This Week's Lesson

I'm going to try to, once a week, post a preview of the coming week's Sunday School lesson. I hope it will be an opportunity for those in my class to prepare a little (maybe . . . guys?), and I hope it might also be a discussion starter. I also want to try to use this blog to answer any unanswered questions from the week before. I know there are always unanswered questions when we only have 30-45 minutes to discuss an issue. So let's see if this will work.

I don't normally do this, but this week, I'm going to stray a little bit from the book. I'm doing it for a good reason, so stay with me. Last week, when we discussed Moses' speech to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land, we also discussed the command he gave them to love God with all their heart and soul and strength. We talked about how that was the key to every thing else. Obedience to all other commands that is not predicated on a love for God is worthless and dead. That's why it's the first and most important command.During said discussion, Juliet asked how we properly taught that in the church; how preachers and teachers properly made people understand that the rules are there, and they are there for a reason, but that they're not there for us to try to follow on our own strength or through our own wills. So this week, I hope to explore that topic a little bit. I don't think we'll come up with an exhaustive answer, but I do think we can have a good feel.

We'll be looking at one verse of scripture specifically, and others generally. So if you get a chance, read 2 Corinthians 1:24. It's a fairly obscure verse stuck at the end of the first chapter of 2nd Corinthians. If I were to give a title to the lesson, it would be, "Not Lording Over Your Faith, But Working With You For Your Joy." Read that verse, and think about that phrase. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. See you Sunday.