Download the Await
God's Timing handout and make enough copies for each group member to have
his or her own. You may also want to download from the Internet a picture of the
evil and injustice occurring in Darfur.
Will God Ever Act? (Hab. 1:2-3,5-6)
As
an introductory activity, ask adults to mentally count the clocks and/or watches
in their homes. Invite learners to share their insights.
Ask:
What are
common “time” phrases we often hear? (Some examples may include
24/7, not enough time in the day, beat someone’s time, double time,
all in due time, at the last minute, better late than never, etc.)
In your opinion, how are people time-bound?
Say: The book of Habakkuk records a
dialogue between God and the prophet Habakkuk. (If you have the Biblical
Illustrator Plus CD-ROM for summer 2007, refer to the article, “Habakkuk:
The Man and His Times,” for more information.) Today's lesson passages highlight
Habakkuk's prayer for God to act, the Lord's response, and Habakkuk's decision
to patiently wait for the Lord to work. Complaining about the sins of Judah,
Habakkuk asked God to do something about their rebellion. When God answered,
Habakkuk questioned God’s timing and His methods. Here’s a man who probably did
likewise.
Read the following article:
How God works through today’s church: Even in
prison
For 20 years, a man in Bangladesh walked the lonely
path of being one of the first of his people group to follow Christ. In
recent years, however, God has begun bringing others to faith, and this
first follower of Christ has become an influential leader among them.
Just as God seemed to be granting a harvest, however,
persecution rose up against this brother. Like the first followers of
Christ, he was beaten, threatened and thrown in jail. But God is in control,
even in an over-crowded prison. Many of the inmates heard the Gospel, and
several are very close to following Jesus themselves.
Source: “How God
works through today’s church: Even in prison,” The Commission,
Summer 2007, p.4.
Ask:
What questions might this man have asked God during
the years? (Why aren’t my prayers working? Why are You allowing this evil?
Are You disciplining me by putting me in prison?)
What lessons can we learn from this story about human
timing versus God's timing?
Enlist a volunteer to read
Habakkuk 1:2-3,5-6.
Ask:
What sins of Judah does Habakkuk identify?
What amazing thing was God referring to in verse 5?
Why do you think God would allow the evil Chaldeans,
also know as the Babylonians, to discipline His people?
Would the victorious Chaldeans get away from their
evil ways?
Explain that evil may seem prosper for a
time, but evil will not go unpunished. Eventually, the Babylonians were
conquered (in 539 B.C.), and by A.D. 200, the great city of Babylon had
been deserted.
Say: God's declaration,
“I am raising up the Chaldeans” (v. 6, HCSB), indicates He was already at work
while Habakkuk thought He was doing nothing.
Ask:
When has God seemed silent or inactive in your life,
even when you prayed earnestly for something you knew was God's will?
Have you ever experienced something evil being used
for good? Describe the experience and the lesson(s) learned.
How can we do a better job of trusting God when we
pray about something and seem to get no immediate results?
Does God Always Do Right? (Hab. 1:13; 2:2-4)
Enlist a volunteer to read Habakkuk 1:13.
Ask:
Was Habakkuk challenging God in this verse?
Explain your answer.
Why would our righteous God tolerate such wickedness?
Read the following article excerpt to the class and
display the picture of the evil and injustice occuring in Darfur:
HRW Letter to the UN Security Council on
Darfur: The Security Council Should Create Darfur Recovery Fund with
Sudanese Oil Revenues
Since 2003, the Sudanese government has committed
serious crimes in violation of international law against hundreds of
thousands of civilians in Darfur. Two and half million people remain
displaced, at least 200,000 have died and the abuses are far from over.
Conditions in Darfur are deteriorating as Darfur residents continue to
suffer grave human rights violations. Indeed, on May 9, 2007, United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed deep concern regarding
indiscriminate and disproportionate aerial attacks carried out in North
Darfur by Sudanese government helicopter gunships and Antonov aircraft in
April, which killed and wounded civilians and destroyed property, school
buildings, and livestock. The Secretary-General’s spokesperson stated that
the attacks contributed to an already critical humanitarian situation,
causing renewed displacement and spreading terror among the civilian
population.
