week of 3/27

Unit 8  Session 1

WITNESSING GOD'S MERCY

JOSHUA 2 ; 5-6

God provides salvation to all who trust in Him and makes them part of His people. 

The Israelites had crossed the Jordan River, on dry ground, no less, and had entered into their promised land. With renewed strength and the comfort of God's promises, the people of God set up camp and looked forward to a hopeful future. With the all-powerful God on their side, their enemies stood no chance. But though God would use Israel as the weapon of His judgment against the Canaanites, He remains the God of perfect mercy and grace, even holding out salvation to His enemies who trust Him for it. God's mercy is not limited to one group of people but extends out to all peoples and to the ends of the earth.

Points to consider:

✞   An enemy appeals for kindness from the Lord's people.

     * How does the Christian's faith compare with Rahab's?

✞   An enemy is spared from destruction by the Lord's 

     people.

     * Why do you think God often uses seemingly foolish or

      strange means to accomplish His purpose?

✞   An enemy becomes part of the Lord's people.

     * Why is it important for God's people to keep their 

        word? 

     * How should Rahab's story affect the way we think

        about those who seem far away from the Lord? 

week of 3/20

Unit 7  Session 3

GOD'S PRESENCE IN HIS WORD

PSALM 119 ; 2 TIMOTHY 3

The Scriptures are the standard of authority for the believer, providing the message of Salvation and guidance for how to live.

Joshua heard the Lord appoint him to leadership over the Israelites in the place of Moses. He received God's encouraging word to "be strong and courageoous" because God promised to be with him and the people of Israel. Furthermore, the Lord gave Joshua instructions about their entry into and conquest of the promised land that he was to lead the people to obey. Because God is our holy and good Creator, His Word is authoratative, declaring God's plan for our salvation and His expectations for our obedience. In this session, we will delve into our great need for God's Word and discover His intended purposes for it.

Points to consider:

✞   God's Word provides wisdom for salvation.

     * Who are some people that have taught you

      the Scriptures, helping you to find salvation

        in Jesus?

     * Why is the Bible deserving of our obedience

        and full submission?

✞   God's Word provides instruction for a life of 

     fulfillment in God.

     * When we think about fulfillment in life, why

      should God and His Word immediately come

        to mind?

✞   God's Word provides precepts for pure living.

     * What are some ways we can treasure God's

        Word in our hearts? 

week of 3/13

Unit 7  Session 2

GOD'S PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE

joshua 3-4

The Lord goes before His people in power to lead them where He

desires.

God appointed Joshua to lead the Israelites into the promised

land, and He gave His representative instruction and encourage-

ment by the assurance of His presence. As the new mediator

between God and God's people, Joshua obediently relayed God's

command that the people would cross the Jordan River and

conquer their enemies so that they could obtain the land God

had promised them. Now three days later, the people were

prepared to take their first steps of obedience through a

raging river.

Points to consider:

✞   God's people are to anticipate the Lord's

      provision.

     * What are some things you can do to 

      better prepare your heart to observe

        and bear witness to God's work in

        your life?

     * How did God prepare His people to

        receive His provision in this passage?

✞   God's people are to follow the Lord's

     guidance.

     * What are some ways you have seen

      your faith in God's guidance become

        sight?

✞   God's people are to remember the

     Lord's works.

     * What are some ways the church has

      been instructed to remember the

        Lord's works?

week of 3/6

 Unit 7  Session 1

GOD'S PRESENCE WITH JOSHUA

joshua 1

God's Word is a source of guidance, strength and hope to His people.

Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years

because of the people's failure of faith in refusing to take the

promised land a generation earlier. Now a new generation had

arrived on the edge of the promised land, but Moses would no

longer lead them, for he too would die outside the land for his

own disobedience. So this next generation would need a new

leader, and God had raised up Joshua in the shadow of Moses

to fulfill this role. In the midst of a climate of disappointment,

failure, and death, God set the stage with Joshua to demonstrate

His faithful commitment to His people despite their sinfulness.

Points to consider:

✞   God gives direction and comfort through

     His presence.

     * What are some ways God reminds us

        that He is still at work in our lives,

        regardless of our circumstances?

     * What does the promise of God's presence

        mean for believers today?

✞   God gives strength and courage through

      His Word.

     * What are some future promises that help

        believers be strong and courageous today?

✞   God gives hope and victory through

      His promises.

     * Why did Israel have reason to have

      confidence in Joshua's instructions?

week of 2/27

 Unit 6  Session 4

A HOLY PEOPLE

1 PETER 1

As God is pure in all His ways, He calls His people to live likewise

in response to all He has done for them in Christ.

Throughout the Israelites' time in the wilderness, both the year

of rescue and the remaining forty years of punishment, God's

people found occasion after occasion to rebel against their

sovereign Savior. Yet God remained holy in all His interactions

with His people because that is Who He is - God is holy. He 

displayed His holiness through His abundant patience, His

faithful provision, His swift discipline, and His good law. In

all of this time, God worked to make for Himself a holy people

because God's image-bearers should be holy as He is holy, a

principle picked up in the New Testament book of 1 Peter.

Points to consider:

✞   God's people are to be holy, having been

     called by a pure God.

     * Why should Jesus' second coming impact

        our lives today?

✞   God's people are to live reverently, having

     been redeemed by a pure sacrifice.

     * How should a pursuit of holiness honor

        God?

     * What has been your favorite foreshadowing

        of Christ in the exodus narratives? Why?

✞   God's people are to love sincerely, having

     been given a pure heart.

     * How should we, as people changed by the

        gospel, show love to others?

week of 2/20

 Unit 6  Session 3

AN UNGRATEFUL PEOPLE

NUMBERS 21

God is right to judge sin, yet He is gracious to provide a way of

salvation.

The Israelites had been confronted afresh with God's holiness

through His grace in providing them with water and His

punishment of their leaders. Aaron soon died in the wilderness

on Mount Hor as a result of their disobedience at the rock, but

not before the priesthood had passed on to his son, Eleazar,

so the people's relationship with the Lord might be preserved.

Aaron's death was yet another tangible testimony of God's

commitment to and expectation of holiness, and the people

mourned him there for thirty days. And then the Lord provided

them with their first victory over an enemy nation. Yet Israel

remained undeterred, and they would soon sin again.

Points to consider:

✞   The Lord's people sin, despite His gracious

     provision.

     * How does reflecting on God's gracious

        provision help us not to sin against Him

        and others?

✞   The Lord's people are disciplined, drawing

     then toward repentance.

     * How should this punishment of Israel 

        cause us to think about our own sins?

     * What should our repentance of sin

        entail?

✞   The Lord's prophet intercedes, prompting

     the means of healing.

     * Why might we doubt God's ability to 

        save us?

week of 2/13

 Unit 6  Session 2

A UNFAITHFUL PROPHET

NUMBERS 20

The unfaithfulness of people always comes at a great cost - the

judgment of a holy God.

Because Israel rebelled and refused to enter and conquer the

promised land as God had said, they were punished with forty

years of wandering in the wilderness, one year for every day

the spies were in the land. That generation was condemned to

die in the wilderness outside of the promised land, but the next

generation would claim the land by God's grace. Still, the people

continued to succumb to discontent and disobedience, a failing

that affected their leaders as well.

Points to consider:

✞   Unfaithfulness leads to a pattern of sin.

     * Why do you think we gravitate to the

        same types of sin over and over again?

     * What does dealing faithfully with sin

        look like?

✞   Unfaithfulness results from a failure to

      trust God.

     * What are some lessons we ought to 

        learn from Moses' and Aaron's 

        examples?

✞   Unfaithfulness brings the judgment of

     a holy God.

     * Why does God's severe discipline of 

        Moses and Aaron not sit well with

        many of us?