OPENING PRAYER

Spend 5 to 15 minutes in prayer about the following:

• God’s absolute faithfulness to you
• Your honest assessment of your own faithfulness
• Your desire to be faithful as He is
• Ask Him to help you see your life choices in the light of His purposes

BIBLE

Read John 2

• What did you learn about yourself?
• What did you learn about God?
• What will do differently based upon what you read?

MEMORY VERSE

A few of the words from this week’s memory verse have been left blank. Try your best to recite the verse and fill in the blanks by memory:

Ephesians 2:8–9

It is by __________ you have been saved, through _________—and this is not from yourselves, it is the _________ of God—not by _______, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8–9

STUDY

A story has been told about a woman who pulled up to a traffic light in her car. Unknown to her, something inside the engine compartment had caught fire and the fire was growing. A passerby noticed the flames and began yelling at the woman. At first, she thought this person was crazy, so she locked the doors. He continued to call to her, moving toward the car and pointing at the flames. After a moment she figured out what he was saying and got out of her car before it was entirely engulfed with flames.
In the story, the woman’s biggest obstacle was that she did not see her need for a savior. In the same way, we cannot fully appreciate the good news that Jesus brings until we acknowledge the bad news of our circumstances.

Self-reflection: Yesterday you learned about God’s purposes for humanity, and by extension, His purpose for you. As you were learning about those purposes, were you comforted, challenged, or convicted? What reasons did you have for feeling the way you did?

According to Romans 3:23, why should knowing God’s purposes for humanity make you nervous?

We all have a problem: Sin. Most of us are unsurprised by that statement. However, we are rarely as concerned with our sin as God is. The reason for our apathy is because we do not fully grasp what sin does to us. Read the following verses and complete the sentence:

Isaiah 59:2

Because of my sin, ________________

Genesis 3:8–10

Because of my sin, ________________

Romans 8:7

Because of my sin, ________________

Romans 7:15, 18-19

Because of my sin, ________________

Ephesians 2:1

Because of my sin, ________________

Ephesians 2:3

Because of my sin, ________________

According to Isaiah 64:6, what are we able to do about our own sin (what’s the bad news)?

CLOSING PRAYER

Spend about 5 minutes in prayer about the following:

• Acknowledge how you have fallen short of God’s purpose
• Confess your lack of power to overcome your own sin