This is a sample of the Navigators discipleship booklets for your reference in selecting resources to get a discipleship relationship started. Purchase this series of studies at www.NavPress.com .
Your Life in Christ DFD S
© 2008 by The Navigators All rights reserved. Permission is granted to download and print one copy to use with a study group.
BOOK ONE
YOUR LIFE IN CHRIST
NOT BY BREAD ALONE Billions of the world’s people go through life spiritually undernourished. The words Jesus spoke centuries ago are still true— “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Because they recognize. this need in their lives that only God can satisfy, more and more people are turning to serious study of the Bible. Everyone needs to study the Bible—both those new to the Christian faith and those who have known Christ for many years. The DESIGN FOR DISCIPLESHIP studies have been carefully planned to help you: ■ Establish a program of personal study of the Scriptures. ■ Examine the great truths of the Bible. ■ Learn and practice the essentials of discipleship. To get the full benefit of the course, it is important to work consecutively from Book One through Book Seven. All you need to begin is a Bible. Each question will direct you to a passage of Scripture. After thinking about the passage, write the answer in your own words. Scripture references will give the book, chapter, and verse. For example, Revelation 3:20 refers to the book of Revelation, chapter 3, verse 20. Be sure to pray before you begin each chapter. Ask the Lord for understanding as you study these topics: ■ God Cares for You ■ The Person of Jesus Christ ■ The Work of Christ ■ The Spirit Within You 3 © 2008 by The Navigators All rights reserved. Permission is granted to download and print one copy to use with a study group.
CHAPTER ONE
GOD CARES FOR YOU You are a special person. You are special because of God. God says you are valuable to him. He genuinely cares about you and what happens to you. In this chapter, you will investigate four statements of God’s concern for you: ■ God created you. ■ God knows you. ■ God loves you. ■ God made you part of his family. GOD CREATED YOU 1. Genesis is the book of beginnings. Chapter 1 tells us that God created the universe. Read Genesis 1:1-5. List at least three facts concerning the creation.
2. How did God create the world? Read Hebrews 11:3
3. How should you respond to God’s creation? Revelation 4:11
4. Why did God create you? Isaiah 43:7 5. The dignity God gave man is shown by man’s uniqueness, his authority, and his purpose. List some facts from Genesis 1:26-28 that indicate: a. The uniqueness of man
b. The position or authority of man
c. The purpose of man
GOD KNOWS YOU 6. In Psalm 139:1-6 David mentions several areas of his life which God has “searched and known.” List at least four of them. Then place a check mark by the areas God knows about your life.
7. How did David respond as he realized how completely God knew him? Psalm 139:23-24
8. What does Jesus reveal about God’s detailed interest in you? Matthew 10:29-31
GOD LOVES YOU 9. What was God’s greatest demonstration of his love? 1 John 4:9-10
(Manifest means to show or make apparent; propitiation or expiation means a payment that restores favor.)
GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD . . . WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM
SHALL NOT PERISH
BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE
DEATH
LIFE
HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON
10. Study John 3:16 in relationship to the illustration above. a. What did God’s love cause him to do?.
b. What does it mean that God “gave” his Son?
c. How can a person receive eternal life?
11. In John 10:9-16, Jesus compares his love and concern to the love and concern of a shepherd. According to this passage, what are some of the things he wants to give you?
12. Which items that you listed in question 11 are most important to you?
Take a moment to pray.
Thank God for all the things you listed in question 11. Specifically remember those which mean the most to you. Praise him that these things are given to you because of Jesus, and that you do not earn them by your actions. GOD MADE YOU PART OF HIS FAMILY 13. How did Jesus teach his disciples to address God? Matthew 6:9 14. Is it true that God is everyone’s Father? Why or why not? John 8:42-
15. How is one born into God’s family? John 1:12-13
“The importance of the assurance of faith lies in the fact that, childlike, I cannot possibly love or serve God if I do not know whether he loves and acknowledges me as his child.” ANDREW MURRAY 1
16. List some of the advantages of being a true child of God from Romans 8:15-17.
(Abba is a personal name for father.)
17. State briefly how you know God is your Father.
It is important for you as a Christian to be assured that God is your Father and that you have eternal life. Since feelings change, this assurance must ultimately depend on the Word of God. “I write these things to you who believe . . . that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). Below are three verses that have helped many Christians gain this assurance. You may want to memorize the verse which helps you most in this area. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” JOHN 5:24
“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” 1 JOHN 5:11-12
“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me.” REVELATION 3:20 1
From “The Assurance of Faith” in The New Life (1891).
Remember These Points ■ ■ ■
God created you for his own purpose and his glory. He gave you dignity by shaping you after his own likeness. God considers you to be of great value. He takes personal interest in knowing you completely. He loves you so intensely that he sent his Son to die for you on the cross. This demonstration of his love shows he wants to give you an eternal and abundant life. When God gave you this life in Jesus Christ, you were spiritually born into God’s family. He is your Father. You are his child.