Genesis 22:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him,
“Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you
love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt
offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He
took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough
wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On
the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He
said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over
there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his
son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them
went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father
Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham
replied.
“The fire and wood are
here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt
offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built
an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him
on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out
his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the
angel of the Lord called out to
him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to
him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your
son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught
by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt
offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that
place The Lord Will Provide. And
to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord
it will be provided.”
Who
tested Abraham (verse 1)?
What
was Abraham to do with Isaac (verse 2)?
When
did Abraham “set out” (verse 3)?
What
did Abraham see on the third day (verse 4)?
In
your opinion, why did Abraham tell the servants to “stay here with the donkey” (verse 5)?
Who
carried the wood for the burnt offering (verse 6)?
How
did Abraham answer Isaac’s question “where
is the lamb for the burnt offering” (verses 7 and 8)?
What did Abraham do with Isaac (verse 9)?
When did the angel of the Lord call out “Abraham! Abraham!” (verses 10 and 11)?
Why did the angel know that Abraham feared God (verse 12)?
What did Abraham offer instead of his son (verse 13)?
What did Abraham call that place (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together
with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means
“son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When
he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of
David, have mercy on me!”
48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the
more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called to the
blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing
his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.
51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.
The blind man said,
“Rabbi, I want to see.”
52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he
received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
Where
was Bartimaeus when Jesus, His disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho
(verse 46)?
When did Bartimaeus begin to shout (verse 47)?
How did Bartimaeus respond when people “rebuked him and told him to be quiet” (verse 48)?
In your opinion, why did Jesus say “call him” instead of going to Bartimaeus (verse 49)?
How did Bartimaeus respond (verse 50)?
What did Bartimaeus tell Jesus he wanted (verse 51)?
What did Jesus say had healed Bartimaeus (verse 52)?
Then what did Bartimaeus do (verse 52)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is the faith that Abraham exhibited in Genesis 22:1-14 different from the faith that Bartimaeus exhibited in Mark 10:46-52? How was their faith similar?
Galatians 5:1-6 – New International Version (NIV)
1 It is for freedom that
Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened
again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul,
tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value
to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets
himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You
who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you
have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we
eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only
thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
For what has “Christ set us free” (verse 1)?
How are the Galatians to keep
themselves from being “burdened again by
a yoke of slavery” (verse 1)?
When would Christ be “of no value” to the Galatians (verse 2)?
What would a man “who lets himself be circumcised” be obligated to obey (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why is someone who is
trying “to be justified by the law” alienated
from Christ (verse 4)?
How do “we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope” (verse
5)?
What counts in Christ Jesus (verse 6)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is Jesus giving Bartimaeus his sight in Mark 10:46-52 similar to Christ setting us free as Paul indicated in Galatians 5:1-6?
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.
In
your opinion, can the faith of someone who does not have deeds save them (verse
14)?
What is dead (verses 15 through 17)?
What will someone say (verse 18)?
In your opinion, why does James say “I will show you my faith by my deeds” (verse 18)?
What do even the demons believe (verse 19)?
What worked together for Abraham when his faith was made complete (verse 22)?
Which scripture as fulfilled (verse 23)?
In your opinion, what does it mean that “a person is considered righteous by what thay do and not by faith alone” (verse 24)?
When was “Rahab the prostitute” considered righteous (verse 25)?
What is “faith without deeds” (verse 26)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Abraham’s act of faith in Genesis 22:1-14 when he says that “God himself will provide the lamb” help us understand how we can also act in faith as is required by James 2:14-26?
In your opinion, how does Bartimaeus calling out even louder to Jesus after he was rebuked in Mark 10:46-52 an example of the dependence on God that is required to show our faith by our deeds as instructed in James 2:14-26?
In your opinion, how is the seeming conflict between the linking of faith and deeds in James 2:14-26 resolved by the Galatians 5:1-6 passage which begins by saying “it is for freedom that Christ sets us free” and ends by saying “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love”?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, Mark, Galatians and James help us understand about how we, who have faith that God loved us so much that he provided His Son as a lamb to take away our sins, can love others enough to express that love through deeds?
In your opinion, how can our faith today be made complete?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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