Make copies of the Pure
In Heart handout. Bring enough for learners and visitors to have their own
copies.
Are You Disobedient? (Matt. 15:1-3)
Read aloud Matthew 15:1-3. Define the following two terms:
Tradition of the elders (15:2)- A reference to the oral
laws that the Pharisees placed on an equal par with Scripture. These
laws eventually appeared in the Mishnah and carried the same weight as
Scripture to the Pharisees. The specific tradition that Jesus’ disciples
violated were ceremonial washings that appeared shortly before the time
of Jesus.
God’s commandment (15:4)- Clearly revealed instructions
that appear in the Scriptures. Jesus contrasted the traditions of the
elders with the clearly revealed commandments such as the commandment to
honor your father and mother.
Ask:
How can you
distinguish traditions from commandments?
Why is it
important that your traditions are flexible but your commandments are
unwavering?
How did the
Pharisees break God’s commandment because of their tradition?
What are ways
that tradition has stood in your way of keeping God’s commandment?
Read the excerpt from Christianity Today:
The Tradition Temptation: Why we should still give
Scripture pride of place
Roger E. Olson
November 1, 2003
LIKE MANY EVANGELICALS, I grew up in a church that
objected to "tradition," which we associated with dead orthodoxy. A furor
erupted in the church office when the new, young associate pastor suggested
that the Sunday worship folder contain a minimal order of worship. We
disdained formality and embraced the spontaneity of the Spirit in worship.
Or so we liked to think. The associate pastor's suggestion was rejected on
the ground that printed orders of worship led to liturgy and liturgy was
tradition. Some in the congregation whispered that the associate pastor was
losing his zeal by attending seminary. The young minister yielded, but he
pointed out that he was giving in to their tradition of rejecting liturgy
and embracing informal, unplanned worship. He also said that since our
worship services were pretty routine, we should help visitors by printing
our normal order and then allow the Spirit to move within it.
The associate pastor's argument didn't sway the
congregation, but it planted new thoughts about tradition in my mind. Had we
developed our own traditions, including a tradition of rejecting whatever we
perceived as the traditions of other churches that were not "full gospel"
(as we called our type of church)?
Like the church I grew up in, numerous evangelical
churches like to think that tradition is a Spirit-quenching fire
extinguisher. But the matter of tradition is more complex than my home
church imagined at the time, and I have come to appreciate much of the
tradition handed on to us from the church's past. Nevertheless, I am
troubled and remain concerned when evangelicals start touting "tradition" as
a way forward in our faith, as many are doing today.
When is
tradition helpful for the Christian? When does it become unhelpful?
How do you
judge a tradition and its usefulness?
Are You Dishonest? (Matt. 15:4-9)
Have learners read Matthew 15:4-9 and
determine what commandment the Pharisees violated and what tradition they used
to violate it.
Commandment: Honor your father and mother and speaking evil of
father and mother (Exodus 20:12, 21:17).
Tradition: Neglecting to take care of one’s own parents in order to give
everything to the temple.
Ask:
How was their tradition dishonest and hypocritical?
How did Jesus use Isaiah’s prophecy to speak to this situation in
Matthew 15:8-9?
Read the excerpt from Christianity Today that deals with
honesty:
Being Honest with God
Alexander C. DeJong
October 1, 1981
Beth was young, only 28. She was graduated from college
with honors. She taught two years in a Christian school, had two small
daughters, a husband-and cancer. Her doctor described it as terminal.
She became more and more
disheartened. Behind polite smiles were guilt, resentment, fear, and
brooding apathy. When asked one day by an elder, "Are you ever angry with
God?", she replied with a small smile, "No, I may not be angry with God, my
Heavenly Father. He knows best!"
It sounded pious. The words appeared theologically
sound. The elder felt good, and he was able to report glowingly about her
submission, trust, and surrender.
But Beth's words were not honest. They did not come
from her deep-down self. She played a successful role as a good church
member, but she continued to be an unhappy, angry, resentful, guilt-laden
daughter of God.
The Father who counts the hairs of our heads and the
malignant cells in our bodies wants to hear how his child really feels. In
fact, he doesn't mind when his child lets him have it. He's big enough and
experienced enough to take it.
