July 14, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Practical Love

Practical Love

Leviticus 19:14-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord.

¹⁵ “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.

¹⁶ “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people.

“‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.

¹⁷ “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.

¹⁸ “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

In your opinion, what would happen if you “put a stumbling block in front of the blind” (verse 14)?

What should not be shown to the poor (verse 15)?

What should not be shown to the great (verse 15)?

Where should slander not be spread (verse 16)?

Who should not be endangered (verse 16)?

Who should not be hated (verse 17)?

How should a neighbor be loved (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about practical love?

Matthew 18:15-22 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ¹⁷ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

¹⁸ “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

How many people should initially be taken when a Christian goes to point out a fault (verse 15)?

Why should “one or two” be taken the next time (verse 16)?

What is to happen if they “refuse to listen even to the church” (verse 17)?

Where will whatever is loosed on earth also be loosed (verse 18)?

Who will do what two agree about and ask for (verse 19)?

Where will Jesus be (verse 20)?

How many times did Peter think he should have to forgive his brother or sister (verse 21)?

How many times did Jesus say that Peter should forgive his brother or sister (verse 22)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about practical love?

In your opinion, how does Jesus’s instructions in Matthew 18:15-22 follow the instructions of Deuteronomy 17:2-13?

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, ⁸ nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. ¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

¹¹ We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. ¹² Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. ¹³ And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

¹⁴ Take special note of anyone who does not obey our instruction in this letter. Do not associate with them, in order that they may feel ashamed. ¹⁵ Yet do not regard them as an enemy, but warn them as you would a fellow believer.

Who are Christian “brothers and sisters” to keep away from (verse 6)?

What did Paul and his companions do while they were among the Thessalonians (verses 7-8)?

Why did they do this (verse 9)?

What rule did they give (verse 10)?

How did the “busybodies” behave (verse 11)?

What are these people commanded and urged “in the Lord Jesus Christ” to do (verse 12)?

What should “brothers and sisters” never tire of (verse 13)?

Why are the people who don’t obey this instruction to not be associated with (verse 14)?

How are they not to be regarded (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about practical love?

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the instructions in Deuteronomy 17:2-13 and in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15?

In your opinion, what does 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 help us understand about the instructions of Jesus in Matthew 18:15-22 “treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector”?

1 John 3:18-24 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

How does John say we should not love (verse 18)?

How does John say we should love (verse 18)?

In your opinion, how does knowing that “God is greater than our hearts” set our hearts at rest “in his presence” (verses 19-20)?

When do we have “confidence before God” (verse 21)?

In your opinion, how is keeping his commands and doing what pleases God related to receiving from God “anything we ask” (verses 21-22)?

What is God’s command for us related to Jesus Christ (verse 23)?

What is God’s command for us related to “one another” (verse 23)?

How do we know that “he lives in us” (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about practical love?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the list of “do nots” in Deuteronomy 17:2-13 ends in a command to “love your neighbor” and the positive and affirming passage in 1 John 3:18-24 contains the similar command to “love one another”?

In your opinion, how do Jesus’s instructions in Matthew 18:15-22 help us implement the command in 1 John 3:18-24 to love “with actions and in truth”?

In your opinion, how could loving “with words or speech” which 1 John 3:18-24 warns against be similar to the “idle and disruptive” believer of 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Matthew, 2 Thessalonians, and 1 John teach us about living as a Christian among other Christians?

In your opinion, how do we share practical love in our interactions with other Christians today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

July 5, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Sheep Gone Astray

Sheep Gone Astray

1 Samuel 17:31-37 – New International Version (NIV)

³¹ What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

³² David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

Who was “reported to Saul” (verse 31)?

What didn’t David want anyone to lose “on account of this Philistine” (verse 32)?

Why did Saul think David could not fight the Philistine (verse 33)?

What had David been doing (verse 34)?

Where did David rescue the sheep from (verse 35)?

What did David say the Philistine would be like (verse 36)?

Who will rescue David (verse 37)?

How did Saul send David off (verse 37)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the Lord being with us?

Matthew 18:6-14 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. ⁷ Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! ⁸ If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 

¹² “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

How does Jesus explain who the “little ones” are (verse 6)?

Who does Jesus say has woe (verse 7)?

What should someone do if their hand or foot causes them to stumble (verse 8)?

What is entering “life with one eye” better than (verse 9)?

What do the angels of the little ones always see (verse 10)?

Where will the man leave the ninety-nine sheep (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why would he be happier with the one found sheep than the ninety-nine “that did not wander off” (verse 13)?

What is our Father not willing to allow (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the Lord being with us?

In your opinion, how does David’s discussion with King Saul in 1 Samuel 17:31-37 help us understand what it might mean for the shepherd in Matthew 18:6-14 to rescue the lost sheep?

1 Peter 2:21-25 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

²² “He committed no sin,
    and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

²³ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴ “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” ²⁵ For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

In whose steps should Christians follow (verse 21)?

Where was “no deceit” found (verse 22)?

What did Christ do when He was insulted and when He suffered (verse 23)?

Why did He bear “our sins” (verse 24)?

How are we healed (verse 24)?

What were we like (verse 25)?

Who have we “returned to” (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the Lord being with us?

In your opinion, how are what Christ did for the sheep who had gone astray in 1 Peter 2:21-25 different from what David describes he did in 1 Samuel 17:31-37?  How are they the same?

In your opinion, what does 1 Peter 2:21-25 help us understand about what must be cut off or gouged out to be saved as Jesus instructs in Matthew 18:6-14?

