage stress is: Think

This means we take responsibility for our minds. God has given us the capacity to control our thoughts. We can choose to think on negative things, or on positive things. It's really up to us.
My thoughts are often the source of my greatest stress. I always imagine the worst!

I think about growing old and becoming dependent on others.

I think about my health failing.

I think about people not liking me.

I think about being failing at work - or even losing my job.

I think about my country becoming worse and worse.

I think about something bad happening to my children

These kind of thoughts will inevitably lead to stress and anxiety. We all have concerns, but the key is to not dwell on them.
Instead Paul says to think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. We can take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (II Corinthians 10:5).
Every time I focus my thoughts on God, He becomes bigger and my problems become smaller.

When my wife, Peggy was diagnosed with cancer in 1996, she had to deal with her worries. She developed the habit of consciously redirecting her thoughts away from her fears and onto God. This song, based on I Peter 5:7 (Cast all your anxiety on God, for he cares for you.) greatly helped her. The words are: I cast all my cares upon you. I lay all my burdens down at your feet. And anytime I don't know what to do. I will cast all my cares upon you. Peggy consciously sang this song day or night whenever the stresses crowded in. As she sang the song, she pictured herself carrying all of her worries in a big sack and laying it down at the feet of Jesus. Once she dropped her worries, she envisioned herself crawling up on Jesus' lap. There as a child on His lap, she felt reassured and safe. She learned to control her thoughts - to think of what was true and right.

God's Word gives us many ways to manage stress. The book of Philippians provides three of the most practical guidelines to help us gain peace and minimize the things bring on stress and depression.
Ask Jesus to help you. He sees everything that you are currently facing. Rejoice that He is in charge. Pray and ask for help. Keep your thoughts on Him, not your surroundings. If you do, the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and mind.





Discussion Questions

1. Which promise of God most encourages you when you are stressed?

2. How would rejoicing in God help you manage stress?

3. How would praying to God help you manage stress?

4. How would controlling your thoughts help you manage stress>

5. What is the greatest hindrance that keeps you from doing one of these ways to manage stress?

6. What one step will you commit to doing this week?




Author:Paul Schlieker www.bible-study-lesson-plans.com

Sunday School August 10th, 2014

Esther Bible Study
Esther 3 - 7



As a person, what number would you give yourself on a "RISK SCALE?" Is your tolerance of risk LOW? (You never leave home without an umbrella. You only ride the merry-go-round at an amusement park. You like to maintain control. You like a guaranteed outcome.) Is your tolerance of risk HIGH? (You go skydiving. You are daring, exciting, and unpredictable. You are fine with no control and no guarantee.)
Share your answer with your neighbor.


It is impossible to follow Jesus and "play it safe." When you choose to follow Jesus, you are no longer leading, He is. The essence of the Christian life is dependency on God and unconditional love for others. Both of these things involve personal risk.
After Moses' death, God speaks to Joshua, the new leader of the Israelites. In Joshua 1:6 - God says, Be strong and courageous.
In Joshua 1:7 - God says, Be strong and courageous.
In Joshua 1:9 - God says, Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified. Do not be discouraged. The Lord will be with you wherever you go.
Why did God repeat this so many times? Because the journey would have risks and surprises. The journey was not guaranteed "safe". God was telling Joshua to depend on Him; His presence; His power.
The temptation is very great to ask God for a "risk free" Christian life. There is no such thing! This is a lesson that Esther learned.
In this Esther Bible study, we will discover two aspects about Esther's dependence upon God



