October 15, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Now Go

Now Go

Exodus 4:10-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

¹³ But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. ¹⁷ But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

How did Moses explain his inadequacy (verse 10)?

Who gives humans mouths and sight (verse 11)?

What will the Lord teach Moses (verse 12)?

Who does Moses want the Lord to send (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why does “the Lord’s anger” burn against Moses (verse 14)?

What will Moses do for Aaron (verse 15)?

What will the Lord do for Moses and Aaron (verse 15)?

What will Aaron do for Moses (verse 16)?

Why was Moses supposed to take the staff (verse 17)?

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

Luke 3:7-18 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ “What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

¹³ “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

¹⁵ The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ¹⁸ And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

Who did John say were the “brood of vipers” (verse 7)?

What can God raise children for Abraham from (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “the as is already at the root of the trees” (verse 9)?

Who asks, “what should we do then” (verse 10)?

What should a person with two shirts do (verse 11)?

What should tax collectors to do (verses 12 and 13)?

Who is not to extort money and be content with their pay (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why were the people “wondering in their hearts if John might possible be the Messiah” (verse 15)?

What will the one who is coming do (verse 16)?

Where will the wheat be gathered into (verse 17)?

What did John proclaim to them (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what are the similarities between Aaron in Exodus 4:10-17 and John the Baptist in Luke 3:7-18; and what are their differences?

1 Corinthians 3:5-15 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

What has the Lord assigned to Apollos and Paul (verse 5)?

Who made the seed grow (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean by “neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything” (verse 7)?

How will the one who plants and the one who waters be rewarded (verse 8)?

What are Apollos and Paul (verse 9)?

How did Paul lay the “foundation as a wise builder” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid” (verse 11)?

What will “the Day” bring to light (verses 12 and 13)?

What will fire test (verse 13)?

Who will receive a reward (verse 14)?

How will the builder whose work is burned up be saved (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the unquenchable fire that John the Baptist says will “burn up the chaff” in Luke 3:7-18 and the fire that Paul says will “test the quality of each person’s work” in 1 Corinthians 3:5-15?

In your opinion, how can the relationship of Apollos and Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:5-15 help us understand the relationship of Moses and Aaron in Exodus 4:10-17?

James 2:14-26 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? ¹⁵ Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰ You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹ Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²² You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³ And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴ You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

²⁵ In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? ²⁶ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

What question does James ask the “brothers and sisters” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does James mean by his illustration of the one who says, “go in peace; keep warm and well fed” (verses 15 and 16)?

What is dead (verse 17)?

How will James show his faith (verse 18)?

What do demons believe and shudder about (verse 19)?

What was working together when Abraham offered his son Isaac on the alter (verses 21 and 22)?

Who was call “God’s friend” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what does James mean by “a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone” (verse 24)?

Who was considered righteous when they “gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction” (verse 25)?

What is faith without deeds (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn by comparing James’s discussion about showing faith through deeds in James 2:14-26 with Paul’s discussion about the testing of our work in 1 Corinthians 3:5-15?

In your opinion, how is the proclamation of John the Baptist to the “brood of vipers” in Luke 3:7-18 expanded by James in his discussion of living and dead faith in James 2:14-26?

In your opinion, what can we learn about faith and deeds from the words of Moses in Exodus 4:10-17 and how does God’s reaction to Moses in Exodus help us to have a greater understanding of James’s discussion of faith and deeds in James 2:14-26?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, 1 Corinthians and James teach us about living faith?

In your opinion, how does the baptism that John the Baptist promised Jesus would baptize with, “the Holy Spirit and fire”, change us today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)