Look Inside: b'Discover 67 (July - Sept 2014)'

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discover E July–Sept 2014 INSIDE: Jesus – the perfect teacher, Romans, Acts, Numbers, Ruth

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Find a place where you can be quiet and think

Get your Bible and a pencil or pen

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Find a time when you can read the Bible each day

Ask God to help you understand what you read

Pray about what you have read and learned

We want to...

• Explain the Bible clearly to you • Help you enjoy your Bible • Encourage you to turn to Jesus • Help Christians follow Jesus

Martin Cole

Rachel Jones

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Read today’s Discover page and Bible bit

Discover stands for...

• Total commitment to God’s Word, the Bible • Total commitment to getting its message over to you

Discover devisers Kirsty McAllister Alison Mitchell

André Parker

Discover is published four times a year by The Good Book Company, Blenheim House, 1 Blenheim Rd, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 9AP, UK. Tel: 0333 123 0880; Email: discover@thegoodbook.co.uk UK Website: www.thegoodbook.co.uk North America: www.thegoodbook.com Australia: www.thegoodbook.com.au NZ: www.thegoodbook.co.nz

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How to use Discover Here at Discover, we want you at home to get the most out of reading the Bible.

It’s how God speaks to us today. And He’s got loads of top things to say.

We use the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible.

You’ll find that the NIV and New King James Version are best for doing the puzzles in Discover.

The Bible has 66 different books in it. So if the notes say...

Read Luke 16 v 1–7 ...turn to the contents page of your Bible and look down the list of books to see what page Luke begins on.

Turn to that page.

“Luke 16 v 1–7” means you need to go to chapter 16 of Luke, and then find verse 1 of chapter 16 (the verse numbers are the tiny ones). Then jump in and read it!

It’s easy!

Here are some other symbols you might come across...

weird words Conflabbication These boxes explain baffling words or phrases we come across in the Bible.

think!

This box usually has a tricky personal question on what you’ve been reading about.

action!

Challenges you to put what you’ve read into action.

wow!

This box contains a mindbending fact that sums up what we’ve been reading about.

pray!

Gives you ideas for prayer.

Prayer is talking to God. Don’t be embarrassed! You can pray in your head if you want to.

God still hears you!

Even if there isn’t a PRAY! symbol, it’s a good idea to pray about what you’ve read anyway.

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1 Luke 16 v 1-9 July 1 Tues

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Jesus: Perfect teacher Read Luke 16 v 1-7

Find out in verses 8-9

This manager was in charge of the rich man’s money and possessions. But the rich man sacked him for doing a bad job.

So the manager acted fast to make things better for himself.

Jesus said the manager made a smart move. Surprised?

Using verses 1-7, cross out the wrong answers from the story.

There’s no time to hang around...

Let’s catch up with Jesus teaching His disciples some important stuff.

weird words

The rich man’s manager/rabbit was accused of wasting his time/possessions. The manager knew he was going to lose his mind/job and that he would also lose his friends/marbles.

To keep some friends, he let people off some of their doubts/ducks/debts.

How will you use them? ______________________

Commended

______________________

Praised

_____________________

Shrewdly

Eternal dwellings Heaven

action!

What talents/money/time do you have to serve God?

______________________

Loads!

God’s people

Jesus is saying: use the possessions and talents you’ve got to serve God NOW. Help people in need.

God will reward us in eternity.

______________________

1000 bushels

Craftily

wow!

______________________

Debtors People who owed money or crops

People of light

Don’t worry, Jesus isn’t saying that it’s okay to cheat! Just that the manager was wise. He realised he was going to get sacked, so he acted quickly to help himself in the future.

Do you think he was clever?

YES/NO _______ Would the rich man approve?

YES/NO _______ Would Jesus approve?

YES/NO _______

pray!

Thank God for the things He’s given you. Ask Him to help you use them to serve Him.

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More about money Read Luke 16 v 10-12 and fill in the gaps, please.

Whoever can be trusted with very _________ can also be _____________ with much. Whoever is dishonest with _________ ____________ will also be

Yesterday, we read Jesus’ story about a business manager who did some crafty dealing to help himself in the future.

Now Jesus has more to say about money...

weird words Justify Make excuses

The Law and the Prophets Old Testament

John John the Baptist who started telling people about Jesus

__________________ with much.

Jesus has 3 more quick things to teach the Pharisees, and us!

