The Augusta Church

Sunday Lesson Notes from October 2, 2022

How do you connect with God and Jesus through creation?

• Read Psalm 33:6-9; Psalm 90: 1-2; Amos 9: 5-6
  • The words of God were able to create the heavens and the earth
  • God’s words are so powerful that He can speak whole galaxies and universes into existence
  • God’s word is a safe dwelling place throughout all generations
  • God is successful in all he sets out to do
  • Take some time to pray and admire God’s creation

• Read John 1: 1-5; Romans 11:33-36; Ephesians 2:4-10
  • Jesus represents God’s word to us here on earth
  • Through Jesus we are able to be reconciled to our relationship with God
  • Jesus was with God in the beginning of time and together God and Jesus invited us to share in their existence
  • Jesus has helped us to regain our relationship with God after the fall of man due to our decisions to ignore God and go against his will
  • God is able to transform the disorder in our lives to order 

• Spend time this week praising and worshiping God and admiring his creation 
• Spend time this week thinking of Jesus and how he has helped us to be reconciled to God our Father, the creator of all things

Sunday Lesson Notes from September 25, 2022

Read Luke Chapter 15 verses 11-32

Please ponder these questions:

1. If everyone was like me in the world, what would the world be like?
2. How would you describe your image of God?

The parable of the Prodigal Son discusses three main concepts that we can contribute to God’s character: Freedom, Compassion and Forgiveness

Freedom

• Why do you think  the young son wanted his freedom?
  • Maybe he did not like following rules
  • Maybe he wanted to see and experience the world outside his hometown
  • Bored, ungrateful, did not realize how good he had it, unaware of the dangers of the world outside

• How does this parable remind you of the freedom we have in God and Christ?
  • The Father, who like God, let the young son go when he asked to leave
  • God does not stop us from making our own choices, although we will have to deal with the consequences of our choices
  • We can choose to love God and be unified with God’s fellowship or we can chose to leave God and go our own way

Compassion

• How did the Father in this parable (God)  show his compassion for his son? (verse 20)
  • The Father ran out to meet the son and did not wait for him to come to him and grovel
  • The Father was thinking of the son and looking out for him even before he returned
  • The Father did not bring up the past squandering of the estate or what was he doing hanging out with his wild living
  • The Father was more concerned about the restoration of the relationship
  • Reminder: when we stop eating the pigs food and return to our relationship with God, we are treated like this son in the parable

Forgiveness

• How did the Father in the parable (God)  show Forgiveness? (verse 21-24)
  • The Father gave a big celebration in the son’s honor and reinstated his status without question or hesitation
  • The Father gave to the son generously, the fattened calf and nice robe,  he did not hold back his lavish love

Take Home Thought: As Christians and Followers of Jesus, Jesus tells us no one can snatch us out of his grasp. However, we have the freedom to leave our relationship with God. We will have to endure the consequences of our choices. The good news is that we can return to our relationship with God and be accepted as his son or daughter. God extends compassion and forgiveness to us through his son Jesus. This is good news!

Sunday Lesson Notes from September 18, 2022

Read 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1 to Chapter 5

• What is the main purpose of this letter?
  • Encouraging the disciples in the church to focus on God’s promises of the future blessings to come since they were suffering and going through many hardships and persecution
  • Encouraging the church to live purely, avoid sexual sins and to work and be productive in their lives and take care of each other
  • Paul also reminded them that God showed up and saved them
  • Paul communicated that he had an intimate relationship with the church, like a mother caring for her child and children with their parents. He really cared for their well being.
  • He acknowledged their hard work as Christians and lifted up TImothy as well. He sent Timothy to them to encourage them in their faith since he was delayed in his return although longed to see them

• Where do you see Jesus’s teaching in these passages?
  • Jesus taught his disciples to love God and to love one another the way he loved us. He reminded them that others would know they are truly following Him, Jesus, if they loved each other. Paul reminded the Christians in Thessalonica to persevere in their love for each other and reminded them of his own love for them.
  • Jesus taught that disciples would suffer for being followers of Jesus. Here Paul reminded the Christians that they were facing hardship because they were following Jesus’s teaching. 
  • Jesus taught his disciples to pray, to ask, to seek and to knock. Paul reminded the Christians in this passage to pray continually.
  • Jesus taught that he was the bread of life. His teachings would sustain us forever. Paul reminded the Christians to continue to read and obey the scriptures. 
  • Jesus prayed for his disciples everywhere to be one with each other in unity. Paul reminded the Christians to be unified. Paul reminded them that he was longing to be with them in person to continue to build unity. 
  • Jesus taught that he would return in the clouds to claim his own one day in the future. Paul reminded the Christians that Jesus was coming back in the same way to claim his own. (Daniel 7). Paul also reminded them that Jesus would resurrect those who were already dead when he returned if they belonged to him. 

