fbpx
News Articles

Bible Study: July 10, 2016


NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.

This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Bible Studies For Life curriculum.

Bible Passages: Matthew 7:13-27

Discussion Questions: What are some of the best choices you’ve made? When do we encounter wolves in sheep’s clothing? How can we help one another continue to build on the right foundation?

Food for thought:

If you’ve ever tried to add oil or transmission fluid to your car without a funnel, you know the value of this little utensil. Funnels have the unique ability to gather material from a wide space and condense it into a specific, narrow location.

Life can be like a funnel at times, and not in a good way. Our culture offers a huge amount of choices and opportunities that seem to provide fulfillment. Yet when we follow that path, we quickly find ourselves squeezed into a narrow, unfulfilling existence.

Jesus taught that the way to true fulfillment is like an upside-down funnel. If we begin on a narrow path — His path — we’ll soon discover a spacious life overflowing with joy, purpose and peace.

How do we experience this kind of life? In Matthew 7, Jesus used gates to describe the way to approach life and God, and in verse 13 He told us to enter through “the narrow gate.” As the One who makes it possible for us to be forgiven of our sins, Jesus Himself is the gate. He said: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture” (John 10:9). The path that leads to God is narrow, not because it is difficult to become a Christian, but because you can get to Him only one way: through faith in Jesus.

Matthew 7 dives into three choices we each face — as well as the benefits we reap when we choose to follow Christ.
— Choose the path that leads to life in Christ.
— Choose to live in obedience and bear fruit for Christ.
— Choose to build your life on Christ and His teachings.

The broad path comes with many easy options, but it quickly closes on us. The other path is narrow and well-defined, but it opens to a full and joyful life. Choosing to follow Christ won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it.

Bible Studies for Life
Bible Studies for Life connects the Bible to life for adults, students and kids. Bible Studies for Life helps individuals and groups know God’s Word through trustworthy content, creates biblical community through engaging and conversational group studies, and helps people engage the culture missionally by unpacking what the Bible says about real-life issues. More information can be found on the internet at LifeWay.com/BibleStudiesforLife.

Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by LifeWay can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool.

    About the Author

  • Staff/Lifeway Christian Resources