February 23, 2020 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Walking Humbly

Walking Humbly


Daniel 4:28-37 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. ²⁹ Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”

³¹ Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. ³² You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”

³³ Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

³⁴ At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion;
    his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
³⁵ All the peoples of the earth
    are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
    with the powers of heaven
    and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
    or say to him: “What have you done?”

³⁶ At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. ³⁷ Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.

Where was King Nebuchadnezzar when he said “is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty” (verses 28, 29 and 30)?

When did the voice come from heaven (verse 31)?

What has been taken away from King Nebuchadnezzar (verse 31)?

When was the prophecy of verse 32 fulfilled (verse 33)?

What happened when Nebuchadnezzar raised his “eyes toward heaven” (verse 34)?

Who did Nebuchadnezzar praise, honor and glorify (verse 34)?

Why was Nebuchadnezzar’s “honor and splendor” returned (verse 36)?

Who does Nebuchadnezzar “praise and exalt and glorify” (verse 37)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 5:1-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. ² When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” ¹³ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

When did the man with the impure spirit come from the tombs and meet Jesus (verse 2)?

What happened when the man was “chained hand and foot” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why would the man “cry out and cut himself with stones” (verse 5)?

What did the man do “when he saw Jesus from a distance” (verse 6)?

How did he ask Jesus “What do you want with me, Jesus” (verse 7)?

What had Jesus said to him (verse 8)?

Why was the name Legion (verse 9)?

What did Legion beg for (verse 12)?

How many pigs “rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned” (verse 13)?

What did people come out to see (verse 14)?

Why were the people afraid (verse 15)?

What did people plead for Jesus to do (verse 17)?

What did the man who had been demon-possessed beg to do (verse 18)?

What did Jesus tell the man to do (verse 19)?

How did the people in the Decapolis respond to the man (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how are Nebuchadnezzar’s actions in Daniel 4:28-37 when his sanity was restored and the actions of the man from the tombs in Mark 5:1-20 after the demons were sent away similar?

Acts 19:11-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

¹³ Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

¹⁷ When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. ¹⁸ Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. ¹⁹ A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰ In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

Who “did extraordinary miracles” (verse 11)?

What effect did the handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul have on the sick (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why did some of the Jews try to “invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed” (verse 13)?

What position did Sceva have (verse 14)?

How did the evil spirit answer the seven sons of Sceva (verse 15)?

Why did the seven sons of Sceva run “out of the house naked and bleeding” (verse 16)?

What happened “when this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did “many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done” (verse 18)?

What was valued at fifty thousand drachmas (verse 19)?

What “spread widely and grew in power” (verse 20)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is Nebuchadnezzar as he stood on the roof of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted in Daniel 4:28-37 similar to the seven sons of Sceva as they said “in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out” in Acts 19:11-20?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the different results of Jesus casting out the “Legion” of demons in Mark 5:1-20 and the seven sons of Sceva being overpowered and beaten by the man possessed by an evil spirit in Acts 19:11-20?

James 4:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

What are the results of the “desires that battle within you” (verse 1)?

Why do Christians “quarrel and fight” (verse 2)?

What wrong motives cause Christians to ask God but not receive (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why is friendship with the world “enmity against God” (verse 4)?

What does Scripture say that God jealously longs for (verse 5)?

Who does God show favor to (verse 6)?

How should we respond to God (verse 7)?

What happens when we resist the devil (verse 7)?

When will God come near to us (verse 8)?

What are the double-minded to do (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why is it important to “grieve, mourn and wail” (verse 9)?

When will the Lord “lift you up” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the truth of James 4:1-10 shown by Nebuchadnezzar’s “friendship with the world” and humbling himself “before the Lord” in Daniel 4:28-37?

In your opinion, what does James 4:1-10 help us understand about the motives of the people who pled for Jesus to “leave their region” in Mark 5:1-20?  How were their motives similar to the motives of the “Legion” of impure spirits?