• What are some other points of encouragement in this passage?
  • We should remember to pray and rejoice always. There is always something to be thankful for in our lives even if we are facing personal challenges. Jewish people learn in their early childhood, hundreds of prayers to give God thanks for everyday items and experiences in their lives. The Jews of this time were also known to pray to God and to give blessings to God rather than asking for stuff from God. 
  • Paul reminded the Christians that he practiced what he taught them and encouraged them to do the same. 

Sunday Lesson notes, September 11, 2022

Read Ezekiel 34:1-6;11-12 and 20-24

• Who is the shepherd of your life? Who are you following?
  • Some possible answers: Jesus, your boss, friends, politicians, co-workers, singlers, athletes, famous people, popular ideas
• What happens when a shepherd does not take care of his sheep?
  • They wander off and get injured or killed; they have no natural defense system and will follow aimlessly and blindly
• Have you been taking care of God’s sheep in your life?
  • Do you watch out for your family and friends or your neighbors and co-workers or do you just remain silent as you observe them going astray?
• Jesus was the ultimate shepherd. He watched out for God’s sheep. Do you allow Jesus to shepherd your heart?
  • Do you read your bible and obey the words that you read? Do the changes in your life reflect that you follow Jesus?

Read John 10:1-18

• Jesus is an amazing Shepherd. He laid down his life for his sheep.
• His sheep know his voice, he has a personal relationship with them.
• What is your relationship with Jesus like right now? Would you be able to recognize Jesus’s voice? How do you know it is his voice and not your own?

Please think of a  scripture that encourages you to follow Jesus and why. Here are some that were discussed:

• Romans 13:8- reminds us to love people the way Jesus did
• Psalm 51 and Psalm 23: God is with us as we follow Jesus
• Leviticus 16:16 and Hebrews 10:12-14: Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He is amazing in that he has all the power to save us and was still willing to die for our sins.

Read John 6:52-69

• Why was this a hard teaching?
  • It was hard for them to connect that he was their manna from Heaven now. He reminded them that God provided manna from heaven for their ancestors in the wilderness when they left Egypt, so that they would not starve and be saved. His role was now to be their “manna” so that they would be saved and enter into eternal life. 
• How do you know if you are no longer following Jesus?
  • Hint- not reading his word and trying to obey it perhaps
• Jesus was very clear and precise when he explained what was required to follow him. Some people do not like the boundaries that he sets. Do you? Are you willing to follow?

Lesson notes from Sunday July 31, 2022

What is submission?

Read James 4:7-10

• Submission involves humbling yourself to obey the will of God
• When we submit ourselves to the will of God, he lifts us up
• Submission involves yielding to authority and doing what the ultimate authority, God wants us to do

Read Romans 13:1

• God has established all authorities on earth. As Christians, we should yield to these authorities, for eg. paying taxes, obeying traffic laws

Read Mark 10:42-45

• Even Jesus yielded to God and obeyed his authority
• Jesus advised in order to be great, we need to be servants to others
• How much time do we spend trying to be a servant versus trying to be a leader?
• Religious leaders of the day, ruled harshly, they were not being servants of the people
• True submission to each other is serving each other and meeting each other’s needs
• There is hidden power in submission, for example, wives can win over their spouses by their service
• Even Paul stated, to live is Christ and to die is gain, he devoted himself to serving others

Read Colossians 3:22

• When we know our role and our place and serve willingly, for example, at work, we are being obedient to Jesus
• A sign of weakness is confronting authority instead of trusting in God’s authority

Read 1 Peter 3:1-22

• There is power in submitting to each other
• Even if someone is wronging you, we are personally obligated to God for our response in these situations
• Submission is for the strong willed and God reliant person
• Even Jesus was willing to submit and let go of his position with God: Philippians 2:6-7

Sunday Lesson notes, from July 10, 2022

Question: Have you ever been in a conversation where you wanted to change the subject? How were you able to accomplish this?

Possible Answers: Ask another question; Suffer through the conversation; Physically remove yourself from the conversation; Interject humor

Read Matthew 22: 34-46

• Why do you think the Pharisees and Sadducees (leaders and teachers of the Israelites),  asked Jesus this question about the greatest commandment?
• Why do you think Jesus asked them, "Who was the Messiah"?

