SUMMER 2017 PERSONAL STUDY GUIDE

SUMMER 2017 PERSONAL STUDY GUIDE REAL RELATIONSHIPS BROKEN VESSELS: HOW GOD USES IMPERFECT PEOPLE 3 12/29/16 3:46 PM

BROKEN, BUT MADE NEW A person buys a new car for a reason: it s new. Everything is new about the car, even the smell. The car seems perfect. But then the first mishap occurs: a coffee stain on the carpet or a tiny scratch in the paint. The owner quickly makes an effort to repair the flaw, but over time, more stains and more scratches gradually appear. The older the car gets, the more nicks and dings appear. Over time, every car owner accepts the car s condition and just learns to live with the flaws. We do that with our lives too. We try to fix what we can, but certain areas of our lives seem permanently broken. We just assume we ll have to learn to live with our brokenness. But as long as we live in a sinful, broken state, we will die in a broken state. God has a better plan. We cannot fix our brokenness, but He can. Through the death of His Only Son, Jesus, He forgives and removes our sin. Through the resurrection of Jesus, He transforms us and gives us new life. If you would like to have a new life in Christ, repent of your sins and put your faith in Him. Admit to God that you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive you. Turn from the sin that has kept you from God and accept Jesus gift of forgiveness. Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Express your repentance and faith by praying something like this: Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died on the cross to forgive me of my sins. I m sorry for all the wrong I ve done and ask You to forgive me. I now accept Your gift of eternal life. Thank You for Your love, forgiveness, and a new life in Jesus Christ. From this day forward, I choose to follow You. In Jesus name, Amen. Share your decision to follow Jesus with a pastor or those in your Bible study group. Get involved in a church that will help you grow in your faith. Be baptized as an expression of your faith. 4 12/29/16 3:46 PM

CONTENTS Real Relationships 10 SUGGESTED FOR THE WEEK OF: June 4 Session 1 Love Like Christ... 12 Article Horizontal Jesus... 22 June 11 Session 2 Forge True Friendship... 26 Article Jonathan: Forgotten Hero... 36 June 18 Session 3 Respect Authority... 40 June 25 Session 4 See Their Worth... 50 July 2 Session 5 Share Christ... 60 July 9 Session 6 Encourage One Another... 70 Special Focus: First Things First 80 July 16 First Things First... 82 Broken Vessels 92 July 23 Session 1 A Fresh Start... 94 July 30 Session 2 Objections Overruled... 104 August 6 Session 3 The Gift of Grace... 114 August 13 Session 4 A Channel of Comfort.......................................................... 124 August 20 Session 5 A Passion to Share the Gospel... 134 Article First Century Ambassadors... 144 August 27 Session 6 Right Here, Right Now... 148 Article Fruit that Lasts Forever... 158 Coming in Fall... 162 3 3 12/29/16 3:47 PM

Don t miss this! Social Media Connect with a community of Bible Studies for Life users. Post responses to questions, share teaching ideas, and link to great blog content. Facebook.com/BibleStudiesForLife Get instant updates about new articles, giveaways, and more. @BibleMeetsLife Commentary Dig deeper into Scripture with the The Herschel Hobbs Commentary. It features in-depth Bible exposition on the passages studied in this book. Blog HERSCHEL HOBBS Commentary REAL RELATIONSHIPS BROKEN VESSELS: HOW GOD USES IMPERFECT PEOPLE Summer 2017 Every week, you ll find additional discussion questions and creative teaching ideas to help you tailor each session to the needs of your group. You ll also find links to magazine articles and sermon outlines to complement every session. www.biblestudiesforlife.com/adultextra BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE KJV Adults Personal Study Guide SUMMER 2017 VOL. 4, NO. 4 ERIC GEIGER Vice President, Church Resources RONNIE FLOYD General Editor LYNN H. PRYOR Team Leader R. BRIAN GASS Content Editor KEN BRADDY Manager, Adult Ongoing Bible Studies MICHAEL KELLEY Director, Groups Ministry Send questions/comments to: Content Editor Bible Studies for Life: KJV Adults Personal Study Guide One LifeWay Plaza Nashville, TN 37234-0175 Or make comments on the web at www.lifeway.com Printed in the United States of America Bible Studies for Life: KJV Adults Personal Study Guide (ISSN 2330-9784; Item 005074971) is published quarterly by LifeWay Christian Resources, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234, Thom S. Rainer, President. 2017 LifeWay Christian Resources. For ordering or inquiries, visit www.lifeway. com, call (800) 458-2772, or write LifeWay Customer Service, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-0113. For orders with three or more issues shipped to one address, mailed quarterly, at the ministry rate, visit lifeway.com/ mediaoptions, fax (615) 251-5933, or write to the above address. We believe that the Bible has God for its Author; salvation for its end; and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter and that all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. To review LifeWay s doctrinal guideline, please visit www.lifeway.com/doctrinalguideline. 4 BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 4 12/29/16 3:48 PM

A Word from Ronnie For many of us, summer means a vacation or a change of pace from the rest of the year. I m glad you ve chosen to include your Bible study group in your summer plans. The encouragement and growth you experience as the group studies and discusses God s Word together is invaluable. As you move through the summer months and examine the studies in this book, I m going to extend a challenge to you. Could it be time for you to step out and lead a small group of adults in Bible study? You can bring together other adults who are not currently in a group and facilitate discussions of these same studies. You could meet at a different time and place, giving others just like you the same opportunity to experience encouragement and growth in Christ. Take this summer to consider the challenge to start a new group. Talk to your current group leader. The leaders at your church can help you plan and prepare to start a group in September. The opportunity is before you to lead others to know and walk with Jesus! General Editor @ronniefloyd www.ronniefloyd.com BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 5 5 12/29/16 3:48 PM

MY GROUP S PRAYER REQUESTS 6 BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 6 12/29/16 3:48 PM

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We were created for two relationships: 1. A relationship with God 2. A relationship with everybody else. Each relationship affects the other. We don t lack for relationships. Just look at our social media profiles. Many of us have plenty of friends through social media. But what we long for are real relationships, people with whom we feel a genuine bond. God desires that for us, too. He designed us to live in community in genuine relationships that are far from superficial. This study, Real Relationships, examines relationships from a variety of viewpoints: from the foundation of forming true relationships, to the fulfillment we receive from deep friendships, to our responsibility within relationships with those who don t know Christ. We will discover that an abiding relationship with Christ leads to healthy relationships with everyone else. Be prepared, though: we won t just find the kinds of friends we want for ourselves; we ll also discover the kind of friend we need to be to others. ALVIN L. REID Alvin is Senior Professor of Evangelism and Student Ministry at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also Pastor to Young Professionals at Richland Creek Community Church in North Carolina. Alvin and his wife Michelle have two married children and one grandchild. BIBLE STUDIES FOR LIFE 11 11 12/29/16 3:48 PM

SESSION 1 LOVE LIKE CHRIST How has technology changed the way we relate to each other? 12 Session 1 QUESTION #1 #BSFLrelationships 12 12/29/16 3:49 PM

THE POINT Base every relationship on the unconditional love of Christ. THE PASSAGE John 15:9-17 THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE Ever noticed how more and more people seem to be having conversations with their phones rather than with the people around them? Psychologist Sherry Turkle observed the impact of texting, email, and social media on our ability to have honest conversations and deepening relationships with people: In today s workplace, young people who have grown up fearing conversation show up on the job wearing earphones we are together, but each of us is in our own bubble, furiously connected to keyboards and tiny touch screens. 1 Technology has given us a world of better things, but not necessarily a better world. Our culture is starved for relationships, but even the latest smart phone app doesn t seem to help us really connect in those relationships. We read in the Gospel of John that Jesus gave us the key to relationships that matter. He showed us how our relationship with God affects all our other relationships. This one relationship is the key that makes all the difference.. SUGGESTED USE WEEK OF JUNE 4 13 13 12/29/16 3:49 PM

