Seekers for Jesus: October- December 2023

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corp.

Seekers for Jesus is a quarterly written especially for young people ages 12-14. In addition to introductory material and biblical exposition, each lesson contains a section to help students apply the lesson to life. Questions are interjected to gauge the student’s understanding of the presentation. It follows the International Uniform Sunday School Lesson Outline from the National Council of Churches.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Sep 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798886351392

Book preview

Lesson 1

10/01/23

Inward Change

CHECK OUT TODAY’S LESSON

Today’s Scripture

Romans 2:12–24, 28–29

Background Scripture: Romans 2:1–29

NRSV

ALL who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged in accordance with the law.

13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight but the doers of the law who will be justified.

14 When gentiles, who do not possess the law, by nature do what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves.

15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, as their own conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them

16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God through Christ Jesus judges the secret thoughts of all.

• • • • • •

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God

18 and know his will and determine what really matters because you are instructed in the law,

19 and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth,

21 you, then, who teach others, will you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

22 You who forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by your transgression of the law?

24 For, as it is written, The name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles because of you.

Key Verse:

It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Romans 2:13, NRSV)

Today’s Word

There are times when we have a clear understanding whether we are making a choice between right and wrong. We make some decisions because we have deeply-held beliefs within our subconscious, that part of us is second nature. We don’t even have to think about our responses or actions. We don’t have to question whether the choice we are considering is right or wrong. But at other times, what motivates us to choose a wrong choice over a right one?

In today’s lesson, we learn what Paul was teaching the people in the Early Church. Paul teaches that our faith is an excellent guide when we face such decisions and can help us to determine what is right. Strong faith is so powerful that it can lead and guide us to make good decisions every day. Our faith lives inside us, and it helps us make decisions that can affect our everyday lives for the better!

God’s Judgment of Sin

Today’s lesson takes place during a time when there was a great deal of confusion and chaos among the early Christians. These Christians had been living under the Law and they understood the Law, as it had been given to them by Moses. But Jesus had ushered in an era of a new connections to God. During the chaos that was occurring at this time, people took advantage of one another, which added to the confusion and chaos about how they were to live and treat one another. In today’s lesson, Paul presents his points in this dispute to the members of the church in Rome.

Paul wanted the people to understand that God would punish the Gentiles if they sinned, although they had never lived under God’s Law that had been given to the people by Moses. But God would also punish the Jews when they sinned, and they had lived under the Law. They would be judged the same. Paul wanted the people to understand that simply knowing the Law would not gain them God’s approval. Anyone who obeyed the Law would be declared right in God’s sight. This included the Gentiles who had not lived under God’s Law, yet they able to instinctively follow what the Law said. By doing this, they were showing the world that they knew right from wrong where it mattered—in their hearts. Paul wrote that when the Gentiles acted under their faith, they were showing the world that God’s Law was held deep within them. It was the Gentiles own consciousness that would either accuse them or let them know that they were doing what was right.

Paul’s message to the people was that one day God, through Jesus Christ, will judge everyone by their own decisions, those decisions that are public as well as those that are made in secret.

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The Jews and the Law

Paul continues his letter by speaking directly to the Jews in the congregation. He tells them that if they consider themselves to be Jewish, they had to put their faith in God’s Law in order to have a special relationship with God. They may have been proud and boasted that they had a great relationship with God. They felt this way because they believed that they knew what God wants and they knew right from wrong. After all, they had been taught God’s Law. These people felt they should be considered as a guide for the blind and a beacon light for anyone who was lost in the world of darkness, without God. These people believed they could teach the unlearned and the children about the ways of God. They were certain in their hearts that they knew the complete knowledge and truth that is contained in God’s Law. Paul warns these people about their arrogance and sense of