• Responses to consider:
  • The religious leaders were usually trying to trap Jesus by asking him provoking questions, but Jesus knew how to respond by making them think deeply by the responses he gave them
  • They were Israel’s teachers, yet they could not answer these basic questions about who Jesus was
  • They were looking for a King to come and rule in Jerusalem. They were hoping for a powerful leader who would overthrow the Roman government, although prophecy never indicated that Jesus would come as a future powerful political ruler. Prophecy was always clear that the Messiah was coming to serve and save the people and restore them to a relationship with God.
  • Jesus pointed out to them the most important commandment was to love God and to love their neighbor. How do you think they felt about this answer? Were they loving Jesus at this moment, as their neighbor?
  • Jesus asked them to identify the Messiah immediately after telling them which of the commandments were the greatest. Why do you think he did that? What connection was he hoping they would make by asking them about the Messiah’s identity while discussing the greatest commandments? Why did he quote David’s Psalm 110?
    • The leaders were having a difficult time connecting that Jesus was the Messiah whom God was talking about in all of these prophecies
    • They were erroneously referring to Jesus as the son of David and not the Messiah or God’s Son. Jesus quoted Psalm 110 to help them see the error in their thinking.
    •  David prophesied in his Psalm that the “LORD (referring to Yahweh) would say to his Lord (referring to Jesus), sit down at Yahweh’s right hand to rule”. (fun fact: Yahweh translated in Hebrew is “He will be” or “I am'' and is the personal name for the one true God, in Hebrew. The Israelites decided they would never utter God’s personal name because it was so special to them. They were so careful never to utter this special name that they eventually abbreviated it to the letters “YHWH”. Later they even replaced the abbreviation YHWH and instead said “Adonai” instead of uttering the word Yahweh. Adonai is a Hebrew word for LORD and eventually, to keep Yahweh’s name as special and unspoken, they combined the consonants of YHWH with some vowels from Adonai to make the word- YAHOWAH pronounced JEHOVAH, when referring to the one true GOD. Additionally, the word Lord in Hebrew is (Adon) not (Adoni)- it is the word for a title for a ruler or leader. In this verse, the lower case Lord is referring to Jesus or the Messiah. Unfortunately, the Israelite leaders were not able to make this connection and missed that Jesus was standing right in front of them, the Son of God!

• If they were able to make the connection that Jesus was the Son of God, they would have been able to listen to what he was saying instead of trying to trap him with their questioning. In Luke 20 you will see that although Jesus directs them to the "Son of David '' Psalm, they do not believe He is the Son of David.  They know that it refers to the Messiah (per 1 Chron 17) but they are unwilling to concede that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of David.  If they admitted that Jesus was the Son of David, they would have had to conclude that He is also Lord.  
  • • So the Pharisees and Sadducees have 2 issues:
      • 1) They aren't aware that the Son of David is "Lord" - That is what Jesus is showing them.
      • 2) They don't believe that Jesus is the Son of David. The individuals that call Him the Son of David are then charged with blasphemy and removed from the Synagogue.
    • The Pharisees and Sadducees  became silent when they realized the error in their thinking. Jesus was more than a Son of David, he was the Son of God whom David wrote about and they had a difficult time admitting that truth. 
    • Please see the Bible Project Video explaining YAHWEH’s name:https://youtu.be/eLrGM26pmM0

• Read John 8:54-58
  • Here again Jesus reminded them of who he was, although they did not like it
  • Jesus reminded them that he was with “I AM” or Yahweh at the beginning of time, but they could not grasp that. They were distracted by his physical body of a thirty year old person
  • Sometimes as Christians, we struggle like the Pharisees and Sadducees did and cannot see or recognize Jesus when he is right in front of us. How do you struggle with recognizing Jesus in your personal day to day life?
  • What instruction did God give to Jesus in Matthew 22: 44?
    • God told Jesus to sit at his right hand and God will take care of the rest
    • Do you sit with God and let him do the heavy lifting in your life?
    • Read Psalm 91- God promises to take care of us
    • Read John 6:57- Jesus reminds us he has come here to let us live and trust in God

Sunday Lesson Notes from June 26, 2022

Read 1 Peter 1: 1-25

• Background information: The Christians  at this time were receiving severe persecution from the Romans, under the leadership of Nero. They were being blamed for the political problems of the time. Nero ordered Christians to be burned on poles and used their charred bodies as lanterns to light up the city. They were in desperate need of encouragement!

• What is meant by “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God”?
  • This is related to the verses in Micah 5, where God picked a remnant of his people to do his will. God knew from a long time ago there would be people still faithful to his will despite facing hardships. This was a prediction that Jesus was coming
  • We can trust that God will provide what we need to accomplish his will. God is a promise keeper and therefore we do not need to give in to the evil that is so prevalent around us

• Since we are chosen by God to do his will, why are there obstacles in the way of our spiritual growth? Why do we go through persecution as we are doing God’s will?
  • When we go through difficult times, our faith and true motives are exposed and refined, enabling us to be stronger in our faith
  • Sometimes we go through tough situations because others around us also have free will to make poor choices that negatively impact us. We therefore, have an opportunity to respond the way God wants us to, which is again another opportunity to grown in our faith and trust in God
  • Remember, even Jesus went through hard times and was stronger for it!
  • What are some other reasons we may face daily challenges in our walk with GOD?
    • Perhaps so that we can see our own weaknesses: James 1:2-3 teaches us that hard times builds perseverance, which eventually improves our character
    • So that we can make it to the end of our lives with a proven faith
    • Remember Job, he was being refined, meaning impurities in his life were being removed as he went through hardships and had to put is faith in God
    • So that we can learn to be obedient and prepared to be with God

