December 22, 2019 – Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Hard Hearts and New Attitudes

Hard Hearts and New Attitudes


Deuteronomy 30:11-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. ¹² It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

¹⁵ See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What is not too difficult (verse 11)?

Why won’t they need to ask “who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it” (verse 12)?

Where is the word (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does Moses mean when he says “I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction” (verse 15)?

Who are the the Israelites to love and walk in obedience to (verse 16)?

What will happen if the Israelites are drawn to “bow down to other gods and worship them” (verses 17 and 18)?

Who did Moses call as witnesses (verse 19)?

In your opinion, how do the Israelites “choose life” (verse 19)?

Who is their life (verse 20)?

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

Mark 3:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ² Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. ³ Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴ Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵ He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Who was in the synagogue (verse 1)?

Why were some of the people in the synagogue watching Jesus closely (verse 2)?

What did Jesus ask the man to do (verse 3)?

In your opinion, “which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill” (verse 4)?

How did the people respond to Jesus question (verse 4)?

What distressed Jesus (verse 5)?

When was the man’s hand restored (verse 5)?

In your opinion, was there anything unusual about the Pharisees plotting with the Herodians (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, how would a refusal by the Israelite people to love the Lord as commanded by Moses in Deuteronomy 30:11-20 be similar to the refusal of the people Jesus ask the question about the Sabbath to answer it in Mark 3:1-6?

Acts 2:36-41 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

³⁷ When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

⁴⁰ With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹ Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

What has God “made this Jesus, who you crucified” (verse 36)?

In your opinion, why were the people “cut to the heart” (verse 37)?

How did Peter answer the question “brothers, what shall we do” (verses 37 and 38)?

What gift will the people who follow Peter’s instruction receive (verse 38)?

Who is the promise for (verse 39)?

What did Peter plead for the people to do (verse 40)?

Who was baptized (verse 41)?

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

In your opinion, how does the command of Moses in Deuteronomy 30:11-20 to “love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess” similar to the plea of Peter to “save yourselves from this corrupt generation” in Acts 2:36-41?

In your opinion, how is the man who stretched out his hand and was healed by Jesus in Mark 3:1-6 similar to the 3,000 people who accepted the message of Peter and where baptized in Acts 2:36-41?

Ephesians 4:17-32 – 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.

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ²⁶ “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold. ²⁸ Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Who does Paul tell the Ephesian Christians they must no longer live like (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the Gentiles are “darkened in their understanding” (verse 18)?

Why have the Gentiles “given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity” (verse 19)?

When did the Ephesian Christians learn about a different way of life (verses 20 and 21)?

How is the old self being corrupted (verse 22)?

Where were the Ephesian Christians to be “made new” (verse 23)?

What was the new self created to be like (verse 24)?

Why were the Ephesian Christians to “speak truthfully to your neighbor” (verse 25)?

What should they not give the devil (verse 27)?

Why must those who have been stealing work (verse 28)?

What is to come from the Ephesian Christians mouths (verse 29)?

Why were they sealed with the Holy Spirit (verse 30)?

How are they to forgive (verse 32)?

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

In your opinion, how would the result of the change that Paul is asking the Ephesian Christians to make in Ephesians 4:17-32 similar to the result of obedience to the command that Moses gave the Israelite people in Deuteronomy 30:11-20?

In your opinion, who, in Mark 3:1-6, is most like the Gentiles that Paul warns us to no longer live like in Ephesians 4:17-32?  What is the best demonstration of replacing the old self with the new?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that Paul describes the Gentiles in Ephesians 4:17-32 as being ignorant because of “hardening of the hearts” and Luke describes the people listening to Peter in Acts 2:36-41 as being “cut to the heart”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Mark, Acts and Ephesians teach us about why it is difficult to be sensitive to the Word of God even though He is very near to us?

In your opinion, what can we do today to follow Paul’s instruction to “be made new in the attitude of your minds”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 15, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Responding in Hope

-            The

Responding in Hope

 Joshua 8:18-29 - New International Version (NIV)              

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. ¹⁹ As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.

²⁰ The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. ²¹ For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. ²³ But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. ²⁶ For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. ²⁷ But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.

²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. ²⁹ He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

Where will the Lord deliver Ai when Joshua holds out the javelin in his hand (verse 18)?