In your opinion, what does James’s discussion in James 4:1-10 help us understand about the difference in between Paul and the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19:11-20?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Daniel, Mark, Acts and James reveal to us about the difference between being self reliant with pride and being humble while praising the King of heaven?

In your opinion, how do we walk humbly?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 16, 2020 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Godly Calm in Worldly Storms

Godly Calm in Worldly Storms


Jonah 1:1-16 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

³ But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

⁴ Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ⁵ All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. ⁶ The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

⁷ Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

⁹ He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

¹⁰ This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

¹¹ The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

¹² “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

¹³ Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. ¹⁴ Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.” ¹⁵ Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. ¹⁶ At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

Why was Jonah to go to Nineveh and to preach against it (verses 1 and 2)?

Where did Jonah start for (verse 3)?

How did the Lord respond to Jonah fleeing (verse 4)?

Who did the sailors cry out to (verse 5)?

What was Jonah doing as the sailors tried to lighten the load (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did the capitan want Jonah to “get up and call on your god” (verse 6)?

How did the sailors decide that Jonah was responsible for the calamity (verse 7)?

How does Jonah describe God in his answer to the sailor’s questions (verses 8 and 9)?

In your opinion, why were the sailors terrified (verse 10)?

Why did the sailors ask “what should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us” (verse 11)?

How did Jonah answer the question (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why did the sailors try to row back to land (verse 13)?

What did the sailors pray (verse 14)?

What happened when they threw Jonah overboard (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why did the sailors greatly fear the Lord (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 4:35-41 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

When did Jesus say let us go over to the other side” (verse 35)?

What did the disciples do (verse 36)?

Why was the boat nearly swamped (verse 37)?

Where was Jesus (verse 38)?

What did the disciples ask Jesus (verse 39)?

When did the wind die down (verse 39)?

In your opinion, why were the disciples afraid (verse 40)?

How did the disciples feel after they were saved (verse 41)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does Jonah 1:1-16 and Mark 4:35-41 teach us about the power of God?  Are we also terrified when we see God’s power in action?

Acts 27:13-26 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. ¹⁴ Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. ¹⁵ The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. ¹⁶ As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, ¹⁷ so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. ¹⁸ We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. ¹⁹ On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

²¹ After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. ²² But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³ Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴ and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ ²⁵ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. ²⁶ Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

What did they do when the gentle south wind began to blow (verse 13)?

How did the wind change (verse 14)?

In your opinion, how did the wind control the ship (verse 15)?

Why was the lifeboat hoisted aboard (verses 16 and 17)?

Why did they begin to throw cargo overboard (verse 18)?

What did they throw overboard on the third day (verse 19)?

When did they give up hope of being saved (verse 20)?

In your opinion, why did Paul start out by saying “I told you so” (verse 21)?

Why should they keep their courage (verse 22)?

Who had come to Paul (verse 23)?

What must Paul do (verse 24)?

How did Paul respond to what the angel told him would happen (verse 25)?

What practical thing must they do to be saved (verse 26)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what can we learn from considering that the sailors in Jonah 1:1-16 had to throw Jonah overboard to save themselves, but the people on the ship in Acts 27:13-26 were going to be saved because Paul was with them and God wanted him to “stand trial before Caesar”?

In your opinion, do you feel differently about the salvation of the disciples in Mark 4:35-41 who were saved from a storm they were exposed to because Jesus had ordered them to cross the sea and the salvation of the people in Acts 27:13-26 who were saved from the storm they got into after they ignored Paul’s advice to not sail from Crete?

Romans 8:31-39 – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In your opinion, “if God is for us, who can be against us” (verse 31)?

What did God give up for us (verse 32)?

Who justifies (verse 33)?

Who is “interceding for us” (verse 34)?

In your opinion, can “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword” separate us from the love of Christ (verse 35)?

Why do “we face death all day long” (verse 36)?

How are we “more than conquerors” of all these things (verse 37)?

What can “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation” not do (verses 38 and 39)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what does the response of the sailors to the calming of the storm in Jonah 1:1-16 help us understand about how we should respond to the amazing promise that Paul makes about our salvation from all circumstances in Romans 8:31-39?

