week of 11/27

 Unit 15  Session 4

GOD'S IMAGE IN THE NATIONS

GENESIS 5 ; PSALM 139 ; LUKE 10:25-37 ; 2 CORINTHIANS 3

All people possess value, having been made in the image of God.

One key to fully comprehending the wrath and judgment of God is to grasp the nature of humanity. The Bible begins with the story of creation. Filled with many astounding details of how God formed this world and all He filled it with, it is easy to miss one colossal truth embedded within the creation narrative. When God made humankind, He did something different. Every other action was performed without one critical factor found only in the creative act of Adam and Eve, namely, God fashioned humans in His image. Both male and female were constructed to reflect Who God is, providing humankind with a unique and special status within all of God's work.

Points to consider:

✞   All people are made in the image of God.

     * What are some implications of knowing God 

        made every human being in His image?

✞   All people are valued because they are 

     made in the image of God.

     * What are some ways we can prove ourselves 

        to be good neighbors?

✞   All believers are being transformed into 

     the image of Christ.       

     * How does sin keep people from experiencing 

        freedom?

     * What are some ways we need to work on 

        beholding the glory of God in Christ?

week of 11/20

Unit 15  Session 3

GOD'S JUDGMENT THROUGH THE NATIONS

2 CHRONICLES 36

God sends judgment upon all who are obstinate against Him.

In 586 B.C., Nineveh and Assyria have been destroyed and the nation of Judah has fallen under Babylonian control for about two decades. The northern kingdom of Israel is long gone, and the kings of southern Judah have been a mixed bag. Some have followed God, but most have not. God has given Judah a very long leash with ample opportunities to repent of their unfaithfulness. Yet they have broken their covenant with Yahweh, and God's wrath has been stirred - this time against His own rebellious, obstinate people. In His righteousness, God removes His protective hand. Judah's time is up, and destruction comes swiftly through the hands of the Babylonians.

Points to consider:

✞   Obstinate people refuse God's ways.

     * What are some detestable practices of the 

        nations that tempt believers today?

✞   Obstinate people reject God's word.

     * What are some means God uses to speak to 

        us and direct us back to Him?

✞   Obstinate people experience God's judgment.       

     * How might the destruction of the temple have 

        been interpreted by the remaining people 

        of Judah?

     * How should God's promise of a remnant for 

        Judah bring hope for us in our darkest days?

week of 11/13

Unit 15  Session 2

GOD'S JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS

NAHUM

God will punish all sin so that none may accuse Him of unrighteousness.

Over a century after Ninevah's repentant response to God's warning through Jonah, God gave Nahum a final word for the Assyrian capital. We don't know how long the city's contrition lasted, but it eventually faded. In 612 B.C., the Babylonians decimated Ninevah and - thanks to Nahum - God's people saw it coming. This book of prophecy is a record of God's message to His people suffering under the oppression of Assyria. To Ninevah, this was a severe indictment. But these words pointed the hearts of God's people to the holiness, justice, and faithfulness of the Lord, who would certainly, decidedly, and finally avenge the many wicked wrongs wrought by the Assyrians.

Points to consider:

✞   The Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.

     * Why is it good that God is a jealous God?

     * What emotions might rise to the surface 

        knowing God will punish all wrongdoing 

        one day?

✞   The Lord will be a stronghold for those who 

     take refuge in Him.

     * What are some ways we should expect to 

        experience God's care for us?

✞   The Lord will be vindicated before the nations.       

     * How should believers in Jesus respond to 

        the promise of destruction of God's enemies?

week of 11/6

Unit 15  Session 1

GOD'S HEART FOR THE NATIONS

JONAH

God loves all peoples and sends out His Word so that they might repent of their sin.

