Day 1: Light Shines (Gen. 1:3-5)

Outline: Day 1: Light Shines (Gen. 1:3-5):

           

God's word is powerful: "and there was light"(v.3)

• God's delight in the light (v.4a)
• God's desire to distinguish light from Darkness (v.4b-5a)
• God's will for light to overcome darkness (v.5b)

Summary: We have seen that the condition of God's initial creation was characterized by barrenness and darkness, an intentional foreshadowing of the condition of the human heart after the Fall.  But the reader's hope was already kindled when we heard that the Spirit of the eternal God was hovering over the problem.  With the stage set in vv.1-2, we see the remedy introduced in vv.3-5: Light shines in the darkness! 

Main Point:  God wants us to see how he delights in the light and desires that light to be clearly distinguished from the darkness.

Discussion Questions:

• How does vv. 3-5 serve as the remedy to vv.1-2? 
• How do John 1:1-5 and Hebrews 1:3 help us understand the light, God's delight in the light, and the relationship between light and darkness in Gen. 1:1-5? 
• What does this mighty act of God in bringing light teach us about how God converts sinners? (see 2 Cor. 3:12-4-6, esp. 4:6)
• Discuss this statement: "God desires light and darkness to be distinguished from one another."  What does this tell us about the character of God?
• God called the light Day and the darkness Night.  The implication seems to be that God "labeled" light and darkness for us, that we might pay close attention to the labels.  What are some of the implications for us as we live as followers of Jesus (see. John 8:12; 1 John 1:5; Matt. 5:14-16; Rom. 13:12; Eph. 5:11; 1 Pet. 2:9; Col. 1:13)

Application Questions:

• How should a proper understanding of Gen. 1:3-5 shape the way I understand what in means to be converted? 
• Are there areas in my life where I am compromising with darkness, failing to follow the labels God has made to distinguish between what pleases him and what does not?

Prayer Points:

• Praise God for his holiness, the fact that he is light and in him there is no darkness at all
• Praise God for working shining the light of his Son into the darkness of our hearts by the veil-removing work of the Holy Spirit
• Confess ways in which you have failed to follow God's labels that are meant to set us apart from darkness and lead us in the way of light.  
• Ask God to help us be holy as he is holy so that he might be glorified and unbelievers might come to see the glory of his Son and so be saved

Good News for Great Sinners (1 Tim. 1:12-17)

Outline of 1 Tim. 1:12-17: The Gospel is meant to produce...

1. Gratitude
2. Conviction
3. Hope
4. Praise

Summary:   Even 30 years after his conversion, Paul seemed to have never lost his gospel awe.  In fact, Paul was continually filled with gratitude for Jesus' saving grace, confidence in Jesus' willingness to save sinners, hope for those who are still lost in sin, and praise to the God who designed so great a healing balm for the soul.  In short, Paul couldn't get over the privilege it was to be saved by and entrusted with the gospel.  Have we lost our gospel awe?  May Paul's testimony help revive our awe for the gospel such that the fruits of the gospel (gratitude, conviction, hope, and praise) may be freshly manifested in our lives.  

Main Point:  It is a marvelous privilege to be saved by and entrusted with the glorious gospel.

Discussion Questions:

• According to vv.12-14, why is Paul so grateful?
• With Paul's track record, how could Jesus judge him faithful (or consider him trustworthy)?
• What is the clear statement of the gospel set forth in v.15?
• What do you think contributed to Paul's confidence in this gospel? [hint: Consider Paul's testimony and what Paul has seen the gospel do over the past 30 years of his life in ministry]
• How should we understand Paul's claim to be the "foremost" or worst of sinners?
• What was Jesus' special agenda in saving Paul (v.16)?  How might Paul's example bring hope to those who think their sin has put them beyond salvation's grasp? 
• Read v.17.  Do you think this is a fitting way for Paul to end his testimony?  Explain.  

Application Questions:

• On a scale of 1-10 (10- I'm extremely grateful; 1-I hardly think about it), how grateful am I for the privilege of being saved by and entrusted with the gospel?  
• How evident in my life are the gospel effects Paul expressed (gratitude, conviction, hope, praise)? How might I grow in these areas?
• What hope is there in this passage for my current struggle with sin?
• Is there anyone in my life that I'm tempted to think is beyond Jesus' saving reach?  How has this passage helped produce hope?  Pray for an opportunity to share the good news with them.

