For July 12, 2009

News

1. CARE Ministry -- Every Tuesday night -- supper at 5:30, outreach/in reach activities at 6:00 p.m.

2. VBS -- Dates for Vacation Bible School are July 19-23. Be sure to remind class members about these dates and continue to ask if any would volunteer to help. If you get some names of volunteers to help, e-mail those names to me or post them under comments to this blog post.

Lesson Supplement for July 12

Explore the Bible
"Be Responsible"
Galatians 6:1-18

Intro. – The current unit is entitled, "Walking in Freedom." This week's lesson will focus on the responsibilities of Christians. With freedom comes responsibilities. The freedom we have in the United States does not mean that we can do whatever we please. There are certain responsibilities citizens must fulfill and uphold in order to continue to enjoy the freedom. The same is true with our citizenship in God's kingdom. Christians are free from the control of sin over their lives. They are free to walk in closeness with God and experience the joy that brings. They are also free to be responsible followers of Christ fulfilling and upholding all that it means to be followers of Christ. This too is how we walk in freedom.

Galatians 6:1-5 – These verses list a few of the responsibilities believers have. First of all, Christians have the responsibility to restore a fellow believer who is out of fellowship with God. Sin breaks the fellowship with God. When we see a fellow believer involved in some sin, we should intervene to help draw him back into a right relationship with God being careful not to fall into temptation ourselves. Secondly, Christians have the responsibility to carry one another's burdens. We should not only be concerned for a brother or sister who has wandered from God, but we should also be concerned for a brother or sister who is struggling under the weight of a burden that can be debilitating to one's walk with the Lord. Thirdly, Christians have the responsibility to remain humble in all that they do. True humility makes no comparison with others. Finally, Christians have the responsibility to carry their own load. No one can walk this path of freedom for us. No one can grow us spiritually. We must do the work that it takes to make it to the journey's end. Each one is responsible for his own walk.

Galatians 6:6-10 -- We are all farmers. We all sow, and we all reap. We are either sowing good things or we are sowing bad things. Whether we reap benefits or consequences depends on the type of seed we have sown. Christians have the responsibility to sow good seed. Paul exhorts his fellow believers to constantly strive to do good and not to quit sowing good seed. It makes me wonder if Paul had heard that the Galatians were tempted to give up doing good or if Paul was speaking from his own experience. Maybe there were times in his walk and in his ministry when he was "tired of doing good." Doing good is tiring sometimes, but Paul cheers us on to keep doing good because one day, sooner or later, we will see the benefits. At every opportunity that we have, we should work for the good of all especially for fellow believers.

Galatians 6:11-15 -- Christians have the responsibility to avoid selfish motives. One of the issues of contention that Paul had with the Galatians was this issue of false teachers who had infiltrated the church body, dousing the fire of freedom in Christ. Judaizers were teaching that Gentiles must be circumcised and become subject to the Jewish law prior to becoming Christians. Paul argued that this was a false gospel. Salvation is available to all through the sacrifice of the Savior and by faith in Him. Paul states in these verses that in actuality these Judaizers were only trying to make a name for themselves in the "community of faith" and really did not have the best interest of the kingdom at heart. Paul says we have no right to boast about anything except to boast about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This would be a signficant statement for a Jew because death on a cross was seen as curse. Paul was boldly saying that his boast was in the curse of the cross because of what our Lord accomplished there on the cross for us. The only thing that matters in anyone's life is the presence of a miraculous new creation that Christ creates in the heart of a believer. None of us is capable of doing anything as remarkable as that so what do we have to boast about?

Galatians 6:16-18 -- This final section of scripture are Paul's final words to the Galatians. He concludes his letter with a prayer of peace and grace upon the church family in Galatia. He also makes one last defense of his ministry when he says that he carries the marks of Jesus on his body. This language would have been understood by the Galatians to mean that Paul was "branded" as a slave belonging to Jesus. There was no mistaking who Paul belonged to. The false teachers who had infiltrated the church body could not argue against that. While they may carry the "mark" of Judaism (circumcision), Paul carried the "mark" of Christ, the Messiah of Judaism. If we are true believers, then we, like Paul, must fulfill the responsibilities that that "brand" implies.

Commitment – Lead students to examine their freedom walk. Are they fulfilling the responsibilities that the freedom we have Christ requires? List the responsibilities as Paul has listed them. Lead students to commit to being responsible followers of Christ and not inactive sponges attempting to make the freedom walk a free ride.

For Further Help with this Week's Lesson Visit http://www.lifeway.com/articleclick/?id=166474 and read Dan Kassis' weekly article

Bible Studies for Life
"Exalt the Son"
Colossians 1:15-23

Intro. -- During the month of July, we will study various passages of scripture to gain greater knowledge and understanding about the trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The trinity is a difficult concept to grasp and has caused problems for people throughout history. Some religions view the Christian doctrine of the trinity as a worship of three gods rather than one. Some cults base their arguments against Christianity on the trinity and use it to try to draw believers to their philosophy. During this month, we will strive to experience God triune-ly. This Sunday's lesson is the second in the series and focuses on the Son.

Colossians 1:15-17 -- Who is the Son? Jesus is the Son of God and in these verses, Paul introduces us to the Son. The Son is the image of the invisible God. This is a way of saying that Jesus is God. In this phrase Paul combats a false teaching called gnositicism that rejected the deity of Jesus and was creeping in to the first century church. The Son is God. He is also the most important and supreme over all creation. Why is this so? Because He is the creator of all things! The Son is God. The Son is our creator.

Colossians 1:18-20 -- The Son is also our leader. He is the head of the body of believers, the church. Without the head a body is lifeless. Without Christ as the leader, a church is lifeless. Jesus gives us direction and instruction in how to be His body and carry out His purpose in the world. Once again, Paul emphasizes that Jesus is God having all fullness of deity in Him. There is no greater or more loved leader than one who would sacrifice for his followers. Jesus did that giving his life on the cross that we might be reconciled to God and that we might live in peace with God. We should be just as dedicated to Him as His followers as He has been dedicated to us as our leader.

Colossians 1:21-23 -- Paul continues the point that we should be dedicated to following the Son as Lord of our life. He is the leader. We must follow. We were once enemies of God because of our sinful ways. But now through the sacrifice of the Son, we are reconciled -- literally brought together into relationship with a former enemy. We often hear the term "irreconcilable differences" used to describe the reason for divorce. It means the relationship cannot be repaired, restored, and brought back together. Thankfully, the Son has made it possible that we can be reconciled to God -- that is not impossible to have a relationship with God. In fact, because of the Son, we can stand before God holy, faultless, and blameless. Let us persevere as true followers of our Lord until the day we see Him face to face!

Commitment -- Lead students to make a commitment to let their words and deeds exalt the Son who is fully God, our creator, leader, and Lord.

Comments Welcome -- Any ideas for illustrations, other scripture, or class activities to enhance the lesson?