Saturday, October 12, 2019

October 20, 2019 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Unexpected and Awesome

Unexpected and Awesome


Isaiah 64:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
    that the mountains would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze
    and causes water to boil,
come down to make your name known to your enemies
    and cause the nations to quake before you!
For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
    you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard,
    no ear has perceived,
no eye has seen any God besides you,
    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
    who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them,
    you were angry.
    How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
No one calls on your name
    or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
    and have given us over to our sins.

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
    We are the clay, you are the potter;
    we are all the work of your hand.
Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord;
    do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look on us, we pray,
    for we are all your people.

What does Isaiah wish God would “rend the heavens” and do (verse 1)?

Who does Isaiah want God to “make your name known to” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why does Isaiah say that God did “awesome things that we did not expect” (verse 3)?

Of whom does Isaiah say “no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen” (verse 4)?

How does Isaiah say that God reacted when Israel continued to sin against His ways (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does Isaiah mean when he says “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (verse 6)?

What has God “given us over to” (verse 7)?

Who is the “work of your hand” (verse 8)?

How long does Isaiah pray that the Lord will not remember our sins (verse 9)?

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

Mark 1:9-13 - New International Version (NIV)

At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, 13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Who baptized Jesus in the Jordan (verse 9)?

When did Jesus see “heaven being torn open” (verse 10)?

How did the Spirit descend on Jesus (verse 10)?

In your opinion, who said “you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (verse 11)?

Where did the Spirit send Jesus (verse 12)?

How long was Jesus in the wilderness (verse 13)?

Who tempted Jesus (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, how was the request of Isaiah in Isaiah 64:1-9 fulfilled in Mark 1:9-13?  How is the request of Isaiah still incomplete?

Acts 7:51-60 – New International Version (NIV)

51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

54 When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Who does Stephen say that the Sanhedrin always resists (verse 51)?

Who does Stephen say that the Sanhedrin “betrayed and murdered” (verse 52)?

What does Stephen say that the Sanhedrin has not obeyed (verse 53)?

How did the Sanhedrin react to what Stephen said (verse 54)?

Where did Stephen look to see the “glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (verse 55)?

In your opinion, why did Stephen say “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (verse 56)?

What did the Sanhedrin do before the rushed at Stephen (verse 57)?

Where did they take Stephen (verse 58)?

What did Stephen pray while they were stoning him (verse 59)?

When did Stephen “fall asleep” (verse 60)?

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

In your opinion, why is the prayer of Isaiah that God not “remember our sins forever” in Isaiah 64:1-9 much different than the prayer of Stephen to “not hold this sin against them” in Acts 7:51-60?

In your opinion, how are Jesus in Mark 1:9-13 and Stephen in Acts 7:51-60 similar? 

 Ephesians 1:3-10 – New International Version (NIV)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Who has blessed Christians “in the heavenly realms” (verse 3)?

How are Christians blessed (verse 3)?

When were Christians chosen to “be holy and blameless in his sight” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what is “adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ” (verse 5)?

What has God “freely given us in the One he loves” (verse 6)?

What do Christians have “through his blood” (verse 7)?

What did God lavish on Christians (verses 7 and 8)?

In your opinion, what is the “mystery of his will” that He has made known to us (verse 9)?

What will be brought to “all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, how is Isaiah’s request in Isaiah 64:1-10 that God “rend the heavens and come down” much different than the “mystery of his will” that Paul revealed in Ephesians 1:3-10?  How might the rending of the heavens still be accomplished within the “mystery of his will”?


In your opinion, what does Paul in Ephesians 1:3-10 reveal that Christians today have in common with Stephen who was stoned in Acts 7:51-60?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Mark, Acts and Ephesians help us understand how God answered Isaiah’s question “how then can we be saved”?

In your opinion, how can we be a part of the unexpected and awesome thing that God is doing today?



(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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