Life Series Workbook Excerpt

HOW TO USE THIS WORKBOOK This workbook is designed to accompany The Life Series video episodes on Faith, Hope, and Love. It is divided into 5 sections, each accompanying one of the video presentations:

• Faith: Part 1

• Love: Part 1

• Faith: Part 2

• Love: Part 2

• Hope

1. VIDEO STUDY The first portion of each chapter contains fill-in-the-blank sections that correspond with the video presentation. As you watch the video, these pages are to be used to fill in notes.

2. GROUP DISCUSSION This is followed by group discussion questions. Each video episode is around 40–45 minutes in length. We recommend that you watch the video as a group, then, follow up the video with discussion using the group discussion questions.

3. REFLECT & RESPOND The remaining content of the workbook is designed to be personal study material for the week. Each episode has a corresponding chapter that elaborates on the various aspects of what has been presented in the video and includes questions to help assimilate the truths contained in the study.

This section of the workbook can be used the week before you view the video presentation or as a follow-up after you have watched the video.

THE LIFE SERIES

INTRODUCTION

7

FAITH

FAITH PA R T O N E

PA R T O N E

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

—HEBREWS 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

HAV E YO U CO N S I D E RE D . . .

HEBREWS 11:1 • When asked the question, “Why is faith important?” we tend to think of the ways it benefits us. But have you ever considered that faith is important to God? • What is faith? A common response often involves a belief or persuasion that something I cannot see exists.

• Did you know that, when Biblically applied, faith does not just believe in an unseen God, but also exposes and expresses the God we cannot see?

FA I T H PA R T O N E

T H E O B J E C T O F FA I T H

1. Are you deriving your persuasion of God from your own thoughts or from

2. We often view God as

?

.

3. God’s treatment of me is not based upon me, but upon

4. When we look to Jesus, it is to

.

from Him by listening

to Him. “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. . . .” —HEBREWS 12:1–2

5. One thing is needful—sitting at Jesus’ feet, to Him. “ . . . receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”

—JAMES 1:21

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” —ROMANS 10:17

14

VIDEO STUDY

6. Where our faith

is ultimately where it’s

going

.

7. I can only understand something in light of what I’m

.

“. . . thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself . . .” —PSALM 50:21

8. The Lord calls us to turn our gaze toward Him so He can to us.

9. Faith doesn’t make something real—it

10. Faith is not something

that it is real!

sight.

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” —II CORINTHIANS 4:18

11. By faith we

what’s been there the whole time!

GOD HAS AN ETERNAL PURPOSE, AND FAITH IS THE MEANS BY WHICH WE PARTICIPATE IN HIS PURPOSE ON EARTH.

THE LIFE SERIES

FAITH: PART ONE

15

FA I T H PA R T O N E

GROUP DISCUSSION After viewing the video, use the following questions to discuss the material as a group.

T H E I M P O R TA N C E O F FA I T H • Based on the video study, how would you summarize the importance of faith?

• Have you ever considered the fact that God had a desire and a purpose from the beginning of creation? How does faith enable us to participate in the purpose of God?

• What does it mean that we are to “express God”? How does faith allow the invisible God to become visible on the earth?

• Read II Chronicles 16:9 and Matthew 13:58. How does faith give God access into the natural world? How does a lack of faith inhibit God from working?

T H E E S S E N C E O F FA I T H • As was discussed in the video, faith means “persuasion.” Discuss how this applies to those of the Christian faith and those of other faiths. How is it the same? How is it different?

• Read Hebrews 11:1. According to this verse, there are two aspects of faith: “substance” and “evidence.” What does it mean that faith is the “substance of things hoped for”? And what does it mean that faith is the “evidence of things not seen”?

16

GROUP DISCUSSION

• Think about the fire hydrant illustration. How does this demonstrate the “substance (foundation) of things hoped for”? How does it demonstrate the “evidence of things not seen”?

T H E O B J E C T O F FA I T H • Often our perception of God is formed by relying on our own mind to figure Him out. But how do we truly get to know God and come to believe in who He really is? Read Proverbs 3:5 and Psalm 81:8–10.

• Read II Corinthians 5:7; 4:18; and Ephesians 1:18. The comment was made in the video: “Faith is not something less than sight.” What does this mean? What does faith allow us to “see”?

THE LIFE SERIES

FAITH: PART ONE

17

18

#########

PA R T O N E

FA I T H

1

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH

WHY IS FAITH IMPORTANT? Faith. It’s a word that is familiar to all of us. Ask several different people what it means and you will probably get several different answers. But what is faith really?

Take some time to ponder what usually comes to your mind when you think about faith. What is it? What does it do? Why is it important?

Throughout Scripture we learn that faith is indisputably important. A Bible study on the subject reveals all that is gained through it: salvation, justification, victory over sin, etc.

And there are several passages showing us that our lives are to function by faith—for example, Romans 1:17 says that “the just shall live by faith;” Hebrews 11:6 says that “without faith it is impossible to please [God];” and II Corinthians 5:7 reveals that we are to “walk by faith, not by sight.”

THE LIFE SERIES

FAITH: PART ONE

19

FA I T H PA R T O N E

When we hear phrases such as “you just need to have faith” or “you just don’t have enough faith,” we often view them as calls to action. We believe that more effort and positive thinking is the key to building more faith into our lives. We read stories about preachers and missionary “heroes of faith,” or hear about people who have given their lives to help the poor, the sick, and the needy; we conclude that if we just had the same amount of faith they had, maybe we could do great things for God too. We often assume that God expects us to dream up amazing ways to serve Him and that He is pleased when we do!

On another note, we may think we can’t obtain anything from God unless we have a certain amount of faith. Often we translate phrases like “believe and receive” to mean that if we can just muster up enough faith and be-

GOD IS WORKING

lieve harder, we would get the things we want from God. This thought becomes the basis for many of our prayers.

TOWARD A GOAL

Much like a genie in a lamp, we believe that “naming it and

THAT HE PLANNED

claiming it” is faith. And if we fail to get what we want, we

BEFORE THE

think it’s because of a lack of faith.

We want to start our exploration of this topic by first ad-

FOUNDATION OF

dressing the importance of faith. Why is it important?

THE WORLD.

And what does it do? As discussed above, our typical concepts of faith can often be summarized in one (or both) of the following ways: 1.

Faith is my means of doing something great for God.

2.

Faith is God’s means of doing something great for me.

While some aspects of these statements are true, do they really form the foundation for why faith is important? If you take a look at each of these perspectives, you will notice that they center around . . . me. But is faith important because of what I can accomplish if I have it or what I am able to obtain for myself through it? Or is there something deeper to faith, where its importance extends beyond its effects on us personally?

It is staggering what God lavishly and lovingly desires to give us through faith—there are indeed great benefits for us if we possess it! Yet beyond these precious gifts of His goodness lies something even more wonderful. The Eternal God, the Creator of the Universe, our Savior and Lord who has authority over all things wants us to see what faith is able to do from His

20

THE I MP ORTA NCE OF FA ITH

perspective. As we observe His interactions with man throughout the Bible and He opens our eyes to see His intentions, a significant purpose begins to unveil. He has something He is up to—He has something He is doing. He has a plan. He is working toward a goal that He planned before the foundation of the world. And He desires us to have a part in this plan.

Now how does faith relate to all this? First of all, God’s purpose indicates that He has something that He wants to do or is pleased to do. Ephesians 1:9 says, “According to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.” Therefore, if we operate according to that purpose, we will be in line with what pleases Him. In addition to this, Hebrews 11:6 states that “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Thus, our involvement with God’s purpose demands that we walk by faith. With this in mind, we can see faith’s ultimate importance: it is the avenue that connects us to what God wants to do through our lives to manifest His nature and His mighty works.

Have you ever considered that while faith brings incredible benefit, it is not ultimately about us? Does this change your perspective on the importance of faith?

If so, how?

Why is faith important to God?

THE LIFE SERIES

FAITH: PART ONE

21