Materials Included
• 3 Sessions of Learner’s Materials
• 3 Sessions of Teaching Materials
• Handouts

Scriptures
1. Matthew 8:18-22
2. Romans 15:1-13
3. Acts 1:6-11

Brief Description
Every few years when Olympic athletes compete for medals,we witness living metaphors of commitment. Most of these athletes are young people who have invested countless hours into practice, sometimes thousands of dollars into coaches and equipment, and every ounce of energy and talent into their sport. In addition, their families often have made significant sacrifices to help their champion realize her or his dream. That amount of discipline is overwhelming and impressive.

Any type of commitment to anything requires us to invest something:our time, our energy, our money, our talents or gifts. Commitment to God transcends all others because it requires all this and more; God asks nothing less of us than ourselves—our whole selves. Living in whole-hearted dedication to God means that our own desires are often reprioritized either according to someone else’s needs or to God’s purposes in the world.This degree of commitment runs against our culture and does not lead to medals or endorsements. Indeed, to live unselfishly in a selfish world is a difficult task, but Jesus promised that this type of all-out sacrifice is what it means to really live and to live abundantly. The work of commitment begins with our commitment to God and flows forth as we live out the implications of that commitment—care and compassion for other Christians and, ultimately, loving responsibility for the world. For the next three weeks, we will study individuals and communities transformed by the question of commitment raised either by the example of Christ (in Paul’s exhortation in his letter to the Romans) or through an encounter with Jesus (in the stories of Matthew and the book of Acts). Ordinary individuals in Capernaum, the church in Rome, and Jesus’ followers in the dark days immediately after his death were all challenged by Jesus’ notion of commitment, which transcends societal expectations, our own agendas, and even our own limitations.

by Susan Ballenger

User License
The purchaser of this file has permission to print twenty copies of this Learners Study Guide. Neither the file nor the printed contents may be sold copied or transferred to another person or church. The purchaser may make a backup copy of the file.

The purchaser of this file has permission to print one copy of this Teaching Guide. Neither the file nor the printed contents may be sold, copied or transferred to another person or church. The purchaser may make a backup copy of the file.

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