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Teaching Summary

We embody the goodness of God as we submit to Jesus as Lord for the sake of others. When Moses encountered God's goodness and glory, his face became radiant. Through Jesus Christ, we experience something even greater: lasting transformation through the Holy Spirit. Jesus reveals who God is, removes the veil that keeps us from seeing Him clearly, and brings us into the freedom of life with Him. As we contemplate His glory, the Spirit transforms us into His image with ever-increasing glory. Becoming an agent of good begins with God changing us from the inside out. This transformation depends on His strength rather than our own efforts. Even our weaknesses and suffering can become opportunities for Jesus' life to be revealed through us and bring life to others. Our response is to submit our attitudes, desires, and actions to Jesus as Lord and depend upon the Holy Spirit's power. He transforms us so we can live for God's glory and for the sake of others.

Talk-it-Over

Read 2 Corinthians 3:7–18. What makes the Spirit's ministry greater than what Moses experienced? How does this shape your expectations for what God can do in your life?

What is the difference between trying to act good in your own strength and depending upon the Holy Spirit to transform you? How can you actively participate in His work?

Paul connects contemplating the Lord's glory with becoming more like Him. What helps you focus your attention on Jesus, and what regularly distracts you?

What is one next step you need to take today?

Who do you need to tell about what you’ve learned?

Further Reading

2 Timothy 2:1–13
Romans 8:1–17
Titus 3:3–8
Ezekiel 36:25–27
Galatians 5:13–26
1 Peter 4:8–14

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Teaching Summary

God’s goodness is revealed in both His justice and His mercy. He confronts evil, and His law exposes the sin within every human heart. Yet through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, God provides forgiveness and new life to those who trust Him. His mercy does more than forgive our sin; His Spirit renews us to reflect His goodness.

Because we trust God’s justice and have received His mercy, we can overcome evil with good. We repent of our sins and seek to make things right with those we have wronged. We submit our desire for revenge to Jesus and show mercy to those who sin against us. We also confront wrongdoing and come to the aid of those suffering injustice.

Forgiveness can coexist with boundaries, consequences, and accountability. As we actively submit to Jesus as Lord for the sake of others, the Holy Spirit empowers us to become people who extend mercy and pursue justice.

Talk-it-Over

How does the cross reveal both God’s justice toward sin and His mercy toward sinners? How does that shape your understanding of His goodness?

Titus 3:3–8 reminds us of our former condition and how God has renewed us. How can remembering the mercy you’ve received change your response to someone who has wronged you?

What is the difference between pursuing justice and seeking personal revenge? How can we show mercy while maintaining boundaries and holding someone accountable?

What is one next step you need to take today?

Who do you need to tell about what you’ve learned?

Further Reading

Exodus 34:6–7
Ezekiel 36:25–27
Micah 6:6–8
Luke 19:1–10
Psalm 82:1–4
1 Peter 2:21–25

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TEACHING SUMMARY:

Grace is God’s undeserved goodness given to us in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2 shows that we were spiritually dead, but God made us alive with Christ. Salvation is His gift, received through faith, not earned through good works. Yet grace produces a changed life: grace is the root; good works are the fruit. Jesus is full of grace and truth. His grace does not excuse sin, and His truth does not authorize cruelty. Grace is free to us but costly to Christ, calling us to repentance and new life.

Grace received becomes grace given. In Matthew 18, a servant receives forgiveness for an impossible debt but refuses mercy toward another. Jesus challenges us to remember what we have received and forgive from the heart. Forgiveness does not eliminate truth, boundaries, or accountability. It calls us to surrender revenge and seek another person’s good. As we extend grace, our lives reveal God’s goodness. Don’t get over being saved: choose one person and one act of grace this week.

TALK-IT-OVER:

What is the difference between mercy and grace? Where have you experienced God’s undeserved goodness?

Jesus is full of grace and truth. How can you extend grace without excusing wrongdoing or using truth as a weapon?

In Matthew 18, the forgiven servant becomes a debt collector. Whose debt are you still collecting, and what would forgiveness require of you?

How can remembering Christ’s costly gift change your response to someone who has hurt you while preserving appropriate boundaries and accountability?

Who is your one person, and what concrete act of grace will you take this coming week?

