Gods Life of Love: A Bible Study

God’s life
of love living right and

making life right for others
One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked: “Which
commandment is the first of all? Jesus answered “You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second
is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no
other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28–31)
Contents
Introduction and suggestions for use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1. God’s Great Gift of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. God’s Great Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3. God’s Great Requirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4. The Hard Work of Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5. Great Generosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6. God’s Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
7. God’s Great Surprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Tim Dearborn and Don Posterski

Directors, Christian Commitments
World Vision International
June 2007
© 2007 by World Vision International
God’s life of love Living right and making life right for others
Introduction Notes
A true story is told of a Christian man who had a son who was also a Christian. The son had given his life to
Christ in high school. The father loved his son so much he was prepared to do anything for him. He loved
fishing and he taught his son how to fish. They always looked forward to the next fishing trip. The son had a
very close friend at school who used to visit often. The friend was not a Christian. On one of the fishing trips
the father agreed to the friend coming along. On this particular day the weather was just right for a wonder-
ful day of fishing. The three were in the boat expecting a good catch. Suddenly there was a strong wind. The
two boys were in the water fighting for their lives. The father could not save both of them. It was either the
son or the friend.
What does the gospel teach us about God’s love?

• God loves us.
• God wants us to know that we are loved.
• God wants us to learn how to love him, ourselves and others.
God’s love changes everything. It can change us. It can change the world.
God’s Life of Love is for people who have come to know and believe in God. And it is also for those who are
seeking to know God. We have heard before that God loves us unconditionally, sacrificially and unselfishly.
We know we are to love others in the same manner. But we find it hard to believe that we are loved that much.
And hard to imagine how to love others the way that God wants us to.
But deep inside we know that if we can experience that love in an intimate and personal way, then our lives
will change. We will understand why we are here and what we are to do in our lives.
God’s Life of Love is an invitation to be deeply loved and to learn how to love deeply. It has to do with living
life right and making life right for others. To understand how to do that, we need to return to God and learn
from God and each other.
This study will help us see our own lives as a mission to the world. Often when we hear the word “mission” we
think of “missionaries.” Maybe we have met some missionaries and admired them—or wondered what exactly
they were doing?
We believe that we are all on a mission. It is a mission of being loved and loving in return.
Embracing God’s Love: We are loved by the God of love—a God who is profoundly wise—a God who
made the world with each person in mind, including you and me.
Living right and making life right for others God’s life of love
Notes The Christian faith is about God’s life of love. It is not to be understood to be fulfilling a set of rules. Do this.
Don’t do that. Other times we may think there are no rules. Do anything at all because God will forgive you.
The Christian life is not about either of those things. It is about being loved by God, loving God back and fol-
lowing Christ in the world.
Sometimes when we try to follow Christ, we only think about God when big things are happening. We pray
about the big decisions. Should I move my family? Should I marry that person? Should I go to that church?
In this study, we will see that God is part of every moment of our life. God’s love can impact the biggest deci-
sions, and the smallest choices.
We believe that God wants the best for all of us. And the best begins with knowing that we are loved and for-
given. And it continues with living a life that is different because of it. That life will involve seeking justice,
righteousness and compassion. It will involve truth for our own lives and others. It will be about taking what
we believe and making it what we do.
This is not an easy thing. But it is a joyful thing. We are people who want to pursue what God has designed
for the best of life, for the rest of life—however long or short that may be. So we take God and the Scriptures
seriously. We stand alongside other followers from times past and we stand beside you today. We welcome
into our time and space Jesus’ promise and invitation: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so send
I you.” (John 20:21).
If we think of ourselves as part of a beautiful orchestra of instruments, voices and song, we will see that we
are all different. We do not all play the same instrument. We do not all sing the same way. Together, though,
we create something that the world has not heard before. It is a new song. A God song of justice, love, humil-
ity and a world-change that can make things right.
If you have ever wondered, “Why am I here?” then we know you can contribute much and take away much
from this study.
We will discover together that we are all here for a purpose. Our purpose will turn our days and nights into a
lifestyle of mission. Join us on this adventure!
1
Session 1 Notes
God’s great
gift of love
“God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” —St. Augustine
Welcome and Worship
In a typical African context, every phase of human development is accompanied by questions that are unique
to those stages. It is a universal expectation that a baby will go through certain developmental stages. This
may be sitting, teething, standing, or walking. In African cultures, when these stages are delayed, people
wonder. They start asking questions. Between ages 25–30 years, it is expected that a young man will have a
job, and be making progress in finding a future wife. If that does not happen at this age, questions arise. At
midlife, it is expected that a family would have been established, and with it family assets—house, furniture,
vehicles etc. However, when calamity strikes—the loss of a spouse, the family house burnt down, family sav-
ings gobbled by inflation—people are perplexed. They ask questions that often remain unanswered. People
ask all sorts of questions as they seek for meaning to varied life’s experiences.
Even if we have not asked those big life questions out loud, we have probably thought about them at least one
time in our lives. Asking questions is one of the things that is common to all people, wherever they live, what-
ever their work or life circumstance. Perhaps our children have even asked us those questions about them-
selves and their own lives. Such are the questions of identity, purpose and destiny. Like these:
• W ho am I?
• W hy am I here?
• W hy am I alive?
• W hy was I born to this family?
• In this place?
• At this time?
• W here am I going in life?
• W hy me?
Those are big questions. And they are good questions. When we ask those questions we must think about our
lives. We consider what we have done so far, what our lives are like. Are there any causes for celebrating the
things that make us happy and satisfied? Or do we feel there is something missing?
Notes We all know people with big regrets. They wish they had done something differently. Or they wish they had
not done something that they know hurt others deeply. When we examine ourselves, our lives, are there
things that we regret?
None of us wants to end or live with regrets like that. Every man and woman wants to be able to say: “My life
was good. Thank you God for the life I have lived. Thank you for the life I am living.”
And it is a gift when others can say that of us: “Thank you God for that person. Thank you for the life they
have lived. Thank you for the life they are living.”
At the end of our life we all want to be able to say: “My life was good. I lived right and helped make life right
for others. Thank you God for the life I have lived. Thank you for the life I am living.”
Let’s pray and ask God to help us live right and make life right for others.
Talk in a group about people you know who you think live life right and made life right for others. Perhaps
you think of a person who has died, but lived life to the fullest.
• W hy do you admire this person?
• W hat did they do in their life to make you think they lived life well?
• How did they help make life right for others?
Presentation 1: What is God’s Great Command?
We know that God made us. God put us here. In this place. At this time. We believe it was for a reason. To
find out the reason, let’s find out more about God and his Great Command. As Christians, we tend to think
that if we knew God better, or loved God more, we would be more satisfied, and our lives would count
for more.
From the Bible:

“Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus: ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ He said
to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your
neighbour as yourself.’ And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer, do this, and you will live.’”
(Luke 10:25–28)
“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them an expert in the
law tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first
and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the law and the Notes
Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” (Matthew 22:34–40)
• hat does it mean to love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all strength?
W
• W ho is your neighbour?
• W hat is the significance of loving your neighbour?
• In what sense is loving neighbour like loving God?
• W hat does Matthew mean by the whole law and the Prophets?
He asks us to love the Lord our God with our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength.
Think and respond:

What does this mean for me? Is there a part of yourself that you wish to open more to God? Your heart? Soul?
Mind? Body? Do I love God? Is he my treasure? Is he the most important valuable person in my life?
Here is the good news:

God is love. God lives in a love relationship: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are created to live in healthy
relationships. Christ invites us to live lives of love. Living in a restored relationship with God changes us and
how we view others. We are invited to live in powerful, new relationships with each other. With God’s help,
we can live right and make life right for others.
Going back to our story about the father, his son and the friend who went fishing, who would you save? Why?
In this true story, the father actually chose to save the friend. The son drowned. His reason for making such
a difficult decision was that his son was a Christian. He knew that his salvation was surely secured, but not
the friend.
From the Bible:

“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live
through him. This is love: not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice
for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another … God is love, and all
who live in love live in God, and God live in them.” (1 John 4:11–20)
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
• W hat is God’s greatest demonstration of love?
• W hat is the impact of that love?
• Have you believed and responded to God’s love?
Notes The command to love self: love your neighbour as yourself.
(Luke 10:27, Matthew 22:39)
It is directed at us and all of creation. We do not earn it or work for it. God sends it to us. And we can
respond to it. First, we must deal with the surprise part of this. Yes, God loves us because we are created in his
own image therefore we have dignity and worth. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are his artistic
workmanship. Genesis 1:26–27: Psalm 139:14
Some of us have heard that our whole lives. But God also calls us to love ourselves. God’s call for us to love
ourselves is a surprise to many. Many of us are much better at hating ourselves. (What activities, behaviours
do we do to hate ourselves?) By doing that, we do the exact opposite of what God asks us to do.
But what God, through God’s love, enables us to do, is to love ourselves! For some of us, that will take much
prayer and a lot of hard work. If we have not been loving ourselves, or even liking ourselves, it takes work to
change those patterns of thought and feeling. But it is possible. Many, many Christians have broken a life-
long habit of not loving themselves. They have dealt with the hurts of the past, their own mistakes or others
that have made it hard to love themselves. The first step of healing is almost always basking in God’s love for
us. God loved us first. Accept that. Live that. Breathe that. And then, slowly, it is possible to love yourself.
We are here today because we want to respond to God’s love. We want to live a life that is different because
we know that God loves us and wants us to love as God does. God’s love reached out and touched us.
Encountering God’s love changes us.
And we want to let love change us. Loving others as ourselves means that we actually do love ourselves.
Here is the good news: We do not need to hide. God loved us first. He keeps on loving us every day. Day in
and day out. Even when we mess up. Even when we make big mistakes.
When we really believe that, we can believe that we are truly loved by God. We can start to accept ourselves.
We can begin to love ourselves. When we begin to love ourselves, we begin to love others better. Our love
for others becomes healthy and strong. It is coming from a good and healthy place. And it does good and
healthy things.
When we know we are loved, we can live differently in the world. The world does not control us. Instead,
knowing that we are loved frees us to love.
Try saying these words to yourself: “God loved me from the very beginning of my life. And God still loves
me today.”
Think and respond: Notes
What does this means for me?
Remember the difficult decision the father made to save the friend, and not his son? When the friend came to
understand the reason why his friend’s father saved him, he must have felt especially loved by this man.
Later on that young man gave his life to Christ as Lord and Saviour. He became a devoted Christian. The
father went on to become the pastor of a local congregation. Today the friend serves in the same church.
Can you remember a time that you felt especially loved by God? Describe the feelings that memory brings
back to you.
Talk in a group:
Why is it hard to believe that God loves us?
Is it hard to believe that loving God and others is actually the reason we are here, at this time, in this place,
living this life? Share from personal experience why it is difficult to love self?
Presentation 2: Loving our neighbours (John 15:12, 17; Romans 12:9–10)
“Love is an attitude and affection expressed in benevolent behaviour and action which seeks the ultimate wel-
fare of another.” (1 Cor 13:4–7)
(Note: Gal 5:14; 1 Thes 3:11–12; 4:9–10; James 2:8; 1 Peter 1:22; 3:8; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11–12, 21; 2 John 5)
Questions:
• W ho does not have a neighbour?
• Do you know who your neighbours are?
• Have you ever visited them?
We believe that God loved us first. That he loves us still. No matter what. We try to love God back. Most of
us are not very good at that. But God is very good at love. Jesus Christ helps us learn how to love. He shows
us God’s love. He responds to God’s love for us and with us.
The Bible says that we are alive in Christ. The Holy Spirit helps us feel God’s love for us. The Holy Spirit helps
us love God and others in a new and powerful way.
As we grow in love for God with everything we are—our emotions, our spirits, our bodies and our minds—
we find that we are given a job in the world. A purpose. We are sent out into a broken world and asked to
share God’s love there. One way we love God is to love our neighbours who are the people in our lives and the
people we share the world with.
Notes Love is our job. Love is our business. Love is our purpose.
We are free to love people freely, because God loves us freely.
We began with a very big question: Why are we alive?

