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Winter 2025 – 2026: Enduring Beliefs of the Church
Unit 1: Our God and the Holy Scriptures
Our God and the Holy Scripture
The quarter begins as we study the Trinitarian God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—whom we know through Scripture’s revelation. Scripture recounts how God’s people can know him and live faithfully through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:14–15; see lesson 1).
Through various word images, Scripture conveys characteristics of God and reveals aspects of our relationship with him—he is our caring heavenly Father (Matthew 6:24–34; see lesson 2), the shepherd who seeks lost sheep (Luke 15:3–7; see lesson 3), and our advocate or comforter (Romans 8:26–27; see lesson 4).
Lesson 1 God’s Word. Psalm 19:7–13; 2 Timothy 3:14–15
This lesson pairs two texts—one from the Old Testament and one from the New—that praise God for revealing himself. Although the canon of Scripture was not complete when either of today’s texts were written, the claims of these texts apply to the entirety of God’s self-revelation in Scripture. It is not the invention of any human; it is inspired by God and communicated by human witnesses (2 Peter 1:16; compare Hebrews 1:1). The superscription of Psalm 19 calls it a “psalm of David,” meaning the words could have been written by David, the “hero of Israel’s songs” (2 Samuel 23:1), or written for him, perhaps as a reminder that Israel’s kings should listen carefully to God. The psalm is known as the great “hymn of revelation” within the corpus of the Psalms because it speaks to both “general” and “special” revelation. The first half of Psalm 19 heralds God’s revelation as made known from the fact of creation; this is information available to everyone (compare Romans 1:20). The second half of the psalm, which includes the reading for today, turns to praise for God’s spoken and written word. These two sources of divine self-revelation—creation and word—hang together because they find their source in God’s desire to communicate with those created in his image.
Lesson 2 Our Heavenly Father. Matthew 6:24–34
Today’s lesson text comes from a section of Jesus’ teaching called the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5–7). In his record of Jesus’ life, Matthew sometimes arranges the material in topical rather than chronological order. The Sermon on the Mount is a case in point. It is located early in Matthew’s Gospel, but it was actually delivered during the first half of the second year of Jesus’ ministry. Some commentators have called this second year of ministry Jesus’ “year of popularity” because large crowds gathered wherever he went (Matthew 4:25). Matthew 6 begins with Jesus’ warning about hypocrisy as one serves God in various ways. Then come instructions on prayer, fasting, and priorities. Today’s lesson text continues Jesus’ teaching on living a life that depends on a loving heavenly Father’s gracious provision of all our needs. Luke 12:22–31 and 16:13 are parallel texts.
Lesson 3 Christ the Savior. Luke 15:3–7; Romans 5:6–10
Luke 15 – The first of our two printed texts for this lesson is drawn from a sequence of three “lost and found” parables that constitute the entirety of Luke 15. An element common to all three parables is the joy that occurs when that which was lost is found. Jesus spoke these parables while on his final trip to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51–56). It was a lengthy journey, but the crucifixion was near. Matthew
18:12–14 is another version of today’s parable.
Romans – Paul’s letter to the church in Rome was most likely written in AD 57 or 58. During Paul’s third missionary journey, he spent about three months in Greece (Acts 20:1–3). This may have been the time during which he wrote this letter. He had never visited the church in Rome, but he planned to (Romans 1:8–13). Many consider Romans to be Paul’s most outstanding epistle. It is a profound doctrinal treatise, dealing with many aspects of the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 1:5). The universal sinfulness of humanity was the issue (1:18–3:20). The remedy is “the righteousness of God” that comes to individuals through their faith in Jesus (3:21–24). The printed text leads us to explore the intersection of these facts.
Lesson 4 The Holy Spirit. Romans 8:12–17, 26-27
The context for last week’s lesson on Romans 5 applies to this lesson as well, so that information need not be repeated here. Romans 6–8 is Paul’s rebuttal against false applications of the gospel message he has been preaching. Believers cannot continue in sin because Jesus’ death released them from sin’s dominion. Believers are united with Christ in his death (Romans 6:3–11), which frees them from slavery to sin, death, and the law (6:11; 7:1–6; 8:1–2; Galatians 2:19). They also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Since God has freed believers from sin’s mastery, they are to see themselves instead as God’s servants (6:12–23). This is crucial because a conflict rages in every believer (7:21–23). The Holy Spirit lives inside of believers (Romans 8:9–11), and his will stands in opposition to the will of sin (8:5–7; Galatians 5:16–17). There is no neutral ground: one either sides with the Holy Spirit and follows his orders, or one submits again to sin’s desires. Those sinful desires lead only to death (Romans 8:6a; Galatians 5:19–21). But the Spirit guides believers to “life and peace” (Romans 8:6b), and God will raise them from the dead just like Jesus (8:10–11). The apostle Paul wrote about 25 percent of the New Testament. But nearly half of the New Testament references to the (Holy) Spirit occur in his letters. Clearly, the person and work of the Holy Spirit is a vital doctrine for him—and should be so for us.
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