February 1, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Boldly Different

Boldly Different

Leviticus 18:1-5, 16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. ³ You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. ⁴ You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. ⁵ Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.

¹⁶ “‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.

Who spoke to Moses (verse 1)?

Who was Moses to tell I am the Lord you God” (verse 2)?

What practices did God tell them not to do (verse 3)?

What were they to be “careful to follow” (verse 4)?

Who will “live by” the Lord’s decrees and laws (verse 5)?

What would “dishonor your brother” (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God’s people should respond to the world?

Matthew 14:1-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

What did “Herod the tetrarch” hear (verse 1)?

Who did Herod think Jesus was (verse 2)?

Who was Herodias (verse 3)?

What had John been telling Herod (verse 4)?

Who was Herod afraid of (verse 5)?

How did Herodias’s daughter please Herod (verse 6)?

What oath did Herod make (verse 7)?

What did Herodias prompt her daughter to ask for (verse 8)?

Why did the king order her request to be granted (verse 9)?

What happened to John (verse 10)?

What did the girl give her mother (verse 11)?

Who did John’s disciples tell after they buried John’s body (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God’s people should respond to the world?

In your opinion, how did Leviticus 18:1-5, 16 effect the relationship between John the Baptist and Herod in Matthew 14:1-12?

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.

Where did Peter and John go “on their release” (verse 23)?

What did the people do “when they heard’ what the chief priests and elders had told them (verse 24)?

What did David say the “peoples” did in vain (verse 25)?

Who did David say the kings of earth and rulers “band together against” (verse 26)?

What did Herod, Pontius Pilate, “the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city” do (verse 27)?

Who had decided what “should happen” (verse 28)?

What did Peter, John, and their people ask God to enable them to do (verse 29)?

Who did they pray would “heal and perform signs and wonders” (verse 30)?

How did God respond to their prayer (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God’s people should respond to the world?

In your opinion, how does the believers’ prayer for boldness in the face of threats in Acts 4:23-31 demonstrate their willingness to obey the Lord’s commands in Leviticus 18:1-5, 16?

In your opinion, how do both Matthew 14:1-12 and Acts 4:23-31 reveal “nations” raging and “peoples” plotting against the Lord?

Hebrews 10:14-25 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them
    after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷ Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
    I will remember no more.”

¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

What did Jesus do “by one sacrifice” (verse 14)?

Who “testifies to us about this” (verse 15)?

Where will the Lord write His laws (verse 16)?

What will the Lord “remember no more” (verse 17)?

Where is “sacrifice for sin” no longer necessary (verse 18)?

How can Christians have “confidence to enter the Most Holy Place” (verse 19)?

What is the “new and living way opened for us through the curtain” (verse 20)?

With what can Christians “draw near to God” (verse 22)?

Why can we “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” (verse 23)?

What should we consider (verse 24)?

Who should we encourage (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God’s people should respond to the world?

In your opinion, how might the Israelites entering the land of Canaan in Leviticus 18:1-5, 16 be a foreshadowing of the entry of “brothers and sisters” into the “Most Holy Place” in Hebrews 10:14-25?

In your opinion, what does Matthew 14:1-12 help us understand about the difficulty of obeying the instructions of Hebrews 10:14-25 to “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess”?

In your opinion, how is Acts 4:23-31 an encouragement for the “meeting together” that Hebrews 10:14-25 instructs us to not give up on?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Leviticus, Matthew, Acts and Hebrews teach us about how to be boldly different from the world we live in?

In your opinion, how can we as Christians encourage and spur one another on today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 14, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Rejecting or Accepting Service

 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 is the difference between how Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12:1-17 thought people would serve him and the service in 1 Peter 4:7-11 that Peter calls Christians to provide? 

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)

November 22, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Humbling and Restoring

  

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Humbling and Restoring

Matthew 26:69-75 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶⁹ “Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

⁷⁰ But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

⁷¹ Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁷² He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

⁷³ After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

⁷⁴ Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. ⁷⁵ Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.”

Where was Peter sitting (verse 69)?

Who came to him and said “you also were with Jesus of Galilee” (verse 69)?

How did Peter respond (verse 70)?

In your opinion, why did Peter go out to the gateway (verse 71)?

Who saw him and said “this fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth” (verse 71)?

How was Peter’s denial more emphatic this time that the first time (verse 72)?

Why did “those standing there” think that Peter was one of those with Jesus of Galilee (verse 73)?

How was Peter’s denial even stronger this time (verse 74)?

What happened immediately after Peter said “I don’t know the man” (verse 74)?

What did Peter remember (verse 75)?

In your opinion, why do you think Peter “wept bitterly” (verse 66)?

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

Matthew 10:32-33 - New International Version (NIV)

³² “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.”

What does Jesus say He will do for “whoever acknowledges me before others” (verse 32)?

What does Jesus say He will do about “whoever disowns me before others” (verse 33)?

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

In your opinion, how does your understanding of Peter’s bitter weeping in Matthew 26:69-75 change when you remember that Peter heard this instruction about acknowledging and disowning from Jesus in Matthew 10:32-33?

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.”

Where did Peter and John go when they were released from the rulers, the elders, and the teachers of the law (verse 23)?

What did Peter and John report (verse 23)?

How did the people respond (verse 24)?

How did the Sovereign Lord speak through the mouth of David (verse 24)?

In your opinion, why did the people choose this quotation from David to quote (verses 25 and 26)?

Who met together to “conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed” (verse 27)?

What did the conspirators do (verse 28)?

How did they pray that the Sovereign Lord would allow them to meet the present threats (verse 29)?

In your opinion, why did they ask for the Sovereign Lord to “stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (verse 30)?

What happened to “the place where they were meeting” after the prayer (verse 31)?

How did God respond their prayers from verse 29 to “speak your word with great boldness” (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, how is the response of the people to the threats of the rulers, elders and teachers of the law in Acts 4:23-31 so soon after the same people orchestrated the death of Jesus an example of how to respond to Jesus teaching in Matthew 10:32-33 about acknowledging and disowning Him?

In your opinion, what can we learn about ourselves and our relationship with God from Peter’s disowning Jesus in Matthew 26:69-75 to the boldness of Peter in Acts 4:23-31?

1 Peter 5:6-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

What does Peter instruct us to do that God “may lift you up in due time” (verse 6)?

Why should we “cast all your anxiety on him” (verse 7)?

How should we be (verse 8)?

Who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (verse 8)?

How should we resist that enemy (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why does Peter say that “the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (verse 9)?

What has the “God of all grace” done (verse 10)?

What will the “God of all grace” do “after you have suffered a little while” (verse 10)?

To whom will be “the power for ever and ever” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what parts of the passage of Acts 4:23-31 illustrate the various parts of Peter’s instructions in 1 Peter 5:6-11 including 1) the enemy, the devil, prowling like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour; 2) standing firm in the faith; 3) casting anxiety on Him; and 4) God restoring and making strong, firm and steadfast?

In your opinion, how can we who are intimidated by the instructions of Jesus in Matthew 10:32-33 take comfort and instruction from 1 Peter 5:6-11?

In your opinion, how does the failure of Peter to do what he expected of himself in Matthew 26:69-75 add to his compassionate instruction in 1 Peter 5:6-11?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Matthew, Acts and 1 Peter show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 27:1 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)