Lesson #1 from the Esther Bible Study
1. Esther's dependence on God came from her confidence in God's providential guidance.
The book of Esther tells one story. Let's quickly review the first 3 chapters of Esther to set the stage. (You can read them on your own to fill in the details.)
At this point in history, many of the Jewish people were living in exile in the land of Persia. The King was Xerxes (or Ahasuerus). After becoming angry with his wife, Xerxes set out to choose a new queen. Esther was chosen. She was a Jew - but this was unknown to the king and the other palace officials. Esther was an orphan, but she had a cousin, Mordecai who was her guardian.
Let's pick up the story at Esther 3:1-6. (Read the verses aloud.)
What was Haman's biggest sin? Pride! He wanted everyone to bow down to him. When Mordecai didn't - he not only wanted to kill Mordecai, but his whole race!
Proverbs 6:16-19 gives a perfect picture of Haman -
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness that pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
Haman, with the king's blessing, made a proclamation that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, all the Jews in the kingdom would be killed. That would probably have been about 15 million Jews.
Let's continue with the story in Esther 4:1-11. (Read verses.)
Mordecai began a period of mourning for his people. Esther found out what the problem is. Being the queen, she had limited access to the world beyond the palace, so she didn't know what was going to happen in about 11 months. However, even if she wanted to help, she couldn't. Why? Because no one can go into the king's presence without being invited. To do so, would mean death. The one exception was if the king held out his scepter to the person. However, Esther had not been invited to see the king for a whole month.
Then, Mordecai spoke these wise words to Esther - "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:13-14
Esther was challenged to depend upon God and His sovereignty. Perhaps God placed her in the palace to save the Jews. But, to act would jeopardize her own safety.


2. Esther's dependence upon God led her to wise action - even though it involved risk.
Esther answered with faith and dependence upon God. "I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish." Esther 4:16
Esther asked Mordecai to ask all the Jews to fast for three days - and she would have her maidservants do the same. Then she would approach the king. Esther was not relying on her own beauty, influence, or persuasive powers. She was relying on God.
She believed that God was in control.
Let's continue with the story - Read Esther 5:1-8.
On the third day, Esther went to the king and the king holds out his scepter to her. She is welcomed! She invited the king and Haman to a feast. Haman was so happy to be favored by the king and queen, but when he saw Mordecai (still not bowing to Haman), he was even more angry. He decided (with his wife's urging) that he will hang Mordecai!
At the feast,  Esther requested that the king and Haman come to a second feast. In the ancient world, this was even a greater honor! At this second banquet, Esther presented her wish to the king.
Read Esther 7:1-10
The king and Haman had no idea that Esther was a Jew - the race that was set to be slaughtered. In the end, Haman is hung on the gallows he prepared for Mordecai; Mordecai is promoted to an official position and the Jewish race is spared.
Esther's dependence upon God led her to act. She trusted her safety to God.


What does this Esther Bible study have to do with us?
Our lives are being governed by the same God. Following His resurrection Jesus said, As the father has sent me, I am sending you. (John 20:21). For every member of the body of Christ, there is a purpose, a plan and a place. None of us is the leading character in the story of our life. Like Esther, God has put you where you are for a reason.

The older I get the more I have the sense that some things are mean to be. I simply mean that I am more aware of God's providential guidance. I see how God is governing my life and arranging circumstances. I recognize that the Lord is going before me and preparing people for me and me for people.
I experienced this when our daughter decided to go to China for an extended time. First of all, before she even thought about going, my wife and I were asked to lead a Bible study for Chinese people living in our city. God knew we would need to be prepared for her announcement! He went before us and set this up to prepare us. How good and kind is our Lord!
Then, just a couple of months before she left, we met a man at the Bible study. He was the husband of one of our members, but we had never met him because he lived in different city. He went up to Paul and said, "I understand that your daughter is about to go to China. She is going to my hometown. I have many friends there. If she needs anything, please email me and I will get people to help her." Then he handed us his business card. Again, God went before us! While we never had the need to use this man's help, we were greatly encouraged.

