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Where I went to college, most classes were theory-based. There was even a class called “theory of accounting”, which seemed odd since the numbers are the numbers despite whatever theory you apply to them. The graduate school I attended was different. It was application-based which was a nice change. It seemed very practical and useful.

In the same way, it’s very important to study the character and nature of God, which will always be a critical element of any Christian education, but it’s also nice to have very practical/applicable lessons. For today’s lesson, we’ll apply some of our recent studies to the headlines about Russia invading the Ukraine. Every news outlet has the same headline today (something about the invasion) and it is difficult to find any voices speaking words of comfort or reassurance right now.

That brings us to today’s verse which is from Ecclesiastes 7:14 and says:

In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him.

The first part of this verse is easy – ‘in the day of prosperity, be happy’ – but the second part is more challenging. Note that it doesn’t say “don’t be sad” when you face adversity. It says consider that God made both prosperity and adversity because we might get lax and stray away from Him if there was only prosperity.

If you asked my opinion about the most important word (other than “God”) in today’s verse, I would say it’s the word “consider” and here is why……

As I write this, Russia is actively invading Ukraine, the stock market has been down for several days and the futures are way off, sanctions are being imposed, energy prices are high, politicians on both sides are blaming each other and the world is on high alert. But we know the truth and the truth is that this is part of the plan, and we know it will ultimately all work to glorify God and draw us closer to Him (at least until we stray again). As the saying goes, there are no atheists in foxholes.

So, here’s a simple, two-step plan I would recommend today:

1. Stop watching the news or at least stop watching as much; then use that extra time for #2
2. Consider where God is moving today in the world, in our community, in your family, and in your life.

Questions:

1. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being “most anxious”, where do you think most people fall on that scale today vs. a couple of weeks ago? And how about you personally?
2. The idea that God “makes” or allows adversity can be a challenging concept. If He’s a good and loving heavenly Father, then why don’t we have sunshine and unicorns every day?
3. There was a lot of adversity that came out of the “great recession” that started in 2008, but can you think of any good things that resulted from that period? If so, please share with the group.
4. Do you agree that the “simple” two-step plan above is a good strategy to help settle our minds and hearts today?
5. If you were explaining to someone the value of this two-step plan, what would you include as some of the benefits?

Today, we have two scriptures. The first is from Psalm 90:12 which says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”. Moses wrote these words after leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and serving as their leader in the desert for many years. He is encouraging the people to make the most of every day and try to make wise decisions because we never truly know how many days we have left.

The second scripture is a passage from Luke 16-21, which says:

And Jesus told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

The point of Jesus’ story is that this man will never truly be happy, no matter how much wealth he accumulates. He will always strive for more and, in doing so, will be distracted from loving God and loving people.

One of our recent lessons focused on storing up treasure in heaven vs. on earth. Today’s scriptures and lesson take that message one step further to emphasize the importance of doing it now. For example:

• Are you planning to spend more time with your family and friends once you are more established in your career and/or have more financial stability? Don’t wait – spend more time with them now.
• Are you going to focus on giving more time and/or money to your favorite charities once your schedule is more manageable? Don’t wait – give more now.
• Is your goal to get in better shape and eat/drink more responsibly “soon”? Don’t wait – make those changes now.
• Have you been meaning to spend more time praying and reading the Bible? Don’t wait – put it on the calendar and guard that time.

Each of our days are numbered, so here are a few questions to help us do more to make each day count:

1. Since there are a limitless number of “good” things we can start doing, how would you advise someone to do more to make each day count without getting stuck in analysis paralysis?
2. If part of the answer is that we should stop doing certain things, what are one or two things you might like to give up?
3. If you can identify a couple of things to give up, what then would be something you would like to move up your priority list?
4. If the core message of today’s discussion is so simple, why do we struggle with it?

We’ve talked about how we can summarize the Bible in one sentence (The Bible is the story of God pursuing us). No matter where we focus our attention, He is always running toward us, trying to bring us closer to Him. There is no better verse to describe this pursuit than John 3:16, which says:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

In today’s lesson, we will focus on how we should then respond, knowing these two truths:

1. God always pursues us, and
2. We are called to be the hands and feet of God on earth by modeling His love for others

We’ve talked a lot about what it means to show love to others – patience, kindness, not envying, not being rude, not boasting, not being easily angered and all the other elements of love. But today’s lesson is focused on how we should pursue others (just as God pursues us) so that we can then love them.

It’s easy to be loving once we know someone needs our love, but we can’t love them until we become aware of their need. If they don’t tell us, then we might never know. But if we call, email, or visit them regularly to check in, we’ll know more about what is going on with them and better understand how we can love them.

For example, a parent may hesitate to engage with their children regularly, especially as they get a little older, because they might worry about bothering them or taking them away from friends or other activities. The fear of being seen as a nuisance or a bother may outweigh our desire to pursue a deeper relationship with a child. But even in the worst-case scenario in which the child really sees it as a bother, the only negative result would be that the child might think, “why does my dad keep trying to talk with me?”. Ok…..that’s no big deal at all, especially compared with the potential good that can come from deepening and enriching the relationship through actively pursuing them.

And the same may be true of any relationship. We might think “they’re busy” or “I don’t want to interrupt them” or “it would be weird for me to be the one that always reaches out first”. But, again, the potential rewards far outweigh the risks.

When we pursue others, we are modeling the love of God who always pursues us. God will bless & honor these actions. And, being intentional about pursuing others will remind us that God is pursuing us, which may help us remember to quit running away so He can catch us more frequently.

Questions:

1. Do you agree that the fear of being a nuisance or appearing awkward/weird can keep us from pursuing others more frequently?
2. The lesson suggests the risks of pursuing others are not as great as we make them out to be. Do you agree or disagree?
3. Is there anyone in your life you should pursue more regularly? If you are comfortable doing so, please share your examples with the group.
4. Do you agree that pursuing others can also help us grow closer to God? If so, in what ways?
5. If you wanted to create a plan to be more intentional about pursuing others, where would you start and what would be some of the key steps?

A couple of weeks ago, we talked about practicing spiritual disciplines and how practice can help us play the “game” of life better. Even though that is a simple concept, we all still struggle with it. And when we fall short in our practice, we often face fear, worry, and anxiety.

We can’t eliminate fear, but we can work on controlling it, which we’ll discuss today with a story about King Jehoshaphat from 2 Chronicles 20. It says that Jehoshaphat was a good king and “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”. This book begins with three large armies coming to attack King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah. His advisors told him “A vast army is coming against you from Edom…..”. We are told that he was alarmed, but he didn’t panic. Instead, he “resolved to inquire of the Lord and he proclaimed a fast for all of Judah.” So, his first step was to turn his eyes to God and seek guidance from Him.

The next thing he did showed far more faith than most of us have. Verse 21 says that Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise Him for the splendor of His holiness as they went out “at the head of the army”, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
    for his love endures forever.”

The king sent singers to stand in front of the army as a sign that he believed his God, the one true God, was more powerful than any army he could send into battle. And God honored the king’s faith by causing the attacking armies to fight each other until every one of them was dead. The story goes on to say that it took three days for Jehoshaphat’s men to collect all the plunder. And finally, verse 26 says that they assembled and praised the Lord.

So the formula they followed was:

1. Face a seemingly insurmountable challenge
2. Inquire of the Lord (and let Him fight the battle)
3. Collect the plunder/blessings that God provided because of their faith
4. Praise the Lord

All of us fight battles, and sometimes the odds seem insurmountable. When you fight your battles, is your first instinct to go to God for His guidance? Do you focus your praise on him no matter how tough the circumstance? That’s something that all of us struggle with, so to help us improve in this area, here are a few questions to think about.

