July 8, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Love and Rest

Love and Rest

Joshua 23:9-16 - New International Version (NIV)              

⁹ “The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. ¹⁰ One of you routs a thousand, because the Lord your God fights for you, just as he promised. ¹¹ So be very careful to love the Lord your God.

¹² “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, ¹³ then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. ¹⁵ But just as all the good things the Lord your God has promised you have come to you, so he will bring on you all the evil things he has threatened, until the Lord your God has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. ¹⁶ If you violate the covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you.”

Who has driven out the “great and powerful nations” (verse 9)?

How could one Israelite rout a thousand (verse 10)?

What does Joshua tell the Israelites to “be very careful to” do (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why will the “survivors of these nations” become snares and traps for the Israelites if they intermarry and associate with them (verses 12 and 13)?

In your opinion, what does Joshua mean when he says he is “about to go the way of all the earth” (verse 14)?

What will the Lord bring on Israel just like “all the good things the Lord your God has promised have come to you” (verse 15)?

When will the Lord’s anger burn against the Israelites (verse 16)?

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

Mark 14:17-25 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸ While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹ They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely you don’t mean me?”

²⁰ “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”

²² While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

²⁴ “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. ²⁵ “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

When did Jesus arrive with the Twelve (verse 17)?

Who did Jesus say would betray Him (verse 18)?

How did the Twelve feel about the idea that one of them would betray Jesus (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what is the significance of the statement “one who dips bread into the bowl with me” (verse 20)?

How will the Son of Man go (verse 21)?

What would have been better for the one who betrays Jesus (verse 21)?

When did Jeus say “take it; this is my body” (verse 22)?

When did Jesus give them the cup (verse 23)?

What is “poured out for many” (verse 24)?

When will Jesus drink “again from the fruit of the vine” (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, what is the main difference between the departing message of Joshua to the people of Israel in Joshua 23:9-16 and the Last Supper message of Jesus to the Twelve in Mark 14:17-25?

Acts 17:22-34 – New International Version (NIV)

²² Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.

²⁴ “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. ²⁶ From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

²⁹ “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. ³⁰ In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹ For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

³² When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” ³³ At that, Paul left the Council. ³⁴ Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.

What did Paul see about the people of Athens (verse 22)?

Why did Paul say they were “ignorant of the very thing your worship” (verse 23)?

Who made “the world and everything in it” (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean by “he is not served by human hands” (verse 25)?

What did the Lord mark out (verse 26)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean by “though he is not far from any one of us” (verse 27)?

Where do we “live and move and have our being” (verse 28)?

What should we not think that God is like (verse 29)?

What does God now command all people to do (verse 30)?

In your opinion, how is God raising Jesus from the dead proof that “he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed” (verse 31)?

How did the people react to Paul talking about resurrection of the dead (verse 32)?

What did some people do (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between Joshua’s instruction of the Israelite people in Joshua 23:9-16 and Paul’s instruction to the people of Athens in Acts 17:22-34?

In your opinion, what is the a similarity between Jesus’s invitation to the Twelve in Mark 14:17-25 and Paul’s invitation the the people of Athens in Acts 17:22-34?

1 John 3:11-24 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 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.

What message have we heard from the beginning (verse 11)?

Why did Cain murder his brother (verse 12)?

What should not surprise Christians (verse 13)?

How do we “know that we have passed from death to life” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why is anyone who hates a brother or sister” a murderer (verse 15)?

How do we know what love is (verse 16)?

What should we do for “our brothers and sisters” (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what is Paul saying in verse 17?

How should we love (verse 18)?

What do we know “if our hearts condemn us” (verse 20)?

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

When do we “receive from him anything we ask” (verse 22)?

What is the command of God (verse 23)?

Where does  the one who keeps God’s command live (verse 24)?

How do we know that God lives in us (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, how does Joshua’s instruction to “be very careful to love the Lord your God” in Joshua 23:9-16 become John’s messges that “we should love one another” in 1 John 3:11-24?

In your opinion, how is Jesus’s message to the Twelve in Mark 14:17-25 the foundation of John’s message to Christians in 1 John 3:11-24?

In your opinion, how does John’s statement that “we know it by the Spirit he gave us” in 1 John 3:11-24 help us understand Paul’s statement in Acts 17:22-34 that “in him we live and move and have our being”?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 1 John help us have confidence “that we belong to the truth”?

In your opinion, how does loving others “with actions and in truth” help us “set our hearts at rest in his presence”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

July 1, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – A Kingdom of the Redeemed

-            The

A Kingdom of the Redeemed

Joshua 23:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)                

¹ After a long time had passed and the Lord had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then a very old man, ² summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: “I am very old. ³ You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the Lord your God who fought for you. ⁴ Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵ The Lord your God himself will push them out for your sake. He will drive them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the Lord your God promised you.

⁶ “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. ⁷ Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. ⁸ But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now.

When did the Lord give Israel a “rest from all their enemies around them” (verse 1)?

What did Joshua say to the the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel (verse 2)?

Who fought for Israel (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what did Joshua mean by “an inheritance for your tribes” (verse 4)?

Why will the Lord push out the nations (verse 5)?

What are the Israelites to be careful to do (verse 6)?

Who are the Israelites not to associate with (verse 7)?

Who are the Israelites not to swear by, serve or bow down to (verse 7)?

What are the Israelites to do (verse 8)?

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

Mark 12:28-34 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  ³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. ³³ To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

What did the teacher of the law notice (verse 28)?

What did the teacher of the law ask Jesus (verse 28)?

Who is one (verse 29)?

How does Jesus say that we should love the Lord our God (verse 30)?

What is the second most important commandment (verse 31)?

In your opinion, why does the teacher of the law say “well said, teacher” (verse 32)?

What is “more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (verse 33)?

What did Jesus see about the teacher’s answer (verse 34)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean by “you are not far from the kingdom of God” (verse 34)?

What did no one dare to do “from then on” (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, how is Joshua’s instruction to the Israelite people to “be careful to obey all that is written in the book of the law of Moses” in Joshua 23:1-8 explained by Jesus in His answer to the teacher’s question in Mark 12:28-34?

Acts 16:22-34 – New International Version (NIV)

²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. ²³ After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴ When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. ³⁴ The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

What did the magistrates order (verse 22)?

When were Paul and Silas thrown into prison (verse 23)?

What did the jailer do with Paul and Silas (verse 24)?

In your opinion, why were Paul and Silas “praying and singing hymns to God” (verse 25)?

What happened when the “violent earthquake” occured (verse 26)?

What was the jailer about to do when he thought the prisoners had escaped (verse 27)?

Who shouted “don’t harm yourself” (verse 28)?

What did the jailer do (verse 29)?

In your opinion, why did the jailer ask “what must I do to be saved” (verse 30)?

How did Paul and Silas answer the question (verse 31)?

What did Paul and Silas do (verse 32)?

When were the jailer and his household baptized (verse 33)?

Why was the jailer “filled with joy” (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, why is there a difference between Joshua’s commandment in Joshua 23:1-8 to “be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses” and Paul and Silas’s instruction in Acts 16:22-34 to “believe in the Lord Jesus”?

In your opinion, why is there a difference between Jesus’s commandment in Mark 12:28-34 to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and Paul and Silas’s instruction in Acts 16:22-34 to “believe in the Lord Jesus”?

1 Peter 1:13-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

What are we to do “with minds that are alert and fully sober” (verse 13)?

What does Peter say that was are not be conform to (verse 14)?

Why are we to “be holy in all” we do (verses 15 and 16)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear” (verse 17)?

What did not redeem us “from the empty way of life” (verse 18)?

What did redeem us “form the empty way of life" (verses 18 and 19)?

When was Christ chosen (verse 20)?

Who is a Christians “faith and hope” in (verse 21)?

How should we “love one another” (verse 22)?

What kind of seed are we “born again” through (verse 23)?

How are we “born again” (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, how are the Israelites who Joshua instructed in Joshua 23:1-8 to “not associate with these nations that remain among you” and the Christians that Peter instructs in 1 Peter 1:13-23 to “live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear” similar?

In your opinion, what does Peter in 1 Peter 1:13-23 show us about what the teacher of the law from Mark 12:28-34 needed to do to move from being “not far from the kingdom of God” to being “redeemed”?

In your opinion, how does  the instruction in 1 Peter 1:13-23 to  “set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed” help us understand how Paul and Silas, after being flogged and while in stocks, could have been singing in Acts 16:22-34?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 1 Peter show us about living as citizens of the Kingdom of God in a world that is lost?

In your opinion, how do we move from attempting to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength to being redeemed?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

June 24, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Transformed to Greatness

Transformed to Greatness

Joshua 22:21-31 - New International Version (NIV)            

²¹ Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: ²² “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. ²³ If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.

²⁴ “No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵ The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.

²⁶ “That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ ²⁷ On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’

²⁸ “And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’

²⁹ “Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.”

³⁰ When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. ³¹ And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us, because you have not been unfaithful to the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.”

Who did Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh reply to (verse 21)?

Who knew that this had not been a “rebellion or disobedience” (verse 22)?

What did Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh ask the Lord to do if they built their alter “to turn away from the Lord” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, did the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have a reason to fear that they would someday be told they had “no share in the Lord” (verses 24 and 25)?

What was the alter not built for (verse 26)?

What did they build the alter for (verses 27 and 28)?

In your opinion, why did they consider building an alter for “burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifies, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle” to be rebellion against God (verse 29)?

How did Phinehas and the leaders of the community feel about what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh said (verse 30)?

Who said “today we know that the Lord is with us” (verse 31)?

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

Mark 10:35-45 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.

³⁷ They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”

³⁸ “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”

³⁹ “We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, ⁴⁰ but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

⁴¹ When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. ⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Who ask Jesus to do “for us whatever we ask” (verse 35)?

How did Jesus respond (verse 36)?

What did they want (verse 37)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say “you don’t know what you are asking” (verse 38)?

What did Jesus tell them they would drink (verse 39)?

Who do the places at Jesus right and left belong to when He comes into glory (verse 40)?

How did the other ten disciples react when they heard about the request of James and John (verse 41)?

What do those “who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles” do (verse 42)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He tells the disciples that “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (verse 43)?

What does the one who wants to be first have to be (verse 44)?

What did the “Son of Man” come to do (verse 45)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh’s decision to build the alter in Joshua 22:21-31 and the request of James and John to be seated at the right and the left of Jesus when He came into glory in Mark 10:35-45?

Acts 14:8-20 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. ⁹ He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed ¹⁰ and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

¹¹ When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ¹² Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: ¹⁵ “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. ¹⁶ In the past, he let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷ Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” ¹⁸ Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹ Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. ²⁰ But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

What is distinctive about the man sitting in Lystra (verse 8)?

What did Paul see about him (verse 9)?

How did the man react to Paul’s command to “stand up on your feet” (verse 10)?

Who shouted “the gods have come down to us in human form” (verse 11)?

Why did they call Paul Hermes (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why did the priest of Zeus and the crowd want to offer sacrificies to them (verse 13)?

When did Barnabas and Paul tear their clothes and rush into the crowd (verse 14)?

What did Paul and Barnabas want the crowd to turn to “from these worthless things” (verse 15)?

What had God let the nations do in the past (verse 16)?

How had God testified to the nations in the past (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did they have difficulty “keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them” (verse 18)?

What did the crowd do when the Jews from Antioch and Iconium won them over (verse 19)?

Where did Paul and Barnabas go (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, why are the members of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Joshua 22:21-31 different in their relationship to God than the crowd at Lystra in Acts 14:8-20?

In your opinion, how does Jesus’s explanation about the difference between Gentiles and Christians in Mark 10:35-45 begin to help us understand why the crowd that was going to offer sacrificies to Paul and Barnabas suddenly turn on them and stoned Paul in Acts 14:8-20?

Romans 12:1-2 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In your opinion, what does Paul mean by “in view of God’s mercy” (verse 1)?

What does Paul say that we should offer as a “holy and pleasing” living sacrifice to God (verse 1)?

What are we not to “conform to” (verse 2)?

How should we be transformed (verse 2)?

If we are transformed what will we be able to “test and approve” (verse 2)?

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

In your opinion, how are “Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites” in Joshua 22:21-31 an example of what Paul might mean in Romans 12:1-2 by the way the transformed Christian may be able to “test and approve what God’s will is”?

In your opinion, how does the fact that Jesus became the servant of the disciples and even died for those who sought to be the greatest (Gentile definition) in Mark 10:35-45 help us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds as Paul instructs in Romans 12:1-2?

In your opinion, what three things do Paul and Barnabas do in Lystra according to Acts 14:8-20 that would indicate that they had been “transformed by the renewing of your mind” as Paul instructs in Romans 12:1-2?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and Romans show us about the difference between conforming “to the pattern of this world” and being “transformed by the renewing of your mind”?

In your opinion, what can we do today to be great in the Jesus’s eyes?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)