Prayer Points:

• Thank Jesus for His overflowing grace that washed away your sin and shame  
• Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind any sin in your life.  Then ask for a cleansing flood of fresh grace to wash away any wrongdoing  
• Ask for a renewed appreciation of gospel grace and for faith and love to swell in your heart
• Ask God to save people you may be tempted to think are beyond His saving reach

The Golden Rule: How Jesus Takes Your Selfishness and Turns It Into Love

Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets - Jesus (Matt. 7:12)

The Golden Rule is effective because we are already excellent at half of it.

The first half. Not the second.

Since the day we were born we have been meditating on “whatever you wish that others would do to you.” It starts as a natural, God-given ability to take care of ourselves (cf. Eph. 5:28-29), and then, because sin corrupts the core of every part of us, it grows into selfishness. We become obsessed with loving ourselves and knowing all our favorite this-and-that's. Our heart’s motto becomes “Treat Yourself How You Want to Be Treated.” (Burger King’s “Have It Your Way” is so unoriginal).

So we are good at the first half of the Golden Rule. And oblivious to the second.

Then Jesus comes.

He sees this not-so-hidden talent in us, this power within us to love ourselves, and he turns it into love with the wisdom of the Golden Rule, by the power of the His Holy Spirit, made possible by His death and resurrection. He now teaches us to put ourselves in another person’s shoes and take out our excellent self-loving skills, and to consider how they would want to be treated. Then Jesus calls us to love them in that way, to take action and care for them with as great a care and consideration as we would for ourselves. Jesus changes our heart’s motto into “Treat Others How You Want To Be Treated!”

So the Golden Rule is actually a rebuke that we are very good at being selfish and a call to freedom through repentance and love.

Saved for the Salvation of Others! (Acts 26:14-18)

                                                                                                                        Visit fbcpierz.org/sermons to listen to this sermon. 

 Outline: Acts 26:14-18

1. Jesus saved Paul (vv.14-15, cf. 26:4-11 & 9:1-22)
2. Jesus sent Paul (vv.16-18)

Summary: Paul is standing before King Agrippa and is expected to give a defense, a defense against the Jews who want to see him put to death.  Paul responds by sharing his testimony, that is, by bearing witness to who he was (26:4-12) and then what Christ did (vv.13-18).  In essence, Paul is saying: “Jesus saved me and Jesus has sent me.”  For Paul, to be saved was to be sent.  To have his eyes opened was to be part of opening the eyes of others.  Paul was on trial because he proclaimed the name of the One who opened his eyes—Jesus Christ.

Discussion Questions:

• What was Paul like before he came to know Christ? (26:4-12; cf. 9:1-2)
• For the back-story, READ 9: 1-18 (cf. 26:13-15).  How was Paul converted?
• What role did Ananias play?  Does this teach us anything about how Jesus saves people?
• What did Paul do almost immediately after he was saved?
• Why do you think Paul grew strong in the wake of his conversionActs 9:22?
• What was Paul being sent to do?
• What is the relationship between being saved and being sent?
• How would you respond to someone who says, “Oh, but that is the great and godly apostle Paul…surely this kind of witness is not expected of me”? (cf. 1 Cor. 11:1; Isa. 42:1-7; Matt. 11:4-6)

Application Questions:

• What is your testimony?  Who were you and what did Jesus do to bring you to himself?
• Are you actively sharing your faith with others?  If not, what may be holding you back?
• “To be saved is to be sent.”  Do you believe this?  On a scale of 1-10—1 being barely applied and 10 being greatly applied—at what level do you live like this is true? 
• When we fall short of sharing our faith at the level that we should, how would Jesus have us apply the gospel to our hearts?  

 Prayer Points:

• Confess to God any failures to live like one who has been sent to open they eyes of unbelievers.  Receive forgiveness from Jesus, the only perfect Witness (1 John 1:9).
• Ask God to provide clear opportunities for you to share about Jesus and to give the courage needed to stand strong and bold and loving in those moments.
• Pray that God would fuse the idea of being saved together with the idea of being sent so that witnesses would become a more natural part of your life.
•  Pray that God will help you to teach others that being saved and being sent always belong together, for to be a disciple is to be a disciple maker.
• Thank God for the gospel and how he opened our eyes in salvation, bringing us from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God.