engage Sample pages from engage Connecting you wit God s Word Brand new Bible notes to get you plugged into God s word
engage Time to get engaged! Welcome to te sample issue of engage, te brand new Bible notes tat will be bursting into te world every tree monts, grabbing you by te eyeballs and plunging you straigt into God s life-canging word. Eac issue will ave... [ DAILY READINGS Eac day s page will trow you into God s word, getting you andling, questioning and exploring God s message to you, and encouraging you to act on it and talk to God more in prayer. [ STUFF articles on stuff relevant to young Cristians: exploring issues like self-esteem, money, sex, bereavement, looking after te planet, and war. [ TRICKY tackling some of tose mind-bendingly tricky questions tat confuse us all. (Don t all religions lead to God? Has science disproved Cristianity? Wy does God allow suffering?) [ ESSENTIAL articles on te basics we really need to know about God, te Bible, Cristianity. Wat s te Trinity all about? Wat is te gospel? Sin te facts. [ REAL LIVES amazing true stories, revealing God at work in people s lives. [ TOOLKIT will give you te tools to elp you wrestle wit te Bible and understand it for yourself. All of us wo work on engage are passionate about God s word, seeing it at work in people s lives. Do you want God s word to impact your life? Ten open your Bible, and start on te first engage study rigt now...
Colossians Life to te max Colin is a great guitarist. He s been practicing entusiastically for ours every day for te last four years, and you can tell. But Sian s not so sure. Se says to be a proper guitarist you need to ave te rigt look, wear black all te time, know EVERY Jimi Hendrix riff and ang out wit te rigt people. Following tese simple rules, e can be a true guitarist. Colin tougt e already was one! Te year is 60AD and te curc in Colosse (in wat is now Turkey) is packed wit new Cristians. Tey re full of entusiasm for te message of Jesus, but people ave been telling tem tat s not enoug. Follow tese rules and ave tese experiences if you want to be a true Cristian. Believing in Jesus is one ting, but to know God deeply and please Him fully you need someting more. Heard anyone say stuff like tat? Te young Cristians in Colosse ad, and it sounded attractive. In is letter to te Colossian Cristians, Paul says HOLD ON GUYS! You don t need anyting more to be a Cristian; Crist is all you need. A life based on fait in Jesus is te key for a full Cristian life. Tat s te simple message of Colossians. Paul s letter is a great read if you re a new-is believer, as it s jammed wit te trut of wat it really means to be a Cristian. And if you ve been a believer a bit longer, Colossians is a great refreser course, spurring you on in te Cristian life. 3
READING Colossians 1 v 1-8 1 How to grow a Cristian How would you introduce yourself? How would you describe yourself in an email or letter to someone you ve never actually met? Paul introduces imself as an apostle, someone sent by God to tell people about Jesus. Read Colossians 1 v 1-4 ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN How does Paul describe te Cristians in Colosse (v2-4)? Tey display te caracteristics of growing Cristians. Tey are w Holy (v2) set apart for God w Faitful (v2) serving God, letting teir fait in Jesus sine troug teir lives (v4) w Loving (v4) tey sowed great love for oter believers (if you re a Cristian, you re a saint!). Read verses 5-8 Were did teir fait and love spring from (v5)? Tey trusted God and loved oter people because tey were sure tat teir sins were forgiven troug Jesus. Tey ad a sure ope tat tey d live wit God forever. Tis canged te way tey looked at life no longer grabbing te best for temselves, but living for God now, and serving Him, knowing tat eaven was a sure ting. How sould te ope of eternal life affect te way you live? Wat does Paul say te gospel is doing around te world (v6)? Te gospel is te great news tat Jesus died in te place of sinners, so tat tey could ave teir sins forgiven. Tis great news was bearing fruit all over te world many people were becoming Cristians. Te gospel was spreading, just as it ad in Colosse since Epapras fi rst told tem about Jesus (v7). PRAY ABOUT IT Ask God to elp you grow as a Cristian and become more oly, faitful and loving. Were do you want to see te gospel spreading and bearing fruit? Talk to God about it. 4