How did Beth
respond out of her tradition rather than honestly?
Even though we
often think of hypocrites as those who commit some great sin, how was
Beth’s response hypocritical?
What would be
the blessings that would come from Beth living more honestly?
Are You Blind? (Matt. 15:10-14)
Read Matthew 15:10-14
and explain that the Pharisees paid so much attention to the externals that they
ignored the root of the problem. According to their traditions, the Pharisees
paid more attention to the ceremonial requirements than they did the moral
standards deeply embedded in the heart. This blinded them to the truth.
How do the following
things reflect a deeper heart issue?
Using profanity?
Abusing drugs?
Bitterness toward another person?
Procrastinating?
Apathy toward spiritual matters?
Tell of Ron Sider’s
article about hypocrisy in the Evangelical church:
The
Evangelical Scandal
Ron Sider says
the movement is riddled with hypocrisy, and that it's time for serious
change.
Ron Sider
has been a burr in the ethical saddle of the evangelical world for decades.
His 1977 book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, took fellow
believers to task for materialism in the face of desperate global needs.
Sider, who is professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy at
Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has just released a new jeremiad: The
Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience (Baker Books, 2005). In it, Sider
plays off Mark Noll's critique of American evangelicalism's
anti-intellectualism in The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. Sider says the
current crisis encompasses both mind and heart. Stan Guthrie, Christianity
Today's senior associate news editor, interviewed Sider.
What troubles
you the most about evangelicals today?
The heart of the
matter is the scandalous failure to live what we preach. The tragedy is that
poll after poll by Gallup
and Barna show that evangelicals live just like the world. Contrast that
with what the New Testament says about what happens when people come to
living faith in Christ. There's supposed to be radical transformation in the
power of the Holy Spirit. The disconnect between our biblical beliefs and
our practice is just, I think, heart-rending.
I'm a deeply
committed evangelical. I've been committed to evangelical beliefs and to
renewing the evangelical church all of my life. And the stats just break my
heart. They make me weep. And somehow we must face that reality and change
it.
You have often
spoken about evangelical failures in society, for example, in Rich
Christian in an Age of Hunger. This latest critique covers not only
social justice issues but also issues of personal morality. Was that
intentional?
I've always been
concerned with a whole range of biblical things. My commitment is to be
biblically faithful, not to pick out one issue. But a good bit of my writing
has dealt with the social issues that have called evangelicals to be more
engaged, for example, with questions of poverty here and abroad. But you're
right. This book is talking about a range of things that we evangelicals all
agree are biblical demands.
Evangelical
Christians and born-again Christians get divorced just as often, if not a
little more, than the general population. And Barna has discovered that 90
percent of the born-again Christians who are divorced got divorced after
they accepted Christ. On sexual promiscuity, we're probably doing a little
better than the general population. Josh McDowell has estimated that maybe
our evangelical youth are 10 percent better, Lord help us.
So at least
it's a measurable difference.
Well it is
measurable, although there's not so much hard [data] on that question as
with some of the others. John Green, one of the best evangelical pollsters,
says that about a third of all evangelicals say that premarital sex is okay.
And about 15 percent say that adultery is okay.
Take the issue of
racism. A Gallup
study discovered that when they asked the question, "Do you object if a
black neighbor moves in next door?" the least prejudiced were Catholics and
non-evangelicals. The next group, in terms of prejudice, was mainline
Protestants. Evangelicals and Southern Baptists were the worst.
Several studies
find that physical and sexual abuse in theologically conservative homes is
about the same as elsewhere. A large study of the Christian Reformed Church,
a member of the NAE, discovered that the frequency of physical and sexual
abuse in this evangelical denomination was about the same as in the general
population. One recent study, though, suggests that evangelical men who
attend church regularly are less likely than the general population to
commit domestic violence.
Materialism
continues to be an incredible scandal. The average church member [from
across the denominations] today gives about 2.6 percent of his or her
income—a quarter of a tithe—to the church. Evangelicals used to be quite a
lot better [in giving] than mainline denominations. But their giving has
declined every year for several decades, and they're now getting very close
to the norm. The average evangelical giving is about 4.2 percent—about
two-fifths of a tithe.
