Week 1: Love is all you need...
Question: "Love God & people"...really?
Answer: "The Priority of Life is Love"
"And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second
is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend
the whole Law and the Prophets." -Matthew 22:37-40
- God is after glorifying Himself and that is accomplished in our loving Him and His creation (1 John 4:15-22)
- Nothing we or say is worth anything without love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
- His glory is ultimate and our love is how we declare His glory to the world (Colossians 3:7)
Week 2 Question: Why is life so hard?
Answer: "The Problem is life to death"
"The one who sins is the one who will die..." -Ezekiel 18:20a
- Sin broke the relationship of man to God and continues to do so, so we gained death, and the relationship we had with God was corrupted and needed restoration and reconciliation (Romans 6:23)
Week 3 Question: What does God do about suffering?
Answer: "The Provision is Life over Death"
"My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if
anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He
Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those
of the whole world" -1 John 2:2
- God made a promise to save ("bless") all nation through Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3)
- When sin entered in God knew we could not live up to His call on our lives to share the blessing, BUT God is perfectly sovereign and just and righteous and therefore must uphold His promise
- THERFORE He sent Jesus to be the perfect propitiation (payment) for our sins so we could have our relationship restored to Him (Romans 3:23-25)
- God used justice and mercy to bring about the fulfillment of His promise to prove His righteousness
Week 4 Question: What difference does trusting God make?
Answer: "The Promise is Death to Life"
"Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." -Romans 6:11
- When we accept Christ by faith as our savior we die to ourselves and live in Christ in order to walk out our faith (Matthew 16:24 | Galatians 2:20)
- Christ died and rose to life so that we can learn from His example, we allow ourselves to die in order that He live in us (1 John 3:14 | Romans 8:13)
Week 5 Question: What is our essential identity?
Answer: "The Pledge is to One Kingdom"
- When we declare faith in Christ we recognize He is the Kings of Kings and align our loyalty to Him alone, above all else (Luke 14:25-27)
- Radically aligning with Christ grants us us a glorious eternity and salvation from our sinful flesh (John 14:6)
- Loyalty to Christ means He is our highest and ultimate authority and glorifying Him is the goal of our lives (Ephesians 1:18-23)
Week 6 Question: How does our identity grow?
Answer: "The Progress is Toward Deep Convictions"
- Once we align our loyalty to Christ we gain the Holy Spirit and He guides us through convictions (John 16:7-8)
- Out of conviction we repent and seek to learn how to live like Christ (Colossians 2:6-7)
- We face trials with joy knowing that we are being changed and made new in order to be more like Christ while understanding this world cannot overcome us because Christ overcame the world (James 1:2-4 | John 16:33)
"And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about
perseverance; and perseverance, proven character, and character, hope" -Romans 5:3-4
Week 7 Question: What becomes the "win" in Christian living?
Answer: "The Prize is Christ's Character"
- Glorifying God means reflecting His character in this world and Christ came to show us what living in God's character is (Colossians 1:13-20)
- We focus on Him to be like Him, being like Him is our goal and gain (Colossians 3:1-4 | Philippians 3:8-16)
Week 8 Question: What do I do with old habits and desires?
Answer: "Put Off Wrong Ways"
- When we pledge to Christ we pledge to die to self , to turn over who we are in exchange for who Christ is, therefore we must lay down who we were for who we will be (Colossians 3:5-9)
- We are still in a broken world and are broken sinners, so maturity is a continual process and we must daily lay down our life to pick up Christ's cross and walk with Him "
"And He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must
deny himself, and take up his cross and daily follow Me'" -Luke 9:23
Week 9 Question: What is there to learn to live better?
Answer: " Put On the Character of Christ"
- Once we let go of things connected to our old selves we then take up who Christ is (Colossians 3:12-17 | Ephesians 6:10-17)
- As we mature in faith and grow in love we begin to look more like Christ, our old self dies more and more and the Holy Spirit bears fruit in us (Ephesians 3:16-17 | Ephesians 4:17-32)
Week 10 Question: What difference will what I learn make?
Answer: "Press On! Grow up into who you are in Christ"
- Sanctification is a lifelong process, we must not grow weary or frustrated in our race toward maturity in Christ because God is infinitely patient in the process (Philippians 3:12-15)
- It is a long and trying process but it makes us stronger in our faith (Romans 5:1-5)
- Our old self is drastically cut away in order to make room for more of Christ (Galatians 5:22-25 | John 12:24)
"For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray
for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all
spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy
of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according
to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience;
joyously" -Colossians 1:9-11
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