Week 1: September 3rd - 10th
The supplies you will need each week: Your Bible, a pencil or pen with notebook, a candle with lighter, and comfortable place to relax and absorb God’s word. I will be providing the Welcome, Devotional Reading/Poem, the “REVEALED” Bible Study for the week, the words to any songs listed in program, and Closing Benediction weekly via email on Thursday afternoons.
The format is set up if you gather in a small group; change the format if you are doing it by yourself (see * areas):
WEEK ONE
*Welcome to each of you as we gather this glorious day! Take the time to stop and smile at your family and let them know they are loved. Ask them if they want to join in this session as you enter this time with God as His name is “REVEALED”.
*Devotional Reading: Psalm 23
*The Lord’s Prayer
Reading of UMW Purpose (If you would like more information on United Methodist Women please email me.)
*Lighting of the Candle and Breath Prayer: Spirit of God, Breathe on me.
Spirit of God, Pour out Your presence on me.
Spirit of God, Speak through Your word to me. AMEN.
*Reading the Bible Study “REVEALED” and looking items up in your Bible. If in a group setting allow 15 minutes for quiet reflective time and individual Prayer of Discernment before any discussion begins.
*Prayer of Discernment to God on what you read. Ask God for his guidance on what you just read. Write your questions down if something needs further clarity or more prayer.
WEEK ONE “REVEALED”
1 Corinthians 13:12 (NTB)
12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
The Bible talks about how we see some aspects of our faith through a glass darkly. Some people feel like God himself is like that hidden, mysterious, distant, unknown. But over the years I have discovered something amazing we serve a God who wants to be known. He said, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” He wants us to know him and He regularly reveals Himself to us through his word. Our heavenly father is identified in a wide variety of ways in the scriptures. Perhaps you still feel as though you only see God through a glass darkly or maybe you feel you know God very well, either way I believe this study will reveal some familiar and some new names of God that will deepen your relationship with Him. “Revealed” will help us discover a new facet of God each week as we learn the names of God and what that name reveals of God’s wonderful, redemptive character and nature.
Each week a New name will be “Revealed”
*A short reading on the Name of God Revealed. A few Bible verses that use the Name of God Revealed.
*Grab your Bible and look up the verses then ask God daily to reveal Himself as the name which you are studying and finally keep a small journal to record how God has revealed Himself in that way.
*Finally, share with someone how God has revealed Himself to you in the name you are studying.
Let Us Get Started:
WEEK ONE: Adonai
The name Adonai (Adonay) is found over four hundred times in the Bible, and its’ meaning is revelatory in nature. The name comes from the singular word Adon, which translates as “master” or “ruler.” It contains the concepts of “dominion,” “rulership,” and “ownership.”
The cultural background to the word Adon is associated with humanity and deals with masters who owned slaves. Yet it did not merely connote ownership, it also bore within the name a certain responsibility for the care and well-being of that which was owned. The master was to provide for, to protect, to guide and maximize that which he owned.
When God is referred to in Scripture as the plural form Adonai, He is referenced as Owner. The psalmist pens in chapter 97 that God is, “the (Adonai) of the whole earth.” He is not only the Creator (Elohim), but He is also the Owner (Adonai). God reveals this ownership through His Word, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.” (Psalm 50:10)
Since God is the absolute ruler and owner, our response to this name comes through the surrender of submission. Submission is a powerful tool when coupled with an All-powerful Adonai God. Unfortunately, too many Christians today have settled for Jehovah without experiencing the full power of Adonai. This is because to experience all that God as ruler, master and owner over your life can do for you, you need to realize knowingly, willingly surrender before Him. That means He gets to call the shots. He gets to have the final say in your decisions. His perspective is the perspective you utilize in making your choices, and in how you use your time.
Surrender to God and honor Him as Adonai and watch the heavens overflow with His plan for your life.
ADONAI:
Use in the Bible: In the Old Testament Adonai occurs 434 times. There are heavy uses of Adonai in Isaiah (e.g., Adonai Jehovah). It occurs 200 times in Ezekiel alone and appears 11 times in Daniel Chapter 9. Adonai is first used in Genesis 15:2.
Read and Meditate on these Scriptures that Reveal God as Adonai:
Psalm 8, Isaiah 40:3-5, Habakuk: 3:19, Genesis 15:2, Daniel 9:13-14
*Read the words or sing along to the hymn ‘In The Garden”; take quiet time to reflect the meaning of those words in the hymn. Does it reflect your relationship with God amid these uncertain times currently or are you just saying the words without feeling them in your heart. Why has the meaning changed if you feel yourself drifting away from God? Write down your reaction to review for further clarity or more prayer.
Song: In The Garden
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing. Refrain
I'd stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling. Refrain
*Closing Benediction: May the light of God illuminate the heart of our souls; may the flame of Jesus Christ kindle us to love daily; and may the fire of the Holy Spirit free us to live to the fullest this day and forevermore. Amen.
*CLOSE YOUE EYES for 5-10 minutes and feel the love of each of your sisters in Christ wrapping their loving arms around you virtually. You are beautiful and one of a kind -YOU ARE GOD’S MASTERPIECE.
*Blow your candle out to end your quiet journey with God and your Christian sisters. God bless you until we meet again next week!
For questions, comments, concerns, or for more information regarding this program or the lessons themselves, please send an email to Norma Link-Boughman at chain51965@yahoo.com