Six percent of
the "born-again" people tithe; nine percent of evangelicals do. Our income
has gone up fabulously over the last 30-plus years. The average household
income now in the U.S. is $42,000-plus. If the average American Christian
tithed, we'd have another $143 billion.
What issues troubled Sider when he
compared Evangelical churches to Scripture?
What other areas
could be issues today?
What could
explain some of the discrepancies between what Evangelicals believe and what
they practice?
What did Jesus
mean when he said the blind guide the blind (Matt. 15:14)?
Are You Defiled? (Matt. 15:15-20)
Ask learners to read
Matthew 15:15-20 and determine the tradition that Jesus called into question
with the Pharisees. What commandments might He have referred to in this passage?
Ask learners how the following might defile a person:
Evil thoughts
Murders
Thefts
False
Testimonies
Ask learners why
Jesus contrasted the things that come from the heart with the ceremonial
traditions of the Pharisees.
Read the excerpt from
Christian Single magazine:
Sex & the
Single
by Dean Nelson
In the
intense, power-driven world of Washington, D.C. Lindsay Morgan said she was
surprised at how open people were about their Christian faith when she moved
there from California three years ago. Especially in the non-profit sector
where she works, the message of justice, peace, reconciliation, forgiveness,
and love was embraced and even promoted.
But
there is one message from the Christian faith that seems to be a
deal-breaker among her peers. For many, it’s enough to toss out the concept
all together.
“Nothing screams ‘irrelevant’ to them more than the church’s teaching that
you can’t have sex until you’re married,” she explains. “Most of my friends
just don’t think it’s realistic or even possible.”
Morgan
doesn’t recall ever being taught why sex outside of marriage was wrong, not
from her parents or from the evangelical church she grew up in. “It was
enough then to be told that the Bible said so,” she says.
Eventually, though, “you outgrow that,” she adds, “and you don’t have
anything to replace it with.”
Source:Christian Single, October 2007, p. 28.
Reprinted by permission.
Ask:
Why is the clear teaching of
Scripture not enough for many evangelical Christians today?
What cultural
messages are singles heeding when they choose sex outside of marriage?
Why does purity
always begin in the heart?
Encourage learners to
take home the poster of Matthew 5:8 to post on their mirror or refrigerator at
home. Encourage them to remember that the heart is the starting point of purity
and obedience to the Lord’s commandments.
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
And make copies on cardstock, front and back on one sheet.
Make enough copies for the entire class. Cut out.
Matthew 5:21-26
Enlist a volunteer to read Matthew 5:21-26.
Last week Jesus emphasized the importance of realizing our
righteousness in Him, not our own self-righteousness. We are made righteous
through His saving grace, and then because of His spirit living within us we are
able to live justly. Here’s where it gets interesting. We can change our
actions, but this is not living righteously. Being made righteous is a change of
heart, only possible through Jesus Christ in us. Let’s take a moment and get to
the heart of the matter.
Why do you think people rate murder above slander?
How are they the same? How are they different?
Ask the class to
define murder. In verses 21-22, Jesus brings the attention to the
sixth commandment, “Thou Shall Not Kill.” The crowd probably was thinking
only of physically murdering someone, until He expounded on the subject. The
Old Testament focused on murder, and while Jesus agreed with the
commandment, He disagreed with restricting it to the act of murder. What was
revolutionary about His teaching is that He challenged everyone to look
beyond the act of murder to the attitudes of the heart that can lead to
murder. Jesus agreed that murder is a crime that deserves punishment; He
also taught that anger was a sin worthy of judgment. In verse 22 He warns
that anger against a brother is a violation of the spirit of the Sixth
Commandment. It’s about the intentions of the heart.
Ask:
Have you ever been hurt by someone else and wanted to
hurt themback?
Have you wanted to seek revenge?Maybe retaliate? Even had murderous thoughts?
Have you evertalked about
someone because ofanger in your heart toward that
person?
Did you tear down their
character? Perhaps murder their character?
