A Good Name

Theme: Faithfulness is rewarded

Scriptures: Ruth 2:1-23

Objectives: (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson Book)

Know: Ruth demonstrated hard work, integrity, and compassion, and Boaz protected and provided for her.

Think: Let a mindset of integrity direct my actions.

Do: Do what is good and right, trusting God with the outcome.

Notes and questions:

B1 Outline

C1 Ruth 2:1-7

C2 Ruth 2:8-14

C3 Ruth 2:15-23

B2 Character traits

C1 Ruth

D1 Devotion (Ruth 1:14)

D2 Trust in God (Ruth 1:22)

D3 Respectful (Ruth 2:2)

D4 Welcomes advice (Ruth 2:21)

D5 Hard worker (Ruth 2:7)

D6 Polite (Ruth 2:10)

D7 Kindness (Ruth 3:10)

C2 Boaz

D1 Industrious (Ruth 2)

D2 Kindness (Ruth 2:8-9)

D3 Man of his word (Ruth 3:18)

D4 Wanted to do what was right (Ruth 4:5-6)

C3 What other traits can you think of?

C4 What are your character traits?

B3 Wheat harvest in ancient Israel

B4 Ruth was a very hard, conscientious worker. How to instill a good work ethic in children

C1 Start young

C2 Age appropriate work

D1 A 2 yo is not ready to use a recip saw

D2 A 2 yo is ready to pick up their clothes and toys at the end of the day

C3 Work with them

C4 Make it fun. Have a game doing it.

C5 Don’t expect perfection

C6 You are the example

C7 Work as a Christian

C8 Other tips here

C9 What else can you suggest?

B5 Why is working important, instead of being a slacker, a sloth?

B6 Why is learning that work is important when a person is young?

B7 Ruth 2:1-7,

C1 The Scriptures say “...and she happened to come to the part of the field [belonging] to Boaz.

D1 Was this a coincidence, or did God guide her?

D2 How can we know the difference?

D3 Will you share an incident from your life?

D4 Can we apply this verse to the situation? And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to [His] purpose. (Romans 8:28, NKJV)

C2 What made Boaz notice Ruth?

B8 Ruth 2:8-14,

C1 Ruth 2:8-9, Why does Boaz want Ruth to continue working in his field and nobody else’s?

C2 Why did Boaz let this financially poor woman to gather grain from the field?

C3 How can we apply this principle today?

C4 Has anyone helped you this way?

C5 Ruth recognized this kindness and asks why he is being kind to her.

D1 What is his answer in Ruth 2:11-12?

D2 How does this verse apply? Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4, NKJV)

C6 What is the significance of Boaz’ words to Ruth when he says, “...under whose wings you have come for refuge.”

C7 What is the difference between Israel in the days of the Lord Jesus and Ruth? “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under [her] wings, but you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37, NKJV)

C8 What attitude is Ruth showing in Ruth 2:13? How can we show this attitude every day to God, to our fellow Christian, to our neighbor, or to anyone we meet?

B9 Ruth 2:15-23,

C1 In Ruth 2:14-16, is this a principle for all bosses and employers, or is it just because Boaz is a nice man?

C2 Boaz is helping the poor.

D1 How can we do this personally?

D2 What if we have little ourselves?

D3 How do we teach our children this?

D4 Is there a limit for us to help?

D5 Couldn’t he just have given her money? Why did he let her work for the food?

C3 What is the importance of Ruth 2:20 and the idea of the kinsman redeemer?

D1 The kinsman redeemer rules are found in God’s law: ‘If one of your brethren becomes poor, and has sold [some] of his possession, and if his redeeming relative comes to redeem it, then he may redeem what his brother sold. ‘Or if the man has no one to redeem it, but he himself becomes able to redeem it, ‘then let him count the years since its sale, and restore the remainder to the man to whom he sold it, that he may return to his possession. ‘But if he is not able to have [it] restored to himself, then what was sold shall remain in the hand of him who bought it until the Year of Jubilee; and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession. (Leviticus 25:25-28, NKJV)

D2 There are three situations.

E1 A person becomes poor and in order to pay the debt, the person has to sell part of his inheritance (land).

E2 First, a near relative can pay the debt.

E3 Second, the poor person works and saves enough to pay the debt.

E4 Third, if he cannot do the first or the second, then the land will return to him (or his descendants) in the Year of Jubilee. This is usually considered to be the special 50th year in the cycle of 7, 7s in Israeli culture.

C4 What good advice does Naomi give Ruth (Ruth 2:21-23)?

D1 How can we apply this today?

D2 The Bridgeway Bible Dictionary has this comment under the topic--Boaz: Boaz was a godly man who was eager to reward Ruth when he learnt of her kindness to her widowed mother-in-law. He protected her from the local youths (Ruth 2:22), supplied her with food and drink during her day's work (Ruth 2:9, 14), rewarded her gleaning and gave her extra supplies of grain (Ruth 3:15). He showed no racial prejudice against her in spite of the traditional hostility between Israel and Moab (Ruth 2:6, 10).

B10 Why is it important to always know and do the right thing? How do we know what is right? How do many today fail in this?

B11 Would the character traits of Boaz and Ruth help society today? Would they help the church? How can we develop these traits?

B12 Naomi and Ruth might have felt alone, but they were not. Never alone

B13 Next week:

C1 The Kinsman Redeemer

C2 Theme: A picture of redemption

C3 Scriptures: Ruth 4:1-17

Loyal Love

Loyal Love

Theme: A Choice of Faith

Scriptures: Ruth 1:1-22

Objectives: (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson Book)

Know: Ruth chose to leave her people and false gods to embrace her mother-in-law Naomi, the Israelites, and God Almighty.

Think: Have the mindset that others’ needs are as important as my own.

Do: Commit to God and serve those around us in need.

Notes and Questions:

B1 Choice

C1 Dictionary: An act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/choice

C2 Calvinism: The best definition (after searching for nearly an hour, for I wanted a clear definition from a 5 point Calvinist) is determinism and compatibilism. So, it comes down to God’s exhaustive decreeing of everything, or God decreeing the circumstances and desires so that a person will freely choose something. In other words a choice has to have a cause. If there is a cause, there is one who is the causer. The problem is that people do resist (Luke 13:34, John 5:40, Acts 7:39, etc.). A Calvinist believes that humans can ONLY always choose to sin but see Matthew 7:11. Also, God commands Isaiah to reason with Him (Isaiah 1:18).

D1 Determinism, particularly exhaustive determinism, is spelled out in the Westminster Confession of Faith: God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. (3.1)

D2 Compatibilism:

E1 Explanation A

F1 Humans freely choose.

F2 This is based on a cause. There has to be some reason a person chooses A instead of B.

F3 A cause has to have a causer. This causer is God.

E2 Explanation B

F1 God decrees the circumstances.

F2 God decrees the highest and best choice.

F3 A person freely choose the highest and best choice.

C3 Reformed/Classical Arminianism

D1 See A Beginner’s Guide to Free Will

D2 Lenos

E1 It is necessary to divide the idea of free will into 2 things.

E2 First, in regards to everything except God and salvation.

F1 Free will is not necessarily making choices freely.

F2 Free will has the necessity of there is no coercion whether deterministic or compatibilistic views.

F3 The Bible teaches that we are slaves of sin and dead in sins.

G1 Ephesians 2:1-3 NKJV  And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,  (2)  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,  (3)  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

G2 John 8:34 NKJV  Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

G3 Romans 6:6 NKJV  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

E3 Second, in regards to God and salvation

F1 No one seeks God. We are totally depraved and totally unable.

G1 Romans 3:10-11 NKJV  As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;  (11)  There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God.

G2 Mark 10:18 NKJV  So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.

G3 Romans 3:12 NKJV  They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one."

F2 God initiates salvation

G1 John 16:8-9 NKJV  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  (9)  of sin, because they do not believe in Me.

G2 Acts 16:14 NKJV  Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.

F3 Then we have a freed will and can resist or not resist God’s call to believe. Unless God frees the will, we cannot be saved.

C4 Back to the Sunday School Lesson. Choices have consequences.

B2 Ruth 1:1-5,

C1 Ruth 1:1-5 NKJV  Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.  (2)  The name of the man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion—Ephrathites of Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to the country of Moab and remained there.  (3)  Then Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died; and she was left, and her two sons.  (4)  Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.  (5)  Then both Mahlon and Chilion also died; so the woman survived her two sons and her husband.

C2 Maps

D1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kingdoms_around_Israel_830_map.svg

D2 http://www.thebiblejourney.org/biblejourney2/29-the-journeys-of-ruth-and-samuel/ruths-journey-to-bethlehem/

C3 Why would a famine force Elimelech’s family to leave Israel, while others stayed?

C4 How would this choice affect the family?

C5 Why did Elimelech’s sons marry Moabite women?

C6 Three husbands died. Why would God allow this to happen?

D1 The universe is under the curse of sin and its penalty--death. (Genesis 2:17, Genesis 3, Isaiah 24:5-6, Romans 8:20-22).

D2 There is a redeemer, the Messiah Jesus (Isaiah 47:4, Revelation 5:9).

D3 There is the promise of the curse removed (Revelation 22:3-5).

B3 Ruth 1:6-18,

C1 Why did Naomi decide to return home to Israel?

C2 Why did Naomi urge her daughter-in-laws to return to their people?

C3 Why did Orpah return but Ruth went with Naomi?

C4 Ruth 1:16-17, why was Ruth so determined to return with Naomi?

C5 What affect did these two choices have?

C6 How can we make wise choices?

C7 Some verses on wise choice.

D1 Hebrews 11:24-26 GNB  It was faith that made Moses, when he had grown up, refuse to be called the son of the king's daughter.  (25)  He preferred to suffer with God's people rather than to enjoy sin for a little while.  (26)  He reckoned that to suffer scorn for the Messiah was worth far more than all the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes on the future reward.

D2 1 Kings 3:5-10 GNB  That night the LORD appeared to him in a dream and asked him, "What would you like me to give you?"  (6)  Solomon answered, "You always showed great love for my father David, your servant, and he was good, loyal, and honest in his relation with you. And you have continued to show him your great and constant love by giving him a son who today rules in his place.  (7)  O LORD God, you have let me succeed my father as king, even though I am very young and don't know how to rule.  (8)  Here I am among the people you have chosen to be your own, a people who are so many that they cannot be counted.  (9)  So give me the wisdom I need to rule your people with justice and to know the difference between good and evil. Otherwise, how would I ever be able to rule this great people of yours?"  (10)  The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.

C8 How do we help someone who is hurting so badly? (Meeting spiritual needs first, then safety, listening closely, food, clothes, housing, etc.).

B4 Ruth 1:19-22,

C1 Ruth 1:19-22 NKJV  Now the two of them went until they came to Bethlehem. And it happened, when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was excited because of them; and the women said, "Is this Naomi?"  (20)  But she said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.  (21)  I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?"  (22)  So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. Now they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest.

C2 How was Naomi’s response to the people of Bethlehem typical of us today?

C3 Was the Almighty the cause all this sorrow?

C4 Was God punishing her?

C5 How was the time they arrived a blessing?

B5 How has life’s sorrows affect us?

B6 Who has helped us?

B7 How can we keep our faith is times of great sorrow and troubles?

