Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Free at Last! Many Hardships (week 1, day 1)

Edited:
Scriptures: Acts chapters 13 and 14
Focus on the region of Galatia and the types of people to whom Paul wrote.

Moore asks, "How do you use the fearful gift of influence? At its best, it teaches, nurtures, encourages, exhorts, evangelizes and disciples. At worst, it cripples and kills. Influence is so easy to use (as the women of Antioch stirred up a mob). Maybe its the reason God exhorts us to 'gentle and quiet' spirits. We need to think before we speak and act. The warnings in Scripture are not provided because we are so lowly, but because we possess such an awesome gift.

Principle Question:
How did Paul respond to persecution in the city of Lystra?

Personal Discussion Question:
Do you think you would have responded the way Paul and Barnabas did in Acts 14: 2-3? Why or why not?

Today's Treasure:
"Then they returned...strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. 'We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,' they said."

Please check comments for follow-up discussion on this study.

Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit

Hello!  Let me start by explaining how this will work.  We are studying Beth Moore's Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the fruit of the Spirit.  To join this Bible study you do not need to purchase the book though you will benefit more from this if you do.  Each posting will summarize one day of the bible study.  This bible study is divided into 10 weeks with 5 days per week.  Each day has a title which will be the title of each new posting.  This is pretty in depth and I don't know about you but I don't have a lot of spare time, so my idea is to try to tackle 1-2 days of the study per week.   I hope you'll each share in the comments section what God is teaching you, prayer requests, and your thoughts and ideas pertaining to the study.  Don't worry about length.  Feel free to invite friends to join our discussions.  So, I'll get started with the first bible study, posting the scriptures and summarizing what Beth Moore has to share.  Then throughout the week after you've read the scriptures feel free to post comments.  Can't wait to hear from you! >>> Darcy