Source: "HRW Letter to the UN
Security Council on Darfur: The Security Council Should Create Darfur
Recovery Fund with Sudanese Oil Revenues." The entire article is available
at www.hrw.org.
Ask:
Was the HRW challenging the UN Security Council in
this excerpt?
Why would our righteous God tolerate such wickedness
and injustice in Darfur?
Does God’s silence mean He doesn’t care? Explain
your answer.
How can we know God always does what is right, even
when it’s not apparent?
How can having God’s perspective change our thinking?
Enlist another volunteer to read
Habakkuk 2:2-4 as learners look for what these verses say about time.
Ask:
Why did God want Habakkuk to write his vision on
tablets that would be hung in public?
What assurance did God give in verse 3?
What contrast is described in verse 4?
How can the righteous demonstrate faithfulness in
their attitudes and actions?
How Will I Respond? (Hab. 3:16-19)
Enlist a volunteer to read Habakkuk 3:16-19.
Say: Consider
Habakkuk’s response as our volunteer reads Habakkuk 3:16-19.
Ask:
What was Habakkuk feeling?
What six things
would be barren in verse 17?
What barren
places are you currently experiencing in your life?
Have you made a
conscious decision to rejoice anyway?
Read the following article excerpt about one woman
who decided to rejoice in the Lord:
Reassigning Your Treasure
My family, probably like yours, is far from ideal. I have
a wonderful husband and an awesome daughter and son-in-law, but our son
Scott, is a non-functioning drug addict. As a matter of fact, he’s missing.
Again. We haven’t heard from Scott in more than three years. His drug of
choice is methamphetamine. Heartbreak doesn’t even begin to describe what a
mother goes through when she knows her baby (yes, he’s still my baby at 26
years old) is in a desperate situation, most likely sleeping on the streets
(again) unable to find his way.
What mother ever envisions dealing with Missing Persons
officials and calling the morgue on a monthly basis? I sure didn’t. You see,
we did everything “right.” We attended church, ate dinner around the table
as a family every night, attended soccer games and band competitions, and
enjoyed fun-filled family vacations. More than a few times I’ve thought,
This couldn’t possibly be happening to us…
…Like many mothers, my treasure was my children. I drew
my identity, creativity, and self-worth from my children’s well-being. My
dream of raising healthy, happy children was my energy source. But I’ve
learned through this journey that this is wrong; I can’t commit my sanity,
or insanity, to my children. My joy must come from knowing that God’s agenda
is greater than my own. Thus, I reassigned God to be my treasure. I realized
I must be joyful and strong regardless of my son’s heartbreaking demise.
Though darkness has taken Scott, I absolutely refuse to relinquish my joy to
it.
Source: “Reassigning Your Treasure,”
HomeLife, June 2007, pp.46-47.
Guide adults to choose a phrase from this Scripture
passage that is most helpful to them in their current situation and explain why
it impacts them most.
Ask:
If your circumstances were as bleak as Habakkuk’s or
this family’s, could you choose to wait for the answers to your prayers with
patience and confidence in the Lord?
Why or why not?
Distribute the Await
God's Timing handout and ask learners to read their bookmark. Discuss how
learners can wait prayerfully, patiently, and confidently for God to act. Close
the session with prayer.
EXTRA! is a supplement designed
to enhance and expand the effectiveness of printed curriculum provided by
LifeWay Church Resources.
EXTRA! is produced by Publishing
Services and Multimedia, LifeWay Church Resources, Copyright 2007, LifeWay
Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
SPECIAL NOTE: Some Internet
addresses given in EXTRA! are outside the LifeWay Internet domain. Because of
the changing nature of the Web, EXTRA! editors cannot be held responsible for
content on pages outside their control. At the time of this posting, the
specific pages mentioned have been viewed and approved by the EXTRA! editorial
staff. However, at the time of your viewing, the information on these pages may
have changed. Links from the specific page addresses referenced in this material
possibly could link to inappropriate material.