Many use the story of Jonah, a picture book favorite, as a cautionary tale of the consequences of disobedience. Yet the book of Jonah is more than a tale of a man on the run who ends up in the belly of a fish. God gave Jonah, a prophet during the rule of Jeroboam II (793 - 753 B.C.), the great honor and responsibility of declaring His words to His people. He enjoyed the role of prophet during a time of relative ease and safety. But when God called him to go and speak out against his evil enemies, Jonah bolted in an attempt to shirk the responsibility he had previously embraced.

Points to consider:

✞   A wayward prophet leads others to worship the Lord.

     * How have you seen the decisions of Christ-followers 

        positively or negatively affect unbelievers around 

        them?

✞   A stubborn prophet draws others to repent to the Lord.

     * Why might we give into the thought that some people 

        are too far gone for God to redeem?

✞   A hard-hearted prophet receives compassion from 

     the Lord.       

     * What are some difficult lessons you have had to learn 

        from the Lord?

     * How might we grow in our desire to see all people 

        repent and believe in Jesus?

week of 10/30

Unit 14  Session 4 

A HUMBLED HEART

PSALM 119 ; PROVERBS 28 ; 2 CORINTHIANS 6-7

Repentance is an act prompted by sorrow in which a person turns from sin to Christ.

The past few studies have taken us from the theme of judgment to the theme of grace and back again. From a king to a nation of people, the need for humility is evident. So where should all of this take us? To a humbled heart. We've seen the kindness of God in the past few studies, though kindness and judgment aren't thought to live in the same house. With God, however, they do. The apostle Paul said God's kindness is intended to lead us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). It is to repentance we now look.

Points to consider:

✞   Repentance is the result of godly sorrow.

     * Why should repentance, whether someone 

        else's or our own, result in rejoicing?

     * What are some ways we can recognize the 

        difference between godly grief and worldly 

        grief?

✞   Repentance is the act of turning from sin.

     * What are some ways sinners do not "prosper" 

        when hiding their sins?

✞   Repentance is proven by obedience.       

     * Why does repentance require that obedience 

        follow? 

week of 10/23

Unit 14  Session 3

A HUMBLED PEOPLE

ZEPHANIAH

God saves and restores all those who repent and turn to Him in faith.

The prophet Zephaniah brought one major message to God's people: the day of the Lord was coming. That day was a day of judgment, but it was also a day of grace. God's people and the nations were faced with the reality of God's coming judgment, and Zephaniah's message called all people to repentance to find grace in the face of judgment. The Lord is patient, but His judgment does not delay. It comes soon, so the prophet's call was timely and urgent: Humbly come under the refuge of God's grace or be destroyed by your pride.

Points to consider:

✞   The Lord saves the repentant.

     * Why does humility please the Lord?

✞   The Lord restores the faithful.

     * What are some ways our speech is 

        tainted by the effects of sin?

     * Why is pride such a devestating 

        attitude and sin?

✞   The Lord purifies the humble.       

     * What should sanctification look 

        like in this world plagued by sin?  

week of 10/16

Unit 14  Session 2

A HUMILIATED NATION

ISAIAH 13 - 31

The Lord seeks to show mercy and compassion even to His disobedient people.

God's people always had a tough time obeying. Faithfulness should have marked their lives, but often rebellion was the major key. How did God respond? Did He throw them out and bind Himself to another group of people? By no means! God remains faithful though His people are faithless. God remains true though His people stray. God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in faithful love and truth, staying true to a thousand generations of sinful men and women who love Him. God is just and true, and He is loving and merciful, but He does correct and judge - all to bring us to repentance.

 

Points to consider:

✞   The Lord will be vindicated in judging iniquity.

     * Why might we find it so hard to abandon 

        our self-reliance and trust God alone?

✞   The Lord will be praised for judging iniquity.

     * Why should the promise and fulfillment of 

        God's judgment cause people to worship 

        the Lord?

✞   The Lord will be merciful after judging iniquity.       

     * What does it mean to wait for the Lord?

     * How has God's mercy changed the way you 

        live and see the world?