John 1:1–18 · John 15:1–11 · James 1:22–25 · Matthew 7:24-27 · Matthew 28:18–20
Name: ___________________________________ Date: _______________
Scripture quoted from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) unless otherwise noted.
What you are holding is not a worksheet. It is a starting point.
The Abide program exists because God designed His people to hear His voice directly through Scripture, not just through pastors, podcasts, and study notes (though those are good things). This first session is about one question: do you actually believe that? And do you actually hear His voice through Scripture?
We will look at four passages with open eyes and hearts, and make honest observations. Let's begin.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. 6 There was a man having been sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the Light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the Light, but he came to bear witness about the Light. 9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to what was His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has been ahead of me, for He existed before me.'" 16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.
- In verse 1, John gives Jesus three descriptions. What are they?
- In verse 14, what event does John describe? What two qualities does he attach to Jesus there?
- In verse 18, what does the Son do for the Father?
The word John uses in verse 18 — translated "explained" — is the Greek word exegeomai (ἐξηγέομαι). It means to draw out, to lead out into the open, to make fully visible. Think of an archaeologist carefully brushing away layers of dust to reveal an ancient carving that was always there, the carving did not need to be invented, only uncovered. Jesus does not merely describe who the Father is, He draws the Father fully into view so we can behold Him.
This word is the root of exegesis: the practice of drawing meaning out of the text rather than reading your own assumptions into it. The way Jesus reveals the Father is the same posture we bring to Scripture.
If Jesus, the living word, perfectly draws out (exegetes) who the Father is so we can behold Him, what does that suggest about how we should approach the living written Word He left behind?
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
One thing that landed for me personally:
1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vine-grower. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He cleans it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. 10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 11 "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
- Who are the three parties in this metaphor? What is each one called?
- Count the repetitions: how many times does Jesus use the word "abide" in these eleven verses?
- Look at verse 6. What happens to a branch that does not abide?
- Verse 7 gives two conditions and a promise. What are they?
The word translated "abide" — which Jesus repeats eleven times in these verses — is the Greek word menō (μένω). It means to remain, to stay, to not leave. It is the word you would use for a friend who stays the night rather than heading home, or a root that holds fast in the soil through a storm.
Jesus is not asking for heroic spiritual effort here. He is describing how discipleship works by design: the vine provides everything the branch needs to bear fruit, and the branch's only contribution is to remain connected to the vine. The fruit does not come from the branch straining harder. It comes through the branch staying connected.
Discipleship, in Jesus' vocabulary, is less about doing more, and more about not leaving or disconnecting from Him.
Based on what Jesus is saying in this passage, are abiding in Jesus and His words abiding in you two separate activities, or are they essentially same thing? Why?
One thing that landed for me personally:
22 But become doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he looked at himself and has gone away, he immediately forgot what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 "And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and fell against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 "And everyone hearing these words of Mine and not doing them, may be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 "And the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."
- Describe the mirror analogy in verses 23–24. What does the man do immediately after looking in the mirror?
- Two builders hear the same sermon and experience the same storm. What is the one variable that determines the outcome?
One thing that landed for me personally:
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
- What authority does Jesus appeal to in verse 18?
- Jesus gives three commands in verses 19–20. Which one is the central command?
- He says "teaching them to KEEP all that I commanded." He did not say "know." What is the difference?
One thing that landed for me personally:
Before Session 2:
My question from Reading Ephesians:
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you
Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.