New Hope High School – Lesson 9 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are the Peacemakers

New Hope High School – Lesson 9 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are the Peacemakers

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.”

Matthew 5:9 New International Version (NIV)

“Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.”

Who is blessed?

How will they be blessed?

In your opinion, why is this an appropriate blessing?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 5:9 show us about the Great Commission?

Numbers 25:1-13 New International Version (NIV)

“While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, ² who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. ³ So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.

⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in               broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

⁵ So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your people who               have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”

⁶ Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷ When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand ⁸ and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; ⁹ but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. ¹² Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. ¹³ He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

What was done by the Israelites in verses 1 and 2 that caused Israel to by yoked to Baal?

What was the punishment decreed in verses 4 and 5?

What did Phinehas, a descendant of Aaron, do (verses 7 and 8)?

In your opinion, why did God say in verse 11 that Phinehas was “zealous for my honor”?

What kind of covenant is being made with Phinehas (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Numbers teach us about Matthew 5:9?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Numbers show us about the Great Commission?

Malachi 2:1-9 New International Version (NIV)

“And now, you priests, this warning is for you. ² If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.

³ “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. ⁴ And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁵ “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. ⁶ True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.

⁷ “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. ⁸ But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁹ “So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

Who is this a warning to (verse 1)?

If the priests don’t do what two things will they and their blessings be cursed (verse 2)?

            1)______________________________________________________________

            2)______________________________________________________________

In your opinion, what does it mean that “I will curse your blessings” (verse 2)?

In verse 4, why is God sending the warning?

What was the covenant with Levi (verse 5)?

When God gave the covenant to Levi how did Levi respond (verse 5)?

What was in Levi’s mouth (verse 6)?

How did Levi walk (verse 6)?

What is a priest (verse 7)?

How have the priests caused people to stumble (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Malachi teach us about Matthew 5:9?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Malachi teach us about the Great Commission?

Romans 12:9-18 New International Version (NIV)

^“9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.                   ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

In your opinion, what is sincere love (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “honor one another above yourselves” (verse 10)?

In verse 12, how are we to be in:

Hope______________________________

Affliction__________________________

Prayer_____________________________

How are we to respond to those who persecute us (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why is it important to “rejoice with those who rejoice: mourn with those who mourn” (verse 15)?

What is the instruction in verse 17 about repaying someone for evil?

In your opinion, why is “if it is possible” in front of “live at peace with everyone” in verse 18?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Romans teach us about Matthew 5:9?

           In your opinion, what does this passage from Romans teach us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 5:10 - (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

New Hope High School – Lesson 8 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

New Hope High School – Lesson 8 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

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.”

Matthew 5:8 New International Version (NIV)

“Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.”

Who is blessed?

How will they be blessed?

In your opinion, why is this an appropriate blessing?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 5:8 show us about the Great Commission?

Psalm 51:1-12 New International Version (NIV)

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

^1 “Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
² Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Who wrote the Psalm?

When did he write it?

What does he plead at the beginning of the Psalm (verse 1 and 2)?

            1)____________________________________________

            2)____________________________________________

            3)____________________________________________

            4)____________________________________________

Who has he sinned against (verse 4)?

When did his sinfulness begin (verse 5)?

What did God desire “even in the womb” (verse 6)?

In verse 9 what does the Psalmist request of God concerning “sins” and “iniquity”?

What is the request of verse 10?

In your opinion, why is the negative request of verse 11 between the positive verses 10 and 12?

What is the positive request of verse 12?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Psalms teach us about Matthew 5:8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Psalms show us about the Great Commission?

Titus 1:15 New International Version (NIV)

^15 “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe,                         nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.”

For who are “all things pure”?

In your opinion, why would this be true?

What is pure to “those who are corrupted and do not believe”?

In your opinion, why would this be true?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Titus teach us about Matthew 5:8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Titus teach us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 22:1-5 New International Version (NIV)

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”

What flows in the river in the New Jerusalem (verse 1)?

Where does the river originate (verse 1)?

What stands on each side of the river (verse 2)?

When will there be any curses (verse 3)?

Who will be served (verse 3)?

Who will serve him (verse 3)?

What will they see (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what is the significance of “his name will be on their foreheads”?

In your opinion, are these who have “his name” “on their foreheads” pure in heart?

Why will there be no more need for lamps or light from the sun (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation teach us about Matthew 5:8?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation teach us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 5:9 - (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

New Hope High School – Lesson 7 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are the Merciful

New Hope High School – Lesson 7 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are the Merciful

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.”

Matthew 5:7 New International Version (NIV)

“Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.”

Who is blessed?

How will they be blessed?

In your opinion, why is this an appropriate blessing?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 5:7 show us about the Great Commission?

Exodus 33:12-23 New International Version (NIV)

^12” Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased             with you and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

What does Moses say the Lord is telling him to do (verse 12)?

What does Moses say that the Lord has said about him (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why does Moses say these things before he makes his request of God?

What does Moses want the Lord to teach him (verse 13)?

How does the Lord respond to Moses’ request (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why does Moses request not to be sent if the Lord’s Presence does not go with them (verse 16)?

How does the Lord respond to this request from Moses (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the connection between the statements “I am pleased with you” and “I know you by name”?

After this reassurance from the Lord, what does Moses ask for (verse 18)?

