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You Are Deeply Loved Text: Ruth 3:1-13 Topic: God's Love the Story of God's Redemptive Love Continues

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You Are Deeply Loved Text: Ruth 3:1-13 Topic: God's Love the Story of God's Redemptive Love Continues LIFE GROUP GUIDE Title: I AM REDEEMED- You are Deeply Loved Text: Ruth 3:1-13 Topic: God’s Love The story of God’s redemptive love continues with our third week in the Book of Ruth. We've seen hopelessness in Naomi, faithfulness in Ruth, and kindness in Boaz. This week, consider the ways God extends his love and proviso to and through his people. MAIN POINT As Christians, we must give and receive God’s redemptive love. DELIVER – Use this space to take notes during the sermon. Additional commentary is also available to rightly understand and teach God’s Word. Sermon Notes: 1. We give ourselves for sacrificial love (v. 1-5) 2. We commit ourselves to costly love (v. 6-9) 3. We respond to God’s redemptive love (v. 10-13) DISCIPLE – Use these questions to engage people in discussion on a personal level. Ask everyone to open his or her sermon notes and Bibles. • Read (or have a volunteer read) Ruth 3:1-5 • Review the sermon point: “we give ourselves for sacrificial love” Share from your notes and ask group members for insights. 1. What is Naomi expressing about her feelings for Ruth in her actions to set her up with Boaz? 2. What does this say about how God wants us to act in covenant relationship with others? How does this reflect the nature of God? 3. What does it say about Ruth that she agrees to do exactly as Naomi tells her? Naomi is showing that she cares for Ruth deeply and is willing to do anything for her good, including putting Ruth’s good above her own. God wants us to do the same with everyone we are in relationship with. We should always be putting others’ needs before our own, desiring God’s best for people, because God desires the best for us. Showing others that we care more about their needs than our own also shows them that God cares the most about sacrificially loving them. To care for others expresses the character of God. Ruth is certain that what Naomi told her is going to work. There is no sign of doubt from Ruth. She has absolute assurance of faith in this situation. • Read (or have a volunteer read) Ruth 3:6-9 • Review the sermon point: “we commit ourselves to costly love” Share from your notes and ask group members for insights. 4. What is Ruth committing to by crossing cultural divides to approach Boaz? What is Ruth sacrificing by doing this? 5. What would it cost Boaz to accept this request for marriage? 6. How are the costly actions of Ruth and Boaz a picture of how we should show love to other people? What is the ultimate way that God did this? Ruth could have gone to a younger man that will be able to provide for her a longer time. She could have found another way to provide for herself and Naomi, but she chooses to make the lifelong commitment to Boaz. She could even be turned down for being a Moabite woman and be expelled from his provision forever. This is an all or nothing deal. In the same way, Boaz is risking the possibility of being shunned by his own people for marrying a Moabite. There is so much for him to lose. This goes hand-in-hand with the earlier idea of putting others’ needs before your own. We know that unconditional love can be costly to give. Sometimes actively loving someone means giving up something that is of benefit to you. It is much like how God actively loved us by providing redemption but the cost was His Son, Jesus. • Read (or have a volunteer read) Ruth 3:10-13 • Review the sermon point: “we respond to God’s redemptive love” Share from your notes and ask group members for insights. 7. Why does Boaz say that he accepts her request to take care of her? 8. What does it say about Ruth that all the people in Bethlehem consider Ruth, a Moabite, a woman of noble character? 9. What does it say about Boaz that he offers to try to find a younger family redeemer to take the request instead? Why does he ask her to stay the night? 10. How does Boaz’s offer mirror what God offers us? 11. What was most helpful, challenging, or encouraging for you in this text? Boaz says that the reason it is easy to be so accepting of her request is because of her kindness. She could have made this request to another that was rich and young, but she did not. Everyone knew that Ruth was a woman of noble character, and she must have really been committed to a noble way of living for a town of Jewish people to consider her in this way. Boaz clearly cares for her well being and is very selfless to not accept this marriage request for himself and attempt to find the younger family redeemer that can take care of her for a much longer time. He also shows how much he cares about her in that he risks people gossiping about him and Ruth spending the night together so that she will not be in danger going home alone in the middle of the night. Boaz offers a redemptive love for Ruth to accept, because she has shown boldness and faith in what she has done. God offers redemptive love to those who call upon the name of Jesus in faith and boldness. DEPLOY – Use this final section to help people respond to your time together. • What is an example in you life of someone giving up something for your benefit? How did that make you feel to know that it cost that person something to care for you in that way? How have you sacrificed time, resources, etc. recently to care for someone else’s spiritual and physical needs? How can you in ways you have not yet done? • Are you someone who makes it apparent to the rest of the world that you are someone of noble character, a follower of Christ, or are there areas of your life that you need to change to show more of Christ in you? What are some specific things you need to change in your life to look more like Christ? More specifically, what are some consistent, persistent sins in your life that you need to bring to God, so that you can give that up to God and replacing it with more of Christ? How can those in your group help keep you accountable to this? • Do you seek to take bold steps for God, knowing that He will take care of you, or are you not as confident in God as you could be? What are some things in your life that you need to trust God with more? After sharing these insecurities with your group, talk about how you can show more faith in God through your actions. NEXT WEEK - Use this information to prayerfully prepare, brainstorm, and study. Title: You are Pursued Text: Ruth 3:14-4:13 Topic: Devotion .
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