Archive for the 'Bible Studies for Life' Category
Family discipleship: What God intended
Many people in this day and age expect churches to be full service discipleship centers. From the moment a child is signed into Sunday morning childcare until the time they graduate from high school an expectation of church discipleship exists.
Some parents may never have a meaningful prayer time or discussion of spiritual things with their children, yet still expect fully formed followers of Christ at age 18. Why? Because the children and their student pastor are supposed to be having these discussions. The parents feed the kids and make sure they are educated. The church leaders are responsible for discipleship.
This seems to be a common line of thinking even if unspoken.
To be sure, the Bible does teach believers to help guide one another in walking with God. The process of teaching prayer, Bible study, evangelism, fasting, and other spiritual disciplines to believers is usually called discipleship. The word derives from the word for learner.
Whose responsibility, then, is the discipleship of children? Primarily it is the responsibility of the parents.
Think about that early Jewish Scripture, Deuteronomy 6:7, which reads, “Repeat [these words] to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
Ephesians 5 makes it clear that parents are to raise their children in the “nurture and teaching of the Lord” (v. 18). Nowhere is this responsibility delegated to any other spiritual leader. This is not to say pastors, elders, or teachers have no role, but the primary responsibility of spiritual guidance in a child’s life belongs to the parents.
One of the exciting things about Bible Studies for Life is how it aids parents in this task.
In many churches, the adults are studying one thing in small groups, their teen aged students study something else, and their elementary aged children still something else. Everyone is studying different concepts, making conversation between parents and children difficult to navigate.
Bible Studies for Life helps parents initiate spiritual conversations with their kids through a tool called “One Conversation.” Imagine moms and dads knowing exactly what their family members are studying in the Bible each week, and knowing how to start a conversation with their kids about life and truth. Even more, if moms and dads use Bible Studies for Life in their small groups, then the whole family actually studies the same biblical concepts each week
Think about the benefits to this: the entire family can engage in one conversation, group leaders can be assured they are not solely responsible for spiritual growth, pastors are confident the families of the church are learning together, and children are discipled by their parents while learning the pattern they need to successfully disciple as parents.
Needless to say this will take a new way of thinking for many parents, but while the whole concept of parental discipleship of children will be new for many, the joys are amazing and eternal.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
Changing Attitudes and Behaviors: What Happens When The Bible Meets Your Life
When we apply the Bible to our lives, what results is the Holy Spirit changing our attitudes and behaviors. When we know Christ and serve the church, through the power of the Holy Spirit our attitudes and behaviors will change and this will, prayerfully, effectively change the culture.
Through the re-launch of the Bible Studies For Life curriculum series, we are lifting up how the Bible applies to all parts of life. In the previous parts of this series we looked at the re-launch of Bible Studies for Life, how the Bible applies to all parts of life, then prayer and worship. All of these are involved as we develop people who know Christ and His gracious work, are contributing servants in the community of faith, and can effectively engage the culture without losing distinction.
As God’s Word, through the working of the Holy Spirit, becomes even more of a reality in our lives, we are changed. We are transformed. Old habits and preferences become weaker as God’s power helps us choose His will.
As the Holy Spirit conforms us to the image of Christ, certain things will be true, because we cannot constantly engage the Word and Spirit without being changed. This change is part of the gracious work of Christ in our lives.
Paul listed a group of evidences of God’s working in us; he termed them “the fruit of the Spirit.” He listed love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22, 23). This fruit, like the fruit that identifies a tree, serves to identify us as disciples of Christ.
In the same way, the fruit of the Spirit is a visual identifier of the presence and work of God’s Spirit. These are the natural outgrowth of being controlled by and filled with the Holy Spirit. He does the conforming and transforming; we are the recipients of His molding into Christlikeness.
Every purpose in Bible Studies for Life can be seen as an expectation of the fruit of the Spirit. Knowing Christ and His gracious work brings us peace and joy. Patience, kindness, and gentleness help us as contributing servants in the community of faith. Love, goodness, faith, and self-control prepare us to engage the culture without losing distinction.
That these characteristics are taught as fruit, as opposed to “work,” is significant. When you walk past a fruit bearing plant you never hear it groaning and sweating to produce. You may see branches straining under the weight of the fruit, but never straining to produce it in the first place. This is vital to our understanding of how the Spirit shapes us.
Far too many people look at spiritual formation as something they must do with God’s help. They feel somehow the weight of spiritual growth is to be borne primarily by them. With enough straining, groaning, and effort they can finally become like Christ. This, however, is not what the Bible tells us. It is a formula for defeat.
Fruit is the by-product of a natural process. The fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, et al—is the by-product of a spiritual process. It is the natural growth of the Holy Spirit. As we surrender to the shaping, convicting, growing work of the Holy Spirit in us our character changes. We are conformed more and more to the image of Christ. This is His gracious work.
Before He returned to Heaven, Jesus told His disciples, “It is good for me to go away, because if I do not go away the Holy Spirit will not come.” Jesus understood that the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit was even more important than Him remaining on this earth after His resurrection. Every believer would be conformed to the image of Christ. Every believer would grow. Every believer would bear fruit. This was the reason for the Spirit’s coming.
Finally, the fruit of the Spirit exemplifies the life of Christ to those around us. Everything about His fruit is what we see in the life of Jesus Christ. He was filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit of the Spirit is, ultimately, about allowing others to see Christ in us in every component of life.
Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.