December 1, 2024 – Advent 2024 – The Lord Our Righteous Savior

The Lord Our Righteous Savior

Jeremiah 33:14-16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

¹⁵ “‘In those days and at that time
    I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
    he will do what is just and right in the land.
¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved
    and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’

What “days are coming” (verse 14)?

Where will the “righteous Branch sprout from” (verse 15)?

What will the “righteous Branch” do (verse 15)?

Who will be saved (verse 16)?

Where will Jerusalem live (verse 16)?

What name “will it be called” (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about “The Lord Our Righteous Savior”?

Luke 2:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Who “issued a decree” (verse 1)?

What was the decree (verse 1)?

Who was the governor of Syria (verse 2)?

Where did people go “to register” (verse 3)?

Why did Joseph go to “Bethlehem the town of David” (verse 4)?

Why did Mary go with Joseph (verse 5)?

What was Mary’s condition (verse 5)?

What “time came” while they were there (verse 6)?

How did Mary protect her son (verse 7)?

Why did she place her son in the manger (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about “The Lord Our Righteous Savior”?

In your opinion, what does the prophecy in Jeremiah 34:14-16 have to do with the people in Luke 2:1-7?

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? ¹⁰ Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. ¹² May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. ¹³ May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Where had Paul found joy because of the Thessalonians (verse 9)?

When does Paul pray “that we may see you again” (verse 10)?

What does Paul pray he can supply the Thessalonians with (verse 10)?

Who did Paul pray would “clear the way for us to come to you” (verse 11)?

How did Paul want “the Lord” to change the love the Thessalonians had (verse 12)?

Why did Paul want the Lord to strengthen the hearts of the Thessalonians (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about “The Lord Our Righteous Savior”?

In your opinion, what is the connection between the Branch from David’s line called “The Lord Our Righteous Savior” in Jeremiah 33:14-16 and the “he” that Paul prays will strengthen hearts “so that you will be blameless and holy” in 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13?

In your opinion, how is the baby that was wrapped in cloths and laid in a manager in Luke 2:1-7 able to “make your love increase and overflow for each other and everyone else” in 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13?

Luke 21:25-36 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. ²⁶ People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. ²⁷ At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹ He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. ³⁰ When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. ³¹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

³² “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³⁴ “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

What will the signs be in (verse 25)?

Why will nations be “in anguish and perplexity” (verse 25)?

Why will people “faint from terror” (verse 26)?

Who will they see “coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (verse 27)?

Why does Jesus tell His listeners they should “stand up and lift up” their heads “when these things begin to take place” (verse 28)?

What did they know was near when the “fig tree and all the trees” sprout leaves (verses 29 and 30)?

What is near “when you see these things happening” (verse 31)?

Who “will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened” (verse 32)?

What “will never pass away” (verse 33)?

What can be weighed down with “carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life” (verse 34)?

Who will “that day” close on “suddenly like a trap” (verses 34 and 35)?

Why should the Thessalonians “be always on the watch, and pray” (verse 36)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about “The Lord Our Righteous Savior”?

In your opinion, how are the salvation of Judah that was promised in Jeremiah 33:14-16 and the events that Jesus is talking about in Luke 21:25-36 related?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that Mary’s baby was laid in a manger in Luke 2:1-7 and says in Luke 21:25-36 that He will come “in a cloud with power and great glory”?

In your opinion, how are the prayer that Paul makes for the Thessalonians asking for increased love and strengthened hearts in 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 and the prayer that Jesus instructs listeners to pray to “escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” related?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Jeremiah, Luke, 1 Thessalonians and Luke teach us about God fulfilling His promise?

In your opinion, how should we respond to “The Lord Our Righteous Savior” today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

September 24, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Children not Welcomed by the World

-            The

Exodus 2:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, ² and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. ³ But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. ⁴ His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

⁵ Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. ⁶ She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

⁷ Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

⁸ “Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. ⁹ Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Who married the Levite woman (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why did she hide her son for three months (verse 2)?

What did she do when she could not hide him any longer (verse 3)?

Who watched to see what would happen (verse 4)?

Why did the Pharaoh’s daughter go to the Nile (verse 5)?

What did she send her female slave to get (verse 5)?

How did the Pharaoh’s daughter react to the crying baby (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did she believe the baby was “one of the Hebrew babies” (verse 6)?

What did his sister ask the Pharaoh’s daughter (verse 7)?

Who did his sister get (verse 8)?

When did the baby become the Pharaoh’s daughter’s son (verse 10)?

Why was the baby named Moses (verse 10)?

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

Luke 2:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

Who issued a decree that “a census should be taken of the entire Roman world” (verse 1)?

Which census was this (verse 2)?

Where did everyone go to register (verse 3)?

Why did Joseph go from the town of Nazareth to Bethlehem, the town of David (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did Mary go with Joseph (verse 5)?

What time occurred “while they were there” (verse 6)?

Why did Mary wrap her firstborn in cloths and place Him in a manger (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the childhood of Moses in Exodus 2:1-7 and the birth of Jesus in Luke 2:1-7?

1 Peter 1:3-9 – New International Version (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Who does Peter praise (verse 3)?

What have we been given “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (verse 3)?

Where is the “inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” kept (verse 4)?

How long are Christians “through faith . . . shielded by God’s power” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, how can Christians “greatly rejoice” even though “for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6)?

What do the trials and the “proven genuineness of your faith” result in “when Jesus Christ is revealed” (verses 6 and 7)?

What fills those who believe in Jesus (verse 8)?

What is the end result of faith (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, how is the birth of Jesus when He was wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger because “there was no guest room available for him” in Luke 2:1-7 similar to the “new birth into a living hope” that Christians receive that leads them to “suffer grief in all kinds of trials” according to Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-9?

In your opinion, how is the presence of God’s hand in the drawing of Moses from the Nile in Exodus 2:1-7 similar to being shielded by God’s power through faith until “the coming of salvation” as promised by Peter in 1 Peter 1:3-9?

1 John 3:1-3 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

What has the Father “lavished on us” (verse 1)?

Why does the world not know us, the children of God (verse 1)?

Who we be like when Christ appears (verse 2)?

Who purifies themselves (verse 3)?

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

In your opinion, what does John, in 1 John 3:1-3, reveal to us about what we are through the “new birth” that Peter, in 1 Peter 1:3-9, says we receive through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead?

In your opinion, what is similar between the child that was wrapped in cloths and laid in a manger in Luke 2:1-7 and those who John says the Father has lavished great love on in 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, how is the birth and nursing of Moses by a Levite woman before he becomes the son of the Pharaoh’s daughter in Exodus 2:1-7 a foreshadowing of we who are called the “children of God” in 1 John 3:1-3 even though God is not our parent?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, 1 Peter, and 1 John help us understand about the world’s relationship with a child of God and also the relationship of a child of God with God?

In your opinion, what can you take from these passages to apply in your life today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)