What happened when Joshua held out the javelin in his hand (verse 19)?

Who had “no chance to escape in any direction” (verse 20)?

When did “Joshua and all Israel” turn and attack (verse 21)?

In your opinion, why was the Israelite attack so successful that it left no “survivors nor fugitives” (verse 22)?

Where did they take the king of Ai (verse 23)?

How many people were killed (verses 24 and 25)?

When did Joshua draw “back the hand that held out his javelin” (verse 26)?

Why did Israel carry off the “livestock and plunder” (verse 27)?

What did Joshua make Ai (verse 28)?

What did they do with the body of the king (verse 29)?

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

Mark 3:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ² Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. ³ Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴ Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵ He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Who was in the synagogue when Jesus went in (verse 1)?

Why were “some” watching Jesus closely (verse 2)?

Where did Jesus tell the man to stand (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask them “which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the people who were watching Jesus remain silent (verse 4)?

What deeply distressed Jesus (verse 5)?

What happened when the man stretched out his hand (verse 5)?

Who began to plot to kill Jesus (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, how is the outcome of the confrontation of Joshua and the Israelites against Ai in Joshua 8:18-29 similar to the outcome of Jesus and those who watched in Mark 3:1-6?

Acts 5:17-32 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. ²² But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, ²³ “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴ On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

²⁵ Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” ²⁶ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

²⁷ The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

What filled the high priest and all his associates (verse 17)?

Where did they put the apostles (verse 18)?

Who “opened the doors of the jail and brought them out” (verse 19)?

What were the disciples to do (verse 20)?

Who “sent to the jail for the apostles” (verse 21)?

What did they find at the jail (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why did they say “we found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors” (verse 23)?

How did the captain of the guard and chief priests react to this (verse 24)?

Where were the men they had put in jail (verse 25)?

Why did the captain and his officials not use force (verse 26)?

Where were the apostles taken (verse 27)?

In your opinion, why did the high priest say the apostles were “determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” (verse 28)?

How did Peter and the other apostles reply to the high priests statement that “we gave you strict orders not to teach in his name” (verses 28 and 29)?

Who “raised Jesus from the dead” (verse 30)?

Why did God exalt Jesus “to his own right hand as Prince and Savior” (verse 31)?

Who are the witnesses (verse 32)?

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

In your opinion, how is the outcome of the confrontation of Joshua and the Israelites against Ai in Joshua 8:18-29 similar to the outcome of the arrest of the apostles in Acts 5:17-32?

In your opinion, why w ere the Pharisees and Herodians of Mark 3:1-6 and the Sadducees and high priest of Acts 5:17-32 so intent on stopping Jesus and Peter and the apostles who were healing people?

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

⁸ Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. ⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
¹¹ They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

¹³ Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” ¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

What does Peter instruct God’s elect to be (verse 8)?

How are God’s elect to respond to evil (verse 9)?

What are those who “would love life and see good days” to keep their tongue from (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “turn from evil and do good” (verse 11)?

Who is the “face of the Lord” against (verse 12)?

In your opinion, “who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good” (verse 13)?

When are we blessed (verse 14)?

How should we view Christ in our hearts (verse 15)?

How should we answer those who ask us for the reason for the hope that we have (verse 15)?

What does keeping a clear conscience do to those who “speak maliciously against” good behavior in Christ (verse 16)?

What is better to suffer for (verse 17)?

Why did Christ suffer “once for sins” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what changed for Peter, who was the apostle with the sword in the garden when Jesus was captured and who would have been taught from Joshua 8:18-29 how to proceed, to make him the person who in 1 Peter 3:8-18 instructs us to “repay evil with blessing” and to respond “with gentleness and respect”?

In your opinion, what does Jesus, who was angry at the Pharisees in Mark 3:1-6 but reacted by healing the man with the withered hand, teach us today about how to respond to Peter’s instruction that, if it is God’s will it is better to “suffer for doing good than for doing evil”?

In your opinion, how did the words of the angel who told Peter and the other apostles in Acts 5:17-32 to “tell the people all about this new life” prepare him to instruct us to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” in 1 Peter 3:8-18?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 1 Peter teach us about how to respond to adversity?

What is the reason for the hope that you have?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)