B8 Next week:

C1 A good name

C2 Theme: Faithfulness is rewarded

C3 Scriptures: Ruth 2:1-23

Totally Devoted

Theme: Honoring God with our devotion

Scriptures:

• James 4:1-4
• Luke 14:26-27
• Acts 12:20-23
• Matthew 22:34-40

Objectives: (From the D6 Fusion Sunday School Lesson book)

Know: Our devotion to God is to be the priority of our lives.

Think: I desire more than anything to please God in everything I do.

Do: Do every day what will help me grow in my love and devotion to God.

Notes and questions:

B1 Devoted

C1 What does the word devoted mean?

D1 “To give or apply (One’s time, attention, or self, for example) entirely to a particular activity, pursuit, cause, or person.” Free Dictionary (Farlex)

D2 In 2 Chronicles 31:4, during the reign of King Hezekiah, commanded people to contribute to the priests, so that they could use their time in study of the Law and application of it. It reads, 2 Chronicles 31:4 NKJV  Moreover he commanded the people who dwelt in Jerusalem to contribute support for the priests and the Levites, that they might devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.

C2 How do we show we are devoted?

C3 How do we decide what to devote our time and effort?

C4 What are some things people get devoted to?

C5 Consider

D1 John 4:34 NKJV  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

D2 Matthew 6:33 NKJV  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

C6 Some things to be in training for, devoted to

D1 1 Timothy 4:7 NRSV  Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives' tales. Train yourself in godliness,

D2 Hebrews 5:14 NRSV  But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

D3 Hebrews 12:11 NRSV  Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

C7 There are two kingdoms—the kingdom of satan and the Kingdom of God. They have different rulers, different rules, different desires. We need to remind ourselves to seek God’s kingdom, God’s rules, and God’s desires. We need to be devoted to these. This is what we are as Christians. May God help us (He will). Matthew 5:14-16 NRSV  "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid.  (15)  No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  (16)  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

B2 James 4:1-4,

C1 James 4:1-4 NRSV  Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?  (2)  You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask.  (3)  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.  (4)  Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

C2 What kingdom is this?

C3 Why is just wanting something wrong?

C4 Why are these type people termed adulterers?

C5 What is a friend of this world?

C6 How do we avoid being this kind of person in our daily life?

B3 Luke 14:26-27,

C1 Passage

D1 Translation 1: Luke 14:26-27 NRSV  "Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.  (27)  Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

D2 Translation 2: Luke 14:26-27 GNB  "Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well.  (27)  Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples.

C2 Why is God and His kingdom more important than parents? What about the Law of God which states: Exodus 20:12 NRSV  Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

C3 What is carrying our cross, and why do have to carry it to be a disciple?

B4 Acts 12:20-23,

C1 Acts 12:20-23 NKJV  Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king's country.  (21)  So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them.  (22)  And the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!"  (23)  Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.

C2 Why is not giving God the glory a potentially dangerous deed?

C3 What had King Herod been seeking first in his life?

B5 Matthew 22:34-40,

C1 Matthew 22:34-40 NKJV  But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  (35)  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying,  (36)  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  (37)  Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  (38)  This is the first and great commandment.  (39)  And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  (40)  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

C2 Love is the word agape.

C3 What is the difference between heart, soul, and mind, or are they synonyms with the emphasis on all?

D1 Heart is the foundation of all we are. Everything we are is on that foundation. It is our core being.

D2 Soul is our life. Are we willing to give up our desires, even die for God?

D3 Mind is our rational thought, our thinking.

C4 How do we love God in these three areas?

C5 How do we love our neighbor?

C6 How do we respond if something or someone demands our first and highest devotion, say in a job or personal attention?

C7 If our total devotion is to God, can it be so that our family or others are neglected? How do we balance all this?

D1 The Scripture also states, “...and your neighbor as yourself.”

D2 Loving my family can be loving the Lord God in obedience to God who says to do this and minister to them.

E1 John 14:23-24 NKJV  Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.  (24)  He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.

E2 Ephesians 5:28 NKJV  So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.

C8 How do we set goals in life as education, marriage, children, occupation, retirement, etc.?