Revelation 7:13-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴ I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. ¹⁵ Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
    will shelter them with his presence.
¹⁶ ‘Never again will they hunger;
    never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
    nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb at the center of the throne
    will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

Who ask John about the people in the white robes (verse 13)?

Where had the people in the white robes come from (verse 14)?

What had they done (verse 14)?

How will they be sheltered (verse 15)?

When will they thirst (verse 16)?

What will the “Lamb at the center of the throne” be (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the Lord being with us?

In your opinion, how does the Lord rescuing David from the paw of the bear or the lion in 1 Samuel 17:31-37 help us understand about the rescue of those in the white robes from the “great tribulation” in Revelation 7:13-17?

In your opinion, how does Matthew 18:6-14 help us understand the Lamb who is the shepherd in Revelation 7:13-17?

In your opinion, how does 1 Peter 2:21-25 help us understand what it means to wash our robes as the people who escaped the great tribulation did in Revelation 7:13-17?

In your opinion, what do these passages from 1 Samuel, Matthew, 1 Peter, and Revelation teach us about the sacrifice the Great Shepherd has made on our behalf?

In your opinion, what is our job as shepherds in the world today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

June 28, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Diligent Humility

Diligent Humility

Numbers 12:1-15 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. ² “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the Lord heard this.

³ (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

⁴ At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them went out. ⁵ Then the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, ⁶ he said, “Listen to my words:

“When there is a prophet among you,
    I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,
    I speak to them in dreams.
⁷ But this is not true of my servant Moses;
    he is faithful in all my house.
⁸ With him I speak face to face,
    clearly and not in riddles;
    he sees the form of the Lord.
Why then were you not afraid
    to speak against my servant Moses?”

⁹ The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.

¹⁰ When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous—it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, ¹¹ and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. ¹² Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.”

¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “Please, God, heal her!”

¹⁴ The Lord replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” ¹⁵ So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back.

Why did Miriam and Aaron begin to “talk against Moses” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what do the questions “has the Lord spoken only through Moses” and “hasn’t he also spoken through us” reveal about their real complaint (verse 2)?

What was Moses (verse 3)?

Who called Moses, Aaron and Miriam to the tent of meeting (verse 4)?

Why did Aaron and Miriam step forward (verse 5)?

How did the Lord reveal Himself to a prophet (verse 6)?

How did the Lord reveal Himself to Moses (verses 7 and 8)?

What burned “against them” (verse 9)?

What was revealed “when the cloud lifted from above the tent” (verse 10)?

Who did Aaron ask “not to hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed” (verse 11)?

How did Moses respond (verse 13)?

Where was Miriam to be confined for seven days (verse 14)?

What did the people not do “till she was brought back” (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about greatness “in the kingdom of heaven”?

Matthew 18:1-5 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

² He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³ And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Therefore, whoever takes the lowly [humble] position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Who came to Jesus (verse 1)?

What did they want to know (verse 1)?

Where did Jesus place the little child (verse 2)?

What did Jesus say the disciples needed to do to “enter the kingdom of heaven” (verse 3)?

Who will be the “greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (verse 4)?

What does the one who “welcomes one such child in” Jesus’s name do (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about greatness “in the kingdom of heaven”?

In your opinion, How does Jesus’s instruction to become like “little children” in Matthew 8:1-5 help us understand why the Lord’s anger “burned against” Miriam and Aaron in Numbers 12:1-15?

Romans 16:17-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. ¹⁸ For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. ¹⁹ Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Who does Paul want his Roman “brothers and sisters” to watch out for (verse 17)?

What are these people serving (verse 18)?

How are “the minds of naïve people” deceived (verse 18)?

What does Paul want them “to be wise” about (verse 19)?

What does Paul want them to be “innocent about” (verse 19)?

What does Paul want to be with them (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about greatness “in the kingdom of heaven”?

In your opinion, who are the people in Numbers 12:1-15 that Romans 16:17-20 urges us to “watch out for”?

In your opinion, what does Romans 16:17-20 help us understand about the question, “who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 18:1-5?

Hebrews 6:1-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, ² instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And God permitting, we will do so.

⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age ⁶ and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. ⁷ Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. ⁸ But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

⁹ Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. ¹⁰ God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. ¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

What are Christians to “be taken forward to” (verse 1)?

What are the “elementary teachings about Christ” (verses 1 and 2)?

Who cannot “be brought back to repentance” (verses 4, 5, and 6)?

What does “land that drinks in the rain” and produces a useful crop receive (verse 7)?

What is “land that produces thorns and thistles” in danger of (verse 8)?

What are the “better things” for the “dear friends” (verse 9)?

What will God not forget (verse 10)?

Why are Christians to continue to show “diligence to the very end” (verse 11)?

Who should Christians “imitate” (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about greatness “in the kingdom of heaven”?

In your opinion, what can we learn from Numbers 12:1-15 about the land that produces a “useful” crop and the land that produces “thorns and thistles” in Hebrews 6:1-12?

In your opinion, how do you reconcile the teaching of Jesus to become “like little children” in Matthew 18:1-5 with the instruction to be “taken forward to maturity” in Hebrews 6:1-12?

In your opinion, how do the instructions of Hebrews 6:1-12 help us avoid being the “naïve people” that Romans 16:17-20 warns will fall prey to smooth talk and flattery?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Numbers, Matthew, Romans, and Hebrews teach us about how our humility changes as we mature in our relationship with God?

In your opinion, how do we show diligence today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)