Rejecting or Accepting Service
1
Kings 12:1-17 - New International Version (NIV)
1Rehoboam
went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. 2 When
Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had
fled from King Solomon), he returned from Egypt. 3 So
they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to
Rehoboam and said to him: 4 “Your father put a heavy
yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on
us, and we will serve you.”
5 Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to
me.” So the people went away.
6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his
father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these
people?” he asked.
7 They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and
serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your
servants.”
8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and
consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He
asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to
me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people
have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke
lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s
waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it
even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with
scorpions.’”
12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam,
as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13 The
king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the
elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and
said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father
scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15 So
the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from
the Lord, to fulfill the
word the Lord had spoken
to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
16 When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, they
answered the king:
“What share do we have in David,
what part in Jesse’s son?
To your tents, Israel!
Look after your own house, David!”
So the Israelites went
home. 17 But as for the Israelites who were living in the
towns of Judah, Rehoboam still ruled over them.
Why did Israel go to Shechem (verse 1)?
Why was Jeroboam in Egypt (verse 2)?
What did Jeroboam and “the whole assembly of
Israel” say to Rehoboam (verses 3 and 4)?
What did Rehoboam ask Jeroboam to do (verse 5)?
Who
was the first group of people Rehoboam ask for advice (verse 6)?
In
your opinion, how could Rehoboam becoming a servant to the people cause them to
become his servants (verse 7)?
How
did Rehoboam react to the advice he received (verse 8)?
Who
was the second group of people Rehoboam ask for advice (verse 8)?
What
was their reply (verses 10 and 11)?
How
did Rehoboam answer Jeroboam and all the people after the three days had passed
(verse 13)?
Whose
word was fulfilled in all that happened (verse 15)?
How
did “all Israel” answer king Rehoboam (verse 16)?
Where
did the Israelites go (verse 16)?
Who
did Rehoboam still rule over (verse 17)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 9:30-37 - New
International Version (NIV)
30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not
want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was
teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to
be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three
days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand
what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he
asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But
they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who
wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child
in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes
one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me
does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Why did Jesus “not
want anyone to know where they were” (verses 30 and 31)?
Where did
Jesus tell the disciples that “the Son of Man is going to be delivered into”
(verse 31)?
What would
happen three days after He was killed (verse 31)?
In your
opinion, why were the disciples afraid to ask Jesus what He meant (verse
32)?
What did Jesus
ask them when they were in the house in Capernaum (verse 33)?
Why did the
disciples keep quiet (verse 34)?
What did Jesus
tell the Twelve (verse 35)?
Who did Jesus
take into His arms (verse 36)?
Who welcomes
Jesus (verse 37)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is the advice of the
elders who had served Rehoboam’s father in 1 Kings 12:1-17 similar to the
instruction Jesus gave the disciples in Mark 9:30-37? In your opinion, why were the disciples more like
the young men who had grown up with Rehoboam?
Acts
4:23-31 –
New International Version (NIV)
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and
reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When
they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to
God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and
the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy
Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.’
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the
Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy
servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what
your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now,
Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with
great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and
perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was
shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the
word of God boldly.
What did Peter and John do “on their
release” (verse 23)?
How did everyone react
when they heard the report (verse 24)?
By who did they say God spoke “through the mouth of your
servant, our father David” (verse 25)?
Who do the “kings of the earth rise up and the rulers
band together” against (verse 26)?
Who conspired “against your holy servant Jesus”
(verse 27)?
What did those who conspired together do (verse 28)?
How did Peter, John, and those with them identify themselves
to the Lord when they ask to be enabled “to speak your word with great
boldness” (verse 29)?
What did they pray would happen “through the name of your
holy servant Jesus” (verse 30)?
What happened after the people prayed (verse 31)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how are Jeroboam and those from Israel who told
Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12:1-17 that they would serve him if he lightened their
load different from Peter, John, and the people with them coming to God in
prayer and asking the Lord to “enable your servants to speak your word with
great boldness” in Acts 14:23-31?
In your opinion, how have Peter and John, who would have
been with those arguing about “who was the greatest” in Mark 9:30-37,
changed to have become the people who prayed in Acts 14:23-31 “Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to
speak your word with great boldness”?
1 Peter 4:7-11
– New
International Version (NIV)
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of
sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each
other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without
grumbling. 10 Each of you should
use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as
faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks
the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the
strength God provides, so that in all things God may be
praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever
and ever. Amen.
What is near (verse
7)?
Why should we “love
each other deeply” (verse 8)?
What should be
offered “to one another” (verse 9)?
How should
each one “use whatever gift you have received” (verse 10)?
Who should
speak “as one who speaks the very words of God” (verse 11)?
How should the
one who serves do so (verse 11)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does Peter’s teaching in 1 Peter
4:7-11 that Christians should act “so that in all things God may be praised
through Jesus Christ” show us that he learned from Jesus lesson “anyone
who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” in
Mark 9:30-37?
In your opinion, what does 1 Peter 4:7-11 reveal about the strength of the love that Peter and John had that enabled them to receive threats from those in power and then in Acts 4:23-31 pray “Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness”?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from 1 Kings, Mark, Acts and 1 Peter teach us
about the strength of the one being served and the one serving? Is there difference in this from a worldly
and a heavenly perspective?
In your opinion, how do we learn to serve so that God is praised?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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