Say: Not all anger is sin. Jesus was angry with thepeople who had turned the temple into a marketplace.Righteous indignation, especially on behalfof others, is right. But, Christians sometimes try to excusetheir selfish anger as righteous anger.In verse 22, Jesus condemned the use of angry and abusivewords. The word Raca is a term toattach to a person’s intelligence, as in “empty headed, nitwit, stupid.”The word fool is an attacknot only on one’s intelligence but also on one’s religion and character.Proverbs 18:21 says, “Lifeand death are in the power of the tongue.” Abusive words destroy people’sspirits and sometimeslife itself. Jesus continued teaching them that while anger and abusive wordsare not tried inhuman courts, they will be judged and punished by God.
Reread verses 23-26 emphasizing“reconciled.”
Say: Because we have been reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,weseek
reconciliation with fellow Christians. Reconciliation is always the goal when a relationshiphas been broken, whether it is your fault or not. Reconciliation was so important to Jesus that Hetold us to do it first, in verse 24, then return to offer the gift at His altar.
Ask: Why do we not run toreconcile relationships?
Distribute "Steps to Reconciliation" and go over the handout with the class. (Leader's Note: Do notspend a lot of time on this, but read through, touching briefly on each step, before moving on.)
Matthew 5:27-30
Before you begin this section, pass out the following verses to volunteers: Proverbs 23:7, Proverbs 4:23.
Read Matthew 5:27-30.
Explain that in today’s society, we are bombarded with images and thoughts
that lead us to forget the truths of God’s Word. It takes extreme effort on
every believer’s part to make a conscious effort not to allow our thoughts or
reasoning to be assimilated to the worlds. Sexual images mock
us at every turn through TV, sitcoms, commercials, magazine pictures and
articles, movies, and now through the Internet. Not only are we attacked with
ungodly images, but our thought processes are challenged daily by the worlds
view. Controlling our thoughts becomes more difficult everyday. We must choose
to guard our hearts and minds at every turn. Jesus tells us that while we may
not put actions to our impure thoughts, we have already committed the sin in our
hearts. How convicting is that thought? He continued by telling if our right eye
offends us, pluck it out. If our right hand offends us, cut it off. It is better
to lose one member of our body than to lose our whole self in the offense. This
seems drastic. But not if you think of it in that we should put away from us
anything in our lives that tempts us, anything that causes us to stumble,
anything that causes us to have impure thoughts. Then you may understand the
meaning of Jesus’ words. We must act drastically in protecting our minds and
thoughts from the attack of the world.
Ask:
What vices in your life cause you to struggle with
areas of sin?
What habits or hobbies cause us to have thoughts that
dishonor God?
Say: God sees all sin as equal. We are
the ones who categorize sin.
READ OR PARAPHRASE THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE:
Christians Must Avoid ‘line’ of Temptation by Jeff Robinson
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)—Sex is a gift God designed to be
acted out within marriage, but Satan tempts all Christians to misuse it in
sinful ways, and they must be prepared to battle temptation, Charles Lawless
told a group of college students recently at Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary.
Sexual temptation is a universal struggle among people
because God-given physical urges are a strong tool in the hands of Satan,
Lawless said in February at Southern Seminary's annual Give Me An Answer
Collegiate Conference. The conference theme was, "Does God Care About Sex?"
"We all struggle with the reality of our sexuality,"
said Lawless, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and
Church Growth. "It is a gift that seems to haunt us because the enemy always
wants to pervert the biblical picture of sexuality.
"The union of marriage and the beauty and perfection of
marriage as God designed it helps us to see what the church is to be like
and how God loves us. This is significant to God. We are to hold marriage as
honorable and pure, so any sexuality that we are to experience is to come
within the bonds of sacred marriage. Satan uses sexual temptation to distort
the picture of Christ's relationship with the church."
The Bible gives parameters as to where the line of
sexual sin exists, Lawless said.
"As Christians, we do know where these lines are because
God has told us very clearly in His Word what His standards are," he said.
"A part of the problem is we live in a world that says there is no line or
that keeps moving the line."
Since God's Word makes the line clear, Lawless
saidChristians know when they are making decisions and choices that are
pushing them ever closer to the line. Pointing to Genesis 3, Lawless said
Satan lures Christians up to and beyond the line of sexual temptation in
four basic ways:
•Satan engages believers
in conversation. Just as Eve conversed with the serpent in the
Garden, so believers are inching ever closer to the line of sexual sin when
they first ponder sinful activities, he said.