We discover that the answer is not found striving for success in the world. It is found in God. It is accepting
God’s love for us. It is also found in loving God, in loving ourselves and in loving others.
Talk in a group:
Talk about love being a “feeling” and love expressed as “behaviour.”
When do you have positive feelings about God, about yourself and about others?
Complete the sentence… “ I feel (think) good about God when…”
“I feel (think) good about myself when…”
“I feel (think) good about other people when…”
Think about the events of your life in the next week. What “acts of love” do you want to express – toward
God, toward yourself and toward others? How will the way you live this week be different?
Closing
Pray together
10 God’s life of love Living right and making life right for others
2
Session 2 Notes
God’s great
commission
“There is no smaller package in all the world than that of a person wrapped up in oneself. Love is
the final measurement of our stature. The more we love, the bigger we are.”
—William Sloane Coffin
Welcome and Worship
The first session reminded us that we are deeply loved by God. Love changes everything. It changes how we
see ourselves. Love changes how we see others. It also changes how we see our relationship with other people
and the world. God’s love helps us live life right. It helps us want to make life right for others. Share in small
groups how you thought or acted differently this week because of this “love reminder.”
Presentation 1: Love changes everything
God loves us just as we are. We do not have to become something else. God loved us first and God loves us
best. Just the way we are. Every living person longs to be loved like that. It is a gift from God. And we can all
receive it. We can be very good people and pray all day, every day. It does not make God love us more. That is
why it is called grace. It is not about what we do to earn it. It is a free gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8)
That is the good news of the Gospel. And more good news is that it is about more than just us and God. It is
beautiful to be loved by God. But the Gospel is about more than “Jesus and me.” It is about being open to
that love, accepting it, being changed by it, and then being inspired by it to change our lives and the world.
God does love us just the way we are. But God loves us too much to leave us the way we are. God does love
the world. But God loves the world too much to leave it the way it is.
We know ourselves. We know our hearts and our minds. We know that we can be better in terms of living
right. We know that the world can be better by making life better for others. We want to change. We want
the world to change. Sometimes, we feel weak. We feel insecure. We feel trapped by our problems. We see
other people who are weak and hurt. We suffer. We watch as others suffer. We want transformation for our
lives and for the world. Love has the capacity to change everything. The Great Commission is about taking
God’s mission of love to a hurting world. It challenges us to live right and making life right for others.
Living right and making life right for others God’s life of love 11
Notes Talk in a group:
Talk in groups about places and situations that need to change. Places where there is great hurt. Places and
people that need to experience God’s love. We have talked about making life right. Where is life wrong now?
Presentation 2: Love and the Great Commission
The world is not how God wants it to be. There is much that is wrong with the world. God calls his people
to help in the work of transforming and changing the world. Ever since brokenness and despair entered the
world, God has been working to heal it. God wants our help. (Reflect briefly on the Fall, its consequence and
why Christ came. Link it to the Great Commission.)
God’s vision for change involves us. God’s plan for change calls us to be agents of change. The world is our
workplace. Our calling is to let God work through us. We know God’s love and we have believed it. We are
changed by it. We begin to change the world with it.
(Note: Colossians 1:15–21; 1 Peter 2:13–25; Matt 16:17–19)
From the Bible:

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw
him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and
earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded
you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ ” (Matthew 28:16–20)
Questions:
• W hy did the disciples worship him?
• W hy did others doubt?
• W hat did Jesus mean by “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me?”
• W hat did the disciples understand by “all authority?”
• A re there places we go and feel like God did not come along with us?
We do it in God’s name. If we work to change the world in our own name, using our own power, based on
our own love, we would grow tired.
Jesus sends us out in his own name, using his power. We are sent with Jesus’ authority. Jesus is the Son of
God. When he sends us, we are sent with his presence, in his name and with his authority!
The word authority brings up questions. Lots of people, governments, schools and even businesses use the
word authority. Sometimes, their authority seems to be the opposite of Jesus’ authority. Rulers, leaders, gov-
ernments, nature and even forces of evil seem to have authority. What do we do? Do we ignore them? Do we Notes
live under them and submit to them? Do we believe that God is stronger?
Jesus does have authority over everything. God’s love, through Jesus, extends to everything and every part of
life. That means that God’s love can change everything. Every part of life.
To reduce the reality of Jesus to personal salvation only is an incomplete gospel. The Gospel is political, eco-
nomic, spiritual and social. Everything on earth is to be made new under Jesus: people, nations, principalities
and powers—everything. Our faith is not just about “Jesus and me.” We are thankful that Jesus does love us
so much. He also trusts us with God’s work. (Romans 6:4; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 2:6–12)
Remember, the Gospel is about:

• our lives
• politics
• economics
• the environment
• society
Matthew 28:18 is called the Great Commission. There is nothing else like it. It is bold. It extends to every-
thing. It gives us our job in the world. Remember this line from The Lord’s Prayer: “Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”
How will that happen? Jesus’ Great, and bold, Commission is part of the answer. It gives us three ways to
change the world, with God.
1. Culture can change. “Go and make disciples of all nations.” When we hear that, we think first of
girls and boys, women and men who need to hear about God’s love. That is part of it. But there is
more. When Jesus said “nation” he also meant culture or group. If the world is to change, whole
cultures need to be transformed. Not everything in our cultures is good. There are things in cul-
ture that Jesus came to change. God can help any culture become more like God’s Kingdom.
2. Our lives can change. God calls us to change as individual people. God’s love can change us in
big and small ways. Our new life in God is a gift, and so are the changes that can happen after.
Baptism is part of this. In Baptism, we are buried with Jesus. We rise with Jesus. We live a new life
in Jesus. We are part of our culture. As we change, so can our culture. We can work together as
“culture changers.”
3. Our communities can change. “Teach them to observe all that I commanded.” To follow Christ
means that we hear his word, and then we live it. We hear and we obey. It is true that we are saved
Notes by God’s grace, not by how good we are. But God’s grace is so great that we want to do what God
asks us to do. What God asks us to do impacts our society and our personal lives.
Some of Jesus’ instructions:

• Turn the other cheek
• Love your neighbour as you love yourself
• Love your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
• Don’t take other Christians to court
• Don’t make money the most important part of your life
Therefore when we follow Jesus, it is an adventure of change. The Holy Spirit helps us turn what we believe
into how we act in every part of our life.
Remember, Jesus’ love is about a personal relationship with each one of us. That is true. But it is also about
more than that. It is about layers of relationships at all levels. It is about how families work, how governments
rule, how the economy operates, how global power is held.
A long time ago, God made the whole world. God has something to say about how the whole world is today.
That is true for every woman or man, every culture, every society, every government, every country and every
girl and boy. The Gospel is personal and beautiful. The Gospel is political and bold. It is intimate and private,
and it is very, very public.
Think and respond:

1. What surprises you about this verse in Mathew 28? Why?
2. What new things have you learned about the Great Commission?
3. What changes could God bring to your personal life? Your culture? Your community?
4. Divide into small groups. Each group will take one area of change.
In your group, discuss what change in your area would look like.
Now, have some fun and draw pictures or write words that describe your area made new. You have drawn a
picture of what God’s Kingdom could look like!
Closing
Discuss as an entire group what you learned during that activity. How did it make you think about making
life right for others?
Read together: Notes
Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me … Remember I am with you always, even
to the end of the age.” Jesus has authority over all things. There is nothing outside his authority.
God loves us. God’s love changes us. Jesus sends us into the world to help change the world that God loves.
There is nothing that God can’t change.
We are not alone in our work. Jesus is with us always. Everywhere and every time.
We serve together with God’s strength.
Think and respond:

Think about areas of your own life where God could help you change. This is about making your own life
right. What are those areas? Ask God to help you do that.
Think about areas of your society and culture that God might be asking you to help change. This is about
making life right for others. What are those areas?
3
Notes Session 3
God’s great
requirement
The whole teaching of the New Testament is foreshadowed in Micah 6:8 …
God has told you “what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to
love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?”
Welcome and Worship
We have learned that God loves us. We have been reminded that God’s love can change us. It can change our
lives, our culture and our community. It can alter relationships forever. It is about making our lives right and
it is about making life right for others.
We hear that God’s love for us helps give us a purpose in the world. It could be called a job. Most jobs have a
job description. We know what is required of us.
To plant a garden, we need seeds and tools. To build a house, we need building materials. To prepare a meal,
we need food and heat. We do jobs well when we know why we need to do them.
Presentation 1: What does God require of us?
In our last study we drew pictures of what changed lives, a changed community and a changed culture might
look like. It’s one thing to draw it. It is harder to do it. What is God really asking of us? The answer is simple
and very practical.
From the Bible:

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
At the end of our last study, you were asked to look around you to see areas that could be changed in your
community and culture. That is what Micah did. Micah lived sometime between 750 and 696 B.C. He saw
what was wrong in the culture he lived in. He saw how social sin impacted the small towns and villages of his
country of Judah.
Micah saw how the rich treated the poor. It wasn’t right. He saw the poor lose their homes and their land. It Notes
wasn’t right. He saw a lack of kindness, a lack of justice, a lack of humility. He saw religious leaders, business
people and other people in authority use their power in evil ways.
Micah called out and said what was wrong in that time, at that place. He teaches us what God expects of peo-
ple who are trying to live lives of love.
During our last session, we saw how Jesus gave us the Great Commission. The one command had three life-
changing, world-altering dimensions. The prophet Micah reminds us, reminds us of the Great Requirement.
Like the Great Command to love God, love yourself and love your neighbour, the Great Requirement is also
one command, with three life-changing, world-altering dimensions. It is a call to justice, mercy and humility.
It applies to everyday situations and it applies to world-wide situations.
Jesus gave the Great Commission. Micah reminds us of the Great Requirement. It is one command, in
three parts:
1. Do justice
2. Love mercy
3. Walk humbly with your God
Let’s look at justice first.
What is Justice?
Thinking about the concepts of justice, mercy and humility in the vernacular could help the discussion.
In the Bible, justice means to make things right. When you see the word justice in the Bible, you almost
always see these words near it: widow, fatherless, orphans, poor, hungry, stranger, needy, weak, oppressed.
The call to do justice means that something is not right. Something is wrong with the way things are. We are
called to work with God to make them right.
It means that people like widows, orphans, the poor and the oppressed have a fair chance to live right. They
have a chance to work, to live with dignity and to provide for their families.
Justice means giving food to the hungry so that they can live. It also means asking why they don’t have food
in the first place—and making that right too. Justice responds to the need we see, but it also works to solve
the bigger problem (restoration of human dignity). It means giving people a chance to start over again. It
means removing the walls that keep them in a bad situation.
Notes Justice means responding to the basic needs so that people can live.
God changes us, in Christ, so that we can begin again. God asks us—requires of us—that we work to change
the world by doing justice.
Think and respond:

1. W hat is your definition of justice?
2. W hat groups of people in society might be opposed to seeking justice?
3. W hat attitudes and behaviors cause people to be indifferent toward injustice?
4. Think again about yourself—about your church. Does your church give attention to one thing
(justice, mercy or humility) more than the others? Why do you think that is?
Presentation 2: Justice, mercy and humility
Now, let’s talk about mercy and humility, the other parts of Micah’s call.
Justice and mercy are good friends. They work together. One cannot live without the other. Mercy opens the
door for people to grow and flourish, whether they deserve it or not. Justice makes sure the door does not
slam shut ever again.
Mercy allows people to fail and begin again.
When justice and mercy work together, the changes we make in the world and in our lives can last. Together,
justice and mercy are life changing, and have the potential to be life-long gifts of change. Justice and mercy
mean that when we work to make our lives right and make life right for others, the changes have a chance of
being long-lasting.
We don’t do justice well when we do it with anger, judgment or criticism. We don’t do mercy well when we do
it just to make people feel good at the moment, instead of making things right for the long term.
When justice and mercy are done right, and done together, they produce something that might not have
been there before. It is humility. When people around us work to make our life better, we are humbled. We
can hardly believe they are doing this for us. Through their mercy, we see God’s mercy. God’s mercy leads
to humility.
The third part of Micah’s call was for humility with God. He said to “walk humbly with our God.” When we
pray, we are reminded who God is in comparison to who we are. God is the Creator. We are the created ones.
Walking humbly with God protects us from being consumed by our self-importance. Humility keeps us cen-
tered on God.
There is another dimension of humility to understand. The word humility shares the same root as the word Notes
humus, or soil. When we walk in humility with others, we walk on level ground. We are not better than
them. They are not better than us. God sees us as the same, no matter how much we have, or how little we
have. Rich or poor, we are equal in God’s eyes. We are also the same in many ways. We all need God’s mercy.
We all long for God’s justice. As we look for justice, we walk together with those who are victims and even
with those who are victimizers. That is a radical call.
We receive mercy. We give mercy. We live in mercy. We seek justice to make life right for others. We work
together to help each other reach our God-given potential. We walk humbly with God and each other. This is
our Great Requirement. Micah said it a long time ago. We live it now.
Think about a time when you received mercy from someone. How did it feel? Who needs your mercy right
now? Think about times when God extended mercy to you. How did it feel?
Think and respond:

Talk about what Micah claims God requires from us.
1. Does it make sense to you?
2. Do you value the three dimensions in a balanced way?
3. Does the future invite you to give more emphases to one or two of the requirements?
4. How can that happen?
Closing:
Say together Psalm 85:10: “Mercy and truth have embraced, justice and peace have kissed.”
Share a time of singing and prayer.
End with the prayer of St. Assisi:

“Make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred; let me sow love; where there is injury; pardon;
where there is doubt; faith.”
4
Notes Session 4
the hard work

of love
“Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.” —Nelson Mandela
Welcome and Worship
In our last session we talked about justice, mercy and humility. They work together. They can change us and
help make our lives right. They can help us make life right for others. They can change the world. It sounds
easy. But, of course, it is not.
Talk in a group about how Micah made you think this week. Did you see justice, mercy or humility in any
place or situation? Did you see a lack of it?
Presentation 1: Love is hard work
Jesus said that the world would know we were his disciples by our love for each other. Love is hard work. It
may mean loving someone we don’t like. To do good works can make us feel uncomfortable. Issues are not
simple. The answer to a problem is not always clear.
To follow Jesus and do what Micah says takes courage and conviction. We have to be strong. We have to
believe. It takes courage to do the right thing in many different situations: at home, in marriages, with chil-
dren, at church, in the government and in the world.
Think about one or two issues in the areas named above that concern you now. Are they easy? Are they very
hard? Why? How can they be solved?
Talk in groups about what you think. What are the big issues in your community now? Write them on paper.
Put them on the wall.
Presentation 2: Conviction and compassion Notes
Conviction and compassion help us work for change.
Convictions are what we believe. They are what we hold most important. We believe them to be true. They
guide what we do. Convictions are our beliefs, our values and our moral compass. Convictions impact
our actions and direct our path in life. Without conviction, we can become sloppy in our lives. We will
do whatever we want, whenever we want, with whomever we want. We will not have principles to guide
our behaviour.
Compassion helps us feel what others may feel. We see through others’ eyes. We have room for other people
in our hearts and in our lives. When we have compassion we can “walk a mile” in another’s shoes. We can feel
what they are feeling. We can see what they are seeing. Without compassion, we can become judgmental and
mean. We will have problems in our relationships. It will be difficult to love and be loved.
Think about what life would be like without conviction—without compassion.
The Conviction/Compassion Dilemma

We have probably all met someone who had lots of compassion but little conviction. Or lots of conviction but
not much compassion. Sometimes, a lot of one means a little of the other. When either one exists without the
balance of the other, there can be trouble. Our actions can become hurtful, or our love can smother or not
really help another person. We may become lazy. Or we may become overzealous. If our goal is to live right
and make life right for others, we need to find the right balance between conviction and compassion.
Think and respond:

Talk in groups about compassion and conviction. Sometimes people have lots of compassion, but little convic-
tion. Sometimes, they have lots of conviction, but little compassion. This is a problem. What can go wrong?
Presentation 3: Bring compassion and conviction together
From the Bible:

“Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came
to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had
been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was
caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.
Now what do you say?’ They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straight-
Notes ened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And
once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, begin-
ning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up
and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one sir,’ And Jesus said,
‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’” (John 8:1–11)
It was a life-or-death moment. The Pharisees were going to kill the woman. They were also looking for ways
to hurt Jesus by trapping him. But Jesus says that all people sin. Everyone is guilty. When we are talking
about morals, no one can throw stones.
Jesus uses compassion and conviction in this story. He protects the woman. He sets her free. But he tells her
to sin no more.
Our world needs compassion and conviction. Life works well when we use both. When one lives without the
other, there are problems.
Conviction can become too hard. It can lead to arrogant judgment. But compassion, driven by love, can
become too soft. Not everyone is right. Not everything is good. Christians need to hold conviction and com-
passion at the same time.
Think and respond:

Talk about how Jesus acted in the story.
• W hat was his balance between conviction and compassion?
• Let’s divide life into five big areas: social, political, global, religious, interpersonal. Pick one issue in
each area that needs to be solved.
• Write the issues in the table below. Write examples of things done by conviction and things done
by compassion in response to the issue.
• Discuss how both could work better together.
• How do compassion and conviction work together to help you live right and help make life right
for others?
Dimension Specific issue Compassion-driven Conviction-driven behaviour Integration of both
behaviour
Social
Political
Global
Religious
Family, interpersonal
Notes
Discussion as a large group (10 minutes)
• L
et us hear from two small groups as they name their issue, and describe what they think a combi-
nation of conviction and compassion look like in response to it.
• Discuss as an entire group ways in which the integration of conviction and compassion enhance
our response to life’s complex conflicts and sorrows—and add further insight into our calling in
the world.
Closing:
In quiet, read this prayer of Jesus:
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. They are
not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into
the world, I have sent them into the world … My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will
believe in me through them, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May
they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me … I in them and you in me, so that
they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you have sent me and have loved them
even as you have loved me.” (John 17:15–23)
Think about the lists of issues we made earlier. Pray that both conviction and compassion will help solve them.
5
Notes Session 5
great
generosity
“Locked in every human being is a store of love that partakes of the divine—the imago dei, the
image of God that is within us.” —Huston Smith
Welcome and Worship
Last time we met, we spoke of conviction and compassion. We claimed that both virtues need to be held in
balance. When we act like Jesus did with the woman in the story, we find balance. We begin to live right and
make life right for others. We see God more clearly. We hear God’s call in our life more clearly. We express
“Micah moments” when we can act with justice, mercy and humility.
Presentation 1: Grace God’s way
The Christian life is a grace story. God gives it. We live in it. Grace helps us live God’s way. The word char-
ity and grace are related. They come from the same Greek root. Charity is grace in action. It is God’s grace in
action. Both are part of living life right and making life right for others.
Think about a time you have received a gift of grace from someone. Think about a time you gave it. How did
you feel receiving? Giving? How were they different?
Most people like to give. They prefer it. Every religion says it is good to give. To give to the poor is central to
every faith, not just Christianity. We are made in God’s image. God is the great giver. We all have that poten-
tial for giving.
From the Bible:

“We want you to know brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of
Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of suffering, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have over-
flowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their
means, and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the
saints—and this, not merely as we expected; they gave themselves first to the Lord, and by the will of God, to
us … For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he Notes
became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich … It is a question of fair balance between your
present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a
fair balance.” (2 Corinthians 8:1–5, 9, 13–14)
Look for the grace in that Bible reading. It is full of grace.
People give money and things away for many reasons. To help. To be popular. To win respect. To feel good.
The Bible seems to say there is another good reason to give. It is about fair balance. It is about making life
right! The receiver needs the gift. The giver needs to give it. Life is not right for the giver or the receiver unless
this happens. Refusing to receive and refusing to give both create injustice. This is two-way humility at work.
We stand on equal ground. God teaches us how. In Christ, God gave us grace. God forgives us and gives us
what we need. But God also works in us to make our lives right again.
Some of us have a lot. Some of us have little. For those with a lot, it is easy to think of giving as a nice thing
to do, an option. It is not about nice. It is about three things:
• The Great Requirement we saw in Micah
• The Great Commission we heard from Jesus
• The Great Commandment we received from God
Think and respond:

Talk in groups about why we give.
1. Does it matter why we give?
2. Justice and giving are related. What does a “fair balance” have to do with giving?
3. How does generous giving relate to living right and making life right for others?
4. Does your own church give like the one in the Bible? (2 Cor 8)
5. W hat are the severe trials, which your church is facing?
6. How are they affecting the giving pattern of your church?
7. W hat do you see as an opportunity to express the wealth of generosity?
8. W hat do you have as your surplus?
9. How can your church make right for others through resources available?
Presentation 2: It is good to give
From the Bible:

“Seek good and not evil, that you may live … Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate … But
let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:14–15, 24)
Notes “We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet
refuses help?” (1 John 3:16–17)
If we want to know how to give, we can look at Jesus. He is the best example of how to give. In fact, we give
in response to Jesus’ giving to us. The church in Macedonia was not rich. Their joy in God, not their money,
helped them give. Generosity came from joy, not riches.
Giving is a life-or-death matter. Not giving, or being selfish, makes us blind. We do not see moments to love.
We do not see times to give. We limp through life when we do not give. If the world is to get a fair balance,
we need to give. We give not from our wealth, but from our joy in God.
We give because God gives so much to us. We do not need to be surprised when people who don’t follow God
give. They are made in God’s image too. We do not give because we think there will be a big reward. We give
because it is the right thing to do. Jesus gave everything, and he suffered. He has scars to prove it. We may get
scars from giving too. It may not always be a happy thing to give. But it will be the right thing.
Think and respond:

Talk about being generous.
1. W hen have you seen great acts of generosity?
2. W hat happens when we do not give?
3. W hat would the world look like if everyone was generous? Draw a picture of that.
4. How does generosity help us to live right and to make life right for others?
5. How can you make life right for someone in your community as a way to express generosity?
Closing:
Sing worship songs together. Thank God for being so generous.
Pray that God would use every part of our lives for God’s work.
6
Session 6 Notes
God’s
interventions
“Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die.” —Bono, U2
Welcome and Worship
Last session our ideas about giving were put to the Jesus test. Does the way we give, whether we are rich or
poor, match the way Jesus gives? We talked about when we have seen—or received—great giving from others.
The way we give, or don’t give, impacts how we live. Our giving impacts our ability to live right and make life
right for others.
It is amazing how God can help us learn to give. By now, we have also seen that we are not in this alone. It is
not about “Jesus and me.” It is about Jesus and us and the whole world. We are God’s partners when we turn
our minds to living right and making life right for others. In this session, we will see more how God is deeply
involved in our lives—sometimes in miraculous ways.
Presentation 1: God meets practical needs
We know that God cares about justice for the poor. We know that the Gospel is about the personal, but it is
also about the public. Jesus had something to say about the structures that keep the world an unfair place.
Often, those unfair structures create great personal need in the lives of people. There are so many verses in the
Bible that show that God cares deeply about our personal needs. There are many stories about God meeting
needs in ways that seem to be miracles.
In the Old Testament book of 2 Kings, there are two that stand out. In 2 Kings 4:2–7, God’s prophet Elisha
instructs a widow to gather all the empty jars she can find. God provides an endless stream of oil from one jar
to another, until each one is full. The widow is able to save her son from slavery to a cruel man because of it.
God provides for the widow, through his servant Elisha, in a miraculous, but very practical way.
The other story happens a little later in 2 Kings. Chapter 7 tells the story of a city on the brink of starvation.
Samaria is the capital of Israel and they have been cut off from food supplies for months. The people are weak
and hungry. Death on a grand scale seems imminent.
Notes Elisha, again, delivers a message from God. He tells the people that God promises there will be food for
everyone by tomorrow. And there is. The enemy army that is surrounding the city flees that night because
they are sure they hear the sound of thousands of attacking riders. There were no riders in sight. They leave all
their supplies and the hungry can eat at last.
Think and respond:

Talk in groups about these stories.
• What do you feel and think when you hear these stories?
• What injustice is evident in the two stories?
• Is God still performing miracles today?
• Do you have a miracle story to share?
• What do you learn about God from these stories?
Stories like that one tell us about an event that happened in a certain time and place. They also tell us some-
thing about the character of God. About God’s passion. When we hear these stories, or experience something
like it in our own lives, we know that God cares. We know that God acts. We know that God uses God’s peo-
ple as partners in getting the right things done at the right time.
Presentation 2: God invades history
When we think of God breaking into human history, we think of Jesus, born in Bethlehem. That is true. And
it is the most vivid, world-changing example.
The Bible, and our own stories, though, show us that God breaks into human history before and after the
birth of Jesus in smaller ways: when God parted the sea so the Israelites could flee their slavery in Egypt;
when God spoke to Elijah in a still small voice; when God helps protect the baby who will grow to be Moses,
using a small basket, a small girl and a willing heart.
When we read the many accounts of God invading human history, we can see that God cares about justice on
a large scale. And God cares about the individual people caught in the trap of injustice. God cares about the
world God created. God cares about how people live, how people die and how the world is run. We can read
that in the Bible, in the laws and instructions that God gives. But we can also see that concern for justice and
mercy in the actions that God takes throughout human history. And, perhaps in our own lives?
Through it all, God is God. We are not. Sometimes we want God to act, and it feels like God does not. There
is a mystery in how God works. Jesus did not heal every sick person he encountered. Sometimes God does
seem to act in a way that can only be called a miracle. Other times, God gets us through our bad times by
simply caring for us in our pain, and through God’s people and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
What we do know is that we are never alone. Never forsaken. Never without hope. Notes
Think and respond:

Talk in groups about God in history, in your history.
• How do you feel about God’s mystery in history?
• Share a time where you have felt disappointed by what seemed to be God’s lack of response.
• Share a time where you knew, without a doubt, that God was present. How did you know that?
• How do you define hope?
Presentation 3: God’s hope for God’s people
From the Bible:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you
will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds
of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not much more valuable than they? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’
or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
(Matthew 6:25–26, 31–33)
We can have a real hope that is built on God’s love for us.
This is how one dictionary defines the word hope: Expectation and desire combined, for a certain thing to
occur. A person, thing or circumstance that gives cause for hope. A feeling of trust.
Christians can bring hope to people who are living without hope. When people are born into poverty, there
can seem to be few options for them. Even for those who are rich, life can seem hopeless.
Into all this pain, the Gospel comes. The Bible is a book of hope. Hope comes in Noah’s rainbow. Hope
shines in the stars that Abraham counts one dark night. Hope rests in God’s promise to never “forsake us”
and the expectation that Jesus will come again.
Jesus brings good news to the poor, for every type of poverty that exists. Where we are born does not define
our whole lives. Whether we live with all the odds against us or we are born with everything going for us,
Jesus can change our lives. In Christ, we see new life, new birth, a new family, and a new community, even a
new citizenship.
God’s mission in the world is to change spiritual and social or economic poverty with better things. That
Notes gives us hope. The Gospel gives us back our dreams. Peter said it at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit gives all peo-
ple—men, women, old, young, rich and poor—the ability to dream new dreams and live with a new vision
for the world and for our lives.
The Holy Spirit gives us the power to do more than just cope with our circumstances and finish life. It pushes
us and empowers us to live right and work to make life right for others. The Holy Spirit mixes compassion,
conviction, generosity and obedience in our lives so we can bear fruit.
Hope is not just a dream, or a thought, or a feeling. Hope is practical. Hope helps us deal with problems.
Followers of Christ can point toward what is good. They can be found in the centre of solutions to the prob-
lems of the world.
Poverty and despair is not the end of the story. The final pages of the Bible speak the truth of what is to come.
It says that all tears will be wiped away. Injustice will end. Poverty will end. Hope won’t even be needed any-
more. (Note: Matthew 6:9–13; Revelation 21:3–7; 1 Corinthians 15:49–57)
Think and respond:

Talk in groups about hope and dreams.
• W hat gives you hope?
• W hat takes away your hope?
• W hat happens when you lose hope?
• If you could make one change in your life to better reflect God’s love, what would it be? Can you
do that? How will you make that change?
• How can we help people with no apparent hope dream again?
Think about where we have come from in this study. We are almost done. Here is a list of the sessions we have
done. They represent a lot of thinking, praying and learning for all of us. They represent an effort to learn to
live right and make life right for others.
Session 1: God’s Great Gift of Love

Session 2: The Great Commission for You, for Me and for the World
Session 3: The Great Requirement
Session 4: Conviction and Compassion: The Hard Work of Love
Session 5: Great Generosity
And today’s Session 6: God in Continuing History
Talk in a group about something you remember from each session. Take some time this week to think about
what we have learned. If you are able, read all the Bible verses again. Pray that God will use them to shape
your life.
Closing: Notes
Pray together. Share requests. If you have drawn pictures that now hang on the walls, look at them again.
Pray about the concerns they show.
End with the Lord’s Prayer.
7
Notes Session 7
God’s great
surprises
Welcome and Worship
In our last study we talked about how God has worked in human history and in our own lives. We see from
God’s pattern of breaking into the world, that God cares about injustice and God cares about its victims. God
wants you and me to partner with God in changing the world. We have great reason to have great hope. God
can do big things with open hearts, open minds and open hands. God can help us live life right and make life
right for others.
Presentation 1: Being bold
We are on a life journey. We know where we have come from. And we know where we will end up. But it’s the
middle part of life that we are not so sure of. The sessions we have shared give us a better idea now, how we
can live the life God calls us to. The Holy Spirit works through us to empower us to live that life.
Life is adventure. We are in it with God and with each other. It is all more than we could ask or imagine. It is
not all good. But it is not all bad either. It is a God-mix of real life with real hope and real faith.
We serve a God of big surprises. Just when we think we know all about God, we learn more. Many of us are
in a place we never thought we would be—because of God. What is the connection between our plans and
God’s plans? Do our plans count?
Here is some of what we have seen:

• God calls us and God equips us.
• We need God’s Holy Spirit and God’s love to do what God has called us to do.
• The Bible shows us what a godly life of love looks like—to live right and make life right for others.
• It is good to obey the part of God’s will that we can see and understand.
• It is okay to not see or understand all of God’s will. No one does.
• God is full of surprises.
A personal testimony: in what sense has your life been a journey and an adventure? Notes
From the Bible:
About surprise places

“Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro … He led his flock beyond the wilderness, and
came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of
a bush … When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses,
Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then he said, ‘Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the
place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ … then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of my
people who are in Egypt … I know their sufferings and I have come down to deliver them … So, come, I will
send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that
I should go?’” (Exodus 3:1–11)
About surprise people

“There was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of the Italian cohort … Cornelius replied [speaking to Peter],
‘Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock, I was praying in my house when suddenly a man in dazzling
clothes stood before me. He said, “Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remem-
bered before God. Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is called Peter.” … Therefore I sent for you
immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. So now all of us are here in the presence of God to
listen to all that the Lord has commanded you to say.’ Then Peter began to speak to them ‘I truly understand
that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable
to him.’” (Acts 10:1, 30–35)
About surprise results

“A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ … The Samaritan woman
said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?’ … Jesus answered her, ‘If
you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him,
and he would have given you living water.’ The woman said … ‘Where do you get that living water?’ … Jesus
said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I
will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I give will become in them a spring of water gushing up
to eternal life.’ The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water.’ … Just then his disciples came. They were
astonished that he was speaking with a woman … Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the
city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the
Messiah, can he?’ … Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.”
(John 4:7–15, 27–29, 39)
Notes Think and respond:
Talk in groups about these Bible passages. Here are questions to ask:
1. W hat did God do that was a surprise?
2. W hat happened in the end?
3. W hat do we learn about what God is like? About our walk with God?
Think about what your life looks like. Have there been surprises? Imagine your life were a river, what would it
look like? Draw a picture.
On your river of life, mark the times when God surprised you. When is your river calm? When is it stormy?
When did it cut new channels? When did it pool? How do you understand God’s role in your journey?
Talk in groups about your picture.
Presentation 2: Conclusion
Here is what we know: God does not leave us alone. We know what is right and good. We know what God
wants. God calls us to obey. Sometimes we do not obey. We know we are not perfect. We are likely to fall.
We need God’s mercy. We need God to lead the way because we cannot see the future.
God can do amazing things with the rest of our lives. Our time together has shown us many things about
how God can work with us to live right and make life right for others.
• God invites us to receive God’s love.
• God loves us so we love others. God gives us opportunities in the world.
• God can use us to make things right. That is our call.
• Conviction and compassion help us do that right.
• Justice matters to God.
• Being generous is key.
• God breaks into human history to make things right on a big scale, and on a smaller scale in indi-
vidual lives. God asks us to work with God to do that now.
• We have hope for now, and hope for eternity.
• God is full of surprises. Great things can still happen in our lives.
Think and respond:

Think about how you will invite God to be with you:
• In love—will you accept God’s love for you? How will you love God more in mind, heart, spirit
and body?
• In the world—do you hear God’s call? How will you obey the Great Commission?
• I n the Great Requirement—do you hear God asking you to help make things right? What is your Notes
personal mission in this world?
• In your compassion and conviction—do you see how the two work together? How will you grow
in both compassion and conviction?
• In your giving—do you hear God’s call to be generous? What will you do to become
more generous?
• In your hope—do you have that wild, holy hope for the future of your own life? For the future of
the world? How will you live as someone with hope?
• In surprises—do you see God as a source of surprises? Can you live in expectation of all that God
can do?
Talk about some of your answers to these questions. Share what you are most pleased about as you begin to
live the rest of your life.
Closing:
Look at the pictures you have drawn during these workshops. Sing and pray together.
End with this prayer, taken from Ephesians 3:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.
I pray that, according to the riches of God’s glory, he may grant that you be made strong in your inner being with
power through the Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and
grounded in love.
I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height
and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness
of God.
Now to the God who is able by the power at work within us to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask
or imagine, to God be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen
May God be with you as you begin this new life of mission: living right and mak-
ing life right for others!
Partnership Offices
800 West Chestnut Ave.
Monrovia, California
91016-3198
U.S.A.
wvi.org
1.1310 – 4729

Gods Life of Love: A Bible Study

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Gods Life of Love: A Bible Study

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

God’s life

of love living right and

Tim Dearborn and Don Posterski

What does the gospel teach us about God’s love?

Welcome and Worship

Presentation 1: What is God’s Great Command?

From the Bible:

Think and respond:

Here is the good news:

From the Bible:

Presentation 2: Loving our neighbours (John 15:12, 17; Romans 12:9–10)

We began with a very big question: Why are we alive?

Welcome and Worship

Presentation 1: Love changes everything

Presentation 2: Love and the Great Commission

From the Bible:

Remember, the Gospel is about:

Some of Jesus’ instructions:

Think and respond:

Think and respond:

Welcome and Worship

Presentation 1: What does God require of us?

From the Bible:

Let’s look at justice first.

Think and respond:

Presentation 2: Justice, mercy and humility

Mercy allows people to fail and begin again.

Think and respond:

End with the prayer of St. Assisi:

the hard work

Welcome and Worship

Presentation 1: Love is hard work

Conviction and compassion help us work for change.

Think about what life would be like without conviction—without compassion.

The Conviction/Compassion Dilemma

Think and respond:

Presentation 3: Bring compassion and conviction together

From the Bible:

Think and respond:

Welcome and Worship

Presentation 1: Grace God’s way

From the Bible:

Look for the grace in that Bible reading. It is full of grace.

Think and respond:

Presentation 2: It is good to give

From the Bible:

Think and respond:

Welcome and Worship

Presentation 1: God meets practical needs

Think and respond:

Presentation 2: God invades history

Think and respond:

Presentation 3: God’s hope for God’s people

From the Bible:

Think and respond:

Session 1: God’s Great Gift of Love

Presentation 1: Being bold

Here is some of what we have seen:

From the Bible:

About surprise places

About surprise people

About surprise results

Talk in groups about your picture.

Think and respond: