August 11, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – Celebrating Being Born Again

Celebrating Begin Born Again


Leviticus 23:6-8 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. ⁸ For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

What is the Festival called that begins on the 15^th day of the month and where “for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast” (verse 6)?

What is to happen on the first day (verse 7)?

When is the “food offering to the Lord” to be presented (verse 8)?

What is to happen on the seventh day (verse 8)?

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

Exodus 12:15-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.

¹⁷ “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. ¹⁸ In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. ¹⁹ For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. ²⁰ Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

How long are the Israelites to “eat bread made without yeast” (verse 15)?

What is to happen to the person who eats anything with yeast in it during this Festival (verse 15)?

Which days are the Israelites to do no work (verse 16)?

Why are the Israelites to “celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread” (verse 17)?

Which days are the Israelites “to eat bread made without yeast” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why is no yeast to be found in the homes of the Israelites during this time (verse 19)?

What kind of bread are the Israelites to eat “wherever you live” (verse 20)?

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

Luke 24:13-35 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

In your opinion, what Festival was occurring at the time these two men were going to Emmaus (verse 13)?

Where were the two men going (verse 13)?

Who “came up and walked along with them” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why were they “kept from recognizing him” (verse 16)?

What did Cleopas ask Him (verse 18)?

How did the men view Jesus of Nazareth (verse 19)?

What had the men hoped Jesus would do (verse 21)?

How had the women amazed them (verses 22 and 23)?

What did the companions find when they went to the tomb (verse 24)?

Where did Jesus begin in explaining “to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (verse 27)?

How did Jeses act as they approached the village (verse 28)?

Where did Jesus go (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what kind of bread did Jesus give thanks over and break at the table (verse 30)?

What happened when “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (verse 31)?

How did the two men feel when Jesus was talking with them on the road and opening the Scriptures to them (verse 32)?

When did the two men return to Jerusalem (verse 33)?

What did the two men say was true (verse 34)?

What did the two men tell them (verse 35)?

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

In your opinion, how is the Festival that Moses tells the Israelites to celebrate in Exodus 12:15-20 similar to the meal that the men walking to Emmaus celebrated with Jesus in Luke 24-13-35? 

In your opinion, how is the trip that the men took from mourning the lost redeemer to celebrating the risen Lord similar to the trip the Israelites took from Egypt to Israel?

1 Peter 1:13-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

What does Peter say a Christian’s alert and sober minds should be set their hope on (verse 13)?

What should Christians not “conform to” (verse 14)?

How should we “be holy” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean by “live out your time as foreigners here” (verse 17)?

What were Christians redeemed from (verse 18)?

How were Christians redeemed (verse 19)?

What are a Christians “faith and hope” in (verse 21)?

How should Christians love each other (verse 22)?

What has happened to Christians “through the living and enduring word of God” (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, how is the instruction to have no yeast in the house for seven days in Exodus 12:15-20 similar to the command to “not conform to the evil desires that you had when you lived in ignorance” in Romans 1 Peter 1:13-23?

In your opinion, how does the transformation of the two men on the way to Emmaus from “we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” to “It is true! The Lord has risen” in Luke 24:13-35 an example of what Peter calls the “empty way of life” being transformed to “your faith and hope are in God” in 1 Peter 1:13-23?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Leviticus, Exodus, Luke and 1 Peter teach us about how the festival of Unleavened Bread is related to the redeemed life of the Christian?


In your opinion, how can we, who have been a gift greater than Isralites who celebrated the Lord bringing their “divisions out of Egypt” annually for a week, celebrate being “born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

August 4, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – Passed Over

-                        The

Passed Over


Leviticus 23:4-5 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: ⁵ The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Who appointed these festivals (verse 4)?

When are the “sacred assemblies” to be proclaimed (verse 4)?

Which festival begins “at twilight of the fourteenth day of the first month” (verse 5)?

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

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

¹ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.

Where were Moses and Aaron when the Lord spoke to them (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why was “this month” to be the “first month, the first month of your year” (verse 2)?

Who is to take “a lamb for his family, one for each household” (verse 3)?

Who is the household that “is too small for a whole lamb” to share with (verse 4)?

What type of sheep or goat is to be chosen (verse 5)?

When are the lambs to be slaughtered (verse 6)?

What is to be done with the blood (verse 7)?

What is the meal to be that night (verse 8)?

How is the meat to be cooked (verse 9)?

What is to be done with any meat that is left over (verse 10)?

Why are they to eat the meal “with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand” (verse 11)?

What will the Lord do that night (verse 12)?

What will be the sign that, when the Lord sees it, the house will be passed over (verse 13)?

How shall this day be celebrated (verse 14)?

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

Luke 22:7-20 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

⁹ “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.

¹⁰ He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹ and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹² He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”

¹³ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

¹⁴ When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

What day came up (verse 7)?

Who did Jesus send to prepare (verse 8)?

How were they to know where the preparation was to take place (verse 10)?

What were they to ask the owner of the house (verse 11)?

Where will they make preparations (verse 12)?

How did they find things (verse 13)?

When did “Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus eagerly desire to eat the Passover meal with the apostles (verse 15)?

When will Jesus eat the meal again (verse 16)?

What did Jesus give (verse 17)?

When will Jesus “drink again from the fruit of the vine” (verse 18)?

What did Jesus say when He had given the bread to the apostles (verse 19)?

What did Jesus say the cup was (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what is there about the first Passover in Exodus 12:1-14 that makes Jesus eager to share it with His apostles in Luke 22:7-20? 

In your opinion, did Jesus eat the Passover with His apostles with His cloak tucked in His belt, His sandals on His feet and His staff in His Hand?

Romans 3:20-26 – New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

²⁰ For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

²¹ But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³ since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴ they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; ²⁶ it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

What will “no human being will be justified in his sight” by (verse 20)?

Who attested to “the righteousness of God” that has been disclosed apart from the law (verse 21)?

What is this “righteousness of God” through (verse 22)?

Who has sinned and fallen “short of the glory of God” (verse 23)?

How are human beings “now justified by his grace as a gift” (verse 24)?

How is the “sacrifice of atonement by his blood” effective (verse 25)?

What had been done in “his divine forbearance” with sins (verse 25)?

Who does God justify (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, how is the effect of the blood of Lamb on the doorframes to the people inside the homes in Exodus 12:1-14 similar to the effect of the blood of Jesus on those who have faith in Romans 3:20-26?

In your opinion, what do we learn about Jesus’ statement in Luke 22:7-20 that “this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” from the statements about sin and righteousness that Paul makes in Romans 3:20-26?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Leviticus, Exodus, Luke and Romans teach us about how the festival of Passover is related to the Lord’s Supper?


In your opinion, how can we, as Christians, proclaim the Passover today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

July 28, 2019 – Learning from James – The Power of Prayer

-                        The

The Power of Prayer


1 Kings 16:31-17:1 and 1 Kings 18:41-46 - New International Version (NIV)

³¹ He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. ³² He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

³⁴ In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

¹ Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

⁴³ “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

⁴⁴ The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”

⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

What did Ahab consider trivial (verse 31)?

Where did Ahab set up the alter to Baal (verse 32)?

Who did Ahab arouse the anger of more than “all the kings of Israel before him” (verse 33)?

Who told Ahab “as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (verse 1)?

What did Elijah tell Ahab to do (verse 41)?

Where did Elijah go to bend “down to the ground and put his face between his knees” (verse 42)?

How many times did Elijah tell his servant to “go and look toward the sea” (verse 43)?

What did Elijah tell his servant to do after the report of “a cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea” (verse 44)?

In your opinion, why is it significant that “the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling” (verse 45)?

What came upon Elijah (verse 46)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of these passages?

Mark 6:53-56 - New International Version (NIV)                

⁵³ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Where did Jesus and the disciples land and anchor (verse 53)?

Who did the people recognize (verse 54)?

Where were the sick of the region carried to (verse 55)?

What did they beg Jesus for (verse 56)?

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


In your opinion, how is the reaction of the people of Gennesaret to Jesus in Mark 6:53-56 different from Ahab’s reaction  in 1 Kings 18:41-46 to Elijah and God?


Ephesians 3:14-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Who does Paul kneel before (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name” (verse 15)?

Where does Paul pray for the faithful in Christ Jesus to be strengthened “out of his glorious riches . . . with power through his Spirit” (verse 16)?

How does Paul expect Christ to dwell in their hearts (verse 17)?

What does Paul pray for “all the Lord’s holy people” to have power to grasp (verse 18)?

In your opinion, how can believers “know this love that surpasses knowledge” (verse 19)?

How is God able to “do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (verse 20)?

Where should the Father have glory “throughout all generations, for ever and ever” (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how are Elijah, who prays as he finds himself confronting Ahab in 1 Kings 16:21-17-1 and 1 Kings 18:41-46, and Paul, who prays for all the Lord’s holy people to know the love that surpasses knowledge in Ephesians 3:14-21, similar?  And how are their prayers different?

In your opinion, how does the healing of those who touch the edge of Jesus’ cloak in Mark 6:53-56 help us understand the love of Jesus that Paul prays for believers to be established in and know in Ephesians 3:14-21? 


James 5:13-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, ²⁰ remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

What is the person who is in trouble to do (verse 13)?

What should the person who is happy do (verse 13)?


How are the elders of the church to respond to the sick who call them (verse 14)?


What will the Lord do for the sick person who offers a prayer in faith (verse 15)?


In your opinion, why does James follow the discussion about the sick offering a prayer in faith with the statement that “if they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (verse 15)?


What are believers to do “to” and “for” each other (verse 16)?


Whose prayer is “powerful and effective” (verse 16)?


What happened when Elijah prayed for it not to rain (verse 17)?


What happened when “again he prayed” (verse 18)?


Who is supposed to remember that “whoever turns a sinner from the error or their way will save them from death and cover a multitude of sins” (verses 19 and 20)?


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


In your opinion, how does what Elijah was trying to accomplish with his prayers in 1 Kings 16:31 – 17:1 and 1 Kings 18:41-46 compare with James’ is instruction on prayer in James 5:13-20?


In your opinion, what can the people of Gennesaret in Mark 6:53-56 teach us as we try to understand James’ message about prayer in James 5:13-20?


In your opinion, what can Paul’s prayer that the Ephesians be “rooted and established in love” in Ephesians 3:14-21 teach us about the prayers offered for the sick and lost that James instructs us to make in James 5:13-20?


In your opinion, how do these passages from 1 Kings, Mark, Ephesians and James guide us in communicating with God?


In your opinion, what can we who are righteous only through the intervention of Jesus powerfully and effectively knell down and place at Jesus feet in celebration or petition today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)