Bulletins - New Life Family Church (Blairsville, GA)

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Yes Lord Yes
May 12, 2021 The Commands of Christ – 11c
Adult Bible Study

Open:

What did you enjoy most about your childhood? What did you like least about being a child?

I loved being outside. Playing outside, boy scouts, etc.

I liked least: constant moving

In what areas did you have the most difficulty as you grew up? What would you identify as a continuing area of immaturity in your life?

Changing schools with meeting all new people ( I wasn’t good at that — still not.)

Handling disappointments/anger. (Still a problem here as well.)

Recap:

Series Foundational Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20 esp. vs.20 … teaching them [the disciples of all nations] to observe all that I commanded you…

We continue to cover the commands that relate to Christ is Lord:

Deny Yourself | Take Up My Yoke and Learn from Me | Follow Me | You Have Heard It Said . . . but I Say to You | Pray This Way | Do This in Remembrance of Me | Remember What I Said

Jesus calls us to follow Him into a place of greater spiritual maturity. He tells us to think, learn and understand (Mark 4:13; John 8:43; Mark 7:18). Spiritual growth and maturity are just as important as growing up physically. It’s easier, of course, to stay at the elementary levels of Christian growth; not much pain is involved, and people don’t expect much from you. But the Bible challenges us to grow beyond a foundational knowledge of Christian truth and beyond the initial experience with the Lord to the place of maturity and strength. The apostle Peter urges his Christian friends to break out of the spiritual nursery and to press toward adulthood.

Mark 4:13 NASB95
And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?

John 8:43 NASB95
“Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

Mark 7:18 NASB95
And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,

How can we understand what Jesus is saying unless we are maturing in spiritual things?

If we don’t understand, can we obey? Imperfectly at best.

Jesus said in our previous Unit:
Mark 10:15 NASB95
“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Does that mean that we are to be childish? That we are not to mature in the things of Christ?

The Apostle Paul said:

Romans 16:19 NASB95
For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

The Apostle Paul also said:

1 Corinthians 13:8–11 (NASB95)Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. (See also Ephesian 4:15)

Ephesians 4:15 NASB95
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God:How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of “accepting” Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him.

Dig:
READ: 1 Peter 1:22—2:3
1 Peter 1:22–2:3 NASB95
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you. Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

What evidence of genuine spiritual life does Peter see in these Christians (1:22)?
They purified their souls for a pure love of the brethren.
How is this evidence of genuine spiritual life?

What does it mean to be “born again” or born anew (1:23)?
John 1:12–13 NASB95
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

How do we receive that new birth according to Peter?
Born again of seed which is imperishable — through the Word of God.
Romans 10:9–15 NASB95
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

Would you say that you have had a new birth in Christ in your life? If you have, describe when and how that happened.

What do you learn about God’s Word in 1:23-25?

Does any of Peter’s testimony change your view of God’s Word? Why or why not?

What is the “pure spiritual milk” that Peter urges us to crave (2:2)?

What will be the result of receiving this spiritual nourishment (2:2)?
You will grow in respect to salvation.

Part of spiritual growth is putting off the remnants of the old life. Which of the old patterns in 1 Peter 2:1are the most difficult for you to remove?

Reflect:

Where would you place yourself on the “craving scale” for God’s truth if 10 represented “I can’t go very long without it” and 1 represented “I can avoid it for weeks”?

What can you do to move yourself one or two notches higher on that scale—to increase your desire to hear, understand and obey God’s Word to you?

How would you communicate the importance of God’s Word in your life to a friend who doesn’t know Jesus?

Pray that God would give you the strength to get rid of the remnants of your old life that you struggle with, and then ask him to deepen your desire to listen to his voice and obey his Word.

One way to stimulate a desire for God’s Word is to pursue a regular Bible reading. You may want to start with one of the Gospels in the New Testament. Read one chapter of the Gospel of Mark, for example, each day. What is Jesus speaking to you about as you read? Talk to him about your desire to obey what God says. If you miss a day or two, don’t quit. Go back to the pattern and listen to God speak.

LifeGuide Topical Bible Studies - Following Jesus: 8 Studies for Individuals or Groups.
- - 1 Peter 1:22–2:3NLT
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Open:

Recap:

1 Peter 1:22–2:3NLT