Adult Mentor: 3rd Quarter 2014

By Rev. Richard Montgomery

Adult Mentor (ages 36 & older).This book is for the adult learner, ages 36 and older. It is designed to increase Christian faith and biblical understanding using a variety of learning methods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Apr 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781589428447

Book preview

LOVE GOD

QUARTERLY THEME:

Following the Example of Jesus

Lesson Scriptures: Exodus 20:2-5; Ecclesiastes 12:1; Matthew 6:33

DISCIPLINES LEARNED

    I.  LOVE GOD WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART

  II.  HONOR GOD AS YOUR CREATOR

III.  MAKE PLEASING GOD YOUR FIRST PRIORITY

INTRODUCTION:

This quarter, we will consider what it means to be a follower of Jesus. To the Disciples who walked in Galilee with Jesus, following meant physically going to the same places Jesus went and obeying the things He told them to do. Disciples today follow the example we see of how Jesus lived. His earthly life is recorded both in the Gospel accounts and in letters, like those written by Paul, who wrote about how Jesus lived. What we seek is the same as what the original Disciples sought: to follow Jesus’ lead as carefully and closely as we can. Following Jesus begins by loving God.

KEY VERSE: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

(Matthew 6:33, KJV)

EXPOSITION:

I.    Love God with All of Your Heart

God was very explicit when He said, You shall have no other gods before me (Exod. 20:3, NRSV). A false god is anything to which we give our hearts and erroneously believe can provide for our needs. In the days of Moses, every tribe and ethnic group in the world had its own god to whom it would offer reverence in return for blessing. Yet only Yahweh, our Creator, can provide for us, and only He merits praise and reverence. These days, we don’t usually have that kind of other god, but we still have plenty of idols around. People worship at the altar of celebrities, or wealth, or beauty, or popularity. People make heroes out of sports figures and give their hearts to their local teams.

THEOLOGICAL CONCEPTS:

1 Divided hearts that love God at times but also love the world at other times are not what God seeks from His followers.

2 Honoring God as our Creator means treating Him with awe and respect as the One who is greater in every way than we are.

3 The highest priority of our lives should be to seek God’s Kingdom in our world. We are His workers on earth.

God wants every bit of our hearts. If we give Him our Sunday-morning hearts, but then withhold from Him our Sunday-afternoon hearts that belong to some NFL team or NBA franchise, we have divided hearts.

Here is how God is honored by our hearts: we give to Him everything, and then allow Him to give back to us what He knows we need and what serves His purposes through us. If He leads us to watch the football game because He knows we will benefit from an afternoon in the company of our family, then we should watch. But if He asks that we use our Sunday afternoon to visit sick brothers or sisters, instead of watching the big game, then we should go cheerfully.

However this works out in our lives, we must know one thing. If we say we love God with all our hearts, then we should expect God to put that to the test. We should expect that He will call upon us to give up something that will cause us to struggle. Depending on how we respond once we have finished groaning and struggling, we will either confirm the reality of our confession or show the lack thereof. Yet there is no other way to love God than to do so with our whole hearts. He is worthy of it, and He demands it of those who would be called His children.

II.   Honor God As Your Creator

Ecclesiastes is a book of the Bible that is not read or studied often enough. It records the words of the Teacher (1:1, NRSV), believed by most to be King Solomon. Solomon had tried it all—wealth, fame, hard work, partying, power—and had found it all wanting. Ecclesiastes records this search for what gives life meaning and ends with Solomon’s conclusion. He says, The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone (Ecc. 12:13, NRSV). The best way to go through life is fearing God and keeping His commandments, according to the Teacher.

ACTIVITY:

MAKING IT STICK

Being a follower of Christ begins with loving God. Loving God begins with sacrifice. Sacrifice begins with reverent awe for God that makes us desire Him above all else that life has to offer. So the process starts with the fear of God, which then leads us to lay down our lives for God, which then puts us in position to follow God through Christ. Where are you having the most trouble in this process? How might you help someone else who is having trouble?

This is the same thing God told us to do in Exodus 20:6, except in that verse God said we were to love [Him] and keep [His] commandments (NRSV). Solomon said fear, but God said love. Was Solomon wrong, or are love and fear both appropriate? What exactly is it that God desires from us, how do we give it to Him, and what part does that play in following