Grace and Peace
Ecclesiastes 1:1-10 –
New International Version (NIV)
1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
3 What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
Whose words fill
Ecclesiastes (verse 1)?
What is
meaningless (verse 2)?
In your opinion,
what do “people gain from all their
labors at which they toil under the sun” (verse
3)?
What comes and
goes while the “earth remains forever”
(verse 4)?
Where does the sun
hurry to (verse 5)?
What goes “round and round” (verse 6)?
In your opinion,
why is the sea never full (verse 7)?
What does the eye
never have enough of (verse 8)?
What is “new under the sun” (verse 9)?
In your opinion,
is there really nothing about which one can say “Look! This is something new” (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
Mark 3:13-19 - New
International Version (NIV)
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him
those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve
that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and
to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve
he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James
son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which
means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Where did Jesus go
(verse 13)?
Who did Jesus call to him (verse 13)?
Why did Jesus
appoint the twelve (verse 14)?
What authority did
Jesus give to the twelve (verse 15)?
Who did Jesus give
the name Peter (verse 16)?
In your opinion,
why did Jesus give James and John a name that means “sons of thunder” (verse 17)?
What is
distinctive about Judas Iscariot (verse 19)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, would the “Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem”
of Ecclesiastes 1:1-10 think that the appointment of the twelve, including the
traitor, and giving them authority to drive out demons in Mark 3:13-19 is “nothing new under the sun”?
Romans 3:21-26 - New
International Version (NIV)
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God
has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This
righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There
is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through
the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate
his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed
beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his
righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus.
What has been made known “apart from the law” (verse 21)?
What do the “Law and the Prophets” testify to (verse 21)?
What is given “through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (verse 22)?
Who has sinned and fallen “short of the glory of God” (verse 23)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when
he says “all are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (verse 24)?
How was Christ a “sacrifice of atonement” (verse 25)?
What was God’s forbearance (verse 25)?
What did God demonstrate “at the present time” (verse 26)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, what is the difference
between Jesus calling the twelve and giving them authority to drive out demons
in Mark 3:13-19 and Jesus giving righteousness through faith to all who believe
in Romans 3:21-26?
In your opinion, what is Paul proclaiming
in Romans 3:21-26 that is something new that the Teacher of Ecclesiastes 1:1-10
did not know about?
2 Peter 1:1-2 –
New International Version (NIV)
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To
those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have
received a faith as precious as ours:
2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord.
How does Simon Peter describe himself (verse 1)?
What have the recipients of the letter received
through the “righteousness of our God and
Savior Jesus Christ” (verse 1)?
What does Simon Peter want the blessings
of grace and peace to be through (verse 2)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how
does Peter in his blessing of “grace and
peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord”
in 2 Peter 1:1-2 help us understand the importance of understanding righteousness
and faith which both Peter and Paul in Romans 3:21-26 discussed?
In your opinion, what does it tell us that
although Peter received authority to cast out demons from Jesus in Mark
3:13-19, he focuses not on Jesus’s power or authority, but on His righteousness
2 Peter 1:1-2?
In your opinion, what
could the “Teacher, son of David, king in
Jerusalem” who found everything “meaningless”
in Ecclesiastes 1:1-10 have learned from 2 Peter 1:1-2 about what is
meaningful?
In your opinion,
what do these passages from Ecclesiastes, Mark, Romans and 2 Peter tell us about
what is meaningless and what leads to grace and peace?
In your opinion, what do these passages
show us about ourselves today?
Next, back to 2 Peter 1:3 –
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