June 14, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Love in a Perverse World

Love in a Perverse World

Deuteronomy 32:15-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
    filled with food, they became heavy and sleek.
They abandoned the God who made them
    and rejected the Rock their Savior.
¹⁶ They made him jealous with their foreign gods
    and angered him with their detestable idols.
¹⁷ They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God—
    gods they had not known,
    gods that recently appeared,
    gods your ancestors did not fear.
¹⁸ You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹ The Lord saw this and rejected them
    because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
²⁰ “I will hide my face from them,” he said,
    “and see what their end will be;
for they are a perverse generation,
    children who are unfaithful.
²¹ They made me jealous by what is no god
    and angered me with their worthless idols.
I will make them envious by those who are not a people;
    I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.

Who “abandoned the God who made them” (verse 15)?

How did they make God jealous (verse 16)?

Who did they sacrifice to (verse 17)?

What did they do to “the God who gave” them birth (verse 18)?

What did the Lord do when He “saw this” (verse 19)?

How is the generation described (verse 20)?

What will the Lord do “by those who are not a people” (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about following God in a perverse world?

Matthew 17:14-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

¹⁷ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

What did the man who approached Jesus do (verse 14)?

Who did the man want Jesus to “have mercy on” (verse 15)?

What could the disciples not do (verse 16)?

How does Jesus describe the generation (verse 17)?

What happened when “Jesus rebuked the demon” (verse 18)?

Where did the disciples ask Jesus why couldn’t we drive it out” (verse 19)?

How much faith does it take to move a mountain (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about following God in a perverse world?

In your opinion, what does Jesus in Matthew 17:14-20 help us understand about what it takes to remove ourselves from the perverse generation described in Deuteronomy 32:15-21, the one that He was talking to, and the one that we live in?

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)

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 makes a person who can “speak in the tongues of men or of angels” into a resounding gong (verse 1)?

What is someone who has “a faith that can move mountains” but not love (verse 2)?

How much does someone gain if they give everything but “do not have love” (verse 3)?

What is patient and kind (verse 4)?

In your opinion, how can love not keep a record of wrongs (verse 5)?

What does love rejoice with (verse 6)?

How long does love persevere (verse 7)?

How is love different from prophecies, tongues and knowledge (verse 8)?

What do we do “in part” (verse 9)?

When are the ways of childhood put behind (verse 11)?

How are we known (by God) (verse 12)?

What is the greatest of “faith, hope and love” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about following God in a perverse world?

In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 help us understand about how the relationship with God of the descendants of those listening to Moses’s song in Deuteronomy 32:15-21 could and abandon God?

In your opinion, how does our understanding of what the disciples lacked change when we read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 after reading Jesus’s accurate emphasis on the lack of their faith in Matthew 17:14-20?

Philippians 2:12-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and :trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good -purpose.

¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

What does Paul want the Philippian Christians to “work out” (verse 12)?

Who works in Christians “to fulfill his good purpose” (verse 13)?

How does Paul instruct the Philippians Christians to do “everything” (verse 14)?

What does Paul recognize about the generation they are living in (verse 15)?

What should they “hold firmly to” as they shine in that generation (verses 15 and 16)?

How does Paul feel, even as he is “being poured out like a drink offering” (verse 17)?

How should the Philippian Christians respond to Paul (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about following God in a perverse world?

In your opinion, what does Moses anticipating the Israelite people abandoning God in Deuteronomy 32:15-21 help us understand why Paul would instruct in Philippians 2:12-18 to “continue to work out your salvation”?

In your opinion, how are the generation that Jesus is talking to in Matthew 17:14-20 and the generation that Christians are living among in Philippians 2:12-18 connected?

In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 help us understand about what we need to work on to follow the instructions of Philippians 2:12-18 to “work out your salvation”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Matthew, 1 Corinthians, and Philippians teach us about not being people of the world?

In your opinion, how do we grow our faith among a people who have abandoned God today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

October 18, 2020 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Witnesses of Love

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 is the basic message of this passage?

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?

Acts 6:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

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 Corinthians 13:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

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, how is the love that Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 demonstrated by God in Deuteronomy 8:1-10?  How will the Israelites demonstrate their love?

