Witnesses of Love
Deuteronomy 8:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)
1 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that
you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.
2 Remember how the Lord
your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and
test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep
his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then
feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to
teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes
from the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your
clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know
then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.
6 Observe the commands of the Lord
your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. 7 For
the Lord your God is bringing you
into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into
the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines
and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land
where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the
rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has
given you.
Why were the
Israelites to “be careful to follow every command I am giving you today”
(verse 1?
Who led the
Israelites for forty years in the wilderness (verse 2)?
What does man
not live on alone (verse 3)?
What does man
live on (verse 3)?
In your
opinion, why did the clothes not wear out and the feet not swell (verse 4)?
How does God
discipline the Israelites (verse 5)?
How should the
Israelites “observe the commands of the Lord your God” (verse 6)?
Where is the
Lord bringing the Israelites (verse 7)?
What are the
Israelites to do after they “have eaten and are satisfied” (verse 8)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 6:30-44 - New
International Version (NIV)
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they
had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were
coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them,
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But
many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns
and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a
large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a
shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him.
“This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send
the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages
and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages!
Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups
on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds
and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and
looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to
his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among
them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and
the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The
number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
What did the
apostles report to Jesus (verse 30)?
Why did Jesus
want them to come with Him by themselves (verse 31)?
How did they
get to the solitary place (verse 32)?
In your
opinion, how could the people know where Jesus was going and get there ahead of
them (verse 33)?
Why did Jesus
have compassion on the people (verse 34)?
What did the
disciples want Jesus to do (verses 35 and 36)?
Why did the
disciples object to giving the people something to eat (verse 37)?
In your
opinion, why did Jesus tell the disciples to find out how many loaves they had
(verse 38)?
How were the
people to sit down (verse 39)?
What did Jesus
do before he broke the loaves and gave them and the fish to the disciples to
distribute (verse 41)?
How much did
the people eat (verse 42)?
What did the
disciples pick up (verse 43)?
How many men
had eaten (verse 44)?
In your opinion, what should the people who ate
until they were satisfied in Mark 6:30-44 have learned from the instruction
given to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:1-10?
1 In those days when the
number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them
complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked
in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all
the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the
ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers
and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the
Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and
will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man
full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas,
and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They
presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem
increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
Why did the Hellenistic Jews complain against
the Hebraic Jews (verse 1)?
In your opinion, why
did the Twelve say “it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of
the word of God in order to wait on tables” (verse 2)?
What were the seven who were chosen to be full of (verse 3)?
How would the responsibilities be divided (verses 3 and 4)?
How did the group respond to the proposal (verse 5)?
What did the disciples do when the men were presented (verse
6)?
In your opinion, did the division of responsibilities have
anything to do with the Word of God spreading (verse 7)? Why or why not?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is the functioning of the early church
as described in Acts 6:1-7 similar to the pattern that God laid out for the
Israelite people through Deuteronomy 8:1-10 (with special attention paid to
verse 10)?
In your opinion, how is what the early church began doing on
a daily basis in Acts 6:1-7 related to what Jesus did in a single instance in
Mark 6:30-44? What are the challenges in
each situation?
1 If I speak
in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only
a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of
prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith
that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If
I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may
boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is
not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It
always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease;
where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it
will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but
when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I
was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a
child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For
now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest
of these is love.
What is someone like who speaks “in the
tongues of men or of angels” but does not have love (verse 1)?
Who is nothing
(verse 2)?
What does
someone gain who gives everything they have to the poor and their body to
hardship so that they can boast, but does not have love (verse 3)?
In your
opinion, what is love (verses 4 through 7)?
What does not
fail (verse 8)?
What do we do
in part (verse 9)?
When does the “in
part” disappear (verse 10)?
How do we see
now (verse 12)?
When will I be
fully known [be careful, this is a trick question] (verse 12)?
What three
remain (verse 13)?
What is the
greatest (verse 13)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what do we learn about the love that Paul
discusses in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 from Jesus in Mark 6:30-44?
In your
opinion, what do the actions of the early church in Acts 6:1-7 teach us about
how to minister with the faith, hope and love that Paul says in 1 Corinthians
13:1-13 “remain”?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Mark, Acts and 1 Corinthians
teach us about what is important?
In your
opinion, how can we who have been blessed by God live as effective witnesses in
the world today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