EXTRA! Weekly Supplemental Teaching Plans
Adult
Bible Studies for Life
Bible Studies for Life EXTRA
June 24, 2007
Renew Your Devotion Today
Ashley Linne
Deuteronomy 29:10-15; 30:1-3,6,11-14,19-20
Before the Session
Download the Revival handout
and make enough copies for group members. Bring worship music to play at the
closing of the session.
Deuteronomy 29:10-15
Enlist a volunteer to read Deuteronomy 29:10-15.
Explain that in these verses, Moses encouraged all the Israelites, including the
"leaders, tribes, elders, officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your
wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your
water" (vv. 10-11, HCSB), to come before the Lord corporately, for it would
provide an opportunity for them to renew their covenant with God.
Say: For some people, going to church is
something to check off the list of things to do for the week. While they are
physically present in corporate worship, their minds and hearts may be focused
on everything but God's purposes. God never established the church to be an
event or to be a place to go. The church is God's people, the bride of
Christ. Corporate worship definitely is not intended to be our only source of
spiritual nourishment, but it provides an opportunity for Christians to be
renewed, recharged, and revived and for unbelievers to come to faith.
Ask:
What is your favorite aspect of a corporate worship
experience?
What are some reasons that God asks us to join
together to worship Him?
Share some of the recent findings from the Barna
Group:
Barna's Annual Tracking Study Shows Americans
Stay Spiritually Active, but Biblical Views Wane
It is hard to miss Americans' comfort with and
interest in spirituality. Most adults say that their religious faith is very
important in their life. Two-thirds of the nation’s adult population firmly
embraces the idea that their most important purpose is to love God with all
their heart, mind, soul and strength. However, a deeper look at people’s
full array of spiritual beliefs and behavior calls into question the
sincerity of their commitment.
Every year, The Barna Group explores the state of
America’s faith, examining various facets of people’s spiritual activity,
faith identity, commitment and religious perspective. According to the 2007
survey, while their spiritual activities and religious identity have changed
little compared to recent years, the area undergoing the most change is what
Americans believe.
The Barna study, which
began exploring the nation’s religious behavior and beliefs in 1984, shows
that commitment to orthodox biblical perspectives is slipping in a number of
areas.
The Barna study also examined 10 areas of religious
engagement. Involvement levels for eight of those activities were
statistically no different than 2006. The two activities that had changed
included the following: Americans were less likely to volunteer at church
and less likely to read the Bible. Although these had declined from the
participation norms measured in 2006, they were not statistically distinct
from the engagement levels of a decade ago. In other words, even in those
areas where there has been recent fluctuation in religious behavior, the net
effect of those changes has done very little to alter the overall religious
engagement of Americans.
The 2007 study showed that among the ten activities
studied, Americans are most likely to pray. More than four out of every five
Americans (83%) said they had prayed in the last week. This was followed by
attending a church service (43%) and reading the Bible outside of church
worship services (41%). Notably, just one-quarter of adults possess an
active faith, meaning they engage in all three of these activities (pray,
attend church, and read the Bible in a typical week).
Slightly less than one-quarter of adults had
volunteered free time to help a church (22%) or some other type of
non-profit (23%) in the last week. About one-fifth of all adults had
attended Sunday school (20%), while a similar proportion had participated in
a small group for Bible study, prayer and Christian fellowship (19%). The
survey showed that half of all adults (50%) said they had donated money to a
congregation in the past year.
The study also examined people’s spiritual identity.
For instance, 83% of Americans identified as Christians, yet only 49% of
these individuals described themselves as absolutely committed to
Christianity. The remaining portion of the adult population (about 17% of
Americans) was split almost equally between those who aligned with another
faith and those who describe themselves as atheist or agnostic. These
indicators of faith identity are also on par with earlier Barna research.
