Come and Study: A Discipline That Leads to Freedom

Family ministry creates unique opportunities for children, students, and families to explore their relationship with Christ and take a next step in faith. That next step may look different for every person: attending VBS, taking a summer trip, leading worship, creating a Bible study with friends, or simply showing up to a ministry event for the first time.

The psalmist names God’s instruction as a meditation for the whole day because God’s word brings life. God’s presence can meet people in a thin place between heaven and earth, in worship with friends, in serving others with their gifts, or in the quiet work of studying Scripture. Scripture does not reserve that blessing for young people, camps, conferences, or faraway places. God makes that sweetness available wherever people intentionally lean into relationship with him.

The discipline of study can make people nervous because Scripture may seem like it will confine life, change future plans, or require more than they want to give. Yet the discipline of studying God’s word leads to freedom. God’s word does not leave people walking in the dark or facing daily challenges alone. God wants a deep and personal relationship with each person, one that is sweeter than honey and full of fruit.

The question of time presses close because people always find time for what becomes a priority. The habit of being with God often becomes the first thing to slip away when life demands more attention. Yet God’s fruits are ready, and God invites people to receive them through intentional practices of faith. The invitation to come and study does not demand one particular method, since Bible studies, daily quiet time, Wednesday gatherings, and shared learning can all become ways of leaning in.

The church’s care for children and students also gives the whole congregation practical ways to participate. Prayer strengthens families, especially when a child or student is remembered by name. Mentorship gives young people faithful adults to look toward, not adults who are perfect, but adults committed to Christ. Sponsorship and shared gifts open doors for students to grow, including new opportunities like the choral fellowship. God continues to work in numerous ways, and the invitation remains: lean in, study, and wonder what discipline might lead to freedom and fruits beyond imagination.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Study builds a discipline of freedom. Scripture can feel restrictive when it begins to question plans, habits, and priorities. Yet God’s instruction does not shrink a life into fear; it frees a life from walking blindly and carrying every challenge alone. The discipline that costs attention becomes a place where deeper freedom takes root. [58:56]
• 2. God’s word is sweeter than honey. God does not offer bare information or a list of demands. God offers a personal relationship that gives life, direction, and sweetness amid ordinary pressures. The fruits of that relationship are ready, but they call for intentional attention rather than accidental proximity. [61:17]
• 3. Priority reveals how time is spent. Time with God is often the first commitment displaced when life becomes crowded. The question is not meant to produce shame, but honest wonder about what has become most important. A changed priority can make room for a changed way of living. [60:36]
• 4. Young people need committed mentors. Children and students do not need flawless examples of faith. They need adults whose lives show a real commitment to Christ, including the humility to keep growing. Shared gifts and steady presence can become a lasting blessing in a young person’s life.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [57:23] - Family Ministry and Next Steps
• [58:03] - Come and Study
• [58:56] - Discipline That Leads to Freedom
• [59:29] - Different Ways to Study Scripture
• [60:36] - Making Time for What Matters
• [61:17] - The Fruits God Provides
• [61:40] - Praying for Children and Families
• [62:35] - Mentoring the Next Generation
• [63:08] - Sponsoring Opportunities for Youth
• [64:03] - Leaning In to Study

1. Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. [58:31]
2. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. [58:34]
3. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. [58:35]
4. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. [58:37]
5. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. [58:41]
6. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.
7. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! [01:01:17]
8. Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

1. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. [59:13]
2. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
3. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
4. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. [01:04:09]

1. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! [01:01:08]

1. What words and images does Psalm 119 use to describe God’s instruction, and what results does the psalmist connect with meditating on it?
2. In James 1:22–25, what is the difference between someone who hears the word only and someone who looks into God’s “law of liberty” and acts on it?
3. What different ways of studying Scripture are named, including both individual and shared practices? [59:41]
4. What three practical ways are given for the congregation to strengthen children, students, and their families? [01:01:48]

1. Psalm 119 describes God’s word as sweeter than honey, while James calls God’s law “the law of liberty.” How do these descriptions challenge the idea that Scripture mainly restricts a person’s life? [58:56]
2. Why might regular meditation on Scripture give a believer wisdom and direction in everyday decisions, rather than merely adding Bible knowledge?
3. James warns that hearing without doing can become self-deception. What kinds of actions might show that a person is truly receiving God’s word rather than simply listening to it?
4. Children and students need adults who are committed to Christ, though not perfect. What makes an adult’s honest, growing faith a meaningful witness to a younger person? [01:02:45]

1. When life becomes crowded, what spiritual practice is most likely to slip away first? What does that reveal about the pressures and priorities currently shaping your time? [01:00:36]
2. What is one realistic way you could lean into Scripture this week: a daily quiet time, a Bible study with others, listening to Scripture, attending a gathering, or another practice that fits your present season? [59:46]
3. Is there an area of life where deeper attention to God’s word feels risky because it could change your plans, habits, relationships, or goals? What might it look like to trust that God’s discipline leads toward freedom? [59:13]
4. Think about a daily challenge you have been carrying alone. How could intentionally bringing that challenge before God in Scripture and prayer change the way you face it? [01:01:17]
5. What would it look like for you or your household to “taste and see” God’s goodness in an ordinary part of the week, not only during a church event, retreat, or special experience? [58:20]
6. How could you support a child, student, or family this year through specific prayer, steady encouragement, mentoring, sharing a gift, or helping make an opportunity possible? [01:02:35]