In and Out of Season by Mark

The Bible study in Mentz is one that can really take turns and twist so much that being prepared to discuss any Book, Chapter, and/or verse(s) is a necessity. 

 

Today’s lesson was going to take our Mentz Bible study into Genesis 2:18 with hopes of finishing Chapter 2.  Preparing for the meeting, Alicia received a phone call from Meriam explaining that our normal location could not be used this evening and that the Bible study would be cancelled.  Alicia talked to Meriam and they made a plan to let us go to her house to meet.

Upon our arrival, we found that Meriam was with her teenage daughter, Dineo, and another woman, Alizabeth.  I realized that the planned schedule needed to be put on hold and that Alicia and I just needed to visit with the three ladies. 

 

 I asked them what they would like to talk about.  Meriam said she would like to talk about John 14:6.  (My heart jumped for joy as I quickly realized that they wanted to talk about Jesus being the only way, the truth, and the life.)  She said, "I want Alizabeth to know about the Bible!"

We began our meeting by reading John 14:6-7.  Then I took them back to Chapter 13 and we discussed about how Jesus had just made the triumphal entry into Jerusalem and was now in a secluded room with His disciples.  We saw how the Scripture identified Christ as being sent by God and that He was and is God.  We talked about how Christ humbled Himself into a position of a servant by washing His disciples’ feet.  We saw that verse 15 clearly identifies the purpose of Jesus’ action and how being a Christian is not about receiving blessings, but it is about imitating Christ since He is God and set the example for us to live.  

 

We continued with the Scripture and read how Judas was identified as the one who betrayed Jesus.  But we also read something so amazing in verses 31-35 as Jesus explains about the upcoming glorification of God the Father and Himself.   Then we see how Jesus gives a new commandment that will set apart Christians as being His disciples. 

 v 34 - 35 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

 

We finished with our Bible study diving into Chapter 14.  It was exciting to see how God spoke to His disciples and made it available for us today in the Bible.  Jesus gives us a glimpse of Heaven and clearly puts into prospective that He alone is the way, the truth, and the life and that no one goes to the Father except through Him.  We discussed how going to ancestors does not allow us to go to God, nor does our good works, but it is only through Jesus Christ and Him crucified that we can go to the Father.