The story is told of a dad who comes home from work and his boy wants to play with him. The dad is tired and just wants to sit down, relax and read the newspaper first. His boy is tugging at his leg asking to play and won’t give up. While reading the paper the dad sees a picture of the world and has an idea. He cuts up the picture of the world and gives it to the boy and tells him to put the world back together. He figures this will buy him some reading time. Within a couple of minutes the boy returns with the world put back together. The father asks, ‘how did you get the world put back together so fast?’ The boy responds, “On the back of the world was a picture of a man, and when you get the man put together, the world comes together!”

In this lesson we are going to look at what a man “put back together” means from God’s perspective. We have all heard what the world says a man should be, and it is obvious that plan does not work. When it comes to manhood it is high time we took our cues from the Word, rather than the World.

Goals for the Lesson

• To develop a biblical perspective on manhood
• To understand the limits you face when your masculinity is defined by the world

Warm up Question
Each man share the definition of manhood that he learned growing up. How has that definition been helpful or limiting?

Bible Study - Ephesians 1:3-10
In today’s passage, the apostle Paul provides one of the strongest statements in scripture on what Christ has done for us, as well as what it means to have our identity rooted in Him. The basis of masculinity is to have a solid understanding of our identity in Christ. This is the antidote to the poison in the world’s message that says your identity stems from who you know, what you have and what you’ve accomplished.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he[a] predestined us for adoption to sonship[b] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he[c] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Discussion Questions

• Make a list of the things Christ has done for us.
  

• What do you think it means to be “in Christ”?
  

• How does one move from having an identity based on externals to one based on Christ?
  

Talk by Bryan Carter

Listen to the message by Bryan Carter that was given at the 2021 No Regrets Men’s Conference. The talk is entitled: Biblical Masculinity and it can be found on the No Regrets app, under Conference Media/2021 Platform talks.

Bryan has served as the senior pastor of the 9,000 member congregation at Concord Church in south Dallas, since 2003. He serves on the board of Bible Study Fellowship and numerous boards serving the greater Dallas community. He leads Harmony Community Development Corp and African American Pastors Coalition. Along with his wife Stephanie they have three kids.
Notes:

Discussion Questions

• Which of the five pillars of manhood was most helpful for you?
  

• How is God’s definition of manhood on a collision course with the world?
  

• Which of these is most challenging in your life right now:“being there” in your relationships– carrying a heavy load for a long time – or being gentle and humble instead of letting pride get the best of you?
  

• How does Jesus provide a picture of masculinity for us?
  

Sharing and Prayer Time
In your groups of 3-4 men, talk about what challenges you are facing this week that need prayer; spend time praying for each other.

Wrap Up
With your whole group together, close by reading I Timothy 6:11-16 out loud. Then finish in prayer.

Assignment for Next Week
For next week’s discussion, you will be listening to a talk given by Chris Brown at the 2021 No Regrets Men’s Conference. The talk is entitled: Purity & Temptation and can be found on the No Regrets app, under Conference Media/2021 Platform speakers.

*Important Note - the app will not necessarily save your fill-in notes. Please click on Email and email your notes to yourself.