Welcome to Bethlehem North Women’s Ministry Bible Study! For more information, email NorthWomen@Bethlehem.Church
John 4:1-6: Context: When and Where and Why
John 4:7-26: Conversation: Jesus Speaks to a Thirsty Woman
John 4:27-42: Conclusion: Jesus, the Woman, and the Disciples Sow and Reap a Huge Harvest
John 4:43-45: Context: When and Where and Why
John 4:46-50: Conversation: Jesus Speaks to a Desperate Father
John 4:51-54: Conclusion: Jesus’ Sign and the Father’s Faith
John 3 New Life in Jesus
Unbelievers or new believers are often directed to read John. Certainly, John 3 is a "must read" chapter of the Bible. Look at the "must statements" in John 3 and see how they relate to John’s aim “that we may believe!”
Jesus replaces the emptiness of Religious Rites as the Better Bridegroom
Welcome to the Bethlehem North Women’s Bible study podcast for September 25 & 26, 2018! Both of our live recordings for this podcast had technical malfunctions, so Pam recorded this after class.
Hello to our listeners from around the US and over 15 other countries. We are so glad that you are joining us in our study of the Gospel of John this year.
Seeing and Sharing Jesus, the Lamb of God (John 1:19-51, 9/25&26, 2018)
Here are the words we followed to see the layers John used to structure his “overture.”
1-with God…... (1:1–2 connection with 1:18)
2-through Him…..(1:3 connection with 1:17)
3-receive…..(1:4–5 connection with 1:16)
4-John/witness…..(1:6–8 connection with 1:15)
5-response…..(1:9–10 connection with 1:14)
6-his own…..(1:11 connection with 1:13)
7-receive… believe (1:12)
8-children of God/born of God (1:12)
Here is a beautiful Poem by D.A. Carson on the Incarnation of Christ
Welcome to our study of the Gospel of John! What a joy to be gathering together and sharing what we are learning!
I am praying that the Gospel of John will speak to you wherever you are today. Ask God to open your eyes through His Spirit to give you understanding and life in his name. May you SEE Jesus, in all of his glory and may you trust in Him, believe Him with all your heart!
2 slides from the introduction to John:
Glimpses and references to the promised Lamb of God are scattered throughout the Old Testament.
To trace God’s beautiful story of redemption, we can follow a thread, a red strand that is woven throughout the Bible....looking for the lamb of God.
Where is the Lamb?
Behold the Lamb!
Worthy is the Lamb
Here is the outline for Ruth 4:
1) Boaz Sets the Stage
2) Boaz Strikes a Bargain
3) The People Prophesy
4) The LORD Gives A Redeemer
We had three application points:
1- God does it all.
He chooses. He plucks people out of Moab. He makes a people out of those of us who are not his people. That’s all of us in here. We are all Moabites, in one sense. We are far off from God, without hope. But God brings us near through the most peculiar circumstances. He redeems us, he gives us a new name, calling us daughter. He chooses to redeem a people and it looks, from a human standpoint, like he is getting a really bad deal with us. Just like it looked like Boaz should have reconsidered his options. But God he goes ahead makes us his bride, against all human wisdom. He makes the unlovable, lovely, by his beautifying love. God does it all.
2- God’s people act like God’s people.
This may seem to contradict the first one. If God does it all, who cares how we act? Let’s not focus on Ruth or Boaz, let’s just focus on God. But part of focusing on Ruth and Boaz’s worthiness and honorableness is that it actually glorifies God. We get to see what it looks like when God is working in the life of his people and what obedience is like.
They show us what it looks like to be Israelites on the inside. It doesn’t look like staying a Moabite. It doesn’t look like sin. It looks like honoring others and humble submission, and costly leadership. And so, if it’s true that God does it all and that God’s people act like God’s people, that means that God is at work in us causing us to work really hard. And we should praise God for that. We should praise God for God and we should praise God for Ruth and Boaz and Naomi.
3- God’s purposes for your story go way beyond your story.
It was true of Ruth and Boaz and Naomi and it’s true of us. We are not in the upline of Jesus, but we know this: we are his downline. We are his descendants and heirs. We are born of him, the very children of God. We cannot know his purposes for our lives, but we must not live like they end when we die. We must be working for goals 1000, 10000 years from now. DO you have that in your flowchart of goals?
What aroma do you want to pass down to your spiritual children? That aroma may far outlast the remembrance of your name. What godly, Christ-like, inheritance are you bequeathing to the people around you? Your children, your nieces and nephews, the kids in Sunday school, your neighbors, your co-workers, your friends? Remember God is faithful to a thousand generation of those who fear him. Who will come after you in the line of Jesus?
We need a redeemer who will give us rest, eternal rest.
In trust, come to your Redeemer who will give you rest.
Under Your wings I am safely abiding;
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust You, I know You will keep me;
You have redeemed me, and I am Your child.
Under Your wings
Who from Your love can sever?
Under Your wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.
Under Your wings—what a refuge in sorrow!
How the heart yearningly turns to Your rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
There I find comfort, and there I am blest.
Under Your wings—oh, what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me;
Resting in YOU Jesus I’m safe evermore.
(adaped from "Under His Wings," a hymn by William Cushing, 1823-1902)
When I outlined chapter 2, I framed it around Boaz. Here are five points to observe about Boaz:
1) Boaz’s greeting
2) Boaz’s protection
3) Boaz’s provision
4) Boaz’s prayer
5) Boaz’s position
What can we take away from this scene in Ruth 2? It’s a wonderful story. It’s a chapter where no one sins—at least not explicitly in the text! Did you notice that? I think that’s why it’s such a pleasure to read. Only good examples in chapter two. And that’s what I want us to consider—how different this chapter is from Gen. 3, not to mention Judges and so much of what we observe in the Bible and in our own lives.
Contrast Boaz in Ruth 2, with Adam in Genesis 3. But don't stop there. The point of the story isn't that Boaz seems to be a lot better than Adam. The point is that Boaz is a pointer to the Better Adam: Jesus. And when we compare Boaz to Jesus, we see just how much better Jesus is than anyone else in history--even worthy Boaz.