Description:

This five-lesson study guide examines the five commands given by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16:13-14, and how we can learn to enact them in our lives on a daily basis.

Message from Marsh: “May your personal walk with the Lord lead you to be transformed, renewed, and blessed.”

Marsh

Founder/President

Thank you for coming to: mensgroup.org

Five Challenges for Men

Lesson 3 – Be Men of Courage

(www.mensgroup.org – “Original Study”)

Lesson focus: We will be reviewing what it takes to be a man of courage.

“You are blessed when you take courage and believe that God is all that He says He is and that He gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need.” –C. Marsh Bull

Starting Prayer: Father God help us to understand through this lesson how to become men of courage and help us to use that courage to tell the truth about your Kingdom.

Opening Questions:

1.      In what way is the word “courage” used in our nation?

2.      What do you think is the opposite of courage?

Scripture Passage: “Be men of courage” (1 Corinthians 16:13)

Story: King Asa was the first of the good kings of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. He led a revival of the people early in his reign after he heard the message of Azariah the prophet that “the Lord is with you when you are with Him!” (2 Chronicles 15:2) “When Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Azariah son of Oded the prophet, he took courage. He removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim.” (2 Chronicles 15:8) He also repaired the altar of the Lord in the Temple. He was a man of courage, confronting people for their idolatry and directing them back to God.

Challenge Explanation: 

Paul was a prominent leader, along with several other men, of the church at Corinth but it wasn’t these leaders that created the problems the church was experiencing. It was its participants who were selfish, acted like infants, and called for loyalty to only specific leaders. Further, these people were not addressing the sinful actions within the church that Paul wrote about in earlier chapters. The church people were staining their reputation before the city.

Here, in the third of the five challenges, we see a slight adjustment to its meaning. “Be men of courage” was the challenge for the church to start acting this way, which they had not been doing before. This is different than in the first and second challenges where they were already, to some extent, on guard and standing firm.

Paul wanted them to start acting like men of courage and operate this way with ongoing regularity. They were no longer to be cowardly, timid, or afraid of their enemies, but act like a mature man would act, being bold and brave, facing head-on what was necessary to confront.

It was time for these people to exhibit bravery and unflinching courage which is characteristic of real men. Real men speak up, call a spade a spade, listen more than they speak, and exhibit love that everyone can see. Paul was challenging them to move toward maturity, taking on the responsibilities as men that they should have taken on already.

Discussion Questions:

1.      What seemed to be the reasons for Paul to charge the church to act mature?

 2.      How was the manliness of a man described?

 

3.      What was happening to the church because men weren’t acting like men?

Application:                                                                          

1.      What do you think are characteristics of a man of courage?

2.      What would you change to personally portray those characteristics?

3.      What would you do next to implement the action of being a man of courage?

Closing Prayer: Father God, you set the example for the good traits of a man because you are the one who created us and gave those traits to us. Thank you for Paul’s forthrightness and help each one of us make the changes necessary to be a man of courage.

 

Additional Resources:

Read similar “courage” verses for a better understanding of this word: David challenges to be brave and courageous (Psalm 27:14); King Hezekiah’s courage (2 Chronicles 32:5-8); Joshua’s courage (Joshua 1:6-9; 10:22-26); Jesus challenged his disciples to “take courage! I am here!” (Matthew 14:27; Mark 6:5); “We are God’s house. We keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ” (Hebrews 3:6).

Read The Map, The Way of All Great Men by David Murrow.

Continue to Lesson 4 – Be Strong

Or use these links to navigate to various parts of this study:

Intro | Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | Lesson 4 | Lesson 5 | Summary

Did you find this study useful?

We’d love to hear your success story, ideas, or other feedback. Please send us an e-mail addressed to mensgrouptopics@gmail.com or use our contact page.

click the button below for A “PRINTER FRIENDLY” PDF OF this free study

Join our email list to stay in touch!

  • Get notified of updates such as when new studies are added.

  • Stay “in the know” about book giveaways (and other prizes).

  • We hate spam and will never sell or share your email address.