100 More Stand-Alone Bible Studies

Nurturing and nourishing your home group

Penelope Wilcock

• Publisher: Monarch Books
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9780857218346
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

These vibrant and thought-provoking studies are intended for use in a group, but could work equally well as an aid to personal devotion. This collection sets out to build a bridge between the eternal Gospel and its lived context in contemporary life; together they form a comprehensive overview of the Christian way of discipleship. Covering a wide-range of topics and themes - such as Baptism, Spiritual Charisms, Grace and Ordination to name just a few - Penelope Wilcock will lead you in greater appreciation and understanding of Scripture in this thought-provoking, challenging and accessible collection.

Watchwords of the faith

Grace 1

Grace 2

Salvation 1

Salvation 2

Love 1

Love 2

Holiness 1

Holiness 2

Meekness and submission 1

Meekness and submission 2

Kenosis 1

Kenosis 2

Passion 1

Passion 2

Obedience 1

Obedience 2

Kairos and chronos 1

Kairos and chronos 2

Power 1

Power 2

Miracles 1

Miracles 2

Transformation 1

Transformation 2

Hope 1

Hope 2

Redemption 1

Redemption 2

Faith and sight 1

Faith and sight 2

Grace 1

BIBLE PASSAGES

2 Corinthians 12:7–10, NRSVA

To keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Ephesians 2:4–10, NRSVA

God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God – not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Commentary

Mastery and grace are the two feet on which we walk the way of faith. Mastery is necessary – we are actually supposed to advance, learning to be patient and humble, compassionate, wise, and kind. But mastery is reached only through repeated failure; we each have our own unique and personal style and approach, but what every master has in common is a history of messing things up and being willing to keep on trying, to get up and start again, to continue with what seems not only unpalatable but impossible. And for that we need grace.

The grace of God is the reaching out to us of God’s unconditional love. It fuels our endeavour. It tilts the odds in our favour. It quite literally – in the cross of Jesus – makes a way through for us.

So grace is made visible in human weakness; it has the particular loveliness of transforming our faults and failings into testimony, into a map of progression from which our sisters and brothers can draw encouragement.

This means that even the worst person you can conjure up in your imagination is still a rich field of potential for the outworking of God’s unconditional love in grace. No matter what you have done or how ashamed and guilty you feel, no matter how wretched you feel when you see the task before you and know it is beyond you, grace is the presence of God to do it with you, coming alongside you. What seems too much for you probably is exactly that, but are you going to say it is too much for God?

Grace is also seen at work in community; it’s not a solitary thing. We help each other along; where one is unkind another is forgiving; where one is pigheaded another is patient – and so we travel to heaven in good company, through our interactions and relationships making grace appear.

Questions

• Can you think of a time in your life when you saw the love of God at work not because you were strong and good, but because you messed up and got things wrong?

• Can you think of an example from among your church or friends or family where grace was made visible in the way people treated one another?

• In your own life right now, into what situation would you really welcome an inpouring of God’s grace? Remember that God does the unexpected – by all means be clear about the outcome for which you hope, but be ready for the difficulty to be resolved in ways you had not imagined.

Prayer

God of power and love, we rely on your patience and understanding; we rest upon your kindness and acceptance. May the healing and renewal of your grace so work in us that we become the instruments of your grace towards our sisters and brothers who are struggling and feeling alone. Thank you for your gentleness with us, and help us to be gentle with each other. Amen.

And a prayer of Brennan Manning for anyone who is struggling, to be repeated over and over: Abba, I belong to you.

Grace 2

BIBLE PASSAGES

John 1:14, 16, RSV

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father… And from his fullness have we all received, grace upon grace.

John 1:17, RSV

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Psalm 45:2, RSV

You are the fairest of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you for ever.

Luke 2:40, NIVUK

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Zechariah 11:7, KJV

And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty [or grace], and the other I called Bands [or unity]; and I fed the flock.

Proverbs 3:21–23, NIVUK

My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion;

they will be life for you,

an ornament to grace your neck.

Proverbs 22:10–11, NIVUK

Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;

quarrels and insults are ended.

One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace

will have the king for a friend.

Commentary

We know that grace is the unmerited favour of God – his unconditional love expressed towards us in mercy and kindness.

But there are other meanings associated with the word “grace”, which can helpfully shed light on it for us.

We call the blessing over a meal “grace”, because it’s a thanksgiving, and the Latin word for “thanks” is gratias. This continues into the modern Romance languages: the Spanish for “thank you” is gracias, and the Italian is grazie. You can detect the same root in our English word “gratitude”.

We also use the word “grace” for a particular type of beauty – that of a dancer, especially – usually in connection with attitude or movement or line, expressive of flow and finesse.

And in music, we have “grace notes”: musical ornaments that are not essential to the melody or harmonies, but serve to make the composition more lovely, adding that little extra to finish it off. The musical version of “the icing on the cake”. And the cherry on top.

The English word has a Latin root – gratia – and, in different contexts in the Latin, gratia can take a variety of meanings: thanks, gratitude, goodwill, favour, liking, esteem, charm, or something pleasant or pleasing.

Also associated is the word gratis, which means “free”. A persona non grata is someone whose presence is not appreciated, who is not free to remain here.

If we put all these together, we form an understanding of grace in terms of something pleasant and welcome to us, gra...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• About this book
• Sacred moments
• The way of a disciple
• Covenant
• Atonement
• Watchwords of the faith
• St John’s signs
• Spiritual charisms