Consider the people in your life. Many within your relational network are people that you routinely see every day. Could it be that God has brought you together for a reason? God often finds people in the middle of their daily routine. When God is at work, doors open. At anytime God can guide us to someone who is searching. He can arrange events to get us where He wants us to be even when we don't know He is doing it. God puts us in the right place, at  the right time, to say the right thing to the right person. Confidently depend on God that He has put you where you are "for such a time as this." Lives are at stake.
As we learned from the Esther Bible study --
“God is preparing his heroes and when the opportunity comes, He can fit them into their places in a moment, and the world will wonder where they came from.” A.B. Simpson






Discussion Questions for the Esther Bible Study:

1. Share one time when you knew that God had providentially gone before you to prepare you for someone or someone for you.

2. How can you develop more trust, faith and dependence upon God?

3. How do believers in Jesus distinguish between taking a wise risk in dependence upon God and just being rash or careless?

4. Identify 2 traits that reflect where you feel God is helping you grow to become more dependent upon Him.

5. What one part of this Esther Bible study was more meaningful to you?




Author of Esther Bible Study: Paul Schlieker 

Sunday School August 3rd, 2014

Principles of Stewardship

Bible Passage: Luke 12:13-32

Two men were discussing: "How do you know you're important." One man said, "When the President asks you to dinner." The other man said, "No, when the president asks you to dinner and the red crisis phone rings and the President says, 'Just let it ring.'" "I have one even better - When the red phone rings and it's for YOU!"

Jesus said, "Five sparrows are sold for 2 cents, yet none of them are forgotten by God. The very hairs of your head are numbered. You are worth more than many sparrows."
The point is - you matter to God. He sees you, cares about you, knows you through and through and will never forget you.



Years ago we sang a chorus entitled, "Into my Heart."

Into my heart, into my heart
Come into my heart Lord Jesus.
Come in today, Come in to stay.
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.

That song taught me the spiritual concept that when a person becomes a Christian, Jesus comes into his heart.
As I have grown in the faith, I have discovered that He doesn't come into your life just to observe you. Jesus comes in to:

• take charge
• gain full possession
• transform you into his likeness

This is especially true when it comes to a believer's attitude toward the principle of stewardship.
When you understand the principle of stewardship, you will discover (from Luke 12) the kind of changes Jesus wants to make in your heart.
Bible Input and life Application
Let's read Luke 12:13-21.
First, Jesus wants you to. . .
1. Change your desires from greed to generosity
This story is virtually self explanatory: Jesus' point is that greed is the opposite of generosity.
The rich fool had become so greedy, he saw everything as belonging to himself:

• v. 17 -- my crops
• v. 18 -- my barns; my grain; my goods
• v. 19 -- I have plenty of good things for many years
• v. 21 -- He stored up things only for himself
• v. 20 -- But, God called him a fool!
• v. 21 -- In contrast, a generous person is "rich toward God"

The rich fool's problem was that

• he never saw beyond himself
• he never saw beyond this life

In my insurance practice I have listened to many people discuss their concerns for the future. Invariably, the focus is on the end of their earthly life -- but not the next one. In America, many people have very little concept of a life beyond this one. For many, "retirement" is the devil's substitute for heaven. All they want is to "have plenty of good things laid up for many years."

Of course, saving your money so that you don't have to work for a living is not wrong. The concern is hoarding money -- and thinking only of yourself and this life.
If you are saving your money so you can free yourself to volunteer and serve the needs of others, that's great!
BUT living only for this life and failing to be rich toward God is the world's way -- not God's way. 

According to an Associated Press article, "New Englanders remain among the most tightfisted in the country when it comes to charitable giving. Bible belt residents are among the most generous, according to an annual index." "For the fourth year running, New Hampshire was the most miserly state, according to the Catalogue for Philanthropy's Generosity Index. Mississippi remained first for generosity. "We believe that generosity is a function of how much one gives to the ability one has to give," said Martin Cohn, a Catalogue spokesman. Rankings were based on 2003 tax data.

It is obvious from this study that wealth doesn't have anything to do with practicing the principle of stewardship. Wealthy people aren't automatically generous. Neither are poor people. Generosity comes from embracing the principle of stewardship as God teaches in his Word.
Jesus wants to change the desires of your heart from greed to generosity.

