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League founder Helen Cadbury challenged each League member to read part of God's Word every day. Even though she was just a young girl when she started this ministry back in 1893, she understood the power of reading God's precious Word. Opening Scriptures
Lesson 2: The Power of God's Word The Bible tells us that Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). Though recorded by human writers, the words were inspired by the Holy Spirit. God revealed His person and plan to these writers. While they used their own cultural context and their own personal writing styles, they wrote what God wanted them to write. Scripture is completely trustworthy because God was in control of its authorship. The Hebrew Scriptures -- which prophesy the coming of Jesus -- were so accurately transcribed from one generation to the next that a scroll of the entire book of Isaiah found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and dating more than 1,000 years older than the versions known at the time of its discovery differed by only a few letters. We can trust God's Word. The Bible is our standard for testing everything we see and hear. It protects us against false teaching, and acts as our guide for how we should live. Scripture reveals the character of God. Naturally, the only way we can grow closer in our thoughts and actions to the heart of God's will for our lives is to spend time daily reading His Word and applying what we read. Knowledge of the Word is not enough if we don't apply it to our lives! An effective ministry requires us to spend time daily reading the Bible. You don't have to read a lot or spend a huge amount of time on this. You can start by reading just a few verses each day from the Gospel of John. This will take just a couple of minutes, easy to fit into even the busiest schedule. The key is that you make it a daily habit to read something from God's precious Word. Scriptures to consider on the importance of spending time in God's Word: The Gospel of John The Gospel of John, written by the Apostle John (who also wrote the book of Revelation), is considered to have been the last of the four accounts of Jesus written down. The writer, who refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved" because of his close-knit relationship with the Lord, wants the reader to understand that Jesus has all the qualities of God in human flesh, the heaven-sent Son of God and the only source of eternal life. It is a wonderful summary of the life of Christ because it explores the fullness of Jesus' humanity and divine qualities. Get to know the Gospel of John by spending time daily reading from it. Key verses for sharing are marked in bold text throughout our pocket Gospels so that you can find them more easily. They will help you explain to others who Jesus is and why he has the power and authority to transform their lives now and for eternity. If you're serious about sharing your faith, it's a good idea to memorize all of these bold-text verses over time. Questions worth answering True or False: The purpose of the Gospel of John is stated in the book itself. John begins his account of Jesus by writing about the Word. This refers to: A The Bible Why should a person believe that the Bible is true, and a perfect authority for living? A The Bible describes hundreds of events that had not yet happened at the time of writing, yet were fulfilled exactly as described. B The Bible describes the miracles of Jesus, including his resurrection. C Millions of lives have been changed through it. D Archaeological evidence supports biblical accounts. E All of the above Your lesson assignment We'll begin your sharing efforts with a simple exercise that will break the ice for you. No matter how nervous you are about sharing your faith, this will be an easy thing to do: Leave a Gospel of John in a waiting area where people might pass the time with little to do but read a newspaper or magazine. This might be a doctor or dentist's office, waiting room of a car repair shop, take-out pizza place, or even a spa. Based on stories we've received from members, places where people are especially open to spiritual thoughts can be especially good choices, such as hospitals or parole offices. Go back later and see if the Gospel is still there, or has been moved to indicate that it has been read. You might even notice someone reading it during your visit! Note that we don't normally recommend you leave Gospels lying around. It is always better to physically hand them to someone. People who can put a face to the one who gave them the booklet are more likely to read it, and to find meaning in it. Also, when Gospels are left lying around, there is a chance that others might throw them in the trash. This is less likely if given to someone in person. For this initial exercise, we want you to just try it as a non-threatening starting point. If you are already used to handing Gospels to people, do that instead. When you're finished this lesson, we invite you to write a brief story on the completion page about where you left your Gospel, to encourage other members taking this Boot Camp program. Member Story "I've sent a Gospel to everyone in my family and Bible studies, and encourage them if they already know Jesus that they can pass it on. I also tell them that they can order more. I leave some at MOPS - Mothers of Preschoolers - group, and also hand them out at drive throughs. This way is easy for me, since I tend to get a bit tongue-tied. Then I have faith that God will use the Gospel even though I didn't directly share with the recipient. I'll never forget the first time I saw one of these little pocket Gospels at my MOPS group. It was one of the catalysts for me to begin to know Jesus personally. So I owe you a big THANK YOU!! Praise the Lord!!!!" -- Gina D. Closing prayer
When you have completed each lesson, including answering the questions and your lesson assignment, you simply click a "Lesson Completed" button (shown on the actual E-mail lessons) and the next lesson will be automatically sent to you by return E-mail. You can then review the answers to the questions in the lesson to see how they compare to what you answered. |
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.