1. Living Beautifully
Lesson 1 – Ruth 1

2. ANNOUNCEMENTS Snack Time (11:00-11:30 + After the lesson) GroupMe
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KAHOOT!
February Social (Valentine’s)
More details to come soon
Snack: it’s 11-11:30 just so there isn’t any distraction during the lesson, so be sure to be on time so you can grab snack before the lesson and you have something to snack on during! We don’t really have that big a problem this year, but just so you know.
GroupMe: If you’re not on groupme, please download it so that you’re up to date on any events or be in contact with the girls in our group! 
KAHOOT!: we use kahoot which is just a fun way to quiz everyone about the previous lesson… so you better be listening! LOL. But really.
February Social: Usually we have Valentine dinner where we dress up and go out, which will most likely be it. But more details about it will be announced later
ASK ANGEL IF THERE ARE ANY MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS
BEFORE YOU START, ASK SOMEONE TO PRAY! 

3. ONE WORD
What is your one word to describe what you learned this week from the lesson?
You don't have to describe or say why you chose your word, if you did the lesson, you would understand why they did.
My one word would be: Faithful

4. INTRODUCTION OF BOOK OF RUTH
CHARACTERS:
Elimelech and Naomi (parents)
Mahlon and Chilion (sons)
Orpah and Ruth (son’s wives)
Mainly set in the town of Bethlehem of Judah (Promise land)
Famine struck the land → forced them to move to Moab
During time of judges: no king, so everyone did what was right in their own eyes
Moab (Pagan land)
Worshipping more than one god
This first chapter is mainly about Naomi’s journey in her faith.

5. The Grass is Always Greener…? (Ruth 1:1-2)
1st stage of the sin cycle: DISOBEDIENCE
When trials come your way, are you gonna stay put and trust that God will get you through it or will you make your own way out?
Proverbs 21:31
Elimelech: “God is king”
Oh the irony.
Has there been a time you turned your back on God?
If so, what happened then?
So the story starts out with a famine going on in Bethlehem to which the husband comes to the decision to move the family out and go to the land of Moab where there is food.
Reminder, Bethlehem being the Promise Land and Moab being the Pagan land. They left the promise land, where they were under God’s provision to seek for “better,” just because there was a trial in their way.
They turned their back to God and His will for what they thought was better… This we see here is the disobedience. The start of the sin cycle.
When trials come our way, are you gonna stay put and trust that God will get you through it or will you make your own way out?
There are going to be moments in our life where life will come at you hard, and you have to come to a decision about what you will do about it. I know the ideal answer is to trust God, but in reality and honestly speaking, we like to take matters into our own hands.
We live in a “microwave” society. Meaning we take control of everything and do it quickly to fulfill that instant gratification.
But we should make it a habit, to trust God during these times. This is not a battle you have to face alone.
Provers 21:31 “Victory belongs to the Lord.” HE WILL DELIVER US! So trust Him!
Elimelech’s name means “God is king,” how ironic? His name means that, but he didn’t let God rule his life and didn’t trust God to provide for his family during the famine. Now we see the result of his disobedience. He saw what he thought was better and now we will see what happens…
Before we go on, I want to ask,
Has there been a time you turned your back on God?
If so, what happened?
Yes, I have. For me any trial that came my way, I took matters into my own hands just like Elimelech. I relied on my own strength, yet it was the one thing to always bring me down. It brought me all the way down to rock bottom where I had no choice but to look up...

6. Down and Out (Ruth 1:3-7) 2nd stage of the sin cycle: DISCIPLINE
Why do you think God disciplines us?
Hebrews 12:5-6
Why do you think it takes us until the very last minute to look back to God?
2 Timothy 2:13
The next part we see the start of God’s discipline on Elimelech’s family because of their disobedience of turning away from God.
Why do you think God disciplines us?
I know sometimes when trials come at you, you can’t help but think that God is against you, but he’s doing that to “get your attention, correct our behavior, or express His love.” When I was going through trials my immediate response was, “how can I fix this?” and God was never a single thought in my head. To which, he corrects me to make me turn to Him... Which leads us to our next stage in the sin cycle discipline.
It starts off with the death of Elimelech. Did that change their attitude? Nope.
Instead, the sons took up their dad’s example by doing things their own way and took on wives from Moab, which is strictly forbidden. Obviously their minds are set.
Then, they STAYED there for 10 years! By then, Naomi’s sons have died, with no children to continue their family line. 10 years was enough time to conceive yet, neither of the wives did. This was the last straw…
Naomi’s family left Israel to escape death, yet it came anyways. 10 years living in that sin and what is left if just Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws. I can’t imagine what Naomi is feeling, and God saw that. In the book, it says, “God is sensitive to weakness. He loves to help those who can’t help themselves…” To which He sends a glimmer of hope for Naomi when she hears about Him delivering bread to His people. It took 10 years, for her to look back.
Why do you think it takes us until the last minute to look back to God?
We’re stubborn
We still think we can do it without help
Sometimes it takes that long for us to look back, look at Naomi, it took her 10 years! It wasn’t until that God saw Naomi helpless that he sent that glimmer of hope for Naomi to come back home to Him.
2 Timothy 2:13

7. Fork in the Road (Ruth 1:8-14)
3rd stage of sin cycle: DESPAIR
The complete loss or absence of hope
To which results in us asking for help
Has there been a time where you thought your parents “hated” you based on how much they’ve disciplined you?
If so, why?
Has there been a time where you thought God “hated” you based on the trials/discipline in your life?
How should suffering affect our attitude towards God?
Have you ever felt empty and afflicted by God as Naomi did?
How did you respond? What did God do in your situation?
Naomi’s last hope was to return home, but still believed that God was against her and didn’t want to drag down her daughters with her anymore and urged them to move on and go home.
Yet in the midst of their struggles she still asks the Lord to bless her daughters as she tries to make a tearful separation. I think that is so admirable though. That despite all that is going on in Naomi’s life, instead she prayed for her daughters focusing her concerns to others even though she may need it more.
Naomi’s decision to return home was her repentance. Realizing there was no other way but God.
Like I mentioned in the other slide, sometimes we think God is against us when bad things come our way, but it’s like how a parent disciplines their child, with love, even if it’s tough love, it helps us see the error of our ways.
Has there been a time where you thought your parents ”hate” you based on how much they’ve discipline you?
When I was a child, I was that typical kid when my parents scolded me I would say, “You hate me!” “I don’t love you anymore.” Just because they disciplined me and I didn’t like it.
After that, that led to grounding or taking your favorite things away, and it’s the end of the world to you so you say you won’t ever do it again and you do your best to never do it.
Has there been a time you thought God “hated” you based on the trials/discipline in your life?
Yes. So many bad things kept happening I couldn’t help but ask God, “why me?!” “why do you hate me that I can’t live happily?!”
It’s so easy for us to blame rather than decide who will fix it.
God is ready for us to ask for His help, yet we don’t ask Him and instead, we blame Him for the problems in our lives
How should suffering affect our attitude towards God?
It should bring us closer to God, yet a lot of the time we push Him away
Have you ever felt empty and afflicted by God as Naomi did? How did you respond? What did God do in your situation?
I can’t really name a specific time, but I know I felt helpless like she did because I tried everything that I could, but I had nothing else and I had no choice but to ask for help, God brought hope into my life

8. The Road Less Traveled (Ruth 1:15-18)
RUTH: loyal and willing to deny her own people to follow Naomi and her God
If you were in Ruth’s situation would you be able to do the same? Why or why not?
When people look at your life, will they be able to say, “I want your God to be my God?”
If not, why not? How can you change that?
Decision making:
Trust in God
Don’t depend on self
Make God’s will your own
Proverbs 3:5-6
Orpah has gone back to her home and Naomi is still trying to convince Ruth to leave her, but Ruth is determined to not leave her.
This is the first we finally get a glimpse of who Ruth was and wow…
“for wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
Ruth is loyal and willing to deny her people to follow Naomi and her God! In Ruth’s eyes, the path where it doesn’t seem clear was ideal because she trusts and is loyal to Naomi. She could’ve went the easy way out like Orpah and go home and find a new husband and have her own family. Ruth didn’t care that she had nothing but her mother-in-law, the trust she had in her and God despite the continuous tragedies that came their way.
If you were in Ruth’s situation would you be able to do the same? Why or why not?
People should look at your life, just as Ruth saw Naomi’s and be able to say, “I want your God to be my God.” Your trust in God and turning towards Him in tough situations, will be the thing that draws others to God.
When people look at your life, will they be able to say, “I want your God to be my God?”
If not, why not? How can you change that?
Ruth was given the option to choose where she wanted to go in life, one path, unsure how it will look like, but trust that all will be well, and the other path where it shown what the world had to offer. Ruth chose God and trusted despite the unknown to that path.
In the book it said, “Deciding which direction to take is as simple as 1, 2, 3: (1) Trust in God; (2) Don’t depend on self; (3) Make God’s will your own.” God gave us the free will to make our own decisions, but to stay in line with God we should apply this in our own lives that in every decision we make we trust God despite the path looking unclear!

9. There’s No Place Like Home (Ruth 1:19-22)
4th stage of the sin cycle: DELIVERANCE
The action of being rescued or set free
Why do you think the people were excited to see them?
Has there been a time in your life that you felt the need to run away?
What stopped you? Or what made you come back home?
They make it back to Bethlehem! And the people were EXCITED because of them.
Why do you think the people were excited to see them?
It’s like they’re returning home
Family worried when one leaves and their arms are always wide open when you come back
EX: When you see your brother/sister fall away from God, you worry and you pray that God brings them back – not our ”job” to bring them back, it’s between them and God to come home and when they do, you are excited with arms wide open to welcome them back into your home.
We can’t last long without God. God showed that through Naomi.
Has there been a time in your life that you felt the need to run away? What stopped you? Or what made you come back home?
There has been a couple times I wanted to run away, but there was only one time I actually acted on it. Don’t get your hopes up for a great story because this one is short. Basically, I packed a bag (at the time I was young and can’t drive) and waited until night time to do it. I watched many cartoons about it and they make it seem easy, so why not me? See, I quietly opened the front door ready to run, then I looked into the dead of night and barely even one step and every pros and cons came to mind… mostly cons. Where am I going to go? What will I eat after I finish my food? I can’t go far cause I can’t drive.... I’m also scared of the dark. I took my one step back and went back home realizing I can’t make it on my own.
Same with God. Taking those couple steps away from God and you’re on your own. You try your best to do it, but at the end of the day, you realize you can’t. So you go back to Him because without Him, you can’t go far.
Despite leaving the Promise land full, she came back empty.
Notice everything is opposite compared to the beginning…
Naomi left the Promise land full, and came back empty
Started with Promise land going through famine, and came back to harvest beginning!
God has delivered them through once they turned back to Him!

10. CHALLENGE/JOURNAL QUESTION
JOURNAL: Write about a time you did things on your own, how did it turn out vs. a time you asked God for help.
CHALLENGE: Think of someone who has fallen away from or doesn’t know God, I want you to take the time to pray for them at least once this week.

11. ACCOUNTABILITY What did you think of the lesson?
What has God been teaching you this week?
How can we pray for you?