SESSION 30

Pauls Final Days

Becoming like Jesus takes a lifetime and then some.
Introduction
Picture a mother teaching her son to eat. The mother is patient and kind; the son is throwing a fuss.
Here you go, Honey; you can hold the spoon and scoop up the corn all by yourself. Like this The mother
holds her own spoon, scoops up some corn, and puts it in her mouth in an effort to show her son how it is done.
As Mom eats she says, This is delicious; using a spoon is fun!
Her son shakes his head vigorously. No! You feed me! A minute later, he throws the spoon on the floor. Feed
me, Mommy, feed me! he cries.
Exasperated, the mother slides her chair a little closer to her son and looks right into his teary eyes. Sweetie,
she says, you are a big boy, perfectly healthy; you should be feeding yourself. Youre twenty-three years old.
Now stop and ask yourself, What would I think if I saw this drama unfold in real life? The idea of a mother
spoon-feeding a healthy, grown young man just because he does not want to do it himself seems unthinkable.
Sadly, this happens all too often in our spiritual lives and the church. God longs to see us mature, to go deeper
in our faith. If we are not careful, we can become content with where we are and forget Gods call for us to grow,
more and more, into people who live and look like Jesus.
Talk About It
Tell about a time in your spiritual journey when you felt God call you to a new level of commitment and growth in
your faith. How did you respond to this call?
Video Teaching Notes
As you watch the video segment for session 30, use the following outline to record anything that stands out to
you.
Paul pens the Prison Epistles
[Your Notes]
Paul passes the baton to Timothy
[Your Notes]
Timothy stands up for his beliefs
[Your Notes]
Becoming a part of the new community called the church
[Your Notes]
Video Discussion
1. Randy told a wonderful little story about a sculptor chiseling away everything that did not look like a lion. What
is one area in your life that God is chiseling and how is he calling you to partner with him in this sculpting
project?
[Your Response]
Our prayer needs to be that God would chisel away
everything in our lives that doesnt look like Christ.
2. As the apostle Paul drew near the end of his life, he expressed some thoughts about how he had lived; how he
had served God with humility, faithfully proclaimed the truth, called Jews and Gentiles to repentance, and
bravely faced prison and other hardships. As you think about how you will invest the rest of your life, name one
thing you really want to do for Jesus and one step you can take to move closer to this goal.
[Your Response]
3. While under house arrest in Rome, Paul wrote a letter (an epistle) to the believers in Ephesus. In it he lifted up a
beautiful, powerful prayer (Ephesians 1:16 23; The Story, p. 453). What are some elements of this prayer and
what can we learn about prayer from Pauls example?
[Your Response]
4. What before Jesus and after Jesus pictures did Paul paint of the Ephesian believers (Ephesians 2; The Story,
pp. 453 454)?
[Your Response]
Tell about one big contrast people would see if they could watch a twenty-four-hour video surveillance tape of
your life before you trusted Jesus as Savior compared to who you are today.
[Your Response]
5. God cares greatly about unity among Christians. The apostle Paul gave several examples of our call to oneness
(Ephesians 4:4 6; The Story, p. 455). What are they and how can our unity around these ones strengthen
the church and become a witness to the world?
[Your Response]
We need to grow. We need day by day to become more like Christ .
As we do, others will be able to see Christ in us and through us and just might decide to follow him
too. There is no greater calling.
6. Faith lived out within the family is another great concern to God. What is one practical lesson you learned from
Pauls teaching on family relationships (Ephesians 5:21 6:4; The Story, p. 455) and how might you live out
that truth on a regular basis?
[Your Response]
7. Beyond faith in our literal home, we have a larger Christian family. Just as Paul was a spiritual father to
Timothy, we can enter relationships like this among the family of God. Tell about a spiritual parent of yours and
how God has used this person to shape your faith. Then tell about a person God has allowed to be your spiritual
child and how you are seeking to help him or her grow into maturity in Christ.
[Your Response]
8. Paul celebrated the fact that Timothy had known the Scriptures from his youngest days because of a rich
spiritual heritage of faith in his birth family. How can we make our homes a place of spiritual growth and health?
(Perhaps you might use The Story as a family reading resource.)
[Your Response]
9. Read movements 1 and 5 of The Story in the Getting Started section. It all begins in a garden and it all ends in
perfect paradise. What does this teach us about Gods desire to be in relationship with us?
[Your Response]
Closing Prayer
As you take time to pray, here are some ideas to get you started:
Thank God for the spiritual parents he has placed in your life.
Ask for the Spirit to use you in the lives of the spiritual children he has given you.
Surrender your heart and life to God and invite him to chisel away anything that needs to be removed from
your life so that you can become more and more like Jesus.