What does the Lord say that He will do instead (verse 19)?

In your opinion, if you heard the quote “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” out of context and standing alone would you think it was hostile or comforting?

In your opinion, what is this the actual meaning?

What did the Lord promise to do with His hand (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what does it mean for us today that God had mercy on Moses when Moses requested something that would have killed him?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Exodus teach us about Matthew 5:7?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Exodus show us about the Great Commission?

James 2:1-13 New International Version (NIV)

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. ² Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. ³ If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” ⁴ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? ⁶ But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? ⁷ Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong?

⁸ If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. ⁹ But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. ¹⁰ For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. ¹¹ For he who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,                           ¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy            triumphs over judgment.

What are believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ not supposed to do (verse 1)?

Could the favoritism illustrated in verses 2 and 3 happen today?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be “poor in the eyes of the world”?

In your opinion, why would God choose those who are “poor in the eyes of the world” to be “rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom”?

Who did God promise the kingdom to (verse 5)?

In your opinion, is there a connection between being one of “those who love him” and being “poor in the eyes of the world”?

In your opinion, which is the worst of the things the rich do: 1) “exploiting you”, 2) “dragging you into court”, or 3) “blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong”?

In your opinion, why, in a discussion that bans favoritism, does the law, “Love your neighbor as yourself” get mentioned?

In your opinion, does verse 10 mean that those who show favoritism are as guilty of breaking the law as the adulterer or the murderer?

In your opinion, what is the “law that gives freedom” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom”?

What will happen to those who are not merciful (verse 13)?

What does mercy triumph over (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from James teach us about Matthew 5:7?

In your opinion, what does this passage from James teach us about the Great Commission?

1 Peter 2:4-10 New International Version (NIV)

⁴ As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— ⁵ you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
    a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
    will never be put to shame.”

⁷ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

⁸ and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Who is the living Stone (verse 4)?

How are we, “God’s elect” in 1 Peter 1:1 described in verse 5?

What is the promise in verse 6 for the one who trusts in the chosen and precious cornerstone?

What is the statement about that same chosen and precious cornerstone found in verse 8?

In verse 9 what is the “chosen people”, the “royal priesthood”, the “holy nation”, “God’s special possession” to do?

In your opinion, why is it significant that the “people of God” are described as those who “have received mercy” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Peter teach us about Matthew 5:7?

           In your opinion, what does this passage from 1 Peter teach us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 5:8 - (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

New Hope High School – Lesson 6 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are those Who Hunger

New Hope High School – Lesson 6 - The Great Commission - A Study of Matthew – Blessed Are those Who Hunger

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.”

Matthew 5:6 New International Version (NIV)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.”

Who is blessed?

How will they be blessed?

In your opinion, what will they be filled with?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 5:6 show us about the Great Commission?

Psalm 42 New International Version (NIV)

^“1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

⁶ My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.

⁸ By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.”

In your opinion, why would a deer pant for streams of water (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why would a soul pant for God in that way (verse 1)?

What is the question that people are asking the psalmist (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what does it say about the psalmist that this question would be ask of him?

In your opinion, how does remembering the house of God and shouts of joy and praise and a festive throng make the psalmist seem even more forlorn (verse 4)?

What does the psalmist do to begin to move away from the questions “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does “deep calls to deep” mean (verse 7)?

What does verse 8 say that the psalmist recognizes is happening, even while feeling forlorn?

Even though bad things are happening in verses 9 and 10, where does the psalmist end up in verse 11?

What In your opinion, what does this passage from Psalms teach us about Matthew 5:6?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Psalms show us about the Great Commission?

Isaiah 55:1-9 New International Version (NIV)

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
² Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.
³ Give ear and come to me;
    listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
    my faithful love promised to David.
⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
    a ruler and commander of the peoples.
⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not,
    and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel,
    for he has endowed you with splendor.”

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Who is supposed to come (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what is meant by buying wine and milk without money and without cost?

What are the hungry and thirsty to do to eat what is good and delight in the richest of fare (verse 2)?

What are the hungry and thirsty to do to live and have an everlasting covenant (verse 3)?

Who does verse 6 indicate that the hungry and thirsty should seek and call on?

In your opinion, what do the wicked and unrighteous of verse 7 have in common with the hungry and thirsty?

What do the wicked and unrighteous have to do to receive God’s mercy and pardon (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does God have Isaiah contrast and compare His Thoughts and our thoughts (verses 8 and 9)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Isaiah teach us about Matthew 5:6?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Isaiah teach us about the Great Commission?

Titus 3:3-8 New International Version (NIV)

³ At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. ⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. ⁸ This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

Titus is written to further the faith of God’s elect, but what does verse 3 indicate that God’s elect were like?

What attributes did God our Savior have when He appeared to us to save us (verse 4)?

Did our righteous acts contribute to our salvation (verse 5)?

What did our Savior have that allowed our salvation (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why does Paul stress the washing of “rebirth and renewal” by the Holy Spirit (verse 5)?

How is the Holy Spirit poured out on us (verse 6)?

Through what are we justified (made right with God) (verse 7)?

After we are justified, what do we become (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why should those who trusted in God devote themselves to doing what is good (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Titus teach us about Matthew 5:6?

            In your opinion, what does this passage from Titus teach us about the Great Commission?

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