Listening and
Doing
Joshua 8:30-35 - New International Version (NIV)
30 Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, 31 as
Moses the servant of the Lord had
commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book
of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been
used. On it they offered to the Lord
burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. 32 There,
in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of
Moses. 33 All the Israelites, with their elders,
officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, facing the Levitical
priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the
native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and
half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave
instructions to bless the people of Israel.
34 Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and
the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There
was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the
whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners
who lived among them.
Where
did Joshua build an alter to the Lord, the God of Israel (verse 30)?
What was special about the stones that he used
to build the alter (verse 31)?
In your opinion, what were the purposes of the
burnt offerings and fellowship offerings (verse 31)?
What did Joshua do “in the presence of the Israelites” (verse 32)?
Who was standing on “both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord” (verse 33)?
What did Joshua read (verse 34)?
Who did Joshua read to (verse 35)?
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 He call (verse 13)?
What did those He called do (verse 13)?
Why did He appoint twelve (verse 14)?
In your opinion, why did Jesus give them
authority to drive out demons (verse 15)?
What name did Jesus give to Peter (verse 16)?
Who did Jesus call the “sons of thunder” (verse 17)?
What did Judas Iscariot do (verse 19)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, how is Joshua building the
alter, writing the law of Moses on the stones, and reading all the words that
are written in the Book of the Law to all the Israelites and all who are with
them in Joshua 8:30-35 similar to Jesus appointing the twelve and giving them
authority in Mark 3:13-19?
Acts
6:1-7 – New
International Version (NIV)
1 In those days when the
number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them
complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked
in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve
gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to
neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers
and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the
Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and
will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the
whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit;
also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a
convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the
apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread.
The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of
priests became obedient to the faith.
What
was happening to the number of disciples (verse 1)?
Why were the Hellenistic Jews
complaining (verse 1)?
In your opinion, why did the Twelve
think “it would not be right for us to
neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables” (verse 2)?
Who was to choose the seven men (verse
3)?
What will the Twelve turn over after
the seven men are chosen (verse 3)?
What will the Twelve give their
attention to (verse 4)?
How did the group view the proposal
(verse 5)?
Who was described as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit”
(verse 5)?
What did the apostles do when the men
were presented to them (verse 6)?
What happened to the word of God
(verse 7)?
What happened to the number of
disciples in Jerusalem (verse 7)?
What happened to “a large number of priests” (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is what Joshua did in
building the alter and then reading the entire Book of the Law to the
Israelites in Joshua 8:30-35 similar to what the Twelve apostles did when they
prayed and laid hands on the seven in Acts 6:1-7?
In your opinion, what is different
between Jesus appointing the twelve and then giving them authority to drive out
demons in Mark 3:13-19 and the Twelve having men selected and then turning
responsibility over to them in Acts 6:1-7?
James
1:19-27 – New
International Version (NIV)
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should
be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because
human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore,
get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept
the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do
what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does
not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and,
after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that
gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but
doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
26 Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a
tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is
worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as
pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress
and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
What should everyone be quick to do (verse 19)?
In your opinion, why should everyone be “slow to speak and slow to become angry”
(verse 19)?
What is not produced by human anger (verse 20)?
What are we to get rid of (verse 21)?
How should we accept “the word planted in you, which can save you” (verse 21)?
How can we deceive ourselves (verse 22)?
Who is like “someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at
himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (verses 23
and 24)?
Who will be “blessed in what they do” (verse 25)?
In your opinion, why is the religion of
someone who considers themselves religious and does not “keep a tight rein on their tongues” worthless (verse 26)?
What is “religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless” (verse 27)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, how does James who said in James
1:19-27 “whoever
looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not
forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they
do” illustrate
his agreement with Joshua who over a thousand years earlier in Joshua 8:30-35 wrote
on stones a copy of the of the law of Moses?
In your opinion, what should we who are called
to be brothers and sisters learn from Jesus’s calling and instructing the
twelve in Mark 3:13-19 and from the instructions in James 1:19-27?
In your opinion, what should we learn from the
care for the widows that the Twelve apostles made sure was correctly
administered in Acts 6:1-7 and the James’s instruction in James 1:19-27 that “religion
that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after
orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by
the world”?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua,
Mark, Acts, and James teach us about our calling today?
What does listening to the words of this
lesson show you about yourself?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment