There is a lot of discussion today about comfort dogs. While this has been an interesting phenomenon in our country, it does point out something that is important. We are all in need of comfort when we experience difficulties. Sadly, a dog, someone, or something else only offers temporary comfort.  For lasting comfort we must look to Christ. Paul explains this in his opening words in 2 Corinthians 1:3-14 as we look at the Explore the Bible Study: God's Comfort.

This week marks the beginning of the study of 2 Corinthians. You might want to use the following video as a part of introducing the study before you get into the specifics of this week's session related to God's comfort.


Another video that could be used to begin the session is a rather humorous look at children comforting one another. Enjoy it yourself even if you don't use it!

What is you favorite love song? How many songs can you name with the word "love" in the title? Love songs have been around for a long time. Some are rich with meaning and some are very shallow. Some are very emotional while some are more comical. Love is a natural human experience, but the kind of love Paul challenges believers to cultivate in 1 Corinthians 13 is a love that is impossible to practice without Christ. It is an agape love - the sacrificial giving of oneself to others, whether they deserve it or not. This week's Explore the Bible Study: Understanding Love focuses on understanding that this kind of love should not only be the motivating force behind everything we do for Christ but it is only attained through a proper relationship with Christ.

The teaching helps this week are pretty straight-forward, yet challenging. As you study, keep in mind how Paul introduced this discourse on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:1-3. His emphasis is on the work of the Spirit. The teaching ideas will focus on the following:

1. It is the Spirit who manifests Himself through us (see 1 Corinthians 12:7). Since that is the case, a spiritual gift isn’t really spiritual if it is practiced without love, since it is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
2. The kind of love we are to demonstrate cannot be generated on our own (see 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). We are sinful and prone to drift toward misusing and abusing anything God gives us, including spiritual gifts. Paul states in Galatians 5:16 that we are to “walk by the Spirit.” He goes on to describe the fruit of the Spirit. The very first descriptor of that fruit is LOVE! (see Galatians 5:22-26)
3. Paul puts us in our place by reminding us that we don't know everything, we haven’t arrived, and we aren’t as superior as we think we are. (see 1 Corinthians 13:8-13)
4. Paul concludes by emphasizing three very important things – faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:3). None of these are possible for us to have without a relationship with Christ. It is equally important to understand that none of these come naturally to us. Not understanding this kind of love leads us to mistreat others and think more highly or even more lowly of ourselves. We must continue to grow up in Christ so that we can understand and practice these three with love being the greatest. It is foundational to everything we do and believe.
5. As a believer, everything in your life – the gifts you say you have, the way you serve, the way you treat others, the way you live – must be measured against the backdrop of the kind of love Paul describes in these verses. This kind of love is only possibly as we grow in our relationship with Christ.

What's MY spiritual gift? Many times we seek to answer this question as if a spiritual gift is a rite of passage, something we can "own," or something we can even brag about possessing. This is not the purpose nor the correct view of spiritual gifts. Paul wanted to help the church understand this, and he begins to unpack an understanding of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:4-26. The Explore The Bible Study: Serving God's People, will challenge your group to consider how they view and how they are using the gifts God has given them.

As you lead your group please keep in mind these concepts:

• A spiritual gift is a “manifestation of the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:7) to each believer. It is not something you get, choose or earn; rather, you get the Spirit and He chooses to reveal Himself through you in a supernatural way.  Henry Blackaby says that the Spirit is the gift.  We don’t receive “something” but “someone.” (Experiencing God)
• The key for determining how God wants to use you in ministry is OBEDIENCE. When you see a need or hear of a need in the church, then you should promptly pray about how you could fulfill that need. If God prompts you to serve, don’t overanalyze or excuse yourself from service. Obey and let the Spirit do His work in you. The church will prosper, and you will be blessed, and you will see the Holy Spirit manifest Himself through you in ways that don’t come naturally!

Session Approach:

• Quick Spiritual Gifts Questionnaire: At the end the suggested teaching ideas, I have included a questionnaire you can use at the beginning and the end of the session.
• Paul outlines two things in the passages: (1) The relationship of the Holy Spirit to spiritual gifts; (2) The believer's relationship to spiritual gifts. Consider drawing two columns on the whiteboard and capturing the group conversations as the Scripture passage is studied. The suggested teaching ideas gives you more information for each column.
• Video Option: The following video could be used to illustrate Paul's explanation related to unity in the Body of Christ - 1 Corinthians 12:12-26.

When is it wrong to participate in or for a church to plan to observe the Lord's Supper? Paul had to answer that question for the believers in Corinth based on what they had asked and on what he had "heard" (1 Corinthians 11:17-18). The church in Corinth had begun to abuse the practice of observing the Lord's Supper. The Explore The Bible Study: Remembering the Sacrifice study will lead your group to deeply consider when it is wrong to participate in or for a church to observe the Lord's Supper.

I pray that your group's study of this passage will be viewed with new and fresh eyes. I pray that God will remind all of us that we must not allow the participation in the Lord’s Supper to become trivial or a means of calling attention to ourselves. It is all about Jesus Christ, His sacrifice, His payment for our sins, and of His coming return!

BACKGROUND STUDY HELPS
The following video by Gene Getz should help you gain a better perspective as you prepare to teach.



LOOK UP ACTIVITY
The sample teaching plan provides a Memorial Day quiz that could be used to begin a discussion related to the meanings of a memorial.

If you use the quiz, consider asking the following questions regarding Memorial Day to bridge the ducussion to the possible abuses and misuses of Memorial Day, transitioning to how the Corinthian church has begun to abuse the “memorial” of the Lord’s Supper.

Facts about Memorial Day: The following are facts about consumer habits during the Memorial Day weekend as published by Wallet Hub in 2017.

• 75% of Americans plan to barbecue.
• 818 hot dogs are consumed every second from Memorial Day to Labor day (7 billion total).
• 207+ running races are held each Memorial Day.
• 39.3 million U.S. travelers expected to take to the road, skies, rails and water, according to a forecast released Wednesday from auto club AAA.
• Number 1 travel destination is Orlando, FL.
• 41.4% of Americans are “likely” to take advantage of Memorial Day deals.
• 25% more home-cooking fires happen on Memorial Day than average.
• $139+ million estimated value of items that will be lost this Memoiral Day weekend.
• 44% of all traffic fatalities that occur over Memiorial Day weekend are alcohol-related.
• The most popular Memorial Day food – Hamburger.

THE MAIN EMPHASIS FROM PAUL IN 1 CORITHIANS 11:17-29
Paul needed the believers in Corinth and us to understand that whenever we eat the bread and drink the cup, the death of Jesus is declared. When we partake of the Lord’s Supper, it is an act of worship and should be approached with a clean heart because we are presenting the gospel to the lost who might be observing. They need to know that Christ’s death does make a difference in the lives of those who profess Him as Savior. Not only do we look back to Jesus’ death in the Lord’s Supper; we also look forward to His return (until he comes) which reminds us of the hope we have in Christ!

Paul viewed any behavior that dishonored Christ’s sacrificial death as a very serious matter especially as it related to the observance of the Lord’s Supper.  When rich Christians discriminated against poor Christians at the Lord’s Supper, they were sinning against those for whom Jesus died. They were sinning against Christ Himself. When anyone come’s to the Lord’s Supper table with known sin in their heart, they are treating Christ’s death with contempt. The Lord’s Supper is not to be entered into flippantly.

LOOK OUT - CLOSING VIDEO
Consider using the following video as a part of your closing or just enjoy listening to it as you prepare to lead the group!