Read verses 16-18 So if someone is dishonest and can’t be trusted with money, God won’t trust them with much more important stuff — like serving Him and living with Him forever.

Read verses 13-15

1. The people had the Old Testament — it was the way God spoke to His people, the Jews. And now Jesus was bringing the GOOD NEWS that people could live forever with God! (v16)

You can’t serve both ______ and __________ Getting more money or cool possessions can become more important to us than serving God. We should use the money and things God gives us to serve Him!

action!

How can you use your money and possessions to serve God instead of pleasing yourself? ______________________ ______________________ _____________________

2. V17 means that we still need the Old Testament.

It points to Jesus and what He would do for us!

3. Verse 18 is an example of how God’s law is still important. Adultery is still wrong.

think & pray!

What have you learned from today’s Bible bit? What are you going to do about it?

Talk to God about it right now.

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3 Luke 16 v 19-31 July 3 Thurs

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Mind the gap Read Luke 16 v 19-21 and compare the two men.

Rich man

If people don’t ask Jesus to forgive their sins and start living God’s way, they’ll be punished in hell. There’s no escape from hell.

• Dressed in fine ___________ • Lived in l____________

Lazarus • A hungry beggar • Covered with s_________ Jesus has another great story about a rich man...

Read verses 22-26 Compare the men after they died.

Rich man • In h________ (v23) • In great pain and torment

Lazarus

weird words Abraham’s side Heaven

Hades Hell

Chasm Huge gap, too big to cross

Moses and the Prophets Old Testament

• In h__ __v__n • C__mf__rt__d On earth, the rich man had everything he wanted. But when he died, it all counted for nothing.

wow!

It doesn’t matter whether you’re rich or poor right now.

What matters is whether you have eternal life with God, or are punished by God in hell.

Repent Turn away from sinning and start living God’s way

The rich man had disobeyed God, and found himself in hell. There was no way of crossing from hell to heaven. It was too late.

Read verses 27-31 The Pharisees didn’t turn away from their wrong ways and trust in Jesus. Even though the whole Old Testament pointed to Him.

wow!

If someone refuses to believe God’s words in the Bible, nothing will convince them that they need Jesus, not even seeing Jesus Himself. Just look at the Pharisees!

pray! ...for people you know who refuse to believe the Bible.

Ask God to convince them to change their minds, so they read the Bible and come to have faith in Him.

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Top tips to test teens

(and Christians of all ages!)

Read Luke 17 v 1-2 and fill in the vowels (aeiou).

TOP TIP 1 Don’t cause other Christians to s__n (stumble)

Want some top tips on living for God?

Christians choose not to do certain things if it might cause a younger Christian to mess up and do wrong. They might not watch or say or read certain things if they know it would be a problem for someone else.

Read verses 5-6 Jesus Himself has some great advice for us...

weird words Stumble Sin

Woe to...

God will punish that person

Little ones Young Christians

Rebuke Set them straight

Repent Say sorry and turn from their wrong ways

Apostles Disciples

Faith Belief, trust

action!

Need to stop doing anything that causes others to sin? ______________________ ______________________

Read verses 3-4

TOP TIP 2 If a friend s__ns, talk to them about it. If a friend says sorry to you, f__rg__ve them.

And keep forgiving them, no matter how many times they upset you. God’s forgiveness is bottomless. And we want to be more and more like Him.

action! 2

Who do YOU need to forgive? ______________________ ______________________

The disciples thought that tips 1 and 2 were too hard.

We need more f__ __th

TOP TIP 3 To serve God, we only need a sm__ll amount of f__ __th in J__s__s.

If we ask God to help us to live for Him, and trust that He’ll do it, He will!

pray!

Ask God to help you to do the stuff you’ve written in the action! boxes. He will!

ans !)

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First, serve! action!

So what are you going to do to serve God this week?

It was the servant’s job to work in the field and cook for his master. He got paid to do this.

He wouldn’t expect his master to cook for him too!

______________________ ______________________ _____________________

Yesterday we read about ways we can serve God in our lives.

(Look back to remind yourself.)

Jesus also told us that we need to BELIEVE that He’ll help us to live for Him. That’s what FAITH is.

When we do stuff that is serving God, it’s easy to feel proud.

Or expect a reward or loads of praise. That’s okay, isn’t it?

yes/no _______ Jesus told a story to help us.

