🌟 Focus
Truth About God & Truth for My Life
Key Verse — Luke 6:46 KJV
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”
Luke 6:46 is not the question of a stranger. Jesus speaks to people who know the language of faith and can say, Lord, Lord — yet He exposes a separation between their lips and their lives. Authentic discipleship joins confession with obedience.
By the End of This Lesson You Will:
📚 Topics
1. A New Beginning, The Same Unchanging Word
This lesson begins a new season for New Life Empowerment Sunday School — a fresh teaching structure and a monthly rotation through the elders of this house. The format is changing, but the Word of God remains forever settled. The purpose of the new format is movement: from hearing to understanding, and from understanding to obeying.
A disciple is a follower, a learner, one whose life is shaped by the instruction of the Master. Our destination today is authentic discipleship.
2. Confidence Without Truth Creates Vulnerability
The Titanic was surrounded by extraordinary confidence — yet confidence does not cancel vulnerability and a reputation cannot overrule reality. A wise response to coming danger would warn leadership, reduce speed, change course, prepare the lifeboats, and alert the passengers. The greater danger was not only the iceberg; it was the misplaced confidence that weakened preparation.
Application: We must never trust popularity, tradition, or comforting words above Scripture. Long before the Titanic, scripture showed us people who preferred comforting hype over corrective truth.
3. God’s Truth Must Never Be Compromised
Jeremiah ministered where people wanted peace declared without the conditions for peace. They offered comfort without correction and assurance without repentance.
Jeremiah 6:14 — KJV
“They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.”
False comfort disguises sin, delays repentance, and gives confidence God has not authorized. We must stay balanced: suffering alone does not prove that someone is right. The standard is always the Word of God, and the true messenger is known by faithfulness to what God has spoken.
4. Jesus Called Disciples, Not Merely Admirers
Mark 13:13 — KJV
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Jesus never hid the cost of following Him. He prepared His disciples for resistance before sending them into mission. Perseverance is required in the home when faith is misunderstood, in the workplace when integrity is pressured, in ministry when service becomes difficult, and in private devotion when feelings no longer motivate.
5. Eternal Perspective Changes the Weight of Present Pain
II Corinthians 4:17 — KJV
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”
Paul writes as a man with scars. When he calls his affliction light, he is not denying grief or pain — he is making a comparison. On one side is temporary affliction; on the other is an eternal weight of glory. Paul did not deny the pain; he changed the scale. His suffering was temporary. God’s glory is eternal. Grace sustained him. Mission kept him moving.
Honor: Elder Michael Gillis modeled this faithfulness, carrying Sunday School through five years of challenge and transition. Faithful service is never wasted, for heaven keeps a record even when people fail to acknowledge it.
6. Obedience Makes Discipleship Visible: Fruit, Words, and Heart
Difficulty tests the disciple from the outside; fruit, speech, and obedience reveal the disciple from the inside. Jesus gives three pictures: a tree, a heart, and a house.
Luke 6:44–45 — KJV
“For every tree is known by his own fruit… For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
The fruit does not create the nature of the tree — the fruit reveals the nature already operating within it. If recent fruit is corrupt, the answer is not to decorate the branches but to return to the root: repentance, prayer, Scripture, the Holy Ghost, accountability, and renewed submission to Christ.
The heart is the core of the will, the thoughts, and the moral direction of the person. What fills the heart eventually flows through speech and behavior. We guard the heart through prayer, Scripture, the Holy Ghost, repentance, forgiveness, accountability, godly relationships, and disciplined inputs.
7. Two Builders, Two Foundations
Jesus closes with two builders. One heard His sayings and did them; the other heard but did not do. The wise builder digged deep and laid the foundation upon a rock. Both builders heard. Both had access to the Word. Both faced pressure. The difference was response — not exposure.
8. The Holy Duet: Transformation and Obedience
The tree teaches inner transformation — what Christ places within us produces visible character. The house teaches practical obedience — what Christ says must become the way we live.
The Complete Picture: Inner transformation without outward obedience is an unfinished claim. Outward activity without inner transformation becomes religious performance. Genuine discipleship is Christ formed within us and Christ followed through us.
💬 Discussions
These reflection questions are stated and then answered from the Word. The audience observes and examines the heart quietly — no public response is required.
1. If you knew the ship was nearing the iceberg, what would you do to help everyone avoid tragedy?
Answer: Warn leadership, reduce speed, change course, prepare the lifeboats, alert the passengers, and take every warning seriously. The priority shifts from protecting an image to preserving life.
2. Why could Paul call his affliction light?
Answer: He compared temporary suffering with eternal glory. His suffering was temporary and God’s glory eternal; grace sustained him and mission kept him moving.
3. Why is false assurance so dangerous?
Answer: It disguises sin, delays repentance, prevents preparation, and gives people confidence in conditions God has not authorized.
🙏 Personal Examination
This final examination is private. Allow the Word to examine your heart honestly before God.
Three Questions Before God
1. Truth — What teaching of Jesus do I need to receive honestly? An instruction I have resisted, delayed, or applied to everyone except myself?
2. Fruit — What does my recent fruit reveal about my heart? Look at patterns: conduct, speech, consistency, relationships, mercy, self-control, and service.
3. Foundation — What instruction will I put into practice before the next storm? Make it specific: forgive, apologize, return to prayer, resume Bible reading, serve, give, witness, or abandon a sinful habit.
My next act of obedience is:
✏️ Review Questions
Test your understanding of today’s lesson. Answers are provided below each question.
1. What does it mean to call Jesus Lord, Lord, yet not do the things He says?
The confession is contradicted by the conduct; the title is right but the response is wrong. Lordship is claimed but not obeyed.
2. According to Luke 6:44, what reveals the true nature of a tree?
Its fruit. Every tree is known by his own fruit; the fruit reveals the nature already within.
3. According to Luke 6:45, from what does the mouth speak?
From the abundance of the heart; what fills the heart flows out through the words.
4. What was the difference between the wise builder and the foolish builder?
Not exposure to the Word but response to it. One heard and did; the other heard and did not.
5. Why did Paul call his affliction light in II Corinthians 4:17?
He compared temporary suffering with the eternal weight of glory; the pain was real, but the promise was greater.
6. Does building on the Rock exempt the disciple from storms?
No. Storms reach both houses. The Rock does not prevent the storm; it keeps the house standing through it.
7. Name three ways a disciple guards the heart.
Any three: prayer, Scripture, the Holy Ghost, repentance, forgiveness, accountability, godly company, disciplined inputs.
8. Complete the declaration: Because I am a disciple of Jesus, I will ___________.
Follow His teachings.
🌟 Our Discipleship Declaration
“Because I am a disciple of Jesus, I will follow His teachings. I will not be satisfied with the right title and the wrong response. I will not call Him Lord while treating His Word as optional. I will hear, I will dig deep, and I will build upon the Rock. I will allow Christ to transform the root so my life can produce good fruit. I will guard the treasure of my heart so my words and actions honor God. I will not interpret difficulty as abandonment; I will view temporary affliction through the promise of eternal glory.”
🙏 Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your Word. Help us to hear Your voice and obey Your teaching. Give us courage to receive truth even when truth corrects us. Strengthen us to remain faithful through rejection, pressure, and difficulty. Transform our hearts so our lives will produce fruit that honors You. Guard our words, deepen our roots, and establish our houses upon the Rock.
Bless every elder who will teach in this new monthly rotation. Let New Life grow in truth, obedience, spiritual maturity, and Kingdom impact. We declare that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, and we will follow His teachings. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
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