In your opinion, what does the disciple’s response to the storm and the salvation they received in Mark 4:35-41 show us about what they understood, at that moment, about the amazing love “of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Paul tells us about in Romans 8:31-39?

In your opinion, how do you think Paul’s knowledge in Romans 8:31-39, that God had given up His Son to justify him, and that Jesus was interceding for him, help him to maintain his courage in the midst of the storm of Acts 27:13-26 and in the trial before Caesar that is to come later?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Jonah, Mark, Acts and Romans teach us about the storms of our lives and God’s presence in them?

In your opinion, how can we have a calmness as the storms of the world rage around us?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 9, 2020 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Growing Living Hearts in Stone

Growing Living Hearts in Stone


Daniel 2:36-45 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. ³⁷ Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; ³⁸ in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.

³⁹ “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. ⁴⁰ Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. ⁴¹ Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. ⁴² As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³ And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.

⁴⁴ “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. ⁴⁵ This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.

“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

What is Daniel going to do (verse 36)?

What has God given to the king  (verse 37)?

In your opinion, why is the king the head of gold (verse 38)?

How does the second kingdom compare to the king’s kingdom (verse 39)?

What is different about the third kingdom (verse 39)?

How will the fourth kingdom treat “all the others” (verse 40)?

Why does Daniel say the fourth kingdom “will be a divided kingdom” (verse 41)?

Who will “set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people” (verse 44)?

What did the “rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” break (verse 45)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 4:26-34 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

³⁰ Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

³³ With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. ³⁴ He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

What is the kingdom of God like (verse 26)?

When does the seed sprout and grow (verse 27)?

How does the soil produce grain (verse 28)?

What happens when the grain is ripe (verse 29)?

How is the mustard seed, which the kingdom of God is like, described (verses 30 and 31)?

What does the mustard seed become (verse 32)?

How much of the word did Jesus speak to them (verse 33)?

What was different about the way Jesus treated the people and His disciples (verse 34)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the description of the kingdom of God as being like the tiny mustard seed in Mark 4:26-34 instead of the kingdom crushing mountain of Daniel 36-45 reassuring to members of the kingdom of God today?  Why is the crushing mountain of Daniel also an important image?

Acts 11:19-26 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. ²⁰ Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

²² News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. ²⁴ He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, ²⁶ and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

What did those who were “scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed” do (verse 19)?

Who did the “men from Cyprus and Cyrene” begin to tell the “good news about the Lord Jesus” to (verse 20)?

What was with the “men from Cyprus and Cyrene” (verse 21)?

Who sent Barnabas to Antioch (verse 22)?

What did Barnabas encourage the Greek believers in Antioch to do (verse 23)?

How was Barnabas described (verse 24)?

In your opinion, why did Barnabas find Saul and bring him to Antioch (verses 25 and 26)?

What first happened in Antioch (verse 26)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the beginning of the fulfillment of the “vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands” crushing kingdoms of Daniel 2:36-45 seen in the results of the persecution of Acts 11:19-26?

In your opinion, how is the promise of the kingdom of God being like the seed sprouting and growing even though the man did not know how in Mark 4:26-33 fulfilled by the people scattered by persecution in Acts 11:19-26?

1 Peter 2:4-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.”

⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

⁸ and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

How does Peter describe the relationship of God with “the living Stone” (verse 4)?

What are “living stones” being built into (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why is it significant that Jesus in the “chosen and precious cornerstone” of the “spiritual house” that Christians are being built into (verses 5 and 6)?

Why do “those who do not believe” stumble (verses 7 and 8)?

What are those who are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” to declare (verse 9)?

What are the people who once “were not a people” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how are the people who were not a people but now are “living stones . . . being built into a spiritual house” on the cornerstone of Jesus in 1 Peter 2:4-10 a way to look at the stone cut out but not by human hands that will crush the metal kingdoms and become a kingdom that will endure forever in Daniel 2:36-45?

In your opinion, how does Peter combine the growing of the kingdom of God which Jesus describes as seeds sprouting and growing in Mark 4:26-33 with the Old Testament quotes about stones he uses in 1 Peter 2:4-10?

