Adult Bible Studies Winter 2023-2024 Student

By Rev. Dr. Rita B. Hays

Grow your faith. Transform your life.

Cultivate a deeper relationship with God through Adult Bible Studies. This resource, endorsed by the Curriculum Resources Committee of The United Methodist Church, offers a year-round, weekly Bible study plan for Sunday school classes and other small groups.

Each weekly lesson offers background and focal Scriptures, key verses, and doctrinally sound and relevant biblical interpretation and application in a readable font size. Annual plans provide comprehensive coverage of the Bible, special lessons during the church seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter, and suggestions for developing spiritual practices such as prayer, worship, community, and service, among many others. Adult Bible Studies is a reliable companion and guide for learning and growing in Christian faith.

With the help of the Adult Bibles Studies Student Book, Teacher/Commentary Kit, and DVD, your group will embrace that it’s not just about learning - it’s about living out biblical teachings.

Additional information about Adult Bible Studies Winter 2023-2024
Theme: God Abides
The writer of the student book is Rita B. Hays.

Unit 1
Transforming Spirit
Bible lessons in this unit are based on Exodus 16, 1 Kings 19, Mark 6, and Luke 14.
Spiritual Practice: Attentive Listening

Unit 2
Empowering | Discernment
Bible lessons in this unit are based on Luke 1, Mathew 2, 1 Kings 3, and Daniel 2, 1 Thessalonians 5, Mathew 6, and John 12.
Spiritual Practice: Discernment

Unit 3
Faithful Prayer
Bible lessons in this unit are based on 1 Thessalonians 5, Matthew 6, and John 12.
Spiritual Practice: Confession

Visit AdultBibleStudies.com and sign up for the weekly newsletter to automatically receive the FREE Current Events Supplement and other information about these resources and more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cokesbury
• Release date: Oct 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781791026264

Rev. Dr. Rita B. Hays

Rev. Dr. Rita Hays, an ordained deacon in the Tennessee Conference, is Associate Pastor for Children, Visitation, Education, and Family Ministries at Connell Memorial United Methodist Church in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. She has served in the local church in the area of Christian Education for over twenty-five years and has led numerous workshops on the district, conference, and national levels for The United Methodist Church. Hays also serves as an adjunct professor at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky. Dr. Hays is the author of The Children s Minister and The Most Important Space in the Church: The Nursery, both published by Discipleship Resources, and All in the Family: Faith Issues for Families Facing Addiction, published by WestBow Press.

Book preview

Editor’s Perspective

During a recent trip to the store, I couldn’t find a product I use daily. It wasn’t in its usual place, although several related items were nearby. I moved on, thinking I could pick up the item later. The next time I went to the store, I looked for it again. It was nowhere to be found. On yet another trip, it still was not available—or so I thought.

I continued to search the shelves, and then I saw it. A new look. New colors. New design. But there it was. Just what I needed. It had probably been there all along, but I was looking for something else. How typically human of us to miss what is plainly in front of us because we can see only what we expect to see.

Such was the vision of many people when Jesus came on the scene. A tiny baby? The Messiah? Really? No way.

Jesus was not what anyone expected, but he was exactly what the world needed, then and now. As theologian N. T. Wright beautifully states, They were looking for a builder to construct the home they thought they wanted, but he was the architect, coming with a new plan that would give them everything they needed, but within quite a new framework. They were looking for a singer to sing the song they had been humming for a long time, but he was the composer, bringing them a new song to which the old songs they knew would form, at best, the background music. He was the king, all right, but he had come to redefine kingship itself around his own work, his own mission, his own fate.¹

Some people recognized Jesus from the beginning. Zechariah. Mary. Elizabeth. Their Spirit-enhanced vision allowed them to see Jesus for who he was: the long-awaited Messiah. The architect. The composer. The King.

Our lessons this quarter, written by Rita Hays, take us not only through Advent and Christmas but also into the first weeks of Lent. They challenge us to see Jesus, really see him, for who he is.

As we celebrate Jesus’ coming and anticipate his coming again, what are you looking for? What do you see?

The Word became flesh and made his home among us. We have seen his glory, glory like that of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Jan Turrentine

[e-mail]

Daily Bible Readings

¹From Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters, by N. T. Wright (goodreads.com).

Unit 1

Transforming Spirit

Our lessons in this unit focus on the movement of the Holy Spirit. As if in a musical production, people in Luke’s Gospel, filled with the Holy Spirit, break into song, praising the marvelous activity of God. In our readings, the Holy Spirit captures the leading role. Luke invites us to grab our front-row seats and watch the events unfold.

Our first scene takes place in the Jerusalem Temple, where an elderly priest encountered the angel Gabriel, who sang him a surprising lyric: His barren wife, Elizabeth, would give birth to a child. We encounter the Holy Spirit as the primary actor, with the role of Silencer and Filler. The plot centers on hushing the voice of Zechariah and filling his unborn son in the stage of the womb.

The second scene occurs in the remote village of Nazareth. There, the Holy Spirit burst onto the stage, choreographing a climatic backdrop in the life of a young peasant girl.

New lines emerge in our scene. Elizabeth, directed by the Holy Spirit, loudly articulated her blessings on Mary. We dare not miss a word of her dynamic speech!

And, as if on cue, in our last two lessons, singers Mary and Zechariah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, belt out melodies of praise.

Through these five dramatic scenes, the spotlight shines on Director and Prompter Holy Spirit, seen joyfully dancing across the theater of history, then eventually executing a final curtain call into our lives.

The Holy Spirit takes the final bow, and we respond with ceaseless applause.

December 3

Lesson 1

Filled With the Holy Spirit

The First Sunday of Advent

Focal Passage: Luke 1:5-23

Background Text: Luke 1

Purpose Statement: To determine ways God fills us with the Holy Spirit

Luke 1:5-23

⁵During the rule of King Herod of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. ⁶They were both righteous before God, blameless in their observance of all the Lord’s commandments and regulations. ⁷They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant and they both were very old. ⁸One day Zechariah was serving as a priest before God because his priestly division was on duty. ⁹Following the customs of priestly service, he was chosen by lottery to go into the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense. ¹⁰All the people who gathered to worship were praying outside during this hour of incense offering. ¹¹An angel from the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. ¹²When Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and overcome with fear.

¹³The angel said, Don’t be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayers have been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to your son and you must name him John. ¹⁴He will be a joy and delight to you, and many people will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be great in the Lord’s eyes. He must not drink wine and liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. ¹⁶He will bring many Israelites back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷He will go forth before the Lord, equipped with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and he will turn the disobedient to righteous patterns of thinking. He will make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, How can I be sure of this? My wife and I are very old.

¹⁹The angel replied, I am Gabriel. I stand in God’s presence. I was sent to speak to you and to bring this good news to you. ²⁰Know this: What I have spoken will come true at the proper time. But because you didn’t believe, you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when these things happen.

²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they wondered why he was in the sanctuary for such a long time. ²²When he came out, he was unable to speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he gestured to them and couldn’t speak. ²³When he completed the days of his priestly service, he returned home.

Key Verses: He will bring many Israelites back to the Lord their God. He will go forth before the Lord, equipped with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and he will turn the disobedient to righteous patterns of thinking. He will make ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:16-17).

My husband and a close friend entered a restaurant near their college campus while discussing the ups and downs his companion experienced while dating his then-steady girlfriend. My husband came close to blurting out his opinion about the situation when suddenly he felt the strong presence of the Holy Spirit urging him to refrain from sharing his thoughts aloud. The Holy Spirit enlightened, and Bill stilled his voice in obedience.

About that time, a couple greeted them. Turns out, the man and woman were the parents of the girlfriend. If my husband had spoken just at that moment, he would have been criticizing their daughter with his unkind words. Bill had never met the parents, nor was his friend aware they were visiting for the weekend. But the Holy Spirit knew and silenced hurtful words.

As chaplain coordinator at our local hospital, my responsibilities include ministering to the staff. When a 22-year-old housekeeping employee passed away unexpectedly, they asked me to meet with the people on her work shift. I immediately sought the help of the Holy Spirit to provide words that would bring comfort and peace. The Holy Spirit gave me the right message and used me to proclaim God’s goodness. The Holy Spirit knew and empowered.

In this lesson, we encounter the work of the Holy Spirit in silencing and empowering. The Holy Spirit hushed an old priest and proclaimed his unborn son filled with the Holy Spirit for a distinct purpose (Luke 1:15).

Through times of holy listening and periods of sacred silence, God fills us with the Holy Spirit. But we must be