1. What are some examples of modern-day “battles” that we face?
2. When faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, is your first instinct to turn it over to God and praise Him, or do fear and anxiety creep in?
3. What are some examples of “plunder” that we can collect by praising God foremost, even in the face of our most challenging circumstances?
4. Do you think God allows us to face certain challenges so we will be drawn closer to Him?
5. Would it be effective to plan ahead before we find ourselves facing challenges? If so, what are some proactive steps we can take before we are in the battle?

If you ask Kirby Smart, how his Bulldogs were able to win the College Football National Championship this year, you might hear him say something about preparation and practice. After UGA beat Florida last year, Coach Smart said this in a post-game interview:

“I have fun watching these guys practice. These guys go about their meetings and practice days so serious, taking notes, getting nuggets. Their coaches do a great job, but these kids right here, they’re special.”

Coach Smart and his Bulldogs won the National Championship on January 10, 2022 but they secured the victory in advance with excellent practice and preparation, which brings us to our scripture for today. We have two verses, both focused on the practice of seeking the Lord.

The first is from 2 Chronicles 15:2 which says:

The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

And the second verse is from Psalms 34:10:

Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Seeking the Lord is the act of practicing our spiritual disciplines. Just as practice was critical for the Bulldogs, as we seek the Lord, it is critical that we consistently practice spiritual disciplines.

The C.S. Lewis Institute describes spiritual disciplines as “those Bible-prescribed activities that are explicitly said to increase our sanctification, our conformity to Christ Jesus, our spiritual maturation.” These may include prayer, study, fellowship, worship, service, giving, sabbath, fasting or anything else that helps us avoid/reduce sin and become more like Jesus.

So, if these activities are the “practice”, then what is our spiritual “game”? I would suggest that the “game” relates to using our sanctification and spiritual maturity (that we gain through practice) in God-glorifying ways, including:  

• Do we treat others with love?
• Do we want the best for others and show it through generosity?
• Do we act ethically in business?
• During challenging times, do we respond in fear or in faith?
• Do we have self-control and avoid overindulging?
• How do we respond in traffic when someone cuts us off?
• How do we respond when someone is disrespectful toward us?

If we wait to build our game plan until after the game starts, we are unlikely to win. But by practicing our spiritual disciplines, we’ll win more victories (for God) while playing the game of life on earth.

Questions:

1. Do you agree with the analogy comparing football practice to the practice of spiritual disciplines? Why or why not?
2. If you have an example, please tell the group about a team you were on that won a big victory (athletic, academic, professional, other) and how practice/preparation made that victory possible.
3. Do you have an example of how practicing spiritual disciplines helped you succeed in a situation that might have been a failure otherwise?
4. What are one or two spiritual disciplines you would like to practice more consistently in 2022?

Today’s scripture is from Matthew 6:19-21 in which Jesus says: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

This lesson was inspired by a tough question I heard recently which was “what do you really own?”. The idea was that if it can be taken away from you, then you don’t really own it. And the follow up question asked why we spend so much time and energy working so hard for things that we’ll lose one day (at death, if not before).

The point of today’s lesson is not to recommend selling everything and giving it to the poor. Certainly, God expects us to be generous and give at least 10% back to the church and other Christian ministries, but the point is not to take a vow of poverty. In fact, please pursue unimaginable riches if you feel that’s where God is leading you. But, no matter what you pursue on earth, remember to store up treasure in heaven.

So what does that really mean? Jesus didn’t immediately follow this command with a detailed list, but here are a few items to consider that are consistent with His other teachings and with other Biblical principles:

• Building your relationship with God – praying, reading scripture
• Spending quality and quantity time with family and friends
• Patience
• Kindness
• Volunteering with the right motivation
• Encouraging someone who is down
• Inspiring others and living a life worth imitating
• Teaching or leading ministry efforts
• Singing or playing musical instruments in church
• Serving where your spiritual gifts are most needed

The goodness and blessings that come from each of these things can never be taken away from you……and you truly “own” them.

