Lesson 8: Precious Promises
Conduct small group worship. Be sure to let them lead as much as possible in all aspects of your worship. Make sure you encourage them to be faithful to do their assignments. If you can be strict with them, they can be strict with their disciples later.
The items for accountability are:
Did you read your Bible at least 5 min/day?
Did you listen for God to speak during QT? Have them show journal or share 1 insight from their reading and their obedience to what God showed them.
Did you share the Hand Presentation with at least 3 people? Tell me their names?
Did you share the last teaching/lesson with 5 people? Tell me their names.
Spiritual Emphasis: God has given us many special promises to help us in life.
Lesson – Tell as interestingly as possible. Show them how to find verses in Scripture. Perhaps show them how to underline them or write in margins of their Bible.
1. Read 2 Pet.1:3-4. In verse 3 it says we have everything we need for life and godliness. Where can we find that? (Through our knowledge of Him)
2. Read 1 Cor. 2:11-12. Who knows the thoughts of a man? (The spirit of the man which is in him.) Who knows the thoughts of God? (The Spirit of God) Have we received the spirit of the world or the Spirit which is from God? (The Spirit which is from God.) Therefore, we can know God’s mind, because His Spirit can tell us.
3. Read John 16:13. What did Jesus promise that the Spirit of Truth would do for us? (He will guide us into all truth.)
4. As a Christian, the deepest desire of your heart should be to glorify God. But, how do you know what actions, thoughts, attitudes and relationships glorify God? The three fundamental practices Christians have used from the beginning of the Church are Bible study, Christian fellowship, and prayer. The Bible is the most objective form of God’s revelation to us. Believers have always studied the Bible to know God better, to understand His will for their lives, and to understand how God wants them to relate to one another. Every believer must learn how to study the Bible for himself, so he can receive the daily spiritual nourishment needed to glorify God.
5. This method can help even new believers accurately study the Bible. God wants to reveal His will to you, not hide it from you. If you have asked God to come into your life and be your Savior, He is with you now to help you understand the truths in the Bible. So, even if you have only prayed to receive Jesus Christ one hour ago, you should have confidence that you can now read the Bible on your own for your own spiritual growth.
6. Begin each time of study in the written word of God with PRAYER, asking the Holy Spirit (who is already within you) to help you understand God’s truth in the passage you will read.
7. Before beginning a detailed study, take a moment to understand the CONTEXT of the passage. Look over the passages just before and just following your study passage.
8. After prayer, READ a passage of Scripture. It is best to read a complete section, for example, a complete story from the Old Testament, or a complete teaching from a letter of Paul
9. Now ask yourself the following QUESTIONS. The questions fall into four general categories. The first three are useful for personal Bible study, and the last category applies when you study a passage together as a group. Use these in this order:
10. OBSERVATION
This type of question first helps you to understand the facts of the passage. You must first know the details of the passage before you can accurately understand the meaning. Questions like these will help you clarify exactly what Scripture records.
Who was involved?
What happened? What ideas are expressed? What are the results? What is the purpose?
Where did this take place?
When did it take place?
Why did it happen?
How are things accomplished?
11. INTERPRETATION
Once you know the facts of a passage, you must then seek to understand the intended meaning clearly. The exact meaning of a passage is often obvious, but questions like these can help you discover Biblical truth. These questions can also help you understand even difficult teachings or passages. You may not need each of the questions below for each passage. Your goal is to be able to clearly write out (or say) in a few sentences the main spiritual truths contained in a passage. In a group study, people will sometimes have different interpretations of the same passage. Do not assume that one must be right and one must be wrong. Sometimes God’s truth is like a diamond that shines brilliantly in the light, and when you turn the diamond around, it shines just as brilliantly, but with a different hue.
What is the main idea?
What did it mean to the original audience?
What does it mean now for us?
How does this passage relate to the rest of the chapter/book?
What other Scripture passages might shed light on this one?
12. APPLICATION
After determining the spiritual truths in a passage, you must ask, what am I to do now that I understand God’s truth? One passage may have many application points. The questions below can help you apply God’s word to your life.
Is there a blessing to claim? B enedisyon
Is there an example for me to follow? E himplo
Is there a command for me to obey? S ugo
Is there temptation for me to avoid? T emptasyon
What application do I need to make? A plikasyon
When believers identify sin to repent from, they will often need a plan on how to overcome that sin. Christian brothers and sisters can help them develop a plan, and even role-play situations they expect to encounter where they will face temptation. Such a plan includes:
When they will obey?
When it will be difficult to obey?
What they will do to obey?
Where they will be when they obey?
How often they will meet with a brother or sister for spiritual accountability?
13. DISCUSSION (For Group Study)
When you are studying a passage together in a group, you can use the questions below as a discussion format. These questions will replace the more in-depth questions you ask yourself in a private Bible study. However, it is best to prepare for group study by first studying a passage privately using the method discussed above. The leader should ask the questions, but everyone in the fellowship should respond as God leads them. Often, there is no right or wrong answer to these questions; rather, they are designed to get people to think and discuss in the group and hopefully to discover as a group the teaching from the passage.
What did you like about the passage?
What did you not understand about the passage?
What was the main idea of the passage?
What should you do to obey the teaching here?
With whom can I share this truth?
[This lesson is long. Put as much time as possible into practice to model it. Start using it in the book of Ephesians. And then share with others as you are blessed from understanding more and more of God’s word. Teach others how they can also “feed” themselves spiritually.]
Verse to Memorize: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Pet.1:3
How to Obey: The obedience here may be very specific to each person’s need. They could even memorize different verses that would be more applicable to their needs or problems.
Prayer – Pray for needs in group and ask for God to confirm His message in their lives through Spirit’s witness.
