The Coal Project

Week 30: Discovering the Character of God through John

30.1 Invite the group to discuss what they think nicknames tell us about people.

If Jesus were to give them a nickname, what do they think it would be? Spend just a few minutes in pairs, discussing, before feeding back.

30.2 Think back to Simon and his nickname and the reasons Christ gave him it.

Read Mark 3:13-19 and pick out the other individual to whom Jesus 'nicknamed'. What might have been the foundations for this name? Read Luke 9:51-55 to learn one possible reason.

This is our introduction to the apostle, John: stubborn, argumentative (Mark 10:35-17), fiery, impulsive and generally difficult to live with. Would you choose him to be a disciple? What does this tell us about Jesus?

30.3 Take this thought a step further and read John 13:23, 19:25-27 and 21:20.

• How has Jesus' 'view' of John changed?
• Did Jesus change, or did John?
• What was it that caused this change?
• What can this teach us about Jesus?

In the classic Superman movies, there is a scene where Superman changes a lump of coal; filthy, unattractive and unwanted, into a beautiful diamond. It is not so unlike how Jesus changes John. Jesus' love transforms this fiery, rough man into a soft-hearted disciple who rejoices in the love of his Lord. John is the coal; as are you and I. John allowed Jesus to change him. Will we?


Week 30: Summary

This week may seem shorter; it is perhaps the briefest of glimpses we've taken into anyone's life so far - yet it is here that we see some of the most profoundly intimate of truths about God's character...

• He knows us
• He accepts us as we are
• He doesn't reject us because of our past
• His love transforms us

Where You Are

Week 26: Discovering the Character of God through Mary Magdalene

26.1 As a group, read Luke 8:1-3; Mark 15:40; John 20:1-2 and 10-18. Invite the group to discuss these scriptures; do they see anything holding them together? Reflect on the previous two weeks' teachings and the core message of them; does this help them to see the connection?

As we reassess the passages, we can see one main thing connecting them: where Jesus was, Mary was (ministry, cross, tomb, resurrection).

Again we see Jesus asking us, 'Do you love me?' and in Mary we see the response He seeks in a sincere heart: If we should say 'Yes,' then that should bear fruit: us wanting - longing - to be always near Him. (compare Psalm 84:1-2,10)

26.2 Re-read Luke 8:1-3 and hone in on the description of Mary. Usually when we read of people with demons they have one or two at most, and whenever a relation took the possessed person to Jesus, the demon would resist and drive the person to fit. Now, imagine that x7.

We know nothing of Mary; whether she was brought to Jesus or ran to Him of her own accord, but we do know it would have been painful.

Coming to Jesus is never easy; there will always be resistance between the flesh and the Spirit. There will always be things we need to lay down and be delivered from... and even after we have met with Jesus, we need to continually surrender. Perhaps this is another reason why Mary was always found with Jesus; she knew that left to her own devices, she would struggle to stand. And perhaps Jesus knew this, too.

26.3 One final, but perhaps the most remarkable, thing about Mary is not just her faithfulness, but rather Christ's faithfulness to her. He could have healed her and sent her on her way but, instead, her stuck with her. He invited her 'into His world'; into His kingdom and never sent her away. In fact, He so wanted her to know He included her that He appeared to her first after He rose.


Week 26: Summary

At New Year, it's surprising to find that Mary Magdalene is the ideal person to study in reflecting upon God's character. At this time of year, when so many are busy making resolutions and dreaming for the future Jesus asks us significant questions that challenge the way we view the days ahead:

• Do we love Him? If we dare say 'yes', then be prepared to get where He is and stay there. as Mark Hall puts it, 'Is your walk with Jesus Christ characterized by personal faith, personal prayer, personal study, and personal disciplines? Or do you get by with the overflow from mature Christians?'
• 
  
• If we choose to follow Him, we ought not to be so naive that we think it will be easy. It will mean daily surrender and a willingness to be delivered from our own demons. It will be a fight and it could get messy and painful... but, the good news is that
• 
  
• We don't go it alone. Christ is with us, He is in us and He will stick with us.

What great promises and challenges to start the year with!

One Foot in the... Mouth

Week 24: Discovering the Character of God through Simon Peter

24.1 Invite the group to share times when they've 'put their foot in it'. I.E: having said or done something without thinking it through first.

• Did they regret it?
• Wiish they could have retracted it?
• Did they learn from it?

This week's study focuses on someone who was a master of speaking first, thinking second, regretting third and learning from it... after doing it a few more times: Peter.

Enquire if the group know anything of him and, if so, to share.
*Likely that the 'walking on water' will be mentioned, as, probably, will be Peter's denial. In both instances, invite those who volunteer these to turn up the passages for later use (Matt 14:25-32 and Luke 22:54-62, respectively).

24.2 Just as with our own lives, there is far more to Peter than these incidents and, through them all, we learn a lot about God. In fact, we see through all of Peter's mess-ups a whole lot about God's grace. Through this ordinary man, we discover an extraordinary God.

Read Mark 1:16-18 and Luke 5:4-8 to see - and discuss - just how ordinary Simon Peter was. Go on to discuss what these brief passages show us of God's nature (clue: doesn't look for perfect people!).

24.3 Read the passage bookmarked earlier of Peter's 'walk on the wet side' in Matthew 14:25-32.

• Invite the group to imagine themselves in this situation. Where would they place themselves in the story?
• Zoom in on Peter for a moment; why was it that he began to sink? What about Jesus' response: why didn't He help sooner?
• Notice that He goes straight to the heart: 'Your faith is small.' What would they imagine Peter might have replied?

24.4 Peter always seemed to have one foot lodged securely in his mouth, but his heart was usually in the right place. Read Matt 16:13-23 and Matt 17:1-7. Within 6 days, he goes from having it so right to being so wrong before settling somewhere in the middle.

Break this period and passage into the three stages and discuss each. If the group is large enough, split into three groups to deal with each section. In each case, look for one thing to learn about Peter's nature (see if they can see how we might identify) and 2 things about God.

24.5 Perhaps Simon Peter's most infamous moment came on the passover night where he denied all knowledge of Jesus - however, many don't even realise that the 'story' doesn't end there. Read Luke 22:54-62 (bookmarked earlier). Again, put ourselves in Peter's shoes: would we really fare any better?

Move forward in our imaginings: if we had been the ones denying Jesus, and then He came back from the dead, what reaction would we expect to receive from Him?

Go on to read John 21:15-19. Note that Jesus neither judges nor condemns; nor does he demand repentance or reject Peter based on his actions. No, Jesus' overriding concern is how Peter would respond to the bigger question: 'do you truly love me?' Jesus knew that repentance and changed lives follow from a 'true love' for Him. He also knew that Peter had spent long enough beating himself up over what he'd said; now, the key was to focus on loving Jesus instead of dwelling on the mistakes of the past, so that God would be able to use him.


Week 24: Summary
Peter is perhaps one of the figures of the Bible who we can most closely identify with. We, too, spend most of our lives with one foot firmly in mouth; we, too, can start out with bold, secure faith yet in the next moment our circumstances can come crashing around us and draw our attention from the Saviour. Yet, there is hope. Jesus questions us in that same, gentle manner as He did, Peter; not condemning, but inviting sincerity and a fresh start based on our reply to his question: 'Do you truly love me?'

Various characteristics discovered of God's character this week include:

• He uses ordinary people and gives them purpose
• He invites us to trust Him but won't do everything for us
• He restores us
• He doesn't condemn us
  

No Hiding Place

Week 19: Discovering the Character of God through Jonah

19.1 As a group, watch i, Robot (from 17:10 to 24:25) and discuss how Det. Spooner relentlessly pursues Sonny until he finds him. As we read through Jonah, we will discover a God who relentlessly pursues us in a similar fashion; One who loves us, wants us and calls us and, while never forcing himself on us, never gives up on us.

19.2 Read Jonah 1:1-4:11 (all of the book, in other words!) and invite the group to point out particular points of the book where these very traits of God's character are clearly evident; particularly, his pursuit of us.

19.3 Handout maps and background info on Nineveh and discuss just how horrific the situation was in Nineveh.

In Jonah 1:1-8 we see that Nineveh was in a bad way and God prompted Jonah to go there. However, Jonah went in the opposite direction on a ship to Tarshish. While he was on the ship, he made himself cosy in the cabin and fell asleep - during which time a huge storm started up. The captain woke Jonah up and asked him to pray to ask God to stop the storm. The sailors knew someone on board was responsible for the disaster and found out that Jonah was the culprit.

• Sometimes when we do wrong things, our sins can drag others down too. Invite the group to share times when they've been disobedient and others have suffered the consequences.

In verses 9-13, we go on to read of how the sailors tried rowing to shore to get away from the storm but made no progress. They were trying in vain to fix gthe situation themselves as the only other solution would be to thrown Jonah overboard and they didn't want to throw him overboard. The sailors thought that if they threw him overboard, God may punish them for it. However, they were so scared that they ended up throwing him into the sea anyway. as the sailors could see the immediate calmness of the sea they believed straight away.

• It's difficult doing as God says, especially if you think that it may offend others around you ie: not going somewhere your friends want you to go or refusing doing something they want you to do. Again, invite the group to share experiences like this they may have been in. What was the outcome? How did God reward them?

As we already read in Chapter 2, Jonah didn't think he'd ever see God again. He felt bad and very far from God. However God was gracious to him and heard his prayer to save his life.

Jonah really feared God. He felt really bad for not doing as he'd been told to do. We can be like this too; we can feel very distant from God if we have made a choice to disobey God. When we have known the closeness of God and then we do what we want this is not God's will for our lives and we can grieve the Holy Spirit and feel very distant from God. This can be God's way of making it really clear to us that He does not want us to go down a certain path.

• Invite the group to share if they have known a time when God has been disappointed with a decision they've made? (eg: dating non-believers, etc)

19.4 Read Nahum 1:1 and, as a group, discuss how Jonah's refusal to obey God meant that God used someone else until Jonah returned. His message was of such a great importance that He couldn't wait for Jonah to get his act together; someone else had to step in and do the work in the meantime. Who else have we studied who experience this? (Moses, Deborah (Barak)) If time permits, discuss whether this is relevant in today's society/church?

19.5 As a group, read Jonah 3:1-10 and discuss Jonah's change of attitude, the Ninevites' response and God's actions. What can the group see of God's character here? Note in particular verse 10. It is interesting to read of the sincerity of the Ninevites' repentance; they 'turned from their evil ways' (NIV) and that, 'When God saw [this] he had compassion... on them...' We talk often of God's love being unconditional - and it is - yet fail to mention his forgiveness is conditional: our repentance must not be just from our lips but must be sincere. It must first come from our hearts and then transform our actions. Empty 'sorrys' are worthless and an abuse of grace. Verse 10 is a challenge to us to be truly repentant in light of what we have learned here about God's nature.


Week 19: Summary
Flying through the book of Jonah hasn't stopped us from learning a lot about God's character this week. The lesson has reinforced much of what we have already learned, yet more attributes of God's character have revealed themselves, too, including:

• God pursues us
• His salvation is for all
• His forgiveness is conditional

A Risky Business

Week 15: Discovering the Character of God through Esther
15.1 Invite the group to share times when they've taken risks - either generally or for God. What's the biggest rick they ever took? Take a mini-poll; Does taking risks make life more: interesting? Fun? Exciting? Dangerous? Scary?

When we say something is 'risky', it means that there is no certainty of things working out; we have to trust in someone/thing/circumstance that it'll all come good. If something's 'risky', it's generally costly.

15.2 Esther was a Jewish girl who became a queen and went on to take a huge risk - probably bigger than any of us have ever done. We'll start at the beginning of her story. She lived in the days after the Jews returned to their land from their exile.. At the same time a guy called Xerxes was King over a land called Persia (Modern day Iran - Persia (Map in YB)). He had a wife called Vashti who was exceptionally beautiful - think Angelina. She had a very sexual, physical beauty and he liked to show her off. One day he commanded her to come and pose for his people and she disobeyed him. Naturally, as King, he figured that no-one had the right to disobey him - not even his wife. So he ditched her. A few years later, his servants suggested that he replace her and so, like Prince Charming looking for the wearer of the glass slipper, they organised a city-wide search for a 'beautiful young girl' to be the next queen. Read Esther 2:5-9 and 15-18 to see how Esther fits into the story.

15:3 Notice that Esther had a 'very pretty figure and face'. The writer of this book takes great pains to point out the difference between Vashti's and Esther's beauty. In fact, the writer uses two very different Hebrew words to emphasise this: the word for Vashti's beauty, yophiy, was, as said, a very physical, outstanding beauty. She was good, she was pleasing to look at. Towb, the word used to describe Esther, on the other hand, is better translated 'comely'. That is, she was physically attractive both in her figure and her general appearance but there was something else; something that naturally drew people to like her. She had a warmth, a loveliness; an inner beauty that radiated out of her. All of this made her attractive to the king's servants and maybe we can be challenged by this: what do our attitudes say about us? What do we miss out on by having bad attitudes, being rude or unkind? After all, if Esther had been physically unattractive or had had a bad attitude, the king's servants would never have noticed her - let alone the king!

Another thing to note about Esther's looks is that God had made her that way for his purposes. It can be easy to criticise - or boats of - our looks, but it is so important to remember that it is God who makes us the way we are - and He generally has a good reason for doing so. Just think: way, way before Xerxes ditched Vashti, before Esther was even born, God was planning on how He would create her on order to best use her for His kingdom. Invite the group to think of someone we've studied who ended up in a royal household through God's choosing and doing - not their own? (Joseph, Moses, David) It's clear to see from each of these lives that God is always at work behind the scenes.

15.4 During our earlier reading, we missed out some verses. Read Esther 2:10 and also 2:20. Here we see Mordecai instructing Esther not to tell anyone who she is. Invite the group to share their thoughts on why this might be.

Scripture doesn't make the reasons for this secrecy clear but, given the time that this was set in, there may have been some lingering fears amongst the Jews in general not to antagonise their enemies. On the other hand, Modecai's thinking may simply be, 'Think of the influence you could have; a powerful position - if you keep your bias secret - you could drop suggestions into the king's ear.' Whatever his reasoning, it is clear that it was God-inspired as that wisdom helped protect Esther when things kicked off. Read 3:1-6, 8-11.

15.5 During their time of exile, the Jews seemed to really learn a few lessons; one of them being not worshipping false gods. Mordecai shows a really godly attitude when Haman insists on people bowing him; instead of being quick to obey, Mordecai remembers that God said 'Worship me only' and knows it would be wrong to bow to - and worship - Haman. (remind you of anyone? Daniel, perhaps?) As a result, Haman develops a fierce hatred for the Jews. He thinks he's bigger and better than God and that he deserves their attentions and honour so, in his proud and vengeful heart, he develops a plot to destroy all the Jews. What is didn't count on was God. A God who hates pride (Proverbs 6:16-17) and who prtects his people over and over.

Read Esther 4:1-17. Here we begin to see and appreciate more fully God's purposes for Esther. By guiding her life so that she ended up a queen, God put her in a position where she could make a difference. And in this, we return to that concept of risks. In approaching the king at all, Esther recognised the possibility that she could lose her life. By telling him that she was a Jew she knew that she was putting her life on the line but, as we just read, this didn't deter her. She was willing to take the risk - to lay down her life - for the sake of her people. See what happened in 7:3-4, 8:5-8 and 8:16-17.


Week 15: Summary
Esther teaches us a lot about the way God sees us and what He requires of us - such as attitudes and willingness to obey, even at great personal cost. It also teaches us a lot about who God is - despite the fact that He isn't even mentioned once.

• He creates us uniquely, for His purposes
• He is always at work behind the scenes
• He hates pride