Read Luke 17 v 7-9 Unjumble the anagrams to fill in the gaps in the story.

Unworthy We don’t deserve to serve God!

When you have done everything you were t________ to do, say d o l t “We have only done our d_________”. t y d u

Imagine that you had a s______________ who r e s t v a n looked after the s_________ heeps When he came in, you

weird words

Read verse 10

wouldn’t c________ for him, o c k o because he’s your s_______________. r a n v e s t He would cook for y______. u y o That’s his j_______. b o j

Christians serve God and live for Him. They shouldn’t expect loads of rewards and praise for it. It’s their duty to serve God — He’s done so much for them.

pray!

Thank God for the great privilege of serving Him. Ask Him to help you do the things you wrote at the top of the page.

(Without being too proud!)

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No thanks?

That’s what it was like to have leprosy. It was a horrible skin disease and there was nothing that could be done about it.

Or was there?

Read Luke 17 v 11-14

Imagine you had an incurable disease that meant you had to live on your own.

No one ever visiting you, or even phoning.

You might as well not exist.

Life would seem so pointless and miserable.

JESUS CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE! The men had faith in Jesus and were healed (cleansed). Suddenly they could live normal lives again. Think of all the new things they could do (add your own).

get a job

have friends

find a wife!

weird words

Read verses 15-19 How many lives had been transformed?

How many came back to thank Jesus?

So how many didn’t bother to say thank you?

Incredible! How could they be so ungrateful for the amazing new life Jesus had given them? They may have forgotten, but Jesus didn’t. What did He say (v17)?

Where are the ___________________

think!

Has Jesus transformed your life? YES/NO ________ Has He set you free from the deadly disease of sin?

YES/NO ________ Do you keep thanking and praising God for what He has done? YES/NO ________

Samaritan Someone from Samaria. They were usually the enemies of Jews like Jesus.

pray!

Anything you want to say to God? Anything you want to thank Him for?

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7 Luke 17 v 20-30 July 7 Mon

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Jesus – the return!

The Pharisees asked Jesus a similar question: How long until the kingdom of God comes?

Read Luke 17 v 20-21

What are people doing instead of living for Jesus? Find the answers in v27–28. Then cross them out in the wordsearch.

L I E A T I N G V I

Ever been on a long car journey, with someone constantly asking: “Are we there yet?” and “How much longer?”

Jesus was saying that GOD’S KINGDOM right now is Jesus being King of your life. Christians are already in the Kingdom of God! When the Pharisees looked at the disciples they were seeing the kingdom of God! But they didn’t realise it at all.

Read verses 22-25

weird words Pharisees Very strict Jews

Observed

Christians want Jesus to come back soon so they can be with Him forever. But we must not be fooled by anyone pretending to be Jesus. Or get too caught up in guessing when He’ll return.

N D R I

N K I N G G

F O M A R R Y I N G R T B U Y I

N G H E

S E L L I N G M S E L P L A N T I N G V E S B U I L D I N G

The letters that are left tell us what these people are doing.

L__ __ __ __ __

__ __ __

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Seen

Midst Middle

Son of Man Jesus. As well as being God’s Son, He was a human being.

Lot Abraham’s nephew

Sulphur Chemical that burns

It will be sudden and obvious. When Jesus returns, we won’t be able to miss it! (v24) But first, Jesus had to die for His people (v25).

Read verses 26-30 Most people aren’t ready for Jesus to return. Just like in Noah’s and Lot’s time. People were ignoring God then too.

People who live for themselves and not God will be punished (v29-30).

pray!

Ask God to help you to live for Him and not just please yourself.

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Nothing to lose?

Read Luke 17 v 31 Mark the things we shouldn’t try to do when Jesus returns. grab our fave things think only of ourselves go back for anything

End of the World Update!

Jesus is going to return, one day, when people least expect it.

But what should we do when He does?

No time for any of that when Jesus returns! We shouldn’t be thinking about ourselves and our possessions. Only being with Jesus should matter to us.

Read verses 32-33

Rearrange these words to form verse 33.

life tries it Whoever to loses keep whoever preserve will life lose their it their will and Whoever_________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________

God was going to destroy the evil city of Sodom. He gave Lot and his family time to escape. But Lot’s wife looked back, so God punished her.

She longed after her old life, and not God’s safety.