Secondly, Jesus wants to. . .

Let's continue with the story - Let's read Luke 12:22-32.

2. Change your focus from making a living to making a difference.
Jesus contrasts two types of people in these verses --

• Those that worry vs. those that seek His Kingdom

He tells his disciples to quit worrying about their life.

• v. 22 -- Do not worry about your life
• v. 22 -- Do not worry about what you will eat
• v. 22 -- Do not worry about what you will wear
• v. 30 -- Why? The pagan world runs after all of these things
• v. 31 -- Shift your focus to God's kingdom and these things will be taken care of

When you embrace the principle of stewardship you recognize that Jesus wants to change your focus from merely making a living to making a difference
Now, Why do you work?
In Psalm 90 Moses asks God to "establish the work of our hands."

What Moses meant what was that for his life's work to be significant he must depend on God to establish his work and give him success.

When Joseph was sold into Egypt by his brothers, I imagine that he thought his career was over. He definitely was not planning, "Once things calm down, I think I'll go into politics." But Joseph humbled himself and Genesis 39:3 says, "The Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in everything he did." The irony is that Joseph did eventually become a ruler in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. But Joseph never said that God sent him to Egypt to be second-in-command. Joseph said, "God sent me here to save lives."

Imagine that we asked your pastor to share with us "Why he went into the ministry." What would you think if he stood in front of us and said, "The main reason I decided to go into the ministry was to "make a living." "What? Could you elaborate on that?" "I noticed, I could make a little extra by doing weddings and funerals. Of course, occasional speaking opportunities arise. As you get more experienced, you get offers to move up and get a bigger church and a bigger salary. The bottom line is that "I just found the ministry is a really good way to make a living." I think we are all bothered by the notion of a pastor working just to make a living. If that bothers us, I think it ought to bother us if the main reason we work is to making a living.

If God didn't send Joseph into Egypt to make a living,
If God didn't call your pastor just to make a living,
Then God didn't put you into your career field, occupation or company to merely make a living.

Non-Christians work to make a living. Christians work to give God glory and advance his kingdom.
For every member of the body of Christ, there is a purpose, a plan, and a place.
Here's a biblical perspective: Every person has either a "ministerial occupation" or an "occupational ministry."

if you are a pastor, you have a "ministerial occupation" -- the ministry itself is the occupation.

if you are not a pastor, you have an "occupational ministry" -- your occupation provides a platform to impact other people.

Either way, Jesus wants you to understand the principle of stewardship and change your focus from merely "making a living" to "making a difference."
In Mark 14, Jesus was eating at the home of a man named Simon the Leper. A woman came to him with a large jar of every expensive perform and poured it on his head. Some of the disciples who were present, couldn't believe it. They said it was a huge waste of money because the perfume would have sold for more than a year's wages.
Jesus said,

• leave her alone
• She has done a beautiful thing to me
• She did what she could
• She poured perfume on my body to prepare for my burial

and then he added -- and wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.
Jesus commended the woman because she did what she could.
There could be no greater tribute paid to anyone at his funeral or on his tombstone than the words: "he did what he could."
Jesus isn't expecting you to do what you can't do -- he's expecting you to do what you can do.
Jesus isn't expecting you to give money that you can't give -- he's expecting you to give what you can give.
Jesus isn't expecting you to do everything -- he's expecting you to do what you can.

---

Discussion Questions:
1. What is the main principle of stewardship?

2. Name characteristics and lifestyle choices of a person who embraces the principle of stewardship.

3. How would you counsel a person whose only purpose in life was making money?

4. How does seeing your job as an "occupational ministry" change your whole emphasis on working?

5. How can you begin to live up to the challenge to "do what you can"?






Author:Paul Schlieker www.bible-study-lesson-plans.com 

Welcome to Rice Lake Baptist Church's Blog!! This is the place where we will be running our online Sunday School for the first 4 weeks of August. Lessons will be posted and discussion questions asked, so please comment below.