For me, the most powerful part of today’s scripture was the idea that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What a great reminder to laser focus our hearts and minds on God no matter where we are or what we’re doing. When we do that and truly bring Him into our decision making, we are much more likely to hit the target of accumulating riches in heaven.

Questions:

1. Do you agree that we don’t truly own something if it can be taken away from us?
2. What did you think about the follow-up question regarding why we work so hard and stress ourselves out so much for things that will be taken away?
3. On the surface, today’s topic is not complicated or confusing so why is it so difficult for us to consistently focus on storing treasure in heaven vs. on earth?
4. What is one thing you can do in the next week to store up some treasure in heaven?

As we start a new year, it’s a great time to reflect on improvements we can make, which is the subject of today’s scripture passage from Isaiah 43:18-19:

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.”

God spoke these words to the Israelites during a period of enslavement in Babylon. The formerly strong and proud nation was sad and bitter about being held captive, but God wanted them to focus on where He was moving and what He had in store for them.

God loves His chosen people and all of His actions are designed for their long-term best interest, even allowing them to be enslaved. He wants them to remember to focus their hearts and minds on Him always. So to help them get into the right frame of mind and prepare themselves for what was to come, He tells them to quit yearning for the “old days” and stop feeling sorry for themselves. Only then can they focus on His plans for them.

There are definitely times when I focus too much on things of the past. Maybe it’s a mistake I made or an opportunity I missed. But God doesn’t want me to obsess over these experiences any more than He wanted the Israelites to do so. I believe He wants me to ask one critical question about every experience and every situation – how can this experience or situation help me become a better person and be more useful to God?

If we look at everything through this lens, the meaning of each experience takes on a new and exciting complexity. During difficult times, instead of asking “why is this happening TO me?” maybe we should say “This is happening FOR me for a reason and I can’t wait to see where God is moving in this experience.”

Challenging times will still be difficult, but we’ll worry less and experience far less anxiety when we turn our hearts and minds toward seeing where God is making a way in the wilderness of our lives.

Questions:

1. Do you agree that the primary thing we should ask in all situations is how our experiences can make us more useful to God?
2. How would you explain what it means to be more useful to God?
3. Can you think of an experience that was difficult at the time but helped you become a better person and more useful to God?
4. What are some benefits of viewing every experience through the lens of what God has in store for us?

It is always good to be thankful and express gratitude, but this is especially true with Thanksgiving coming up next week. Today, we’re going to look at gratitude from a different angle and we’ll start with our verse, which is from James 1:2-4:

Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

This phrasing is odd (why should we celebrate failures and tough times?), but James gets right to the point and explains his reasoning. Trials lead to perseverance, which leads to maturity & completeness. This maturity & completeness is then more useful to God, which is the goal.

Thankfulness is typically associated with something positive like good health, financial success, or receiving a gift. If we were to document our gratitude list, trials and difficulties wouldn’t be near the top for most of us.

But let’s look at it from the other side. Think about one of the most challenging times in your life. Maybe it was a death, a job loss, or a financial loss. Now think about some of the positive outcomes of that situation. Your initial thought might be that there were no positive outcomes but think about it and see if you can come up with anything. Maybe a job loss led you to a better job, or a mistake you made in a relationship led you to treat others with more kindness and respect. Or maybe a certain challenge you faced gave you more empathy and compassion so you could be better prepared to serve as the hands and feet of God.

Note that James did not say only be thankful for the “bad” things. His point is that we should be thankful for all things and not just those that appear positive on the surface.

Questions:

1. Does it seem odd to rejoice when you face trials and difficulties in life?
2. Are any of your trials close to the top of your gratitude list? If not, should they be?
3. If you are comfortable sharing with the group, what is an example of a trial or challenge you faced that turned out to be positive?
4. If you started viewing trials and failures as positive outcomes, would you be more or less likely to take risks? If more likely, what is a risk you might take?
5. Before taking a particular risk, how would you engage God in the process?

Last week, part of our discussion centered on where to find God moving in our lives and today we’ll talk about something we can do to reveal His presence.

Our lesson today covers the story of Gideon vs. the Midianites in chapters 6 and 7 of the book of Judges. But before we get into that message, remember that the Old Testament follows the same storyline over and over again:

1. God makes a promise to protect and prosper His people if they follow His instructions
2. The people fail to follow Him and fall into sin
3. God allows them to suffer challenging times
4. The people cry out to God for relief
5. God saves them, often by facilitating a huge military victory
6. The people are thankful and can live in peace & prosperity for some period
7. Then the people fail again and the cycle starts again at #2 above

As an example, the very last verse of Judges 5 says, “Then the land had peace forty years.” Then the very next sentence, which is the first verse of Judges 6 says “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.”

After seven years, we see that Gideon (in Judges 6:13) cries out to God and asks why He abandoned Israel. God tells Gideon that He is sending him to save Israel from Midian. This confused Gideon and he asked, “Pardon me, my lord, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” Even with God’s assurance, Gideon was still nervous since he only had 32,000 warriors to fight 120,000 Midianites. Then God said:

Even though the Midianites outnumbered the Israelites 4-1, God instructed Gideon to reduce the number of troops down to 300. Although he was nervous, Gideon obeyed and led his 300 soldiers into battle, winning a decisive victory over 120,000 Midianites. In giving them this victory, God showed He was in control. As a result, the Israelites lifted His name up and gave Him the glory.

So how should we apply this lesson to our lives in 2021? Some of you are already a step ahead and thinking about areas in which you need to cry out to God and ask for miraculous victories. Here are some questions to explore that idea further.

1. Who started the conversation that ultimately led to the decisive victory over the Midianites? Does this provide an example of how God wants us to engage Him?
2. Think about how Gideon first approached God in today’s story. Did it sound more like whining or like demonstrating faith in God? Or both?
3. If you knew you were guaranteed to succeed, what victories or accomplishments would you pursue? Have you approached God to help achieve any of these victories?
4. Why do you think God reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300 before the battle began?
5. How would you summarize the main points of today’s lesson?

Is the Sabbath still relevant in 2021? No doubt the answer is ‘yes’, but possibly not for the reason you might think.  Our passage for today’s lesson is from Exodus 20:8-11:

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Two of the primary messages God shared with Moses in the first five books of the Bible were:

1. You shall have no other gods before me and
2. Keep the sabbath holy

I mention these two together because I believe the sabbath is a sub-set of having no other gods (with a little “g”) which we’ll cover below. But first, what do you believe is God’s primary purpose in prioritizing the sabbath so highly? [pause a few seconds to think about it]. The most common answer is that our bodies and minds need rest, and while that is true, I believe rest is not the primary or direct reason God created the sabbath.

After reading through the Bible multiple times and studying it for many years, I’ve come to the conclusion (as mentioned in a previous lesson) that we can summarize the Bible in one sentence……The Bible is the story of God pursuing us. And that’s really all it is.

I mentioned that last point to emphasize that God knows how easily we get distracted and that we need frequent reminders of important messages. So while, yes, we need rest, what we need more is to remember that God provides all blessings and that when we remember Him and rely on Him, He will give us exactly what we need. When we rest on the sabbath, we are telling God that we refuse to worship the “god” that our work can so easily become if we let it. And, in doing so, our minds turn to the one true God, which brings a smile to His face.

Questions:

1. Do you agree with the idea that the sabbath is more about remembering and trusting God than about resting?
2. Did your views of the sabbath change after reading today’s lesson? Why or why not?
3. Have you ever consistently and intentionally observed the Sabbath? What effect did it have on your life and wellbeing?
4. Do you think it is acceptable to do yardwork (or similar work) on the sabbath?  That is, should we try to avoid all work or is the primary focus of the sabbath to take a break from our profession/career?
5. Are there any changes you would like to make based on today’s lesson?