The Lakeside Pursuit
These helps are provided for those who want to dig a little deeper in the sermon material
during the week.
*Set Sail is a question to direct scripture reading.
*Buoy Up is a little known fact to help better understand the scripture.
*Make Headway is designed to help you make it personal.
Table Talk questions can be used for discussion with your children.
Week of 7/6/14
Scripture to Memorize – Romans 12:2
Day 1
Read: Romans 12:2
Set Sail: What are the keys to discovering God’s will?
Buoy Up: Paul added, Then you will be able to test and approve (“prove by testing” [1
Peter 1:7, “proved genuine”], i.e., ascertain) what God’s will is—His good, pleasing (cf.
Rom. 12:1), and perfect will. These three qualities are not attributes of God’s will as the NIV
and some other translations imply. Rather, Paul said that God’s will itself is what is good,
well-pleasing (to Him), and perfect. “Good,” for example, is not an adjective (God’s “good”
will) but a noun (God’s will is what is good—good, i.e., for each believer).1
Make Headway: Where are you on the path to discovering God’s will? Are you still listening to
influences from the world? Do you still demand control? Confess any shortcomings to God and
ask for his guidance as you pursue Him and his will for your life.
Day 2
Read: 1 Thess 4:3
Set Sail: According to this passage, what is God’s will for your life?
Buoy up: Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit that separates believers in Jesus from the
world; at the time of saving faith in Jesus, the believer is made a saint; therefore, all believers
NIV New International Version
1
John A. Witmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J.
F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 487–488.
are saints. The believer participates with the Spirit in a process of transformation that continues
until glorification. The goal of sanctification is progressive conformity to the image of Jesus
Christ.2
Make Headway: What are examples in your own life that show “progressive conformity to the
image of Jesus Christ”?
Day 3
Read: 1 Thess 5:18
Set Sail: What is God’s will for your life according to this passage?
Buoy Up: In every thing—even what seems adverse: for nothing is really so (compare Ro 8:28;
Eph 5:20). See Christ’s example (Mt 15:36; 26:27; Lu 10:21; Jn 11:41).3
Make Headway: What are things you neglect to pray for? Spend time considering these and
take them to God.
Day 4
Read: Galatians 1:3-4
Set Sail: What is God’s purpose for us through the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
Buoy Up: Departing from the usual pattern of the greeting, Paul includes a description of the
work of Christ, which is one of the issues which he will later discuss at length. There are three
elements in this verse: (1) Christ gave himself for our sins, (2) Christ sets us free from this
present evil age, and (3) Christ was obedient to the will of God. 4
Make Headway: How does the promise of hope in the midst of this ‘evil age’ impact your life
today? What things are happening around you that you can claim victory over, because you
know this world has been defeated?
Day 5
Read: 1 John 5:13-14
Set Sail: What is the instruction John gives about prayer as it relates to the will of God?
2
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian Standard Version. (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2009).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 1 Th 5:18.
4
Daniel C. Arichea and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, UBS Handbook
Series (New York: United Bible Societies, 1976), 8.
3
Buoy Up: Not only can a believer have assurance of salvation, but he also can have assurance
that God will hear his prayers and answer them. Moreover, it is the gift of eternal life that
allows the believer to come directly before God with boldness or confidence. The truth of vv.
14ff. is the natural result growing out of the truth of v. 13.5
Make headway: How does this promise encourage you in your prayer life? What steps do you
need to take in order to get closer to the will of God in order to receive this promise?
5
Daniel L. Akin, 1, 2, 3 John, vol. 38, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers, 2001), 205.