Leader's page and Student's page best viewed left/right side together
Leader’s page: 1 Timothy, Titus, 1 Peter, 2 Timothy, 2 Peter, Hebrews, Jude, 1,2,3 John
Encourage the ladies to work in twos or small groups to find good things and bad things about the churches mentioned in these letters and to write them down.
Perhaps study one book at a time – there are ten in all. Share the general information (my first paragraphs below) – encourage the ladies to find answers (like my second paragraphs) and then share them together.
1 Timothy
1:3 Writing to Timothy, a valued, younger friend, an apostolic representative left in charge of the church at Ephesus. It was written after Paul’s release from house arrest in Rome.
Warnings about false teachers of Jewish myths, wrong behaviour, asceticism (self-denial of physical pleasures to attain spiritual goodness), dangers in the love of money, are all in this letter, as well as qualifications for church leadership, praying for government leaders, and ‘trustworthy sayings’. These were accepted sayings of Christian truth probably being passed around from local church to local church.
Titus
This letter was also written after Paul’s release from house arrest in Rome.
2 Corinthians 2:12-13, 7:5-7; Titus 1:4-5. Titus was left in Crete to superintend the formation of good and proper local churches there.
Look for Jewish false teachers again, the need for sound doctrine to be taught, and encouragement for Titus himself. Note 3:12 the west of modern Greece, and 2 Timothy 4:10 Dalmatia, modern Albania, the next country north west of Greece.
1 Peter
The Apostle Peter, writing from Babylon, possibly a small town on the Euphrates River in modern Iraq, or more likely, he is using a hidden, Christian codeword reference to Rome. Peter writes to Christians in what is modern day Turkey. Written 62-65 A.D.
It is a letter with many themes – suffering, persecution, glory, hope, the grace of God, encouragement to live holy lives, reminding that elders should be shepherds not bosses.
2 Timothy
Paul writing to Timothy, from his later imprisonment in Rome. Check the details opposite.
This letter is more to Timothy than to the church he serves. It is noticeably encouraging, encouraging, and encouraging.
Student's page:
Lesson 28 1 Timothy, Titus, 1 Peter, 2 Timothy, 2 Peter, Hebrews, Jude, 1,2,3 John
These books were written after the close of Acts 28. We are looking for facts about the growing early church from them. They may be things we have mentioned already, but write them down with the new ones. Do you see any of these traits in your own life or church?
1 Timothy
1:3-7
1:15 compare 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; Titus 1:9
2:1-2 compare Matthew 5:43-47
3:1-13
3:2-3, 6:10, 17-19
4:1-6
Titus
1:10-16, 3:9-11
2:1
2:15
1 Peter
2:12
5:1-4
2 Timothy
What was Paul’s situation? 4: 9-13, 1:15-18, 2:8-9, 4:6-8
I know Timothy was a leader, but can you take encouragement from what Paul says here to Timothy? Which of Paul’s encouragements challenge you? Think about them with Father God.
1:3-14
2:1-7
2:14-18
2:25-26
3:10-15
4:1-5
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Leader's page:
2 Peter
3:1-2 It looks as though we have both of the letters that Peter mentions. Again, written to Christians in modern day Turkey – to stimulate wholesome thinking by them. The letters were written 65-67 A.D. Peter was martyred in Rome 67-68 A.D.
There are strong similarities between 2 Peter and the letter of Jude. Did one copy the other? Did they both quote from the same teaching? We do not know. But God chose to put them both into the canon of scripture for us to learn from Him.
1:5 Make every effort to add to your faith.
2:1 There were, and there will always be, false teachers.
3:10 Jesus is coming again – God is in control.
Grow, learn, persevere, keep on!
Hebrews
We do not know who wrote Hebrews but whoever it was knew Timothy, 13:23.
It was written before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70 – there is no mention of what was a major event for Jews – the destruction of their Temple. It was written for Jewish Christians to show that Jesus is the fulfilment of everything God had said and done in the Old Testament.
Jude
This letter was written either by Judas the Apostle Acts 1:13, or Judas the brother of Jesus Matthew 13:55. It is more likely Jesus’ half-brother as Jude does not claim to be an Apostle in Jude 17, simply saying he is the brother of James. The most famous James in Acts was the leader of the early church. He was Jesus’ brother. Written A.D. 65-80.
Verse 3 ‘Contend’, argue in order to defend. Verse 4 ‘Secretly slipped in among’, infiltrated.
Three letters from John
These letters were written by John the Apostle, the son of Zebedee, the fisherman, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’ in John’s gospel. The recipients were most likely Christians in churches around Ephesus, where John is thought to have lived A.D.70-100, and also others in the province of Asia.
John wrote in a context of, but against, Gnosticism which says – matter is entirely evil and the spirit is entirely good – man’s body is therefore bad, and God is good – salvation is escape from the body achieved by ‘special knowledge’, not by faith – Christ’s humanity was therefore denied outright – these beliefs spawned asceticism – ‘the evil body is to be treated harshly’ - and ‘love God and do as you like’ - matter was evil, so things done with the body are of no consequence and breaking God’s law consequently was not wrong.
We need to be knowing and holding the truth so we can safely recognise heresy.
Student's page:
Remember to keep looking for facts about the growing early church.
2 Peter
1:3-11 Can you pick out one phrase which summarises this section?
2:1-3 Peter says these kind of people will always be around – be careful. 1:12.
3:8-13 What is the great encouragement Peter uses?
3:17-18 Grow in what? Explain exactly what this means for you.
Becoming a follower of Jesus is one event – but what do we all need to be doing afterwards?
Hebrews
1:1-4, 5-6 Jesus is greater than ……………………………………....................................................................................
3:1-6 Jesus is greater than……………………………………...................................................................................…
4:14-5:10, 7:22-27 Jesus is the Great ........................................ of the new, far superior covenant.
2:1 Have you gradually slipped away from God in the last year?
What is the remedy?
Or have you grown in love and admiration for Him? Keep on going!
Jude
Verse 3 What is the strong word that reminds you of athletics or wrestling?
Verse 4 What is the phrase that implies these people sneaked or crept in
unnoticed?
There is a balance between readily welcoming new people into the church, and not being gullible to troublemakers. We all come to Jesus Christ with baggage from the past, and we have to work at being the new creations God has made us into. Some people come with their baggage and want to spread their misunderstandings (or deliberate mischief) through the fellowship. Beware!
Three letters from John
What do you learn from each of these key references?
1 John 2:20-27
2 John 7-11
1 John 3:16-18
3 John 9-11
1 John 5:18-21
When we recognise heresy we must confront it.
Both love the truth and ‘love one another’.
You love your child enough to teach her the dangers of the river she plays by. Try to avoid ‘Christian accidents’ over truth.
Keep on going your entire life!
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