This quarter's lesson, "Uniting Heaven and Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians," hinges on a core message that God often gives His people humanly impossible tasks (like the Great Commission to spread the gospel worldwide) so that they will learn to rely on His strength and promises, not their own.
The key themes are:
The key themes are:
- The Humanly Impossible Task: The central mission of the church (to preach the gospel to the world and unite heaven and earth) is impossible by human strength alone. This is compared to the great commissions given to the apostles and Paul.
- Divine Empowerment: Jesus gives these impossible tasks so that believers will rely entirely on Him for their accomplishment. He always provides the necessary strength and presence ("I am with you always").
- Focus on Christ in Paul's Epistles: The quarter will study Paul's letters to the Philippians and Colossians, which powerfully reveal Jesus Christ as the divine bridge between heaven and earth. He is both the Son of God and the Son of Man who redeems and intercedes.
- Practical Church Life: The study will explore how Paul, even from prison, addressed practical problems in churches (both those he founded and those he hadn't visited) to draw believers closer to God and each other.
- Modern Application: The ultimate goal is to show how the church today can unite with heaven to fulfill its final mission, linking the study to the "three angels' messages" of Revelation 14.
