Blog

Spring 2019

Discipleship and Mission “So, what do you do?” Within moments of meeting a stranger, this question is likely to be asked. Our culture makes one’s job tantamount to identity. What you do is what you are. The words vocation and avocation describe activities that shape individualities. Typically, the former refers to career, the way one earns a living. The latter usually describes side interests—activities that are enjoyed but are not central. This unit turns this usage on its head. For the believer, one’s true calling has nothing to do with earning a living. Careers are avocations while our true vocation is following Jesus. Whom We Study Our true vocation begins when we heed the call of Jesus to be a disciple, the issue of our first unit this quarter. A disciple is a learner. To be successful in our ultimate calling, we must be shaped, trained, and changed in the […]

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Winter 2018

Our Love for God Our Love for God, the title of this quarter’s studies, can be a rather humbling subject. While the Lord’s love is “everlasting” (Jeremiah 31:3), ours is inconsistent and “never-lasting.” Still, the command to love God is, as Jesus stated, “the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:36–38). Lessons this quarter are drawn from both the Old and New Testament, since loving God is seen throughout Scripture as humanity’s principal response to God. A Nation’s Foundation It is only fitting that this quarter begins by studying the passage where the original command to love God is found: Deuteronomy 6:4, 5. The Israelites were preparing to enter the land promised to them by God when Moses spoke his farewell address that makes up the book of Deuteronomy. Joshua spoke his own farewell address to the Israelites who had entered the land and triumphed over the residents there. He challenged […]

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Fall 2018

God’s World and God’s People The word creation is applied to accomplishments in various fields of endeavor. Likewise, the word recreation has a wide range of uses, applying primarily to leisure activities that provide a break from stressful routines. The lessons for this quarter focus on the uniquely creative and re-creative activity of the Lord God. The lessons are drawn from Genesis, the Bible’s book of beginnings. Genesis is rightly associated with God’s work as Creator. But Genesis also emphasizes God’s power to re-create, to address what happened when his “very good” creation (Genesis 1:31) became very bad due to sin. The Creator The first unit of studies consists of five lessons drawn from the first three chapters of Genesis. The opening chapter (covered in lessons 1–3) moves from the general statement of God’s creation of “the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1) to the day-by-day record of specific items […]

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Summer 2018

Justice in the New Testament Through the years, some have claimed that the two testaments of the Bible portray two very different Gods: an Old Testament God of intense wrath and judgment in contrast with a New Testament God of love, grace, and compassion—demonstrated through the life and ministry of Jesus. Such a view is totally disproven by an examination of each testament. The words love and mercy are not missing from the Old Testament, as a Bible concordance readily demonstrates. At the same time, God’s judgment and justice permeate the New Testament; and justice is the theme of this quarter. God’s righteous judgment will one day be visited on all people everywhere, and he requires justice from his people in their dealings with others. Teachings of Jesus The lessons of units 1 and 2 emphasize Jesus’ desire that people be treated with the mercy that was often denied them. […]

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