In your opinion, how are the persecuted Jewish believers speaking to the Greeks in Antioch in Acts 11:16-26 a powerful example of the Christians that Peter says “once were not a people, but now you are the people of God”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Daniel, Mark, Acts and 1 Peter teach us about the kingdom of God?

In your opinion, as living stones growing into a mountain that endures, what do we learn from Barnabas who encourages us to remain true to the Lord with all our hearts?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 2, 2020 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Lasting Radiance

Lasting Radiance


Exodus 34:29-35 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. ³⁰ When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. ³¹ But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. ³² Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai.

³³ When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. ³⁴ But whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, ³⁵ they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.

When was Moses’s face radiant (verse 29)?

Who was afraid to come near Moses because of his radiant face (verse 30)?

What did Aaron and the community leaders do when Moses called them (verse 31)?

What did Moses do when all the Israelites came near him (verse 32)?

When did Moses put a veil over his face (verse 33)?

In your opinion, why did Moses take the veil off “whenever he entered the Lord’s presence to speak with him” (verse 34)?

When would Moses put the veil back over his face (verse 35)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 4:21-25 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? ²² For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. ²⁵ Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

Where is a lamp put (verse 21)?

What is “meant to be disclosed” (verse 22)?

Where is “whatever is concealed” meant to be (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “if anyone has ears to hear, let them hear” (verse 23)?

How will what we hear be measured (verse 24)?

What will happen for “whoever has” (verse 25)?

What will be taken away from “whoever does not have” (verse 25)?

In your opinion, “has” or “does not have” what (verse 25)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does Moses’s face that he received when he entered the Lord’s presence in Exodus 34:29-35 help us understand what it means to be the lamp that Jesus refers to in Mark 4:21-25? 

Acts 13:4-12 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. ⁵ When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

⁶ They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. ⁹ Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰ “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

How were Barnabas and Saul “sent on their way” (verse 4)?

What did they proclaim in Salamis in the Jewish synagogues (verse 5)?

Who is Bar-Jesus (verse 6)?

Why did the proconsul send for Barnabas and Saul (verse 7)?

Who opposed them (verse 8)?

What filled Paul (verse 9)?

How did Paul describe Elymas (verse 10)?

What was going to be the proof that the hand of the Lord was against Elymas (verse 11)?

Why did Elymas grope about (verse 11)?

Why did the proconsul believe (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is the difference between Moses speaking with the Lord and having a radiant face when he talked with the people in Exodus 34:29-35 and Paul being filled with the Holy Spirt and amazing the proconsul in Acts 13:4-12?

In your opinion, how is Elymas being made blind in Acts 13:4-12 an example of Jesus’s statement in Mark 4:21-25 that “whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them”?

2 Corinthians 3:7-18 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, ⁸ will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? ⁹ If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! ¹⁰ For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. ¹¹ And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

¹² Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

What was transitory but still brought so much glory that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses (verse 7)?

What will be even more glorious (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the ministry that brought condemnation (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is the ministry that brings righteousness (verse 9)?

Why can we be very bold (verse 12)?

Who “put a veil over his face to” (verse 13)?

What happened to the minds of the Israelites because of the veil (verse 14)?

How is the veil taken away (verse 14)?

What happens when Moses is read (verse 15)?

When is the veil taken away (verse 16)?

Where is there freedom (verse 17)?

What is happening to those who “with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is Moses’s transformation everytime he was in the Lord’s presence in Exodus 34:29-35 an example for those who have turned to the Lord in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18?

In your opinion, how does Jesus’s lesson in Mark 4:21-25 relate to those who have turned to the Lord and are being transformed as described in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18?

In your opinion, what should those who have turned to the Lord as described in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 learn from the opposition of Elymas to Barnabas and Paul who were full of the Holy Spirit according to Acts 13:4-12?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Mark, Acts and 2 Corinthians teach us about what it means to be a radiant Christian?

In your opinion, how can we be a lamp on a stand?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)