God – Page 5 – Karen Gamble Writes

Psalm 23:1 – Sunday School Outline

I’ve been thinking about Psalm 23.

It’s a short Psalm, just 6 verses but it is packed with good stuff.

I thought today we would spend some time going over verse one.

Psalm 23, verse 1 says,
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.(KJV)

The NIV says, The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

Because the Lord is our shepherd, we won’t want for anything. We will lack nothing.

Looking at the first part of this verse I think of:

Isaiah 40:11 – He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young. (NIV)

This is such a sweet, comforting picture of how God loves us, of how He takes care of us.

How He is aware of our situation and holds us close as He leads us.

It’s not some distant, arms’ length away that He holds us.

He holds us up close and personal, in His arms, close to His heart!

A shepherd’s job is to look after the sheep entrusted to him, to make sure they are safe, well taken care of, and to know where they are at all times, keeping track of them.

This is what Jesus does with us.

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He Will Supply All My Needs

I was in a Bible Study recently where the verse Philippians 4:19 came up.

It’s a very popular verse.

It says:

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

It’s reassurance that all our needs will be met.

It’s a good reminder that God is Yahweh Yireh – the God who provides.

People commonly recite this verse when they are concerned about material needs such as rent, utilities, groceries, etc.

That’s a valid and important part of it.

God does supply for all our material needs.

But – there are other aspects to it.

Ones we don’t always stop to realize and appreciate.

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God Sees – Sunday School Outline

When I was a kid my grandmother had this huge closet she used to store clothes, quilts, chairs, and other random items in.

There was this little bench she had in there that I loved.

So, I would sneak in there with a book or some drawing supplies and hide for hours.

One of the main reasons I would do it was to get away from the other kids and have some quiet, alone time.

I would always wait until I thought no one was looking before I snuck in there so that the other kids wouldn’t see where I was going.

It was great! Just me and my thoughts. No noise, no interruptions!

It was probably 2 months of sneaking before any of them ever found out where I was.

Once they knew, of course, it was no longer a secret so they would come and bother me.

But until they found my hiding spot, I was free to do what I wanted and get away with it.

I wonder how many times I’ve had that mentality, thinking I can do something without God seeing or knowing?

How many times did I do something thinking it will be okay, it’s no big deal?

How many times did I not even consider whether God would see or not?
-Just going through life assuming it was okay to do things because if I’m not talking to God or paying Him attention, He probably doesn’t notice me?

Turn to Proverbs 5:21 – For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths.(NIV)

This is a great reminder that the Lord can see everything we do

He also looks at our paths

Meaning He pays attention to how we are walking and what we are doing.

He notices whether we are on the right path.

He notices the details of what we’re doing on our path, whether it’s good or bad.

Another verse says it this way –
Psalm 11:4 The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord is on His heavenly throne. He observes everyone on earth; His eyes examine them.

God is in Heaven looking down at everyone on earth and examining them.

I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own lives we forget just how aware of our lives God really is.

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How to Pray – Sunday School Outline

A lot of people have a lot of ideas about what prayer is, so let’s start with the actual definition.

I went to Blue Letter Bible and looked up the original Greek from several places in the New Testament.

There were 2 words in the definitions that kept coming up:

Intercession – to go to or meet a person, esp. for the purpose of conversation, consultation, or supplication
to pray, entreat

Supplication – need, indigence, want, privation, penury
a seeking, asking, entreating, entreaty to God or to man

From this we can see prayer is talking to God about a problem or situation you or someone else has.

It is NOT a one-way transaction or monologue.

It is a conversation.
We don’t just insert a prayer or two and go on our merry way, expecting to receive what we need.

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God’s Timing – Sunday School Outline

The first thing we need to understand is that God’s timing is different than ours.

Turn to the book of Isaiah, chapter 55.

In it God is explaining some of the things He has done for man.

He is encouraging man to turn from his evil ways and to seek after Him.

Look at verses 8 and 9. This is God speaking –

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (NIV)

God’s way of doing things is much different than our ways.

That includes His timing.

Consider 2 Peter 3:8-9 –
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (NIV)

As Creator of the Universe, God created time so He is not bound by it.

Instead He works on a higher level.

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Proverbs 20:22 – Sunday School Outline

Today’s lesson is on Proverbs 20:22:

Do not say, “I’ll pay you back for this wrong”, wait for the Lord, and He will deliver you. (NIV)

The KJV says, 22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.

Sometimes when people are mistreating us we might be tempted to deal with them, pop our mouth off at them, set them straight, or give them “a piece of our mind”, or maybe even think, “I’ll show them!”.

When we do any of these are trying to handle it.

But there is a verse we need to consider first.

19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (NIV)

This does not mean we sit back and grin at what God’s going to do to them because they were mean to us.

This comes from a bigger passage that says:

Romans 12:17-21 – 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (NIV)

So in other words, the way we respond to others being mean or evil toward us is with good.

That can be hard!

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Our Words – Sunday School Outline

Our words come from what’s in our hearts

We know this because according to Luke 6:45 –
45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (NIV)

So, whatever is in your heart is going to come out of your mouth.
You can tell a lot about yourself by listening to what you say.
-The great thing is, if you don’t like what you say, you can do some heart work and submit it to God for cleansing.

Ephesians 4:29 says,
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (NIV)

The King James says it like this:
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (NIV)

I looked up unwholesome/corrupt in the original Greek
It means rotten, putrid, unfit for use, poor quality

We are not supposed to let anything corrupt come out of our mouths.

Instead, we are to allow edifying things out

Edify – to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary )

The words that come out of our mouth are supposed to help others, instructing them.
-This does not mean beat them over the head with it.

Instead:

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The Heart – Sunday School Outline

When we study our heart we also must consider our thoughts and our mouths.

All three of these are interconnected.

Here’s why:

Your thoughts affect what your heart believes.

Your heart affects what your head believes.

Your words are a reflection of what’s in your heart.

Turn to Matthew 15–
Some pharisees and teachers came to see Jesus.
     -they wanted to know why the disciples were breaking the rules.
     -remember by this time the pharisees had made up a bunch of rules, regulations, and traditions they said everyone had to follow to be properly following the law
     – they weren’t actually God’s laws, they were just man’s rules.
     -they said the disciples were eating without washing their hands
     -the Pharisees were pretty offended by this.

Verse 3 – Jesus answers their question with His…
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” (NIV)

Jesus calls them out.
He points out where they are being sinful and manipulates the law.

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Thoughts -Sunday School Outline

Do you think about what you’re thinking about?

Or, do you just assume the thoughts in your head are true and right and go with them?

Part of being a Christian is knowing the truth – about God, others, situations, and ourselves.

Colossians 3:9-10 says:
“9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (NIV)

-In other words – now that we are Christians we are not supposed to lie.
-Lying was a part of our old selves, not our Christian selves.
-This includes lying to ourselves.

Now that we are Christians we are supposed to deal only in the truth.

Now look at Romans 12:1-3:
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)

How can we be transformed by the renewing of our mind?

How can that change us?

Why should we be transformed/changed?

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Sunday School Lessons

I recently started teaching a Women’s Sunday School class at my church.

From time to time I will be posting the outline of the previous day’s lesson here on the blog.

It is my hope these lessons will help you better understand God’s word.

You are free to use them to teach your own classes or to share with others. All I ask is that you let them know where you got the material.

If you have any comments or would like to discuss any of the lessons, please be sure to let me know. I would love an opportunity to speak with you!

A list of the available lessons can be found on my Lessons Outlines page.

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