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)

May 20, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Love the Lost

Love the Lost

Joshua 13:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)                

¹ When Joshua had grown old, the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

² “This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines and Geshurites, ³ from the Shihor River on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north, all of it counted as Canaanite though held by the five Philistine rulers in Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron; the territory of the Avvites ⁴ on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, from Arah of the Sidonians as far as Aphek and the border of the Amorites; ⁵ the area of Byblos; and all Lebanon to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

⁶ “As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim, that is, all the Sidonians, I myself will drive them out before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you, ⁷ and divide it as an inheritance among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.”

What did the Lord tell Joshua when he “had grown old” (verse 1)?

Who would drive out the inhabitants of the mountain regions (verse 6)?

What was Joshua to do with the mountain regions (verses 6 and 7)?

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

Mark 6:6b-13 - New International Version (NIV)

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. ⁷ Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.

⁸ These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Where did Jesus go around teaching (verse 6)?

What did Jesus give the Twelve (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus tell the Twelve to “take nothing for the journey except a staff” (verse 8)?

What were the Twelve not to wear (verse 9)?

How long were the Twelve to stay in the houses they entered (verse 10)?

Why were the Twelve to shake the dust off their feet at the places where they were not welcomed or listened to (verse 11)?

What did the Twelve preach (verse 12)?

What did the Twelve do (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, why did God give the Israelites an inheritance in Joshua 13:1-7 and Jesus give the Twelve authority in Mark 6:6b-13?

Acts 8:9-24 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, ¹⁰ and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” ¹¹ They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. ¹² But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. ¹³ Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

¹⁴ When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. ¹⁵ When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, ¹⁶ because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

¹⁸ When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money ¹⁹ and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

²⁰ Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! ²¹ You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. ²² Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. ²³ For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

²⁴ Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

How did Simon amaze “all the people of Samaria” (verse 9)?

What did “all the people” call Simon (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what was the difference between what Simon did that caused the people to follow him and what Philip did that caused the people to be baptized (verses 11 and 12)?

What astonished Simon (verse 13)?

When did the apostles send Peter and John to Samaria (verse 14)?

Why did Peter and John pray for the new believers to receive the Holy Spirit (verses 15 and 16)?

What happened when Peter and John placed their hands on the new believers (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did Simon offer money and ask to be given the ability “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit” (verses 18 & 19)?

Why did Peter tell Simon “may your money perish with you” (verse 20)?

What is not “right before God” (verse 21)?

What did Peter instruct Simon to do (verse 22)?

What did Peter see in Simon (verse 23)?

How did Simon respond to Peter (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, how is the kingdom of Israel, who God says still has “very large areas of land to be taken over” in Joshua 13:1-7 and the kingdom of God when Philip went to Samaria in Acts 8:9-24 similar?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the message of repentance that the Twelve gave when they went out in Mark 6:6b-13 and the message of Philip, Peter and John in Acts 8:9-24?

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

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.

When would Paul (and we) be “only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why does Paul say that he is nothing if he has gifts of prophecy, knowledge and faith but does not have love (verse 2)?

What would Paul gain if he gave all he had to the poor and his body over to hardship and did not have love (verse 3)?

What is love (verse 4).

What does love not do (verse 5)?

What does love rejoice with (verse 6)?

What does love always do (verse 7)?

What does love never do (verse 8)?

When will the “in part” that we know and prophesy disappear (verses 9 and 10)?

What do we see now (verse 12)?

What remains (verse 13)?

What is the greatest (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 help us recognize about the difference between the kingdom that Joshua is helping to establish in Joshua 13:1-7 and the kingdom that Jesus established with his death on the cross and resurrection from the dead?

In your opinion, what is the long-term difference in results of the authority that Jesus gave to the Twelve in Mark 6:6b-13 and the love that Paul promotes in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13?

In your opinion, how is the difference between Philip and Simon in Acts 8:9-24 explained by Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 1 Corinthians teach us about the foundation of the Kingdom of God?

In your opinion, how do we, as the kingdom of God, react to the large areas that are not part of the kingdom?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)