Bible Study Network

A growing network of women are studying the Bible together. You’ll find Bible resources, study aids, devotionals, prompts, service ideas and everyday applications as well as ideas for starting your own online or onsite group.

September 17, 2018 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Galatians Bible Study: Finding Our Freedom In Christ

What is freedom?

I’ve felt a sensation of freedom several times in my life. I remember the day we made the final payment on my husband’s school loans. Another time was writing a check for the last of the medical bills after Jack’s back-to-back surgeries last year. Whew. It felt like someone had lifted a weight off my shoulders. We had discretionary money again. No more fear that we would be turned over to a credit agency and penalized for not paying soon enough. No more reminders in the mailbox that we owed something to somebody. It was a wonderful feeling.

When have you experienced a sense of freedom?

The book of Galatians is often called the charter of Christian liberty.

Read Galatians 1:1-10

Why would Paul connect the Gospel message with the imagery of freedom?

Paul uses some strong language about those who would dare mess with the gospel message. The first thing we need to ask ourselves is: What is the Gospel?

What important components of the Gospel does Paul mention in Galatians 1:3-5?

Over and over, the New Testament writers stop in the middle of their accounts, sermons, and letters to describe the gospel message. I call these verses the Gospel in a nutshell.

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” – Col 1:13,14
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” – Romans 3:21,22

Those verses are for starters. Check out these other verses:

Titus 3:4-7
John 5:24
1 John 2:2
1 Corinthians 15:3,4
Ephesians 3:12
2 Corinthians 5:21
Romans 5:8

Can you list other “gospel in a nutshell” verses? Share your findings in the comments of this blog post.

Why was Paul so passionate about preserving the integrity of the gospel message?

Paul makes it very clear that we cannot save ourselves. God is such a holy God that even one sin would separate us from His holiness. There is no way possible that we can fulfill the entire law, so why even try to do it on our own? If you base your salvation on obeying one particular law, then you must obey every law, which is impossible for any of us.

Over the centuries, what large groups have tampered with the Gospel message and have added other practices and requirements to membership in God’s Kingdom?

Why would Paul cringe at these attempts?

We can easily point fingers at groups who have added practices, written second volumes to the Bible, and made long lists of rules for membership to their brand of Christianity. Let’s look at ourselves.

How do we fall into the trap of legalism?

It was tough for me to come up with my own list. Completing these sentences helped me discover how I’m trying to win my way into God’s favor.

I would be a better Christian if . . .
Satan likes to accuse me of . . .
The church would burn down if I . . .
God and others would disapprove of me if I stopped . . .
I’m not being a good Christian if I . . .
I should . . . .

How would you complete those sentences? Can you add other sentences that reveal how you are working your way to Heaven?

God still holds us responsible for moral law. The New Testament contains many commands for which God does hold us accountable. But the big difference is that He wants us to obey out of our trust in Him and our love for Him, not out of a feeling of do’s and don’ts.

We engage in many daily activities where there is no right or wrong. God will think no less of me if I wear pants instead of a skirt to church Sunday morning, play SkipBo, drink coffee, or miss attending a social group meeting at church!

As I was preparing this lesson, I went to bed that night, berating myself that I had skipped my morning devotions and prayer time. Some Christian you are, that hideous voice whispered inside my head. Then I thought of my activities over the day: I attended church, took notes on the sermon, got weepy over the Communion meditation, engaged in the Sunday School discussion about Matthew 7, worked on preparations for this Bible study, and attended my husband’s evening Bible study. I had been immersed in the Word of God all day long!

Yes, morning devotions is a good idea and it will help me grow in my walk with Christ. But there is no “Thus saith the Lord” about morning devotions, only biblical examples. God does not keep a tally sheet of how many times we attend church or fail to study the Bible. But His Word is explicit that we do something with what we read and learn. He cares most about our attitude.

Final Thoughts

Why do you think people want to add legalism to our faith in Christ? Why do we still try to please God by what we do?

How is the choice to live by faith a better way to reach God?

How has your relationship with Jesus brought you freedom?

September 11, 2018 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Galatians Bible Study Introduction: Where in the World is Galatia?

Welcome to our Bible study on the book of Galatians.

This week, we’ll look at an introduction to the book: the writer (Paul), his audience (the Galatians), and the issue Paul needed to address in his letter.

It must have been hard for the average Christian Jew to incorporate Christianity into their daily lives. Yes, they’d been waiting millennia for the Messiah. They understood Jesus’ death as the atoning sacrifice for sin and His resurrection that established Him as the divine Son of God. But what next? Does that mean to stop bringing animals to the Temple each year? Could they still celebrate Passover? What about circumcision? Eating pork?

That part of the Christian struggle has not changed in the last 2,000 years. Holding on to rituals as a way to garner my “in” with God, still sneaks into our Christian lingo. Living by faith is nice talk but don’t I have to do something to receive God’s favor?

Let’s put ourselves in the sandals of a Christian Jew.

Think about a time you were resistant to change. Why was it hard? What caused you to finally accept the change?

Paul was the first missionary to the world outside Israel. He used the strategy of talking to Jewish people first in a new city and then broadening out to include Gentiles. At first Jews were interested in what he had to say. Then, as Gentiles embraced the Gospel, the Jews became jealous and abusive.

Read Acts 13:13-14:20. Why do you think the Jews had a hard time accepting the Gentiles as fellow believers and heirs to the kingdom.

Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch are all cities in the area known as Galatia, which is part of Asia Minor or modern Turkey. You’ve probably heard of the Gauls – Asia Minor is the area they settled in the third century, B.C. Many Jews who had been displaced when the Assyrians overran Israel also lived in this region.

In his letter to those Christians living in Galatia, Paul contrasts the life lived by the law verses the life lived by faith, and the freedom we find when we live by faith in Christ. It’s easy to read Paul’s letter and wonder why the Jews struggled so much with incorporating the gospel message into daily life.

Why did the Jews try to influence Gentiles to take on Jewish practices?

Do we face the same difficulty?

Does the church of today burden new believers with extra expectations?

Do you ever wonder if you have worked hard enough for Jesus?

I know I have. When I talked to my minister’s wife about becoming a Christian, I told her I wondered if I would work hard enough in the church. It wasn’t until much later that I understood the concept of God’s freeing grace and that working hard in the church didn’t guarantee my salvation one bit.

How have you struggled with the temptation to work your way into God’s favor? What external expectations do you find yourself placing on other Christians?

If you feel your walk with Christ burdened with a list of do’s and don’ts, I hope you’ll join us each week as we study Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Our next lesson will look at Galatians 1:1-10.

July 11, 2018 by Karen Wingate Leave a Comment

Desert Bloom: God’s Promise To You

Desert bloom. It’s a classic oxymoron.

Do you like lists of words that are oxymoron doubles? Here’s a few:

Deafening silence
Living dead
Larger half
Clearly confused

Microsoft Works? Okay, be nice.

Civil engineer? Someone will have to explain that one to me.

Here’s my favorite. Jumbo shrimp. Yeah, right.

What about desert bloom?

I like desert bloom as an oxymoron because, as a desert rat in Southern Arizona for the first twenty-three years of my life, I’ve seen it happen. Other than the single waxy white blooms atop the mighty Saguaro or the pretty pink flowers capping a barrel cactus, flowers were not an annual occurrence. Yet, every ten years or so, when the Desert Southwest had an abundance of winter rains, this:

Turns into this.

It’s amazing. Like Easterners who take rides to check out the autumn leaves, our family would pile in the car on a Saturday afternoon and drive through the Saguaro National Monument to see the desert brushed in full color splendor. [Read more…]

May 1, 2018 by Karen Wingate 3 Comments

Why You’ll Find No Kleenex In Heaven

What would a world be like with no Kleenex?

I once served as a short-term worker at a bible training center in Eastern Europe. Haus Edelweiss acts as a hub for providing on-site-classes and for sending professors to local areas to accommodate students in more restricted countries. One couple was able to work out their schedule so that the wife served with me at the Haus, cleaning and cooking for the students in residence while her husband went to Moldova to lead a week long training course there.

On our end, I got a reality check of what life was like for students coming from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. They were used to having the bare necessities and some luxuries but often lacked the variety and choices we enjoy in the States. Even countries like Austria don’t have available what we would consider essentials or everyday items – like Ibuprofen, marshmallows, and Jell-O.

My biggest flash of insight came the day I asked my new friend if she’d heard from her husband. “He’s battling sinus issues,” she told me. “I wish I’d packed handkerchiefs for him. There’s no Kleenex in Moldova.”

No Kleenex in Moldova?

Something so cheap, so available, so – necessary. Kleenex was the next best invention to sliced bread. My Western mentality tried to wrap my brain about living in a culture where one must launder handkerchiefs and rags to deal with sinus issues, colds, and tears.

Years later, I realized Moldova wasn’t the only place with no Kleenex.

[Read more…]