Discovery Class · Clayton Valley Church
Week 1 homework
Why study the Bible, and personal preparation
Answer all three questions in your own words. There is no grade and nothing is sent anywhere. Everything stays on this page in your browser. After each answer, reveal the response guide and compare it honestly to what you wrote.
Personal discipline
Question 1
1How will you discipline your life so that your time in God’s Word will grow? Why does this matter?
Response guide
A strong answer names something specific and repeatable: a time of day, a place, a reading plan, not a vague intention like “I’ll try to read more.” It explains the why in terms of who God is and who you are becoming, not just guilt or obligation.
If your answer was mostly a feeling rather than a plan, go back and add one specific, doable detail before next week.
Personal preparation
Question 2
2Of the eleven qualities of personal preparation (four taught in class: spiritual, heart for God, discipline, humility; seven in the handout: believer, prayer, faith, obedience, courage, competitiveness, compassion), which one is your current biggest gap, and what is one concrete step you will take this week?
Response guide
A strong answer will include concrete steps. They should be doable on a weekly basis instead of big picture, lifelong goals.
Tracing the chain
Read Romans 5:8–11, then refer to the God’s Plan of Transformation chart from your class notes (Discovery Class page 2). The chart moves from top to bottom through five links. Write two to three sentences for each link below.
Question 3
3Write two to three sentences for each of the five links above.
Response guide
Link 1 (Christ). A strong answer captures both the act and the result: he died for us while we were still sinners, and through that death we are reconciled to God and saved from wrath. Romans 5:10 calls us enemies when he reconciled us. That word is worth noticing.
Link 2 (Holy Spirit). Read 2 Peter 1:20–21 and John 14:15–17 before writing this one. A strong answer names his personal initiative and power. He is God acting. The chart’s eight parallel ministries (conviction, knowledge, guidance, and so on) are his work.
Link 3 (The Word). A strong answer acknowledges that the Word does actively work (Hebrews 4:12; Psalm 19:7ff.), and also captures why: its power comes from the Spirit who authored it and continues to wield it. Ephesians 6:17 calls it the sword of the Spirit. His hands are over ours as we hold it.
Link 4 (Believer). A strong answer describes what the Spirit’s work produces in the believer over time. The chart names it in two phrases: progressive transformation and increasing Christlikeness. They are the same reality seen from two angles, the process and the shape it takes.
Link 5 (Aim). A strong answer names God’s glory as the destination the whole chart is moving toward. The believer’s growth is real and is part of how that glory is expressed, not a detour from it. The key principle at the bottom of the chart ties it together: the Spirit works through the Word to transform believers into the likeness of God so as to bring maximum glory to God.
You’re set for next week
Bring your class notes and the God’s Plan of Transformation chart. We will pick up with how Scripture communicates, the potency of God’s Word, and what hermeneutics is and why it matters.