(It’s in Genesis 19 v 15-29.)

wow!

If you put yourself first and refuse to live for God, you won’t have eternal life with Jesus.

Read verses 34-37 Not everyone will turn to Jesus and live with Him forever.

weird words Preserve Save it.

Keep it.

pray!

Who do you know who refuses to live God’s way? Ask God to RESCUE them!

c

w

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Keep praying, don’t give up! Keep praying, don’t give up!

Keep praying, don’t give up! Keep praying, don’t give up!

Jesus told the parable (story) of a woman who kept bothering someone until she got her way.

Read Luke 18 v 1-5 (Adversary means enemy.)

Jesus isn’t saying that God is like that unfair, ungodly judge.

So what’s His point?

Read verses 6-7 Dad, can I have a new bike?… go on Dad… I’ll ride every day… pleeeease… let me have a bike…

OK, you can have the bike, if you will just SHUT UP!!!

weird words Unjust He didn’t always do what was right and fair

Son of Man Jesus

If even this unfair judge gave the widow what she wanted…

Fill in the bottom halves...

KEEP PRAYING DON’T GIVE UP

pray!

What do you need to ask God for? A bad situation to be sorted out? A friend to become a Christian? ______________________

______________________ ______________________ Talk to God about it now.

…how much more will our perfect and loving God give His people what they cry out to Him for!

God loves to hear and answer our prayers. But He doesn’t always answer immediately.

He knows when it’s the perfect time to answer!

Why did Jesus tell this parable? Read verse 1 again.

action!

Now write those things out again on a big sheet of paper. Stick it on your wall and pray for those things EVERY DAY! Don’t give up!

Over the last few days, Jesus has been talking about the day when He’ll come back to judge the world…

Read verses 7-8 We need to pray that people we know will become Christians.

And that more and more people will turn to God and live for Him. So that Jesus will find faith on earth (v8) when He returns.

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Two ways to pray Read Luke 18 v 9 Who was Jesus talking to?

People who were ____________

That means people who thought they were right with God because they did good things.

_________________________

Read verses 10-13

_________________________

Draw lines to match up the two men with their attitudes.

_______________________

looked down on others

Why do you pray?

knew he needed God’s help

Is it always for the right reasons?

knew he couldn’t please God

weird words Righteousness

thought he was good enough to please God

Being right with God

humble

Fast Going without food

Have mercy Show forgiveness

proud prayed because he needed God to help him

Pharisee

Justified

Tax collector

Forgiven

Exalt themselves Make themselves important

Humbled Made less important

prayed because it made him feel better

Read verse 14 The tax man was the one who ended up right with God (justified).

He realised that he needed God to forgive his wrongs.

think!

How are you going to change the way you pray?

Don’t forget to PRAY again about the stuff you wrote down YESTERDAY!

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Write in to discover E Got any questions about the Bible or stuff you struggle with?

Got any answers to prayer you’d love to share with us? Anything you’d like to see in Discover in the future? Write a letter to us at: The Good Book Company, Blenheim House, 1 Blenheim Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 9AP, UK Or send emails to discover@thegoodbook.co.uk

Dear Discover,

In the next exciting issue of Discover...

• COLOSSIANS — Complete Christian

• LUKE — Jesus in control

• More from ACTS, NUMBERS and DEUTERONOMY Place your orders on one of our websites. UK: www.thegoodbook.co.uk USA: www.thegoodbook.com Australia: www.thegoodbook.com.au New Zealand: www.thegoodbook.co.nz

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Get more discover E Don’t miss out on the next exciting instalment of Discover.

If you live in the UK, order the next issue now (£3.49 + £1 postage) or a whole year’s supply for just £13.95, including postage! You can get your parents to pay by cheque or credit/debit card (cheques payable to The Good Book Company Ltd). Or they can visit our website: www.thegoodbook.co.uk Please send me the next issue of Discover (£4.49 including postage) Please send me a One-year Subscription (£13.95 including postage) Please send me ____ copies of the Discover Starter Pack (£1.50 each)

For prices in other countries, see the websites at the bottom of the page.

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Send this page to: The Good Book Company, Blenheim House, 1 Blenheim Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 9AP, UK Phone: UK 0333 123 0880; International + 44 (0)208 942 0880 email: discover@thegoodbook.co.uk www.thegoodbook.co.uk Jul - Sep 2014

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