THE POINT Base every relationship on the unconditional love of Christ. John 15:9-11 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. KEY WORD continue (v. 9) The Greek word means to stay, to remain, or to take up residence. Jesus defined it as dwelling in Him and keeping His commands. John 15 overflows with words we love to hear in the context of our relationships: love, remain, joy, friends. Like a wonderful stew filled with savory ingredients, each of these words adds to the delicious medley of a great relationship. But Jesus doesn t just apply these words to any relationship: Jesus used them to refer to the intimate relationship we can have with Him. To understand this loving relationship, look at Jesus relationship with God the Father. Notice how Jesus began in verse 9: As the Father hath loved me. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, enjoys an incredible bond with His Father. A unity and oneness defines that relationship, and their indivisible unity is enveloped with love. What an incredible love and Jesus loves us just as His Father loves Him! This is a far different kind of love than the romanticized, sentimental love our culture continually highlights. We see God s love in the amazing world He created a world He both loves and sustains. He created people unique from all the rest of creation, to know and worship Him (Ps. 8:3-8). His love for humanity is unparalleled. This is why, although sin broke our relationship with God, He still demonstrated His love for us by sending Jesus to die for our sins (Rom. 5:8). Through Jesus, God restores us to the relationship He desired for us all along. 14 Session 1 14 12/29/16 3:49 PM

You will never meet anyone who loves you like God loves you. His love is unconditional, which is wonderful beyond description! If He gave us what we deserved, we would all face judgment. But God has lavished His love on us through Christ. This love is without condition, but not without a cost. It cost the very death of Jesus. Our response to this great love can only be awe and wonder-filled obedience. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. Jesus is not saying, If you obey me, then I will continue to love you. That false statement makes love conditional, and conditional love is the epitome of religion devoid of the gospel of grace. But obedience flows out of love. Because God loves us, we respond to His love by obedience. We don t keep Jesus commands to earn His love; we keep His commands in response to His love. God s love changes us when we believe, so that we choose obedience because it pleases the One who first loved us. The result of our love and obedience is joy! Our obedience to Jesus that grows out of His great love brings joy both to Him and to us. We have no better place to be than to abide in the love of Jesus. What is the link between love and obedience? QUESTION #2 John 15:12-13 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. The Father loves the Son and the Son loves us, but it doesn t stop there. We are to love one another, and we are to love in the same 15 15 12/29/16 3:49 PM

THE POINT Base every relationship on the unconditional love of Christ. way Jesus loved us. Loving like Jesus loves is not just hard it s impossible! We cannot do it in our own strength. But Jesus transforms us from the inside out. He places His Holy Spirit in us. The Holy Spirit guides us in truth and empowers us to live out that truth (John 14:26; 16:7; 2 Pet. 1:3-4). We saw the depth of Jesus love for us when He laid down His life for us, and verse 13 reminds us we are to express love for others in the same way. When we love someone dearly, we will risk much, even our own lives, to protect the one we love. A deep, unconditional love for others leads to great sacrifice. Throughout history, Christians have willingly laid down their lives for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because their love for Jesus led to a love for others. In a letter to a man named Diognetus in the second century A.D., the writer described the strength of Christianity in a time of fierce persecution. Christians in that day dressed like everyone else, lived among those in their culture who did not know Christ, and conducted their everyday affairs much like others around them. So what made these Christians so different? The writer noted one thing extraordinary about their lives: they love all men. 2 The way they loved their families and even those who persecuted them offered a particularly powerful demonstration of their love for Jesus. Likewise, Tertullian, a lawyer in the 2nd 3rd centuries A.D., wrote that pagans surely looked at Christians and said, Look how they love one another and how they are ready to die for each other. 3 16 Session 1 16 12/29/16 3:49 PM

What does it look like to lay down our lives for one another? QUESTION #3 Today we still see such love for one another among Christians. Lauren Sandler is an author and cultural observer. She s also not a Christian, but she spent a year living among and studying younger believers in America. She was amazed at their zeal and genuine love for God. She observed two things young people need today: 1. Certainty; that is, a truth to believe in; and 2. A love Christians call agape. 4 Even those who don t know Christ recognize the need for truth and a love that goes beyond emotion. And both those essential elements are found in an abiding relationship with Christ. We don t impact culture merely by complaining about society s moral slide or depending on other forces to bring about change. We can transform those around us by showing a remarkable love for one another the kind of sacrificial love the world doesn t know. It s far easier to shout at the darkness all around us, but that doesn t change anything. The way to drive out darkness is by turning on a light, and Jesus calls us to be His light, showing His love to others (Matt. 5:14-16; Eph. 5:8-11). John 15:14-17 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. 17 17 12/29/16 3:49 PM

