Wednesday, July 16, 2014

July 20 Teaching Helps and Reminders

ANNOUNCEMENTS

DON'T FORGET TO MARK YOUR CALENDAR


EQUIPPING U Connect Group Training
Thursday Evening, August 21 
Sign-ups Beginning Soon

----------------------------------

Information About "Vote YES on 1"
This information is in your class tub.
Feel free to share the information and encourage people to vote for this very important Amendment.


BIBLE STUDY HELPS
What a tragedy it would be if people went through traditions, spiritual exercises, rituals, and other practices of corporate and individual worship, yet still missed the presence of the Lord. Sadly, this can  and does take place. But when we do experience the presence of the Lord we realize we are standing before and in the presence of a Holy God. It is God's desire that we experience and respond to Him through worship. This is the focus of this week's Explore the Bible: Hope of New Worship study.

Our study of Ezekiel this week is very challenging. There is so much in the text that needs to be covered and so little time to cover it! I highly recommend you stay focused on the TARGET:

To help adults indicate how genuine worship leads to reverence for God and obedience.

Try to stay focused on worship as a response and direct result of our realization of His holy sovereignty and saving grace.

Be careful . . .
  • Avoid allowing the discussion to drift toward a discussion of worship styles or preferences. This is not relevant to the text!
  • Use caution if the discussion drifts toward the topic of end times. While much has been written about this text in relation to end times, this is not the TARGET of the study. There are so many directions and interpretations of this passage that could bog down your discussion leading to the "end of your group study time" while accomplishing nothing more than creating divisions and confusion among the group. 

I suggest you focus on Ezekiel 43:1-12 in two parts.  Focus on how God revealed to Ezekiel the return of His glory to Jerusalem and His presence to the temple and the response it should produce in His people. Here are the two talking points the suggested study fleshes out:
  1. The Lord is always the focus of worship.
  2. Worship will always prompt a response.
OR
Download PDF Version

Don't forget to choose "DOWNLOAD" to save to your computer.