TEN WOMEN OF THE BIBLE SC: One by One They Changed the World - Softcover

Lucado, Bishop

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310080916 ISBN 13: 9780310080916

Verlag: HarperChristian Resources, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

Do you ever feel like a second-class citizen in this world? 

Do you wonder how God could possibly use you to change lives?  

For women in Bible times, these weren't even questions they thought about. Being overlooked, marginalized, having your contributions discounted because you're a woman...it's just the way things were. In this 10-lesson workbook, Max Lucado tells some of his favorite accounts of women in Scripture and the remarkable way God broke down cultural barriers to use them in the unfolding of His story.  

You will discover... 

• Sarah, the woman whom God promised would give birth to a nation, but who tried to rush things when God's promises didn't seem to be coming to pass. 

• Rahab, a prostitute in the Canaanite city of Jericho, who would save herself and her family through her faith in the one true God of the Israelites.  

• Abigail, a woman forced to play peacemaker by the barbaric behavior of her husband. 

• Esther, a young queen whom God placed in the Persian court for “such a time as this” to prevent the genocide of the Jewish people. 

• Mary, the young virgin pledged to Joseph, whom God would choose to give birth to Jesus, the promised Messiah who would save the world. 

• The Samaritan Woman, who would meet this Messiah at a well one day. His words would forever after change her life. 

• The Canaanite Woman, who made God smile with her wit and faith, and who received from Jesus an answer to her prayer. 

• Mary of Bethany, a friend of Jesus who witnessed the resurrection of her brother, Lazarus, and then anointed Christ in anticipation of his death and resurrection. 

• Mary Magdalene, who followed Jesus despite the injustice of a world that judged her for her past and said she would always be considered a failure.

• Sapphira, a woman in the early church who, along with her husband, made the unfortunate (and deadly) decision to lie to the Holy Spirit. 

These stories show us there is a God who sees us where we are and loves us for who we are. He is the one who hovers over all the pages of the Bible, shaping lives, rescuing hearts, healing sicknesses, raising what was dead to life, and passing out high callings to those who choose to follow him and have faith in him.  

Each lesson includes: 

• 5 Daily in-depth Bible studies to help you explore the stories in Scripture 
• Daily points to remember to help you summarize the key points 
• Daily prayers to help you focus your thoughts and move into your quiet time 
• Weekly memory verses to help you hide God's word in your heart 
• Additional notes to help you lead a group through the study 

Ten Women of the Bible is a standalone workbook, ideal for both individual use and for study in a small-group setting. 

 

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as the teaching minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is the recipient of the 2021 ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding contribution to the publishing industry and society at large. He is America's bestselling inspirational author with more than 150 million products in print.

Visit his website at MaxLucado.com

Facebook.com/MaxLucado

Instagram.com/MaxLucado

Twitter.com/MaxLucado

Youtube.com/MaxLucadoOfficial

The Max Lucado Encouraging Word Podcast

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Ten Women of the Bible

One by One they Changed the World

By Jenna Lucado Bishop

Thomas Nelson

Copyright © 2016 Max Lucado
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-310-08091-6

Contents

Introduction, V, 
Lesson l SARAH Life in the Kingdom of the Absurd, 1, 
Lesson 2 RAHAB When a Checkered Past Meets God's Grace, 25, 
Lesson 3 ABIGAIL Beauty in the Midst of the Beasts, 49, 
Lesson 4 ESTHER Touching the King's Heart, 73, 
Lesson 5 MARY, THE MOTHER OF JESUS More Than a Christmas Story, 99, 
Lesson 6 THE SAMARITAN WOMAN From Outcast to Evangelist, 123, 
Lesson 7 THE CANAANITE WOMAN When Great Faith Meets Great Action, 145, 
Lesson 8 MARY OF BETHANY Risky Acts of Love, 171, 
Lesson 9 MARY MAGDALENE Encountering the God of Suprises, 197, 
Lesson 10 SAPPHIRA Do Good ... Quietly, 221, 
Leader's Guide, 245, 

CHAPTER 1

LESSON 1

SARAH

Life in the Kingdom of the Absurd

The kingdom of heaven. Its citizens are drunk on wonder. Consider the case of Sarai. She is in her golden years, but God promises her a son. He says to her husband, Abram, "I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you" (Genesis 12:2).

So Sarai gets excited. She visits the maternity shop and buys a few dresses. She plans her shower and remodels her tent ... but no son. She eats a few birthday cakes and blows out a lot of candles ... still no son. She goes through a decade of wall calendars ... still no son.

