Welcome to Bible Study

Welcome to Bible Study

Greetings 

SongBecause He Lives 

Opening Prayer

Seeing Life from God's View

James 4:13-15

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

Perspective

Your perspective on life influence how you invest your time, spend your money, use your talents, and value your relationships.

Metaphors

Romans 12:2 "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

God's View of Life

Life on Earth is a Test

Life on Earth is a Trust

Life is a Test • Failure is defined as: • to be unsuccessful in passing • to stop functioning normally• to leave undone• Colin Powell: "

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."

• Mother Teresa " Failure is merely feedback that there is something blocking the path of the emergence and expansion of the greatest version of yourself.

You Grade:

NAME PASS or FAIL.

• Adam and Eve (Genesis 3) ______

• David (2 Samuel 11) ______

• Esther (Esther 7) ______

• Daniel (Daniel 6) ______

A very important test is how you act when you can't feel God's presence in your life.

How can this happen?

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has seized you except what is common to people. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

James 1:12

Blessed is the person who perseveres under trial, because when he or she has stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Agree or Disgree?

"Every temptation is an opportunity for us to draw nearer to God."

George Sweeting

Life is a Trust

• God is the owner of everything and everyone on earth.

• We never really own anything during our brief stay on earth.

• God just loans the earth to us while we are here.

Psalm 24:1 and Genesis 1:1

• The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

• In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:28

• God blessed them and said to them (Adam and Eve), “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

• The first job God gave humans was to manage and take care of God's "stuff" on earth.

Are We Responsible for The Gulf Oil Spill?

1 Corinthians 4: 2

• (NIV) Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

• (KJV) Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

Story of the Steward in Matthew 25:14-29

• 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

• 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! (enter into the joy…)

Luke 48b

"… From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

The more God gives you, the more responsible he expects you to be.

Trying Not To (Humor)

"What are you doing, son?" the shopkeeper asked a little boy whose eyes were on a large box of apples outside the storefront. "Trying to steal one of those apples?" asked the man.

"No sir," replied the boy. "I'm trying not to."

Thinking About My Purpose

• Point to Ponder: Life is a test and a trust• Verse to Remember: Luke 16:10a "Unless you

are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones." or " Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,…"

• Question to Consider: What has happened to me recently that I now realize was a test from God? What are the greatest matters God has entrusted to me?

Review Study Guide and

Closing Prayer