May 23, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Giving and Receiving for God’s Glory

Giving and Receiving for God’s Glory

Amos 5:4-15 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ This is what the Lord says to Israel:

“Seek me and live;
⁵     do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
    do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”
⁶ Seek the Lord and live,
    or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire;
it will devour them,
    and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

⁷ There are those who turn justice into bitterness
    and cast righteousness to the ground.

⁸ He who made the Pleiades and Orion,
    who turns midnight into dawn
    and darkens day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea
    and pours them out over the face of the land—
    the Lord is his name.
⁹ With a blinding flash he destroys the stronghold
    and brings the fortified city to ruin.

¹⁰ There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court
    and detest the one who tells the truth.

¹¹ You levy a straw tax on the poor
    and impose a tax on their grain.
Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,
    you will not live in them;
though you have planted lush vineyards,
    you will not drink their wine.
¹² For I know how many are your offenses
    and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes
    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
¹³ Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times,
    for the times are evil.

¹⁴ Seek good, not evil,
    that you may live.
Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,
    just as you say he is.
¹⁵ Hate evil, love good;
    maintain justice in the courts.
Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy
    on the remnant of Joseph.

Who does Israel need to seek in order to live (verse 4)?

What will happen to Bethel (verse 5)?

What will Bethel not have (verse 6)?

Who “made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why would someone “hate the one who upholds justice in court” (verse 10)?

Who will not live in the stone mansions they have built (verse 11)?

What does the Lord know (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why would the prudent “keep quiet in such times” (verse 13)?

What is to be loved (verse 15)?

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

Mark 12:38-44 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Where did Jesus sit (verse 41)?

What did He watch (verse 41)?

Who “threw in large amounts” (verse 41)?

What did the poor widow put in (verse 42)?

How did Jesus compare what the poor widow put in to “all the others” (verse 43)?

What did the poor widow put in (verse 44)?

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

In your opinion, how is the poor widow of Mark 12:38-44 living out the command of God to Israel given in Amos 5:4-15?    

Acts 20:32-38 – New International Version (NIV)

³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

What can God and “the word of his grace” do (verse 32)?

In your opinion, why did Paul say “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing” (verse 33)?

How were the needs of Paul and his companions supplied (verse 34)?

Who said “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (verse 35)?

When did Paul knell down with them and pray (verse 36)?

How did they respond to Paul (verse 37)?

Why were they most grieved (verse 38)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the rich people of Israel who “levy a straw tax on the poor” in Amos 5:4-15 and Paul in Acts 20:32-38?

In your opinion, what can the poor woman in Mark 12:38-44 who gave “all she had to live on” teach us about the quote of Jesus by Paul in Acts 20:32-38, “it is more blessed to give than to receive”?

Philippians 4:10-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

¹⁴ Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. ¹⁵ Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; ¹⁶ for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. ¹⁷ Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. ¹⁸ I have received full payment and have more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

²⁰ To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

What did Paul rejoice “greatly in the Lord” about (verse 10)?

How does Paul’s circumstances affect his contentment (verse 11)?

What secret has Paul learned (verse 12)?

How can Paul do this (verse 13)?

What did the Philippians share with Paul (verse 14)?

What did the Philippian church do that no other church did (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says he desires “that more is being credited to your account” (verse 17)?

How does Paul feel about the gifts that the Philippian church sent to him (verse 18)?

How will God meet the needs of the Philippian church (verse 19)?

Who does Paul give the glory to (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between what the poor in Amos 5:4-15 gave and what the Philippian church in Philippians 4:10-20 gave?

In your opinion, how are Philippian church in Philippians 4:10-20 and the poor woman of Mark 12:38-44 similar? 

In your opinion, why did Paul emphasize in Acts 20:32-38 that he had not accepted anything from the church at Ephesus, but in Philippians 4:10-20 he “greatly rejoiced” in the fact that he had received a gift from the Philippian church? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Amos, Mark, Acts and Philippians teach us about giving and receiving?

In your opinion, how can we apply these passages to understanding ways in which we can bring “glory” to our God and Father today?

 

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