David Kinnaman, who directed the study, indicated that
"most Americans do not have strong and clear beliefs, largely because they
do not possess a coherent biblical worldview. That is, they lack a
consistent and holistic understanding of their faith. Millions of Americans
say they are personally committed to Jesus Christ, but they believe he
sinned while on earth. Many believers claim to trust what the Bible teaches,
but they reject the notion of a real spiritual adversary or they feel that
faith-sharing activities are optional. Millions feel personally committed to
God, but they are renegotiating the definition of that deity.
"In fact, one reason why beliefs fluctuate is that
most Americans’ hold few convictions about their faith. For instance, even
among those who disagree with orthodox views, many do so while hedging their
bets. Most Americans have one foot in the biblical camp, and one foot
outside it. They say they are committed, but to what? They are spiritually
active, but to what end? The spiritual profile of American Christianity is
not unlike a lukewarm church that the Bible warns about."
Source: “Barna's Annual Tracking Study Shows Americans Stay
Spiritually Active, but Biblical Views Wane.” Full study available at
www.barna.org.
Ask:
What are your reactions
to this article?
In light of these
findings, do you think American Christians need to renew their devotion
to God? Explain your answer.
Deuteronomy 30:1-3,6
Ask a volunteer to read Deuteronomy 30:1-3,6.
Explain that Moses predicted Israel's future disobedience
to the covenant and the curses that would replace the blessings they had
experienced as a result of obedience. Although the future curses would include
exile from the promised land, Moses declared that if they returned to God
and renewed their devotion to Him wholeheartedly, then He would restore and
bless them.
Say: Since we’re all human, we all have
disobeyed and fallen away from God's will. While it is important for us to agree
with God about our sin, He does not intend for us to wallow in guilt. When we
confess and turn away from sin, God forgives and cleanses us. He will lovingly
pour His compassion on us as we rebuild our relationship with Him. He wants to
have intimate fellowship with us, but we must follow Him obediently. When we
obey, God leads us into the abundant life He has prepared for us. He brings
restoration, not condemnation.
Ask:
Why might Satan
want for us to feel guilty and condemned about our sins, even after
repentance?
Can you recall
a time when your experienced God's love as a result of confessing,
repenting, and returning to God?
What Scripture
promises can we claim when we are burdened by guilt after we have
confessed our sins?
Deuteronomy 30:11-14
Enlist a volunteer to read Deuteronomy 30:11-14.
Emphasize that Moses told the Israelites that God's commands were reasonable:
"This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond
your reach" (v. 11, HCSB). God empowers us to obey. Our disobedience
problem does not result because God's instructions are too hard to
follow; disobedience results when God's people lack the desire to deny
themselves and their desires in order to obey God.
Say: God has provided all we need for
godly living (2 Pet. 1:3). Living obedient, abundant lives is not something that
can be achieved only by pastors, teachers, deacons, and missionaries. God fully
intends this for all of His children. It isn’t above our reach! God would never
ask us to do something that is unreasonable or impossible. His Spirit indwells
us, giving us the power and desire to do what God requires of us. When we
immerse ourselves in His Word, we will love Him more deeply, hide His words in
our hearts, and make obedience our top priority.
Ask:
Why can it be so difficult at times to do what God
asks us to do?
What are some "obedience tips" you can share with the
group?
Read the following article by Priscilla Shirer and
allow learners to dialogue about its message in light of today's verses:
Words from Priscilla Shirer - He Speaks to Me
Why should believers be satisfied with a
"hand-me-down" revelation? Why we settle for the Word of the Lord that has
been revealed to someone else and simply passed on to us as if God does not
speak to all of us individually? This should not satisfy Christians who want
an intimate walk with Christ.
God desires to speak to believers personally. He wants
us to hear His voice, understand Him, and obey. Yet some people believe that
God only speaks to some believers – only those who have reached some
mystical level of spiritual prowess that the rest of us could never reach.
