Ruth 4 Key Verses/Memory Verse
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2 Contents Ruth at a Glance ................................................................................................................. 4 Study Introduction ............................................................................................................. 6 Bible Reading Plan ............................................................................................................ 11 Sep 20: Ruth 1 .................................................................................................................. 12 Sep 27: Ruth 2 .................................................................................................................. 24 Oct 4: Ruth 3 and 4 .......................................................................................................... 34 3 4 5 Introduction This fall, First Southern Baptist Church will be studying the Old Testament book of Ruth. Pastor Keith will preach through Ruth on Sunday mornings, and our Connection Groups will investigate and discuss the message and meaning of Ruth. Although the Book of Ruth has 4 chapters, this Bible study booklet covers 3 weeks with chapters 3 and 4 being scheduled together on the final week. This booklet is designed to aid both your personal study of Ruth and also to facilitate our Connection Group discussions. The book of Ruth showed the Israelites the blessings that obedience could bring. It showed them the loving, faithful nature of their God. This book demonstrates that God responds to His people’s cry. He practices what He preaches, so to speak. Watching Him provide for Naomi and Ruth, two widows with little prospects for a future, we learn that He cares for the outcasts of society just as He asks us to do (Jeremiah 22:16; James 1:27). Throughout our study of Ruth, our hope is that we all grow to see the gospel with greater appreciation and to love God with greater passion. As we seek to apply the messages of Ruth, we will discover how the Bible impacts our everyday lives and how we can bear witness for Christ in our communities. The prayer of your First Southern pastoral staff is that this study is rewarding to you spiritually and also vital to your understanding of the charge we have to live out our faith in ways that glorify Christ in the world in which we live. 6 How to Use This Guide Each study begins with some key verses and key principles for each passage, followed by a devotional introduction to prepare our hearts and minds. The Study Guide section includes four components specifically designed to help us engage the text of Ruth in personal study and Connection Group discussion according to the HEAR method of Bible study: • Highlight: Read the passage and become familiar with its contents. • Explain: Based on your reading, discover what the passage means in its context. • Apply: Understand how the meaning of the passage affects your life. • Respond in Prayer: Ask God to help you put the Bible passage into practice in your life and relationships. Work on these exercises at any time throughout the week. Some may find it helpful to work through the exercises in sections—such as two or three blocks of 15 or 20 minutes each, while others may want to study the whole passage in a single hour-long sitting. Whichever approach you choose to take, please answer the Study Guide questions before your Connection Group meeting on Sunday morning. Some Connection Groups might wish to discuss their answers to the Bible study questions together. To maximize our study of God’s Word and the impact it can have on our lives, we encourage everyone to work through all questions in each of the weekly studies. Connection Group leaders may choose to focus on some questions more than others. In 7 addition to the resources in this booklet, we also encourage you and your Connection Group to take full advantage of the following Ruth-specific resources. Bible Reading Plan Encounter God by reading His Word every day during this study series. In order to help us make daily Bible reading a priority, we have provided a daily Bible reading plan. Our reading plan covers one chapter a week, and our scheduled readings allow us to read Ruth in its entirety during the four weeks of this study. It is important to read and re-read the assigned passages each time they are scheduled. God does a wonderful work in our hearts and in our lives by His Holy Spirit and through the reading of His Word. In addition, we learn by repetition. This reading plan also features other biblical references with thematic or particular connections to Ruth, for example, selections from the Gospels, Psalms, and Proverbs. Join your brothers and sisters in Christ at First Southern Baptist Church as we encounter God each day through this Bible reading plan. 8 Note to Connection Group Leaders This Bible study curriculum is designed to help you as you encourage those in your respective groups to read the Bible during the week, engage the Holy Spirit as they consider God’s words and message, and spend time with the Lord in prayer. Our hope is that this curriculum is also helpful to you, as the Connection Group Leader, as you facilitate group discussion on Sunday mornings. 1. As you facilitate group discussion, you might choose to simply and prayerfully ask if participants might like to share their answers to chosen questions in order to begin a group discussion. 2. Alternatively, you might choose to facilitate discussion over the scheduled passage without asking participants to share their answers at all. This way, participants understand that their answers to the questions are considered to be private. 3. If your group prefers a lecture-style lesson, feel free to maintain that delivery style, knowing that your participants have studied the passage during the week, sought to understand the message and the meaning of the text, and have spent time with God regarding the implications and impact of the passage on their faith. 9 H. HIGHLIGHT Read through the Scripture and write down your observations. • What are the main points of the text? • Are there any repeating words or phrases? • What questions do you have over what you read? E. EXPLAIN Based on your reading, discover what the passage means in its context. • Summarize what the author is saying to his audience. • What does this passage show you about God? • What does this verse show you about man? A. APPLY Understand how the meaning of the passage affects your life. • What encouragement can you take from the passage? • What is one change that you need to apply to your life? • How does the passage strengthen your faith? R. RESPOND Pray God’s Word back to Him using the A.C.T.S. method. • Adoration: Praise God for something you learned about Him. • Confession: Confess any sin or lack of obedience. • Thanksgiving: Give God thanks for the truths learned. • Supplication: Ask God for help. 10 Bible Reading Plan Sep 20 – Ruth 1:1-5 Sep 21 – Prov. 3:5-10 Sep 22 – Ruth 1:6-18 Sep 23 – Psalm 4 Sep 24 – Ruth 1:19-22 Sep 25 – Prov. 16:1-8 Sep 26 – Ruth 2:1-7 Sep 27 – Matthew 6:25-34 Sep 28 – Ruth 2:8-13 Sep 29 – Matthew 7:24-29 Sep 30 – Ruth 2:14-23 Oct 1 – John 13:1-11 Oct 2 – Ruth 3:1-13 Oct 3 – John 13:12-20 Oct 4 – Ruth 3:14-18 Oct 5 – Luke10:25-37 Oct 6 – Ruth 4:1-6 Oct 7 – Psalm 18:1-6 Oct 8 – Ruth 4:7-12 Oct 9 – Matthew 6:2-23 Oct 10 – Ruth 4:13-22 11 Ruth 1 Sep 20, 2020 Key Verses/Memory Verse But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. – Ruth 1:16 Key Principles One of the most inspiring messages of the book of Ruth is that God is concerned about all people regardless of race, nationality, or status; men and women are both equally important to God; and there is no such thing as an unimportant person in God’s eyes. Most importantly perhaps is the message that God has a Redeemer in place who can rescue us from the devastation of our own sin. In Ruth, Boaz was a prophetic symbol of Christ and His redemptive work in our lives today. Jesus is willing to redeem us and He wants to rescue us from the penalty of our sin. All we have to do to be rescued is to call upon Him in faith to save us (Romans 10:13). 12 Introduction Author and Date The book does not name its author, but Jewish tradition points to the prophet Samuel. Many scholars believe that Samuel would not have mentioned David, however (Ruth 4:17,22), and that this book was perhaps written after the time of the judges. Key Themes 1. God is concerned about all people regardless of race, nationality, or status. Ruth was not a Jew. She was a Moabite. Even though many discriminated against her, God loved her. 2. There is no such thing as an unimportant person in God’s eyes. Few saw Ruth as an important person. She was from Moab, which was a nation that originated from an incestuous encounter between Lot and one of his daughters (Genesis 19:30-36). She was a poor widow. She was living in a foreign land away from her birth family. But God saw her as important and His plan for her life culminated in her becoming a part of the lineage of Jesus (as the grandmother to King David). God’s plan typically involves using people who are considered to be underdogs or unimportant or unimpressive from man’s perspective. His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). 3. The book of Ruth provides for us a prophetic image of a redeemer.