Fully Rely on God Sunday School Lesson Topic Discussion

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Fully Rely on God Sunday School Lesson Topic Discussion
1.What steps need to be taken to teach peoplethat God has limits to His patience? Why is thechurch sometimes negligent in doing so?

The pendulous of the church's message seemsto have swung back and forth between extremesthroughout history. Sometimes we see an empha-sis on wrath and holiness to the exclusion of Hislove. Sometimes it's the other way. In an age inwhich bumper stickers proclaim God is Love andGod Loves You, there is the possibility that be-lievers and nonbelievers alike will assume thatGod will always be patient and forebearing.

The church is to have a balanced message. God doesindeed love everyone; He is not willing for any toperish. But God also says He cannot tolerate sin.The church can show that God's judgmentsometimes comes quickly (Genesis 3; Acts 5:1-11). At other times judgment follows many warn-ings (the prophets scorned both the northern andsouthern kingdoms for decades). A review ofGod's judgment on the seven churches in Revela-tion 2-3 can be helpful here. See commentariesthat discuss what eventually happened to fulfillGod's warnings to those churches or their cities.

2.Many attend church looking for "what thechurch can do for me." What steps can yourchurch take to teach individuals about theimportance and priority of worship?

"Today's church service did nothing for me" isthe uncomfortable refrain of some. If all wor-shipers would arrive having prepared themselvesto give genuine honor to God, then they woulddepart having received something very special.Think about it: churches don't really leachmany classes on how or why to worship! Such in-struction could undoubtedly include the idea ofleaving the consumer mentality at home. Thechurch can also stress that meaningful worship isnot limited to the confines of a specific building.A life of worship honors God seven days a week.This happens through our devotional and prayerlives, by how we live, and by how eve treat others.

3. People see corrupt behavior from businessor political leaders, yet may feel powerless to doanything. How can the church encourageChristians not to settle for the status quo?

Prayer comes first. The church then can en-courage Christians to be informed, speak out,and vote. Christians can learn how to collect evi-dence to be used against sinful officials, how toinvolve other government officials to bring aboutchange, and how to organize citizens to insist onjust treatment of all people, especially the poor.At least two cautions are in order. First, work-ing for social justice should never be allowed tosupplant fulfilling the Great Commission (Mat-thew 28:19, 20). Second, preachers should be ex-tremely careful about giving the appearance ofendorsing political candidates or political partiesfrom the pulpit while in the process of address-ing social concerns.

4.Suppose you were in charge of producing 3videos, of 20 minutes each, designed to instructthe young people of your church how they canlive out the three principles in Micah 6:8. Whatwould you include in each video to illustratehow a Christian is to do justly, to love mercy,and to walk humbly with thy God?

Encourage your students to be specific aboutappropriate ways to live out these principles.Challenge your students to answer not only whatbut why. Ask class members which action stepseach will incorporate into his or her life duringthe coming week.

5.What parallels, if any, are there betweenhow the people responded to God in the textand how young people today respond toparental authority? If you see a problem, whatsolutions can you offer?

Some of today's young people are well be-haved in the presence of their parents but live re-bellious lives when they are away from the eyesof adults. Some young people will give all theright answers in a church youth meeting yet dis-obey those same precepts when with their peerslater on.

The church's challenge is to demonstrate howobedience honors God, whose very nature in-cludes holiness and righteousness. The churchcan be careful not to give lists of rules withoutalso passing along knowledge of the one whobreathed the rules into existence (2 Timothy 3:16).

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