Some believers become satisfied with a mediocre
Christian existence that sits on the sidelines while those we consider to be
"highly spiritual" have a relationship with God. However, one of the rights
and privileges that we all have as followers of Christ is that He speaks to
us, each of us – one on one.
Show an Interest in Receiving His Word
In several biblical examples, God would wait until
people did something to show their interest in receiving His word. For
example, when God called out to Moses in the dessert of Horeb from the
burning bush, it wasn't until after God saw that Moses "turned aside to
look" (Exodus 3). David got clear direction from God regarding several major
decisions he needed to make but only after he inquired of the Lord? (1
Samuel 23, 30)
Could it be that our inability to hear God call our
names and speak clearly to us has less to do with His ability or desire to
speak clearly (to which we often attribute it) and more to do with our lack
of desperation and preparedness to hear Him? The Lord speaks clearly and
emphatically to those who have correctly positioned themselves to hear from
Him.
Don’t Stand in the Way
We often stand in the way of receiving God’s fresh,
personal and revealing Word in our lives. We must be purposeful in our
desire to do what He has asked of us so that there is no interference in the
"broadcast signal." Scripture shows us that there is nothing wrong with the
broadcast signal, but there is much to be desired of us – the receiving
devices. There is far too much noise on our end. Failing to hear God is not
His fault.
Prepare to Hear from God
The prepared hear God’s voice. Could it be that God is
simply waiting on you to "turn aside to look" like Moses or to desperately
seek Him like Mary Magdalene? Could it be that we need to take the time to
inquire of the Lord before we make a single move like David? While you are
waiting on God to do His part, He could be waiting on you to do yours! Ask
the Lord to reveal your part. Then take steps of obedience and faith to be
correctly positioned to hear Him.
Respond in Obedience
The challenge after hearing the word of God is to be
obedient to what you hear. There was rarely an occasion when God chose not
to speak (although God withheld His word from those who were in rebellion).
There were, however, far more illustrations of a lack of responsiveness to
what God was saying. People either ignored His voice or blatantly disobeyed
it and suffered the consequences.
As you begin to more clearly hear God’s voice in your
life, you will have to resign yourself to complete obedience. Not to take
such a step is sin against God. James 4:17 says, "To the one who know the
right thing to do but does not do it; to him it is sin."
Make a commitment to be obedient to whatever God
reveals to you. If you do, you will not be disappointed in the glorious
results.
Source: "Words from Priscilla Shirer
- He Speaks to Me" by Priscilla Shirer. Article available at
www.lifeway.com.
Ask:
How is God speaking to you?
How is God calling you to respond?
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
Ask a volunteer to read Deuteronomy 30:19-20.
In these verses, Moses exhorted the Israelites to make a decision, to choose
life over death and blessings over curses, by renewing their devotion to God.
Say: Every day is a new day, and each
day we must decide whether to choose life by obeying God or choose death by
living disobediently. Nothing good results when we continue to rebel against the
Lord. When we focus on loving God and hiding His Word in our hearts, we will
be more likely to obey Him faithfully.
Ask:
How can disobedience bring "death" and destruction to
our lives?
How can obedience enhance our lives?
Distribute the Revival handout
and play the worship music softly. Allow time for the participants to
meditate on and respond to the questions on the handout. Close the session with
prayer.
EXTRA! is a supplement designed
to enhance and expand the effectiveness of printed curriculum provided by
LifeWay Church Resources.
EXTRA! is produced by Publishing
Services and Multimedia, LifeWay Church Resources, Copyright 2007, LifeWay
Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
SPECIAL NOTE: Some Internet
addresses given in EXTRA! are outside the LifeWay Internet domain. Because of
the changing nature of the Web, EXTRA! editors cannot be held responsible for
content on pages outside their control. At the time of this posting, the
specific pages mentioned have been viewed and approved by the EXTRA! editorial
staff. However, at the time of your viewing, the information on these pages may
have changed. Links from the specific page addresses referenced in this material
possibly could link to inappropriate material.
