Concordia Adult Bible Class

God is in the business of asking people to do seemingly strange things. In the book of Hosea, God asks the prophet to take a prostitute as a wife. The prophet and the prostitute – what a combination! But through this odd coupling, God teaches Israel about being faithful to Him. Will we be faithful to God, even during difficult times?

We all have regrets. Past mistakes, failings, fallings, and sins can scar our souls in significant ways. How do we move past these things and live with the chazowns that God has given us? The key is Godly sorrow, otherwise known as repentance. Rather than beating ourselves up over our past mistakes, we need to sorrowfully bring them to Christ so that he can forgive them and give us a fresh start.

During Memorial Day weekend, we remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice serving our country. We also remember that every life will eventually end. With this in mind, it is worth it to ponder whether or not we are living with eternity in mind. For Paul, what matters most is “knowing Christ and the power of his resurrection.” For this is the key to eternal life. Does this matter the most to us too?

Now that we have discovered our spiritual gifts and have thought about our vocations, how can we move toward intentionally living out God’s purpose for our lives? This is where having a plan of action comes into play! Jesus notes that for building projects and in wars, there is always a plan of action. Do you have a plan of action for your life? You need to be ready and set to go!

There are three other major spokes in our vocational wheel. They include our health, our work, and our finances. The goal in these areas is that we would be, as Paul writes of himself, “commended in every way” (verse 4) even when things get difficult, as they certainly were in Paul’s life. We want to be found faithful.

When people get excited about something, they will often speak of “getting stoked up,” like embers in a fire. God wants us to get stoked up about the different vocations he has for us. We can look at these vocations like spokes in a wheel – we need to faithfully live out several vocations at once to make our life roll forward. For the next two weeks, we will talk about getting spoked up! That is, we will discover what spokes God has placed in the wheel of our vocations. We begin with our two primary vocations – seeking God’s kingdom and sharing God’s kingdom.

Crafting a personal purpose statement helps bring clarity to the ways in which God has gifted you to live for Him. Writing it down allows you to revisit your purpose statement time and time again and discern whether or not you are being faithful to God’s purpose for your life. When God comes to Habakkuk and asks him to write down a revelation, the Hebrew word for “revelation” in verse 3 is chazown. The chazown that God wants Habakkuk to write down has to do with righteousness before God. What chazown is God asking you to write down?

Our unique chazowns are rooted in the spiritual gifts God has given us. In order to discern our spiritual gifts, we need to ask what we love, what upsets us when it is not done or done incorrectly, what our past experiences are, and be familiar with the areas in which we have consistently been affirmed.

Far too many people drift through their lives aimlessly, not knowing what they will do next. Or, when they do make plans, they do not make them with God in mind. When you reach the last day of your life, will you be where God has designed you to be? Or, will you simply live and die without purpose?

In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the LORD. He said: 4 “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the LORD— 6 the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully.” 8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD.” He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: “Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.