I & II Thessalonians
Preparing for the Second Coming
True Churches
Stratégie d'enseignement
The focus of this lesson is to identify the characteristics of churches claiming truth.
Of special note in this lesson is how Paul shows that true churches are pure and must continually work to remain that way.
Résultats de l'apprentissage des étudiants
- Know: Identify characteristics of true churches.
- Feel: Appreciate the value of true churches.
- Do: Seek to remain faithful to our Lord by belonging to His church.
Corps de la leçon
Questions à discuter
Vous trouverez ci-dessous des suggestions de questions à utiliser pendant la partie de la leçon consacrée à la discussion guidée. Vous trouverez également des suggestions de réponses aux questions pour aider les élèves à saisir les différents concepts. Ces réponses sont fournies pour faciliter la discussion et ne sont pas considérées comme des réponses "justes ou fausses".
The intent of this question is to establish the idea that there is a true church and that we can both find it and be a part of it. Responses will vary but look for characteristics and elements of our Lord's church as taught in scripture. A critical concept is that the church is not a building but the body of Christ made up of believers that have obeyed our Lord's teachings. A good follow-up question would be, "how can we know what the true church is and how are we added to that church?"
In our various cultures and societies there are hundreds of religious bodies claiming to have the truth. Some claim that all are true and that it is wrong to believe that one is true and others are not. Yet the Lord clearly teaches through His word that there is only one body of Christ, the church (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 4:4-6). Our active faith requires we seek out the true body, one that teaches complete truth from the scriptures and follows those teachings.
These two areas have always been a challenge for humanity especially in the pagan cities of the first century. They stem from the common concept of how we interact with one another and remains a challenge for us today.
What is meant by continually? This word communicates that it is an ongoing process. It's not something that is done once.
- Sexual purity (vs. 3-5) – When we become Christians we are set aside for God's use, both spiritually and physically. Sexual immorality has always been a problem with humanity so we must continue to work towards sexual purity both as individuals and as the body of Christ. Paul teaches in many places that sexual immorality has no place in a Christian's life or among Christians.
- Integrity in business (vs. 6) – How we interact with those around us is critical to how we are seen by the world. Again, we are called out to be pure. This includes our day-to-day interactions in the business world.
- Purity in our public witness (vs 9-12) – Public witness goes beyond us speaking about our Lord to others. It also involves living what we teach. We can hide most of our sins from others but eventually how we live will become known. At times others may know more about us than we think. How we live must be in line with what we profess as Christians. We are called out to be different, but that difference must be to live according to the teachings of our Lord.
Church does not mean a building. The church is the body of Christ.
The characteristics of the body are pure and faithful living. We are called out of the world and must strive to remain pure in order to have a clear conscience and an effective witness.
Jesus helps us with this as we seek to know and follow His teachings. We help each other in this as we encourage, strengthen, forgive and accept one another.