Further Reading:

Ephesians 4:25–32
Romans 12:9-21
Colossians 3:12–14
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 6:27–36              
1 John 4:7-21

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Teaching Summary:

John 11 shows that Christlike empathy does not respond to every person in the same way. Jesus loved Martha, Mary, Lazarus, and His disciples, yet His love took different forms according to what each person needed. He delayed going to Bethany because His disciples needed a deeper faith. He met Martha’s grief with truth, declaring that He is the resurrection and the life. He entered Mary’s sorrow, was deeply moved, and wept with those who were grieving. At Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus demonstrated compassion through action, calling Lazarus out of death and revealing God’s glory so that others might believe in Him.

Empathy seeks to see, enter, and understand another person’s experience and needs. Compassion moves us to respond for that person’s good. When we submit to Jesus as Lord, we learn to consider another person’s true good, speak truth with love, enter the sorrow of those who are hurting, respond to the needs of others with compassionate action, and point people to the hope found in Jesus.

Talk-it-Over

Jesus delayed going to Lazarus so that His disciples would believe. How does this challenge our assumptions about what a loving response should look like?

Jesus responded to Martha with truth and entered Mary’s sorrow. What can this teach us about understanding another person’s needs before responding?

Which practice of Christlike empathy do you most need to develop: considering another person’s true good, speaking truth with love, entering sorrow, taking compassionate action, or pointing people to Jesus?

What is one next step you need to take today?

Who do you need to tell about what you’ve learned?

Further Reading:

Matthew 9:35–38
Luke 10:25–37
Hebrews 4:14–16
Romans 12:9–18
Colossians 3:12–14
1 John 3:16–18

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TEACHING SUMMARY:

Church hurt is real because every church is made up of people who still struggle with sin. We can hold onto hurt or cause hurt when we lose sight of God’s goodness, ignore our own sinful desires, or fail to reflect His character in the way we treat one another.

Jesus fully reveals God’s goodness and shows us the life we were created to live. He did more than set an example we could never reach on our own. Through faith in Him, we are born again, and the Holy Spirit gives us what we need to grow in goodness and love (2 Peter 1:3–8).

The night before His crucifixion, Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and told them to do as He had done (John 13:13–17). When I submit to Jesus as Lord, I place myself last. Others are always ahead of me, when Jesus is my Lord. That is how we embody God’s goodness in our relationships and become a community of healing and hope.

TALK-IT-OVER:

What is one relationship in which it is difficult to place yourself last? How can you depend upon the Holy Spirit to guide those interactions and change your heart?

What stands out to you about Jesus washing His disciples’ feet in John 13:13–17? What does His example teach us about placing others first?

In 2 Peter 1:3–8, which quality do you see the Holy Spirit growing in you? Where do you still need His help?

What is one next step you need to take today?

Who do you need to tell about what you’ve learned?

FURTHER READING:

Philippians 2:1-8

Galatians 5:13-14

Romans 12:1-10

1 Peter 2:21-25

Micah 6:8

John 15:12-13

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TEACHING SUMMARY

Church hurt is real. It can cause us to lose trust in the Church, and our sin can cause others to do the same. Hurt grows when we lose sight of God, ignore our sinful desires, and fail to embody His character in relationships. God created everything good because creation reflects its Creator. Human sin began by doubting God’s goodness, distorting our view of God and one another and bringing suffering and death. God did not abandon creation. He revealed Himself to Moses as compassionate and gracious, patient, loving, faithful, forgiving, and just. Jesus Christ is the complete picture of God. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus begins restoring what sin cursed. We cannot achieve goodness through effort; we can only receive and reflect the goodness that originates in God. As we see and trust God’s goodness revealed in Jesus, we can embody His goodness for the sake of others.

TALK-IT-OVER:

• How does your personal definition of good differ from the biblical definition of goodness as seen in Jesus?

• In what areas of your life do you find it easiest to doubt the goodness of God?

• What would your life look like if you made decisions through the filter of embodying God’s goodness?

• What is one next step you need to take today?

• Who do you need to tell about what you’ve learned?

Further READING:

• Psalm 34:8

• Micah 6:8

• Genesis 50:20

• Matthew 5:1-12

• Deuteronomy 30:15-20

• Romans 12:9-10