• Home
• Weekly Lessons
• InTruth
• Clarify

Initiate

A video introduction using illustrations, personal stories, metaphors, or active learning examples to begin the discussion.

 

 

---

 

​Interact

After the video, prompts are supplied for thinking and sharing with others personal perception and experience. This opening activity prompts participants to think about and relate to the topic, and to share with others. 

 

 

When you consider the quiet strength of true humility in the lives of martyrs, which of their final words speaks most deeply to you, and why?

• William Tyndale (1494–1536).  His final words "Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!" was a prayer, not a protest. His humility is shown in asking God to change the heart of his enemies, not curse them.
• Jan Hus (1372–1415) prophesied at his execution, "In 100 years, God will raise up a man whose call for reform cannot be suppressed." Hus saw himself not as the hero but as a forerunner. He trusted that Christ’s cause would prevail and not his own.
• Anne Askew (1521–1546) was an English noblewoman and Protestant martyr who said at her death, “I am not come hither to deny my Lord and Master." This is confidence! A clear refusal to renounce Christ, said with quiet resolve rather than rebellion.
• Jerome of Prague (1379–1416) was a close associate of Jan Hus. He was burned at the stake, saying, "This soul in flames I offer, O Christ, to Thee." Again, there is no defiance, but devotion, complete surrend to Christ, even in the fire.
• Lady Jane Grey (1537–1554) was a teenage queen of England for 9 days, executed for her Protestant faith and at her execution (age 16) she declared: "I am the servant of God. I pray you all, bear me witness that I die a true Christian woman, and that I do look to be saved by no other means but only by the mercy of God in the blood of His only Son Jesus Christ."

---

​Insight

The Bible discussion begins with a careful reading of the whole passage, either from your own Bibles, or from the provided images below.

Then participants are to ask:

1. What is going on in this passage of Scripture?
2. What are the key words and phrases? Highlight them.
3. Why do you think this passage is included in the Bible?
4. What does it contribute to our “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ”?

 

Download PDF of John 3:25-30

John the Baptist gives us a powerful picture of true humility. When others tried to stir up competition, he didn't react with pride or insecurity. He simply stayed faithful to the role God had given him. He wasn't jealous that people were turning to Jesus but embraced it as proof that he had fulfilled his mission.

That's what it means to be a forerunner: to rejoice when others follow Jesus, even if it means fading from view. With calm conviction, John said, "He must become greater; I must become less."

His attitude echoes the words of Philippians 2:1-7, where we see Jesus choosing the path of a servant. And Peter, writing to church leaders, urges them to humble themselves under God's mighty hand (1 Peter 5:6–7), finding confidence not in their strength, but in their identity as God's beloved.

Is your identity grounded in Christ? In Matthew 11:11, Jesus declares that John the Baptist is the greatest born of a woman. It might be an exaggeration, but the deep love of Christ for His cousin is likely the real reason for John's confidence in his role.

---

 

​Insight Out

A parting video clip with a personal invitation to apply the message to “knowing Christ” and “living in Christ” in the coming week.