Colossians 1 v 9-14 READING 2 Te knowledge Before an exam, we cram our eads full of knowledge. Wy? So we can answer te questions in te exam and pass it. Well, tat s te teory anyway. Read Colossians 1 v 9-11 ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN Wat as Paul been praying for te Cristians in Colosse (v9)? Wy? (v10) Paul as been praying tat tese guys will ave knowledge tat tey ll know wat God wants of tem so tey can live lives tat please Him. Wat a great ting to pray! So ow does God want His people to live (v10-11)? God wants us to bear fruit by serving Him in wat we do (v10); constantly learning from God (v10); sowing endurance and patience wen we re given a ard time for living God s way (v11). But it s not down to us God gives us te strengt to do it (v11). Cristians are God s cildren. Tey ll inerit eternal life wit God. He s rescued tem from sin (te dominion of darkness) so tat tey can live wit Him forever, totally forgiven for all teir sins. Pretty amazing stuff, e? Read v12-14 again, canging you and us to me. If we re Cristians, Jesus as qualifi ed us for eternal life and noting can cange tat! PRAY ABOUT IT Pray v9-11 for your friends. And ten for yourself. And tank God for te great ineritance Cristians receive forgiveness and eternal life wit Him! THE BOTTOM LINE God rescues His cildren from darkness and elps tem to live lives tat please Him. Read verses 12-14 Wat do tese verses say God as done for us? 5
READING Colossians 1 v 15-20 3 Numero uno Wo is te number one footballer in te world? Number one fasion designer? Number one influence in your life? Paul wants to tell us wo s really number one Read Colossians 1 v 15-17 ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN Paul is talking about Jesus. How does Paul describe Him in v15? How was Jesus involved in te creation of te world (v16)? Wy was te world created (v16)? Jesus is te fi rstborn over all creation. In Bible times, te son wo was born fi rst got special rigts and privileges. He was number one. Jesus is in carge of te wole of creation! He is te creator of all tings and everyting was created for Him (v16). He s te one wo olds te world togeter (v17)! Jesus is number one. Read verses 18-20 Jesus is number one in te curc ead of all God s people, Cristians (v18). Jesus became uman but He was fully God (v19). Despite being God, wat was Jesus prepared to do (v20)? Jesus lived as a uman so tat He could die on te cross in our place and be raised back to life (v18). It was te only way to make it possible for us to be at peace wit God. People were telling te Colossian Cristians tey needed to do more tan just believe in Jesus and be forgiven by Him. Tat s just not true! Jesus is enoug, because He is Lord of everyting. If you ave Jesus, you ve already got everyting! PRAY ABOUT IT Read troug te verses again, remembering wo Jesus really is, tanking Him for all He s done. THE BOTTOM LINE Jesus is number one. Jesus makes it possible to be at peace wit God. 6
Colossians 1 v 21-23 READING 4 Before and after Seen tose before and after ads? BEFORE: someone cubby potograped in terrible ligt, from a bad angle, looking miserable. AFTER: tey look alf te weigt (and just appen to be in great ligt, in great clotes and smiling!). Yesterday, Paul told us tat Jesus is number one. He is all we need to make peace wit God. Now Paul sows us te Cristian s BEFORE and AFTER pictures. Read Colossians 1 v 21-23 ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN Before people become Cristians, wat s teir relationsip wit God like (v21)? After aving teir lives turned around by Jesus, ow does God now see tem (v22)? Before someone becomes a Cristian, tey re an enemy of God. Tis is obvious from te way tey disobey Him in teir tougts and actions (v21). But Jesus gave His body in deat on te cross to take te punisment we deserve. If we trust in His deat to put us rigt wit God, ten God sees us as oly and witout guilt. Squeaky clean! So wat sould Cristians do in response to wat Jesus as done for tem (v23)? We re urged to continue in te fait, growing as Cristians, not being tempted away from Jesus. GET ON WITH IT Wat specifi c tings in your life do you need to cange in response to wat Jesus as done for you? How can you make it more obvious tat you are an AFTER, not a BEFORE...? THE BOTTOM LINE Fill it in yourself today. In less tan 10 words, summarise wat God as taugt you today. Ten pray about it. 7
engage Connecting you wit God s Word Don t stop now... If you tougt tis was good, make sure you get yourself te full 128-page version of engage jammed full of stuff to keep you connected to God s life-canging Word. Or, even better, grab a one-year subscription to make sure engage plops troug your letterbox as soon as it s out. THERE ARE 4 EASY WAYS TO ORDER: VISIT - www.tegoodbook.co.uk/engage EMAIL - admin@tegoodbook.co.uk CALL - (+44) 0845 225 0880 WRITE TO Te Good Book Company Ltd, 37 Elm Road, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 3HB, UK