God Promises: September 20

Have you heard the phrase, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth"? Most of us understand it’s meaning – don’t reject a gift someone gives us – but we may not understand where this saying originated. In Isaiah’s day, God offered King Ahaz a gift, a sign guaranteeing God’s protection. But Ahaz thought it was better to trust in Assyria instead of God—a decision that would have devastating consequences. God Promises, will examine God's promise and King Ahaz's response. Perhaps we can become more grateful and accepting of God's great promises to us through this study of Isaiah 7:1-17.

Trusting God’s promises before they come to pass is always a challenge, even for the most faithful. When we see difficult circumstances or “enemies of the faith” staring us in the face, we all have a tendency to look elsewhere for our strength and guidance. How we respond truly does demonstrate what we believe about God.

Think about the situations we are facing today. There are enemies of the Christian faith all around the world. Those enemies seek to destroy our faith. Even in our own country we have seen the challenges to our faith swell in recent years. Not only are there enemies of Christ, but we face difficult circumstances as well. Those circumstances can be equally destructive to our faith if we don’t trust Christ for the outcome.

GOD'S PROMISES ARE GIFTS TO US

Imagine how God feels when we reject His offers of salvation and we determine we are going to navigate life on our own using our own solutions. Imagine how God feels when believers refuse to trust God for solutions and seek to solve life’s problems without Him. Both break God’s heart because the outcomes could be avoided.  

God gave Isaiah some powerful words to share with King Ahaz that we would do well to embrace in our current cultural climate. These can be found in Isaiah 7:4 and Isaiah 7:9:

• Calm down.
• Be quiet.
• Don't be afraid or cowardly.
• If you do not stand firm in your faith, then you will not stand at all.

The video Bible study and the downloadable study ideas will help you personally and help you guide your group as they examine the Truth in God's Word this week.

DOWNLOADABLE STUDY HELPS

As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, some groups are beginning to meet in person as well as online.  The Bible study helps have been modified in order to provide opportunities for both venues. There will still be more verbal based learning; however, ideas in boxes will be provided for engaging groups more when meeting in person. The boxed items could also be modified and used for online discussion as well. 

This week's session also provides a video clip you might want to use as a part of your opening introduction to the session.

Download Word Version                   Download PDF Version

VIDEO SESSION