For July 5, 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 5

Explore the Bible
"Follow the Spirit"
Galatians 5:16-26

Intro. – The current unit is entitled, "Walking in Freedom." This week's lesson tells us how to recognize kingdom citizens who walk in freedom. We walk in freedom as believers as we follow the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would come after Him to fill the hearts of believers with the power of God to do things even greater than He. The Holy Spirit is the counselor who guides believers in the truth so that they enjoy the full freedom that citizenship in the kingdom of God affords. The presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of an individual is recognizable by the fruit that His presence bears in that individual.

Galatians 5:16-18 – How's your walk? Paul is not concerned with your gait. He is concerned with how you live your life. We live our lives in only one of two ways. We either walk in the Spirit or we walk in the flesh. We cannot do both. We are either living under the control of the Holy Spirit or we are living under the control of our selfish desires. Within every believer a war rages between the Spirit of God and the weak, selfish flesh. We want to please God, but because of this struggle within, we often do things that we really do not want to do. Paul's encouragement is for us is to live our lives under the control of the Holy Spirit. This is how we walk in freedom.

Galatians 5:19-21 -- "In this corner..." Paul reveals a list of "flesh-distinguishing" acts. The list covers a variety of actions, some we may look upon as "minor" and some as "major," but Paul includes them all as equal because they are all the result of fleshly influences. There are no minor and major sins. Anything that we do in our lives that is driven by fleshly desires is sinful, and people who continuously practice these things will not enter into the kingdom of God. As stated earlier, you cannot walk in the flesh AND walk in the Spirit at the same time. They are at war with each other. Paul's word to us is to avoid the dangerous "flesh" trail in order to walk in freedom.

Galatians 5:22-26 -- "Now in this corner..." the opposing combatant in this war is the Holy Spirit. He is recognized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Paul states that there is no law in Judaism that is against doing these things. In fact, I would say that you can search the world over and not find a law on any society's books against these things. This is the kind of fruit that grows on "freedom" trees. You cannot be imprisoned under the penalty of the law if you do these things. This is why Paul was able to say in verse 18 above, "But if you are led by the Spirit (and are displaying the Spirit characteristics), you are not under the law." This spiritual fruit is evidence of freedom in the life of the one who displays these characteristics. If indeed we belong to Jesus, then our flesh (natural and selfish desires that imprison us) has been crucified with all of its passions and desires. It has been defeated. It is dead. Therefore, live like it and be alive in the Spirit and follow Him.

Commitment – Lead students to examine their walk. What controls their life? Is it the flesh or the Spirit? Lead the students to make a fresh commitment to walk in the Spirit, living under His control. This is the only way to walk in true freedom.

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
"Know the Father"
Exodus 33:18-23; 34:5-8
Micah 6:6-8
John 4:21-24

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 begins the series with a look at God, the Father.

Exodus 33:18-23 -- Why can't we see God? Sometimes we might selfishly ask this question to settle our own doubts or answer our own questions about God and about life. On the other hand, sometimes we ask this question because we think that if God would just show Himself, people would believe in Him. Sounds simple but why is that impossible? Moses desired to see God's glory -- God's presence. I'm sure Moses's desire was based on his need to be reassured and confident as the leader of this great nation of people. Moses was God's choice for the job but even he was not allowed to see the presence of God. The reason Moses and the rest of us cannot see God is that we would not survive that encounter. God is holy and righteous. We are sinful beings. We would not be able to survive the fullness of His glory. God does grant Moses the opportunity to see His goodness. He reveals as much of Himself to Moses as Moses could handle. In this event we also see the grace of God given to Moses as God's protective hand covers Moses to save him from the death that would certainly come if Moses simply glanced at the full presence of God. In the movie, "A Few Good Men," Jack Nicholson delivered the memorable line, "You can't handle the truth!" Why can't we see God? Because we "can't handle the glory!"

Exodus 34:5-8 -- Since we can't see God, it is natural to ask what is God like? As God passed in front of Moses, He identified His character to Moses. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, faithful, rich in love and truth, and forgiving. On the other hand, God is also righteous and therefore the only true judge, jury, and disciplinarian to those who are guilty and unrepentant. God is holy and righteous. Everything he does is right. This means His love is pure and His judgment is pure. We can always count on Him. Instead of showing His glory to Moses, God showed His goodness to Moses. Our response to the goodness of God should be like that of Moses. We should bow down out of reverence for Him, and we should worship Him. We should celebrate His worthiness!

Micah 6:6-8; John 4:21-24 -- What does God want from me? Even though I cannot see the full glory of God in this lifetime, I can know about His goodness, and I can know what he wants and expects from me. Sacrificial worship was practiced throughout the Old Testament. However, in Micah, we find that what really pleases God as an act of worship more than great sacrificial offerings are our attitude and actions toward Him and our fellow man. God wants us to treat each other fairly, especially as it relates to those who are weak or who cannot defend themselves. God also wants us to love faithfully -- to be loyal and kind in our love for others. He wants us to walk seriously with Him. The only way we can walk with God is to walk humbly. It is impossible to walk with Him if we harbor pride or selfishness in our lives. What pleases God as an act of worship is when we live selflessly in our attitudes and actions toward Him and others. The verses in John's gospel are Jesus's words to the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus tells her that God is Spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. We must worship Him sincerely. What does God want from me? He wants true worship. True worship is offered through selfless attitudes and actions toward God and toward others.

Commitment -- Lead students to make a commitment to truly worship God the Father by living unselfishly in their attitudes and actions toward Him and others! Know the Father and worship Him!!

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