December 7, 2025 – Advent 2025 – The Gift of Peace

The Gift of Peace

Psalm 34:11-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
¹² Whoever of you loves life
    and desires to see many good days,
¹³ keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from telling lies.
¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
    and his ears are attentive to their cry;
¹⁶ but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to blot out their name from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

What is the Psalmist going to teach (verse 11)?

What should the one who “loves life and desires to see many good days” keep their tongue from (verses 12 and 13)?

What should they seek and pursue (verse 14)?

Who are the “eyes of the Lord” on (verse 15)?

Who is the “face of the Lord” against (verse 16)?

What cry does the Lord hear (verse 17)?

How does the Lord respond to those who are “crushed in spirit” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what is revealed about the power of God’s peace in this passage?

Luke 2:13-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Who appeared with the angel (verse 13)?

What were those on earth whom God’s favor rested on to receive (verse 14)?

When did the shepherds say “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing” (verse 15)?

Who did they find (verse 16)?

What did they do after they had “seen him” (verse 17)?

Who was “amazed at what the shepherds said” (verse 18)?

How did Mary respond to everything (verse 19)?

Who glorified and praised God “for all the things they had heard and seen” (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what is revealed about the power of God’s peace in this passage?

In your opinion, what does Luke 2:13-20 reveal about who will find the peace that Psalm 34:11-18 instructs us to seek?

Romans 5:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What do we have “since we have been justified through faith” (verse 1)?

What does faith in Jesus Christ gain us access to (verse 2)?

How do we respond to our sufferings (verse 3)?

What produces character (verse 4)?

Why does hope not “put us to shame” (verse 5)?

What did Christ do “when we were still powerless” (verse 6)?

What will anyone rarely do “for a righteous person” (verse 7)?

How did God demonstrate “his own love for us” (verse 8)?

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

In your opinion, what is revealed about the power of God’s peace in this passage?

In your opinion, how does your understanding of the statement in Psalm 34:11-18 that “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles” change after reading Romans 5:1-8?

In your opinion, how does Romans 5:1-8 help us understand how God brought the peace that the angels sang about in Luke 2:13-20 to “those on whom his favor rests”?

Colossians 3:12-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

How should God’s holy and dearly loved people clothe themselves (verse 12)?

What should we do if we have “a grievance against someone” (verse 13)?

How should we forgive (verse 14)?

What should we let rule in our hearts (verse 15)?

How should “the message of Christ” dwell among us (verse 16)?

How should we do whatever we do (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what is revealed about the power of God’s peace in this passage?

In your opinion, how is the command to “seek peace and pursue it” in Psalms 34:11-18 expanded by Colossians 3:12-17?

In your opinion, how is the gift of peace to those on whom God’s favor rest in Luke 2:13-20 transformed in Colossians 3:12-17?

In your opinion, how does Romans 5:1-8 help us understand how to follow the instruction in Colossians 3:12-17 to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Psalms, Luke, Romans and Colossians teach us about what is distinctive about Godly peace in comparison with how the world might define peace?

In your opinion, how do we who have received the gift of peace because of God’s favor share it with the people around us?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 30, 2025 – Advent 2025 – Transforming Hope

Transforming Hope

Isaiah 40:27-31 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁷ Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
²⁸ Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

What does Israel say is “disregarded” by God (verse 27)?

What has the Lord created (verse 28)?

Who can understand what the Lord understands (verse 28)?

What does the Lord give to the weary (verse 29)?

Who grows “tired and weary” (verse 30)?

Who will “renew their strength” (verse 31)?

Who will “soar on wings like eagles” (verse 31)?

Who will “run and not grow weary” (verse 31)?

Who will “walk and not be faint” (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, how is hope revealed in this passage?

Luke 1:26-38 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

Who did God send “to Nazareth, a town in Galilee” (verse 26)?

How was Mary described (verse 27)?

Who was with Mary (verse 28)?

What “greatly troubled” Mary (verse 29)?

Why was Mary not to be afraid (verse 30)?

Who is Mary to call “Jesus” (verse 31)?

What will Jesus be called (verse 32)?

When will Jesus’s kingdom end (verse 33)?

Why will the “holy one to be born” be called the Son of God (verse 35)?

Who is going to “have a child in her old age” (verse 36)?

What will never fail (verse 37)?

How does Mary respond to the angel Gabriel (verse 38)?

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

In your opinion, how is hope revealed in this passage?

In your opinion, how is Mary in Luke 1:26-38 an example of what it means to “hope in the Lord” as described in Isaiah 40:27-31?

Romans 8:18-27 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

What is “not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (verse 18)?

Who does “the creation” eagerly expect (verse 19)?

What was “the creation” subjected to (verse 20)?

What is “the hope” that the creation will be brought into (verses 20 and 21)?

How is “the whole creation” groaning (verse 22)?

What do “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit” groan inwardly for (verse 23)?

What is hope that is seen (verse 24)?

When do we wait patiently for what we do not have (verse 25)?

How does the Spirit intercede for us when we don’t know what to pray for (verse 26)?

How does the Spirit intercede “for God’s people” *verse 27)?

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

In your opinion, how is hope revealed in this passage?

