Fight the Good Fight of Faith, English Edition

 • Fight the Good Fight of Faith: Playing Your Part in God’s Unfolding Drama

Opening Prayer for Wisdom. This prayer, which we encourage you to recite and pray aloud, asks the Lord to prepare our hearts before we enter into our study of the Bible truths, so we can both understand and receive what the Lord has for us. Contact. The Contact section is a “prime the pump” section that allows you to get started into the lesson by pondering real-life questions, issues, and situations that relate to its ideas. Spend good time on these examples, and think through carefully the implications of these issues. They will sharpen your thinking and research as you move forward into each lesson. Content. The Content section gives an introductory explanation of the material we are about to study, and provides the actual questions and biblical references we will answer and look up for that particular lesson. Summary. After looking up the Scriptures, and answering the questions in the Content section, each lesson provides you with a short, compact summary of the key ideas and truths that the Content was meant to explore. This is helpful as a guide for you, to check whether or not you got the “big ideas” of the lesson in your personal study of the Scriptures. Appendices. We have created and included appropriate graphics, articles, and documents in the Appendix that can greatly enhance your ability to comprehend and apply the content in the lessons. Refer to the Appendices included in this section, as they are relevant to enriching your under standing of the root principles and ideas in each particular lesson. Key Principle. This section of the lesson usually brings together the entire teaching of the lesson under a single sentence or verse. Case Studies. This important section provides an opportunity for you to reflect on the implications of your learning in the context of possible and actual cases. Truth is not simply for the sake of thinking and discussion; discipleship is about real life, real issues that people are wrestling with, that impact and affect their lives. They are meant to provoke your thinking, and help you, as a growing disciple, understand how to relate the Story and its truth to your stories and truths. Knowing the truth is not to make us smart, but to set us free (John 8.31-32). What is more important than “the right answer” is “the humble learning.” You will see in studying the Bible that often no one, clear, right answer emerges from our research. Rather, we are called to reflect, to humbly engage in study, to test everything, and to hold on to that which is good (1 Thess. 5.21). Use these cases to explore possible meanings of what you