God’s Gift Bible Study Pathway Ministries

Lesson 1 – “Friend Request”

Open: – For those of you who have FACEBOOK accounts, who would you consider to be the most
famous or important person on your list of FRIENDS? Did that person send you a FRIEND
REQUEST or were you the one who sent requested to be friends with them?

In our study today we will see that we have a PENDING FRIEND REQUEST that we need to respond
to from God, the creator of the universe!

Do you think that God, the creator of the universe really wants to have a personal relationship with you
INDIVIDUALLY and PERSONALLY? If He had a Facebook account do you think He would send
you a personal FRIEND REQUEST? Why or why not?

I. The Bible is full of verses that show us so clearly that God does want to have a relationship
with you and with me, but let’s just look at a few together right now:
Psalm 25:8-9
8
 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
9
 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.

A. Psalms 25:8 (above) – How is God described in this verse?

-Who does he show his ways to?
- If God shows his ways to us do you think that means he wants to have a relationship
with us?
B. Matt. 11:28-30 – Who is Jesus inviting to come to Him?
-And what is He offering those who come to Him in verse 28 and 29?
-What is He offering when He says “learn from me”?
C. Acts 17:24-27 – What things do we learn about God in these verses?
Verse 27: What does God want us to do?

Imagine you met someone and you realized that you really wanted to develop a relationship with them
—what would you need to do in order for that to happen?

Of those things, which do you think is absolutely the most important in developing a close relationship
and why?

II. How does God communicate with us? If COMMUNICATION is so important to any
relationship, then how does God (who wants to have a relationship with us) communicate with
us? In other words how can we know what He is like, what He likes and dislikes? How does
He communicate with us? How can we really know the truth about God? Where can we find
the truth about Him?

A. EXPERIENCES??: A common way people try to find God is through EXPERIENCES.

People claim they have the truth about God because of miracles or apparitions or visions.
Many different kinds of religious teachers claim to do miracles or have messages from God.
Can you think of some examples?

Are these a reliable guide for finding God’s truth or hearing from God?

1
 Matthew 24:23-27 -READ these verses about the end times before Christ returns.
1. Are all miracles from God? (v:23-24)
2. Why would Satan do miracles that seem to help people? (24)
3. Should we believe all the claims to appearances of Jesus? (27ff)

B. Some people think that they know God through their RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS that
were handed down to them from their parents or the older people in their society. They feel
that as long as they are doing what they have been taught since childhood they are doing
what God would want them to be doing… Does this sound like the right way to know what
God is really like and to know what is true about him? What do you think?

Let’s look and see how JESUS would answer that question….

Mark 7:1-9 –
1. What did the religious teachers ask Jesus in verse 5?
2. In verse 6 why did Jesus call the worshippers hypocrites?
3. Verse 7: What phrase does he use to describe how he feels about their worship?
What does “in vain” mean?
4. According to verse 7 where do traditions come from?
5. What do we sometimes do to God’s commands in order to follow our traditions in
verses 8,9,13?
6. In verse 13 where should we be looking for God’s communication?

After reading these verses, if someone told you that the way we know what God wants, is to
just follow the religious traditions handed down to us, what would you say to them? Is that
really how we know what God is like and what He likes and doesn’t like?

C. So what is the BEST answer to the question of how God communicates to us? How can
we know what God likes and dislikes? How can we know what HE is like? It’s in the
BIBLE, His love letter to us!

In our next Study, we will look at the Bible, how God gave it to us, why He gave it to us, and how
we can use it in our lives…

Prayer: Lord, thank you so much for reaching out to me and inviting me to have a relationship
with you! Thank you for giving me your WORDS, the Bible so I can know you. Help us all to
know you more. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Assignment:
1. Choose one of the verses or group of verses that had a big impact on you today and write the
reference on the line below…
2. Share that verse or group of verses with at least one other person this week and tell them why it
meant a lot to you. Be ready to share with us next week who you talked to!