In your opinion, how is hope “in the Lord” in the midst of the agony of separation from God for Israel in Isaiah 40:27-31 shown to be necessary for the creation and all Christians in Romans 8:18-30?

In your opinion, what does the presence of the Holy Spirit in both Luke 1:26-38 and in Romans 8:18-30 teach us about the Holy Spirit’s role in our expectations and hopes?

Romans 15:7-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. ⁸ For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, so that the promises made to the patriarchs might be confirmed ⁹ and, moreover, that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
    I will sing the praises of your name.”

¹⁰ Again, it says,

“Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.”

¹¹ And again,

“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
    let all the peoples extol him.”

¹² And again, Isaiah says,

“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
    one who will arise to rule over the nations;
    in him the Gentiles will hope.”

¹³ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How are we to “bring praise to God” (verse 7)?

Why did Christ “become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth” (verse 8)?

Why might Gentiles “glorify God” (verse 9)?

Who are the Gentiles to rejoice with (verse 10)?

What are “all the peoples” to do (verse 11)?

Who will the Gentiles hope in (verse 12)?

What is the Paul asking for the God of hope to fill his readers with (verse 13)?

How will the readers “overflow with hope” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, how is hope revealed in this passage?

In your opinion, how are the outcomes of hope in God similar in Isaiah 40:27-31 and in Romans 15:7-13?

In your opinion, how is the transformation of Mary in Luke 1:26-38 an example for those in Romans 15:7-13 described as accepted by Christ and to be transformed by the “God of hope”?

In your opinion, how does Romans 15:7-13 show us how the hope that Romans 8:18-30 indicates we can have while we wait for “the redemption of our bodies” can transform our lives today?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Isaiah, Luke, Romans and Romans teach us about the importance of hope in Christian lives?

In your opinion, how is hope transforming people today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 23, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – It’s Your Choice

It’s Your Choice

Ezekiel 18:25-32 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶ If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. ²⁷ But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. ²⁸ Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²⁹ Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

³⁰ “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

What do the Israelites say (verse 25)?

What will happen to the righteous person who “turns from their righteousness” (verse 26)?

How can a wicked person “save their life” (verse 27)?

What does the wicked person have to consider to “surely live” (verse 28)?

Who says “the way of the Lord is not just” (verse 29)?

How can the Israelites avoid the downfall of sin (verse 30)?

What “new” things are the Israelites to get (verse 31)?

Who takes “no pleasure in the death of anyone” (verse 32)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the difference between choosing righteousness or wickedness?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

³⁶ Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

³⁷ He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

⁴⁰ “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. ⁴² They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

What “is like a man who sowed good seed in his field” (verse 24)?

Who sowed the “weeds among the wheat” (verse 25)?

When did the weeds appear (verse 26)?

Who ask “Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field?” (verse 27)?

Why didn’t the man who sowed the good seed want the weeds pulled up (verses 28 and 29)?

How long were the wheat and weeds to be allowed to grow together (verse 30)?

What did the disciples ask for (verse 36)?

Who sowed the good seed (verse 37)?

What is the good seed (verse 38)?

When is the harvest (verse 39)?

What will happen to the weeds (verse 40)?

Who will weed out the kingdom of “everything that causes sin and all who do evil” (verse 41)?

Where is the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (verse 42)?

What will the righteous do (verse 43)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the difference between choosing righteousness or wickedness?

In your opinion, how does Ezekiel 18:25-32 help us understand why the owner in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 was patient in removing the weeds?

Ephesians 4:17-24 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

How does Paul define living “as the Gentiles do” (verse 17)?

Why are they “darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God” (verse 18)?

What have they lost that causes them to give “themselves over to sensuality” (verse 19)?

How were the Ephesian Christians taught when they “heard about Christ” (verses 20 and 21)?

What were the Ephesian Christians taught to do with their “old self” (verse 22)?

Where were they to “be made new” (verse 23)?

How was their “new self” created (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the difference between choosing righteousness or wickedness?

In your opinion, how does the command in Ezekiel 18:25-32 to “get a new heart and a new spirit” help us understand the instruction to “put on a new self” in Ephesians 4:17-24?

In your opinion, what does Ephesians 4:17-24 help us understand about the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43?

2 Peter 3:8-18 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

What does Peter want those who have faith to remember (verse 8)?

Why is the Lord patient (verse 9)?

How will “the day of the Lord” come (verse 10)?

What kind of lives should the faithful live (verse 11)?

What will “the day of God” bring about (verse 12)?

Where does righteousness dwell (verse 13)?

How should the faithful “make every effort to be found” (verse 14)?

What does “our Lord’s patience” mean (verse 15)?

What should Peter’s “dear friends” be on guard for (verse 17)?

How should Christians grow (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about the difference between choosing righteousness or wickedness?

In your opinion, how does 2 Peter 3:8-18 expand on the necessity of repentance which is commanded in Ezekiel 4:17-24?

In your opinion, how is the warning about the destruction of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 broadened in 2 Peter 3:8-18?

In your opinion, how does 2 Peter 3:8-18 help us understand how one who has put on the “new self” of Ephesians 4:17-24 should approach life?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Ezekiel, Matthew, Ephesians and 2 Peter teach us about God’s patience?

In your opinion, how can Christians live righteously today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)