| Adult
• 4 Sessions of Learner’s Materials
• 4 Sessions of Teaching Materials
• 3 Handouts
1. 2 Samuel 18:21-33; Matthew 26:69-75
2. Genesis 25:27-34; Mark 3:1-5
3. Joshua 17:14-18; Luke 5:27-32
4. Leviticus 19:15-19; Matthew 25:31-40
It is impossible to follow Christ without a regular awareness of grace. The ability to follow God’s call begins with our awareness that we are imperfect and that God can use us in spite of our failures and mistakes. The quiet symphony of God’s grace in our lives is illustrated in the first session of this series. God used King David to lead God’s people in spite of David’s failures as a husband, father, and leader. Likewise, Jesus Christ’s initiative with Simon Peter even after betrayal is a tender reminder that God calls us to follow not because we are superior to others, but because God’s power to employ weakness is superior to our capacity to fail.
Following God’s call means that we can be useful in spite of our regrets and shortcomings and that we can respond to that call by choosing to develop what God has placed before us. The second session reviews Esau’s shortsighted choice of exchanging a rich future for immediate relief from hunger. The session calls us to be aware of the significant moments when we, too, may be alert to God’s invitations to accept a wider dimension of ourselves, or settle for less. A man with a withered hand also learned to trust Christ with the fullness of what his limbs and heart could do.
The third session focuses on how God’s voice speaks to us in the routine of everyday life. God is “calling out” the best in us as God’s grace challenges us to embrace our potential and enjoy an abundance of dreams, gifts, and purposes that are greater than we imagine. The session examines the tribe of Joseph and its struggle to respond to God’s call to invest in a greater future. Levi, sitting at a safe job in the marketplace, is also the subject of scrutiny as we study the call of Christ inviting him to embrace a higher view of himself and his life.
The final session reminds us that following God involves immediate awareness that we belong to a community of care--the church. We realize our calling and do our work as part of a community of brothers and sisters. Made in the image of God, we share in God’s love for other human beings. We are not designed to relate only to God, but to relate to others in the same responsible way God relates to us.
by Daniel G. Bagby
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