Thursday Bible Study

  {Disciples} THOMAS_   Leaving doubt behind     Thomas had a scientific mind. Those of us who live in the modern world are conditioned to think that way because of our education and culture.   Thomas was just wired that way. He was more skeptical than most people, more demanding of proof. Before he accepted the word of others, he wanted to see for himself. That’s why he has famously (if not unfairly) called “doubting Thomas” all these centuries. He could believe – but only after the facts were in...     [Group discussion starter] Are you mostly trusting or mostly skeptical of what you hear or read? Give an example of how you normally respond to new information .     Thomas is mentioned only by name in the first three Gospels. We get all the Biblical information we have about him from the Gospel of John. The best-known story about Thomas happens just after Jesus’ resurrection.     [Read John 20:19-29]     What about Je...

  {Disciples} JOHN_   Seeking to be the greatest     The Bible paints a dramatic “before and after” picture of John the apostle. In his later years, John was called the ‘apostle of love ’. In his New Testament writings John uses the word love eighty times. He gave us the best-known verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world...” (John 3:16). And, from John, we learn Jesus’ new command to “love one another” (John 13:34) and hear the great declaration that “God is love” (1 John 4:8).   But John was not always a man marked by love. He and his older brother, James, were called “sons of thunder” by Jesus, and they threatened to call down fire from heaven on those who insulted them.     [Group discussion starter] We, as Christians, are commanded to love one another. Why is that so difficult to do?     John’s early spirit of pride and self-promotion revealed itself one day, when his mother asked Jesus for special privileges. Jesus’ response ma...