May 20, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Love the Lost

Love the Lost

Joshua 13:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)                

¹ When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

² “This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites, ³ from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north, all of it counted as Canaanite though held by the five Philistine rulers in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron; the territory of the Avvites ⁴ on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, from Arah of the Sidonians as far as Aphek and the border of the Amorites; ⁵ the area of Byblos; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

⁶ “As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, that is, all the Sidonians, I myself will drive them out before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you, ⁷ and divide it as an inheritance among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.”

What did the Lord tell Joshua when he “had grown old” (verse 1)?

Who would drive out the inhabitants of the mountain regions (verse 6)?

What was Joshua to do with the mountain regions (verses 6 and 7)?

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

Mark 6:6b-13 - New International Version (NIV)

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷ Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

⁸ These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Where did Jesus go around teaching (verse 6)?

What did Jesus give the Twelve (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus tell the Twelve to “take nothing for the journey except a staff” (verse 8)?

What were the Twelve not to wear (verse 9)?

How long were the Twelve to stay in the houses they entered (verse 10)?

Why were the Twelve to shake the dust off their feet at the places where they were not welcomed or listened to (verse 11)?

What did the Twelve preach (verse 12)?

What did the Twelve do (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, why did God give the Israelites an inheritance in Joshua 13:1-7 and Jesus give the Twelve authority in Mark 6:6b-13?

Acts 8:9-24 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, ¹⁰ and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

¹⁴ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. ¹⁵ When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. ²³ For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

How did Simon amaze “all the people of Samaria” (verse 9)?

What did “all the people” call Simon (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what was the difference between what Simon did that caused the people to follow him and what Philip did that caused the people to be baptized (verses 11 and 12)?

What astonished Simon (verse 13)?

When did the apostles send Peter and John to Samaria (verse 14)?

Why did Peter and John pray for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit (verses 15 and 16)?

What happened when Peter and John placed their hands on the new believers (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did Simon offer money and ask to be given the ability “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit” (verses 18 & 19)?

Why did Peter tell Simon “may your money perish with you” (verse 20)?

What is not “right before God” (verse 21)?

What did Peter instruct Simon to do (verse 22)?

What did Peter see in Simon (verse 23)?

How did Simon respond to Peter (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, how is the kingdom of Israel, who God says still has “very large areas of land to be taken over” in Joshua 13:1-7 and the kingdom of God when Philip went to Samaria in Acts 8:9-24 similar?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the message of repentance that the Twelve gave when they went out in Mark 6:6b-13 and the message of Philip, Peter and John in Acts 8:9-24?

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

When would Paul (and we) be “only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why does Paul say that he is nothing if he has gifts of prophecy, knowledge and faith but does not have love (verse 2)?

What would Paul gain if he gave all he had to the poor and his body over to hardship and did not have love (verse 3)?

What is love (verse 4).

What does love not do (verse 5)?

What does love rejoice with (verse 6)?

What does love always do (verse 7)?

What does love never do (verse 8)?

When will the “in part” that we know and prophesy disappear (verses 9 and 10)?

What do we see now (verse 12)?

What remains (verse 13)?

What is the greatest (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 help us recognize about the difference between the kingdom that Joshua is helping to establish in Joshua 13:1-7 and the kingdom that Jesus established with his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead?

In your opinion, what is the long-term difference in results of the authority that Jesus gave to the Twelve in Mark 6:6b-13 and the love that Paul promotes in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13?

In your opinion, how is the difference between Philip and Simon in Acts 8:9-24 explained by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 1 Corinthians teach us about the foundation of the Kingdom of God?

In your opinion, how do we, as the kingdom of God, react to the large areas that are not part of the kingdom?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)