So Sarai decides to take matters into her own hands. (Maybe God needs me to take care of this one.) She convinces Abram that time is running out. (Face it, Abe, you ain't getting any younger, either.) Sarai then commands her maid, Hagar, to go into Abram's tent and see if he needs anything. (And I mean "anything"!)

Hagar goes in a maid. She comes out a mom. And the problems begin.

Hagar is haughty. Sarai is jealous. Abram is dizzy from the dilemma. And God calls the baby boy a "wild donkey." It's an appropriate name for one born out of stubbornness and destined to kick his way into history. This isn't the cozy family Sarai expected. And it isn't a topic Abram and Sarai bring up very often at dinner.

Finally, fourteen years later, when Abram is pushing a century of years and Sarai ninety ... when Abram has stopped listening to Sarai's advice, and Sarai has stopped giving it ... when the wallpaper in the nursery is faded and the baby furniture is several seasons out of date ... when the topic of the promised child brings sighs and tears and long looks into a silent sky ... God pays them a visit and tells them they had better select a name for their new son. Abram and Sarai have the same response: laughter.

They laugh partly because it is too good to happen and partly because it might. They laugh because they have given up hope, and hope born anew is always funny before it is real. They laugh at the lunacy of it all.

1. Put yourself in Sarai's shoes. It had been fourteen years since God's original promise of a son. Now, she is ninety. Ninety! God must have forgotten his promise, right? Wrong. God does the unthinkable — a son. No wonder she laughed! Have you ever let out a "Sarai laugh" because of God interrupting your familiar life with the unexpected? Describe what happened. _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________

2. What blurs your kingdom vision? What is it that gets in the way of your seeing the world with spiritual eyes — with believing God can do the impossible? _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________

As citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we are often surprised when God does the "absurd," works miracles, and moves in unimaginable ways. All too often we grow comfortable in a life that we see, touch, and manage on our smartphones. But Jesus said, "Unless you ... become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). A child lives in constant wonder and faith in the unimaginable. Yet Sarah's childless life would test her childlike faith. As you read her story, it is possible that you will relate to her journey. And it's probable that God will grow your childlike faith along the way.

Prayer for the Week

Jesus, nothing is impossible for you. Forgive us for the times we get so wrapped up in the kingdom of earth that we forget about the kingdom of heaven. We want to live expecting the unexpected, trusting in a God whose thoughts are higher than our thoughts and whose ways are higher than our ways (see Isaiah 55:9). In your mighty name, amen.

Day One: Promise Given

Integrity for Security

When we first meet Sarai, she is living in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans, located in modern-day Iraq. In addition to being told she is Abram's wife, we also read she is childless because she was not able to conceive (see Genesis 11:30). When Sarai's father-in-law, Terah, takes the family on the move, she and Abram end up in the city of Haran. It is there the Lord appears to Abram, tells him to go to Canaan, and promises to make him into a great nation.

The writer of Hebrews tells us, "It was by faith Abraham obeyed God's call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go" (11:8 NCV). Yet in spite of this faithfulness, we wouldn't exactly expect to see either his or Sarai's names listed in "Who's Who in Purity and Sainthood."

Why? Well, for Abram's part, he has a fibbing tongue that won't stop!

Shortly after the first visit from God, a famine in the land of Canaan sends the couple and their family down to Egypt. It is here we read an interesting detail about Sarai: she was exceptionally beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that Abram fears the Egyptians will kill him to get to her. So, in order to save his neck, he lets the word get out that Sarah isn't his wife but his sister ... which is only half true.

And then, not long after, he does it again! "Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner, Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, 'She is my sister.' So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace" (20:1–2 NLT).

Twice Abram and Sarai trade integrity for security. Is that what you call confidence in God's promises? Can you build a nation on that kind of faith? As it turns out, God can. God took what was good, forgave what was bad, and used Abram and Sarai to change history.

1. Read Genesis 12:1–9. Sarai was sixty-five, and Abram seventy-five, when God asked them to journey approximately 400 miles from their home to a strange land called Canaan. Not exactly an easy move to the suburbs. How do they respond to the call? When was a time God called you into the unfamiliar? How did you respond? ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

2. Check out Hebrews 11:8–12. How did Sarai and Abram...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: HarperChristian Resources
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0310080916
• ISBN 13: 9780310080916
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar