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Bible Study: Sept. 9, 2018


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 Passage: James 2:1-10

Discussion Questions:
— When have you been welcomed into someone’s home with open arms?
— Why do people so quickly make value judgments based on external appearances?
— How can partiality be a problem for a church trying to be welcoming of others?
— What does it really mean to love your neighbor?

Food for Thought:

Moving can be hard. Packing up a home isn’t an easy task, nor is the physical process of moving. You must learn new routes to the bank, the doctor’s office, the grocery store and church. Memories are often packed away in boxes that take months to empty. Everything seems new and nothing seems familiar. It is an unsettling time of life.

The good news is that this won’t last forever. Eventually people make new friends, learn traffic patterns and routes to the places they need to go, and houses begin to feel like homes again. New friendships form and life goes on.

As we reset our lives and develop new friendships, we tend to gravitate to people like us. It’s easier to share life with people who have common interests and backgrounds. In the church, though, this can work against making the church feel like a home to its guests. Sometimes we have such strong ties to friends like us that we forget to include the newer people among us, especially if they are slightly different from us or the crowd we run with.

Rather than overlooking others or showing preferential treatment, it is good for us to remember the example of Christ. He loves all people the same — and we are called to do likewise. In this week’s Bible study, we’ll learn more about embracing everyone with open arms as we study from the book of James.

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 www.biblestudiesforlife.com.

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

    About the Author

  • Staff/Lifeway Christian Resources