"Our sin begins when we first start to think about that
possible sin, when the enemy first puts that thought in our mind and grabs
us." Lawless said.
"Sin begins when you begin to think about staying on the
Internet a little bit longer and you click one more time in a certain
direction or you read that unsolicited e-mail that you know by the subject
line is going to lead you into trouble. You begin to think, 'I wonder if I
should check it out?' You are engaging in conversation with the enemy, but
you are not yet at the line."
•Next, Satan leads
believers to doubt or ignore God's Word, Lawless said. The enemy
will replace God's Word with unbiblical thoughts such as, "nobody will
know," or "you can always change your ways tomorrow," or "this is not going
to hurt anybody else," Lawless said, adding that all such rationalizations
cut directly against the grain of Scripture.
•Satan then points the
believer to what he or she is missing, Lawless said. While
believers have profound eternal blessings in Christ, Satan will tempt
Christians to locate ultimate pleasure in the "forbidden fruit," he said.
"When we cross the line we decide that the sin that we
want, at least temporarily, matters more than every other blessing that God
has given us: our health, our home, our family, everything," he said.
•Finally, Lawless
said, Satan wants believers who have
compromised with sexual sin to flee to the secret place in shame-just as
Adam and Eve hid in Eden following the fall. The very one who
formerly enticed the Christian to sin now becomes his or her accuser,
Lawless said, with the result that the fallen person spirals into worse
sexual behavior.
"The enemy always want us to live in secret, to live in
the hidden places of our lives," Lawless said. "He wants us to live in the
depths of that sin so that it becomes more and more a stronghold. For
example, sometimes the simplest pornography leads to looking at more extreme
porn and then to even worse things."
But the bad news of Genesis 3 is accompanied by the good
news of God's grace in Christ, Lawless pointed out. God came looking for
Adam and Eve while they hid in the garden and, in His mercy, the Lord also
seeks out His fallen children, Lawless said.
"He comes looking for us in our sin when in fact He
would be justified to let our sin destroy us," he said. "When we find
ourselves on the wrong side of the line we are not left alone there, but God
in grace comes seeking us out."
While Scripture clearly marks the line for sexual sin,
it also gives God's plan for overcoming temptation, Lawless said. To
successfully battle sexual temptation, Lawless said Christians must:
•Decide to seek the
higher pleasure of serving God. Believers must decide that
eternal pleasure is of greater value than the fleeting gratification that
comes from sexual sin.
•Get an
accountability partner. Confession of sins to another person
in line with James 5:16 will bring sins out of the closet of secrecy, he
said. Lawless cautioned believers to take care in choosing an accountability
partner; the person must not be a gossip and must not be of the opposite
gender. In confessing sins, Lawless said a Christian must be specific
regarding his personal struggles and failures.
•Stay away from the
line. Christians must make choices that keep them from moving
in the vicinity of sexual immorality, he said. For example, a boy and girl
in a dating relationship might decide never to be alone together in a car or
a family might put its home computer at a place where it can be seen by
other family members at all times, Lawless said.
•Replace bad thoughts
and mental images with the Word of God. Christians must read
and memorize the Bible constantly to renew their minds, he said.
•Repent and move on.
If a believer has yielded to such temptation, he or she must repent and then
rest in God's mercy.
Say: While this article applies
to the temptations with sex, the process can apply to any area of sin.
Ask: Why do you believe we do
not pay attention to the first 3 steps Satan uses, and when it is too late we
find we have fallen hook, line, and sinker for Satan’s plan?
Ask volunteers to read the two verses
from Proverbs. Proverbs 4:23 warns us to guard our hearts above
everything, and Proverbs 23:7 bluntly tells us “for as he thinks within himself,
so he is.” Our hearts are precious and vulnerable. They are at the very root of
who we are. At salvation we ask Christ to live in our hearts. We love with our
hearts. When neglected, our hearts can become cold and hard. When hurt, it
becomes bitter and angry. God cautioned us to guard our hearts at all cost, for
it will reveal who we really are.