THE POINT Base every relationship on the unconditional love of Christ. 16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. Here s the progression so far: We are loved by God. We respond to that love by continuing in Christ and obeying Him. This abiding obedience brings intimacy with Jesus. We are brought into a relationship in which Jesus calls us His friends. Savor that thought for a moment: Jesus calls His followers friends! The next step in this progression is to bear fruit. When we live in a continual relationship with Jesus, we can t help but bear fruit. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. A healthy branch is connected to its source of life, the tree that provides the nutrients, water, and all it needs to thrive. As a result, it produces healthy fruit. What often hinders us from obeying Jesus commands in these verses? QUESTION #4 My wife and I recently planted a grove of young pecan trees. The trees should start bearing pecans in a few years, and in the next decade or so, they will produce more than we can manage! First, the trees had to be healthy; then we had to plant them in the right soil and climate zone; now they have to be fed, watered, 18 Session 1 18 12/29/16 3:49 PM

and protected from disease to flourish. We are doing all we can to ensure that at the right time these trees will produce healthy nuts. When we remain in Jesus, He provides us all we need to live and to live fruitfully. That is more than just existing. I met a young server in a restaurant, and her arm was tattooed with this statement: I want to live, not just exist. We all want our lives to matter, and that starts with a relationship with God through Christ (John 10:10). When we walk with Jesus remaining in Him, obeying Him, and loving as He loves our lives will matter. We will bear fruit for Him. Another way this intimate relationship bears fruit is through our prayers. I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. The result of an intimate relationship with God is confidence when we talk to Him in prayer. This is not a name it and claim it kind of presumption that we can ask absolutely anything we want and God will hand it over. This passage teaches us that our abiding in Christ leads us to obedience-based prayers focused more on glorifying God than getting more stuff for ourselves. DIGGING DEEPER LOVE ONE ANOTHER This section of Scripture concludes with a restatement of the love command and thus forms a content bracket with 15:12. As such it reenunciates the thesis that loving one another is the mark of Christian discipleship (cf. 13:34-35). It is always important when discussing such inclusions to recognize their encompassing nature. The opening and concluding statements are intended to be bookends that hold together the statements between them so that they are not treated as isolated verses. In other words, this section must be seen as part of a unit of crucial theological thesis statements at the heart of the Johannine Farewell Cycle. Adapted from Gerald L. Borchert, John 12-21, vol. 25B of The New American Commentary, gen. ed. E. Ray Clendenen (Nashville: Broadman Press, 2002), 151-152. 19 19 12/29/16 3:49 PM

THE POINT Base every relationship on the unconditional love of Christ. It all comes back to love. Our prayers are grounded in our love for God, and what we ask is motivated by our love for others. We all want real, authentic relationships, but that starts with a relationship with Christ. Let His love fill you and flow out of you into love for others. Then all your relationships will take on the quality and depth you desire. Consequently, you will bear fruit in each of those relationships fruit that truly loves the other person and brings glory to God. So remain in Jesus and watch how His love strengthens your relationships. How have you seen these verses practiced within the church? QUESTION #5 ALL WE NEED IS LOVE Ask God for wisdom in answering the following questions: Describe how our culture views the concept of love. Based on what you know from Scripture, how does the world s view of love fall short of God s view? 20 Session 1 20 12/29/16 3:49 PM

LIVE IT OUT How will you let the unconditional love of Christ impact you and your relationships this week? Consider the following applications: Reflect. Take some time to think about how God loves you, and reflect on your love for Him. List at least three reasons obeying Jesus brings joy. Read. Read John 15:9-17 each day and note what it says about your relationship with God. Ask God to give you a fresh perspective each day and to help you stay focused on Him. Share. Find ways this week you can bring joy to others in your workplace, family, school, or neighborhood. Bringing joy to others is a way to show Christ s love, and it can pave the wave for a verbal witness. Regardless of new advances in technology or perhaps in spite of them our relationships will truly be healthy only when they are founded on our relationship with Christ. END NOTES 1 Sherry Turkle, The Flight from Conversation, New York Times [online] [cited 30 December, 2015] Available from the Internet: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?r=0. 2. The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus [online] [cited 16 September 2016]. Available from the Internet: http://www. earlychristianwritings.com/text/diognetus-roberts.html. 3. J. Warren Smith, See How These Christians Love One Another, Christian History [online] [cited 16 September 2016]. Available from the Internet: https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/see-how-thesechristians-love/. 4 Lauren Sandler, Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement (New York: Penguin, 2006), 86. Share with others how you will live out this study: #BSFLrelationships 21 21 12/29/16 3:49 PM