The Irony of the Gospel

In "Biblical Perspective" Randall McElwain writes:

As Jewish idioms, love and hatred are relative terms. Love for the things of God is equated with hatred of this life. The term translated lose here is often translated “destroy.” A selfish love for this life destroys the very life one seeks to protect. The great paradox of the gospel is that the only way to gain eternal life is to give up life. The great irony of the gospel is that Jesus, who already possessed eternal life, gave up His life to provide eternal life to humankind.

Discussion: How have you seen a love for this life destroy people's lives?
Source: Jesus, Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 11.

2016-03-09T09:00:00+00:00March 9th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , , |0 Comments
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What motivates God?

In "Doctrinal Discussion" Randy Bland asks the question, "What motivates God?" Why does God love us so much? He then writes:

Yet, for love to be real, there must always be the possibility of pain and rejection. God made Himself vulnerable in order to live in loving community with other beings, and He was rejected, first by many of the angels, and then by humanity. He continues to feel the pain of rejection up to this very moment. Most of us would run from that level of pain, but God embraced the pain through love and found a way to win many people back to Himself. That way, of course, is the cross.

Discussion: What motivates us? How does this compare to what motivates God?
Source: Jesus, The Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 7.

2016-03-04T09:00:00+00:00March 4th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Do you have a predisposition for forgiveness?

In "God's Word for Today", David Woods writes the following discussion question:

What does it say to you that Jesus was known for His forgiving spirit while the religious leaders were known for condemnation? Is our church known for its willingness to forgive or its tendency to condemn?

He follows this up by saying:

Our passion obviously is to live holy before God. But what does it say when our church is known for strict, even judgmental, attitudes, rather than a caring love for others? Did Jesus, while He was on earth, have a reputation for holiness or for loving the sinner?

Discussion: Are we more like Jesus or more like the religious leaders in regards to forgiveness? What is our predisposition?
Source: Jesus, the Son of God: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 5.

2016-03-03T09:00:00+00:00March 3rd, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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How to Take Advantage of Your Opportunity to Gain God's Help

In "Word Focus" William Sillings writes:

Cry out (kradzein — v. 47) means “to cry out or to scream.” Bartimaeus recognized his time of opportunity and began to go to work to get the most he could out of it. He did not sit by the roadside mumbling in his beard about how hard life was and how unfair it was that Jesus would pass by that way and not stop to help him.
He was not concerned about what other people thought right then. In fact, some of them tried to get him not to be so loud. They charged him (v. 48) that he should hold his peace. Charged (epetimen — imperfect) is a strong word, and the imperfect tense suggests “they continually rebuked him.” They told him to hold his peace (siopasoi), that is, to keep silent. In other words, the crowds kept telling him to shut up and quit his loud yelling.
But Bartimaeus was not to be denied access to this one great opportunity. There are times for refined decorum, of course, but this was not one of them. If Bartimaeus did not get Jesus’ attention this time, who knows how long it would be before He came that way again — if ever?

Discussion: How serious are you in taking advantage of the opportunity to gain God's help in your life?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 75.

2016-02-27T09:00:00+00:00February 27th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: |0 Comments
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Two Aspects of New Life in Christ

In "Doctrinal Discussion" Glenn McClure writes:

There are two major aspects that become evidence of one’s new life: identification (acknowledging Jesus as Christ and giving Him allegiance); and incorporation (witnessing to the world of our union with Christ).

McClure fleshes out this thought with the outline:

  1. Identification
    1. Faith's Declaration: Acknowledgment of Christ
    2. Faith's Dedication: Allegiance to Christ
  2. Incorporation
    1. Faith's Distinction: Union With Christ
    2. Faith's Demonstration: All Things New in Christ

You can find this discussion on pages 72-73 of the quarterly.
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, pages 72-73.

2016-02-20T09:00:00+00:00February 20th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , |0 Comments
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How can we know Jesus cares during our times of trouble?

In "Biblical Perspective" Gayle Woods writes:

Jesus is touched by the feelings of our infirmities. He is moved when His people are hurting. The tears of Mary and the Jews caused Jesus to groan — to be troubled. He is no less moved when we are going through our difficult times of life. He sees every trouble, every trial, every tear, and groans with us. The word translated troubled means to be “intensely agitated.”

Discussion: How does it encourage you to know that Jesus was "intensely agitated" by the tears of Mary and the Jews?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 70.

2016-02-19T09:00:00+00:00February 19th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Why is "Jesus wept" more than the shortest verse in the Bible?

In "Word Focus" William Sillings writes:

John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible, but it is heavy with meaning. Jesus wept (edakrusen — aorist). The word itself means “to shed tears,” but the aorist signifies that He burst into tears. While Jesus was very God of very God, He was also very man of very man. The humanity He experienced was as real as yours and mine, and the tears He shed here are likely to be nothing less than the tears of sorrow over the loss of a friend to death, the enemy of all life. They were probably tears of sympathy for the family members, Mary and Martha. These people were, after all, some of His closest friends outside of the twelve. Jesus had spent many hours in the home of these fine friends, and He was saddened by their sadness.

Discussion: How does our viewing of John 11:35 as merely the shortest verse in the Bible obscure our understanding of the importance of what it teaches us about Jesus?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 69.

2016-02-18T09:00:00+00:00February 18th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , |0 Comments
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Why does God provides miracles?

In "God's Word for Today", David Fry writes:

The reason for miracles is for us to accept Jesus Christ as the true God. The greatest faith, according to Jesus, is the faith of those who simply believe Him and do not ask for signs and wonders. I am reminded that the reason Gideon asked God for a sign was because of the uncertainty of his faith. Our asking God for a sign may reflect an uncertainty in our faith, or it may be our lack of understanding of God’s will. Either way, Jesus made it clear that our faith should not be dependent on Him performing signs and wonders for us.
The nobleman is an example of simple faith... Simple faith believes what it understands and seeks understanding of what it does not know.

Discussion: What is the reason many people think God performs miracles?
Discussion: How can understanding why God performs miracles encourage our faith in Him?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 66.

2016-02-12T09:00:00+00:00February 12th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , |0 Comments
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What Does It Mean to Persist in Prayer

In "Word Focus", William Sillings writes:

This man was in earnest about his request. He went unto him, and besought him (v. 47). This construction is made of verbs of varying intensity, and when used together they convey how the man approached Jesus. The first, went unto him (apelthen), is an ingressive aorist indicative indicating that he “went off at once” as soon as he heard that Jesus had come to Galilee. The second, besought (erota), is an imperfect active indicative verb which has the sense, “he began to beg and kept it up.”
While the major purpose of this passage seems not to be intended to teach persistence in prayer, it certainly does illustrate it. This man went down to get Jesus to come back home with him, but Jesus refused with the words, “You won’t believe unless you see signs and wonders.” But this man kept up his request, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” This was a dire situation, and there was no hope outside of Jesus’ intervention.
Perhaps many of us would have given up when we were first denied our request by the Lord. But not this man. Something inside him made him keep asking. The reward for such persistence is that he got what he wanted.

Discussion: How can we learn from this man's persistence in seeking Jesus' help?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 64.

2016-02-11T09:00:00+00:00February 11th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , |0 Comments
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How is our desire for miracles often misplaced?

In "Biblical Perspective" Gayle Woods writes:

Miracles tend to produce excitement, but not necessarily faith. The disciples had seen many miracles, but they were still having issues with their faith. The people were excited about physical healings and paranormal dis- plays of power, but not many were coming to Jesus for spiritual healing. Today some have an unnatural hunger for the supernatural display of miracles in the physical realm, not realizing that the results are temporary and earthly at best. Our mission is spiritual in nature rather than physical.

Discussion: What should be our greatest desire?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 60.

2016-02-05T09:00:00+00:00February 5th, 2016|Categories: Lesson Highlights|Tags: , |0 Comments
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