Ask:
What are you allowing to filter into your heart.
What sin or lie of the enemy are you allowing to take
root?
Perhaps you are deep in bondage to an addiction no one
knows about and it is eating you alive. You can be delivered from this sin. It
begins with seeking God, seeking forgiveness, and making specific changes that
will keep you from falling into Satan’s trap again. However, it doesn’t end
there. This secret sin must be treated as any addiction and recovery steps need
to be taken. Seek help from your pastor or a Christian counselor.
Matthew 5:31-32
Enlist a volunteer to read Matthew 5:31-32.
Anger and bitterness toward someone who has wronged you
affects the heart in a way that your fellowship with God is broken. Jesus
addresses the issue of divorce here in verses 31 and 32. Even in Jesus’ time,
divorce was a controversial and complicated subject. Today divorce is as common
inside the walls of the church as it is outside. Jesus was not condoning or
justifying divorce, but was giving clarity to an acceptable reason for divorce.
In Matthew 19:9 the Lord again states that whoever divorces his wife (or her
husband) for any reason other than sexual immorality is causing them to commit
adultery, as well as their next spouse. In Micah 2:16 we read that “God hates
divorce.” He doesn’t hate the people involved; He hates the sin of divorce.
Why? Because He knows the effect it has on all those involved. God hates all
sin. He does not, however, hate the sinner.
In an article written by Patrick F. Fagan, Ph.D., “The
Social Scientific Data on the Impact of Marriage and Divorce on Children,” Dr.
Fagan shows extensive research on the adverse affects on the children of divorce
in the areas of self confidence, depression, security, income, education and
future marriage. (See his article at
www.heritage.org/Research/Family/BG1283.cfm for more information.)
While people often think that their actions and their sins
only hurt themselves, they are selfishly refusing to look past themselves at
those around them suffering from their decisions. Some people who initiate
divorce talk as if it will be good for all concerned. They refuse to see the
hurt and pain caused by their attitudes and actions. God loves us and only
wants what is best for us. He knows that divorce is not best for us. However,
as with every sin, He offers forgiveness for those who will seek Him. He is a
merciful and forgiving God who offers forgiveness when we chose our way over His
way. God knows that sin begins with our thoughts.
Jesus was teaching in verses 21-32 that murder is more than
the act of physically killing someone; it is an attitude of the heart and the
thoughts that are entertained toward another person. He taught us that we
cannot offer true worship if we know of someone who has something against us.
We must go at that moment and make right the offense, whether our fault or not.
Then, and only then, can we experience true worship and fellowship with Him. He
finishes this lesson teaching those of His day to not justify their decision to
divorce. Marriage is a lifetime commitment and He wants us to make every effort
to protect this institution. However, in these verses we find Him giving
permission for divorce in specific circumstances.
Say: This lesson boils down to one phrase, “the
heart of the matter.” How is your heart? Are you harboring resentment against
someone because of circumstances or actions against you? Has God prompted you
about a necessary reconciliation with someone? Before we can be reconciled to
Him, we have to first be reconciled with those who have offended us or whom we
have offended. Divorce is a difficult and convicting situation for Christians.
If you have divorced or have been affected by divorced parents, you understand
the impact it has on our lives. God wants us to evaluate our involvement with
divorce, examine our hearts, make necessary reconciliation with Him over
divorce, be forgiven and move on. He also wants us to realize the impact our
resentment, broken relationships, and unforgiveness has on our hearts and those
around us.
Pass out the Reconciliations cards.
Read the verse on the card: “All bitterness, anger
and wrath, insult and slander must be removed from you, along with all
wickedness. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another,
just as God also forgave you in Christ" (Ephesians 4:31-32, HCSB).
Say: Before we leave today, let us take steps
toward applying what we have learned and discussed today. On the back of this
card you’ll find three lines. God may be impressing someone on your heart right
now that you need to forgive or reconcile with. Use this card to help you make
those first steps. Write their name or names on this card, put it in your
wallet or somewhere you can see it often, and begin praying about what God wants
you to do and when He wants you to do it.
Let’s pray together asking God to reveal those we need to
reconcile with, areas that we need to examine in our lives that may be causing
us to stumble.
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.
