This Week’s Training Notes

Continuing in the Spring curriculum of The Gospel Project for Adults, From Conquest to Kingdom, we have been reading through the book of Joshua, seeing how God led His people into the promised land with His power and His presence. We’ve read that God commanded Joshua to continue following His words and commands.

So this week, your group will be studying Unit 7, Session 3, God’s Presence in His Word, a doctrine session, focusing on the authority of Scripture and how Scriptures are the standard of authority for the believer, providing the message of salvation and guidance for how to live.

So this week, here are your three things to know, read, and do as you prepare for this week’s session:

Something to know

In the various passages given to read in Session 3, it would be good to think of the words “complete” (2 Tim. 3:17), “happy/blessed” (Ps. 119:1), and “delight” (Ps. 119:16). These are emotions and state of minds that should be present when we read God’s Word and follow His commands. It’s not good to just obey like robots in reading and doing what God says. Our hearts and minds should feel complete, happy, and delighted while in His Word. That should also mean that when we are not in His Word, we should feel incomplete, unhappy, and saddened as if something precious was missing from our lives. Ask your group to consider their hearts and emotions when it comes to thinking about Scripture; help them think about whether they truly delight in God’s statutes.

Something to read

For something to read, we’ve included a link to a sermon text by Randy Mann on 2 Timothy 3:16-17 in the Additional Resources called God Speaks . . . and We Can Trust His Word. Here is an excerpt and brief outline from his teaching:

It is not just part of the Word of God that is profitable, but rather all of it. We can be prone to focus only on the parts of Scripture that are familiar and/or comfortable to us. This passage should compel us to give ourselves to studying the whole of God’s Word, knowing that God will use it to accomplish these purposes (doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness) in our lives. Ultimately, we know that God is working by the power of His Spirit, through His Word, to further conform us into the image of His Son.

I. We can trust God’s Word to be true (v. 16a).
II. We can trust God’s Word to affect our lives (v. 16b).
III. We can trust God’s Word to prepare us for mission (v. 17).

Something to do

Consider making Scripture fun and delightful with a game. Perhaps make a game similar to Hangman, where you prepare empty spaces for words instead of letters to easy Scripture passages, drawn on a whiteboard or made with posterboard. Depending on the knowledge of your group, you can give them clues like the book of the Bible or even the chapter. Have people guess words (instead of letters). Another game could be Mad Libs with Scripture verses where there are blank spaces for people to fill with adjectives, nouns, adverbs, or verbs so that it reads humorously after completed. If your group is having fun, remind them that even without games, reading and learning Scripture is fun and should make us happy.