• Where is your hope?
  • Are you trusting in perishable things- ie money, homes, jobs? Or are you trusting in imperishable things- ie God’s character, God’s word and promises?
  • Peter reminds us that we should trust in the hope of the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus had already been raised from the dead to an imperishable life. We too, if we persevere, will join with him and our perishable bodies will be discarded and replaced with imperishable existences with God and Jesus
• Why does Peter remind them to live like foreigners in the land?
  • Peter wanted to remind them they were not at home, their home was in a greater place in Heaven with God and Jesus. If they remembered this promise,  they would put their hope in things above and not in things they could see and touch. They would have the ability to look past people who were bringing them daily harm.
  • Peter reminded them that Jesus’s blood had already saved them, which is similar to the blood that saved the Hebrew Exiles in Egypt when they were escaping Egypt hundreds of years prior. 
  • He reminded them that the Hebrews had prophets that predicted Jesus was coming, but they were living in a time where Jesus had already come, as promised. Jesus had also returned to God to prepare a permanent place for them and therefore, they could put our hope in that promise of a new home. 

• What are you going through right now in your personal life that you need to be refined from? Are you open with someone in your life about these things? Are you going back to God for help with these things?

• When you are facing persecution for your faith in God, how do you react? Do you pray and believe in God anyway? Do you give in and get discouraged and hide?

Sunday Lesson Notes from June 12, 2022

What do you do when you face difficult times in your life?

• Do you start to plan and organize?
• Do you self-isolate, cry, complain or shut down?
• How about ignoring the difficult event and hope that it will go away?
• Maybe you take time to process it and get help and pray? 

Read Isaiah 25:6-9

• How do these verses inspire you to focus on God during times of hardship?
  • God promises to wipe the tears away from every person forever, no more suffering
  • God is preparing a great banquet, good times for his children to look forward to
  • When we gather together, we proclaim Jesus’s death and resurrection until he returns, therefore, we can trust in God that he will save us and see us through tough times
  • God is preparing a feast for all the nations, everyone will have an opportunity to know God

Read John 13:31-37

• What does Jesus teach us here?
  • Jesus expects us to love each other
  • Although we live on earth, in a less than ideal situation, we can still thrive when we focus on Jesus’s love for us and as we love each other
  • When times are tough in our lives, we can focus on the fact that our time here on earth is temporary. We have something better coming our way as children of GOD!
  • Remember to wait for the Lord, he will bring salvation!

Sunday Lesson Notes from June 5, 2022

Read 1 Samuel 1: 1-20

• What can we learn from Hannah?
• Why did Eli not know that Hannah was praying?
  • Hannah turned to God despite living a tormented life. She knew people could not answer her prayer, so she trusted in God and asked for what she desired
  • Although God closed her womb, she trusted in Him. When difficult things happen to us we need to remember that God is still in control and do what we know is right
  • Sometimes in life we are made fun of no matter what we do: Hannah was ridiculed for a closed womb yet Mary was ridiculed for being pregnant and unmarried
  • Hannah had an attitude of perseverance. She did not quit going to the temple although year after year she was being ridiculed
• When you pray to God about something, do you really give it over to God or try to fix it on your own anyway?
  • Prayer is made for us. In prayer we attempt to align our will to God’s will. Am I OK when God’s will is not my will, do I yield to the will of God?

Read 1 Samuel 2: 1-11

Read Samuel 2: 21

• Hannah is fully surrendered to the will of God
• God even blessed Hannah’s humility and willingness to trust him by giving her three more sons and two more daughters after Samuel
• How do you think Penninah felt at this time? Sometimes when we are not supportive of our friends we can miss out on rejoicing with them when God blesses them. 
• Hannah went through hardship and Samuel was a special son as a result. Sometimes we go through hardships to produce something really special in order for others to reap a benefit.

Read Luke 18: 1-8

• How does this parable change your perspective on prayers?
• Do I sometimes think that God is the unjust judge?
• We need to remember that God’s timing of justice is perfect. We may not like His timeline but we need to surrender and trust that God knows what he is doing. 
• God never promised life would be easy but do you trust in events or situations more than God
• Remember to be persistent in your prayer life. Sometimes God delays giving us a gift because we may not be ready to handle it spiritually. 
• We should be genuine in our prayers. We can talk to God about how we feel about things he wants to hear. 
• Do you pray with real perseverance and faith? When Jesus returns he wants to find us persevering in prayer and faith.