God’s Household
Isaiah 56:1-8 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 This is what the Lord says:
“Maintain justice
and
do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
and
my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2 Blessed is the one who does this—
the
person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and
keeps their hands from doing any evil.”
3 Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let no eunuch complain,
“I
am only a dry tree.”
4 For this is what the Lord says:
“To the eunuchs who
keep my Sabbaths,
who
choose what pleases me
and
hold fast to my covenant—
5 to them I will give within my temple and its
walls
a
memorial and a name
better
than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that
will endure forever.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to
the Lord
to
minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and
to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and
who hold fast to my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain
and
give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will
be accepted on my altar;
for my
house will be called
a
house of prayer for all nations.”
8 The Sovereign Lord declares—
he
who gathers the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather still others to them
besides
those already gathered.”
Where is the Lord’s salvation (verse 1)?
Who is blessed (verse 2)?
Who is not to say “the Lord will surely
exclude me from his people” (verse 3)?
What will the Lord give the “eunuchs who
keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant” (verses
4 and 5)?
What will the Lord give the “foreigners who
bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who
hold fast to my covenant” (verses 6 and 7)?
What will the Lord’s house be called (verse 7)?
Who does the Sovereign Lord gather (verse 8)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does this passage help us see the joy
in God’s “house of prayer”?
Matthew 21:6-16 – New International Version (NIV)
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They
brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to
sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on
the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the
road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that
followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son
of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the
highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and
asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from
Nazareth in Galilee.”
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were
buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money
changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It
is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but
you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed
them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of
the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple
courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“‘From the lips of
children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
What
did the disciples bring to Jesus (verse 7)?
Who
“spread their cloaks on the road, while other cut branches from the trees
and spread them on the road” (verse 8)?
What
was shouted (verse 9)?
Who
“was stirred and asked, “Who is this”” (verse 10)?
How did the crowds answer (verse 11)?
What did Jesus do when He “entered
the temple courts” (verse 12)?
What did Jesus say was written (verse 13)?
How did Jesus respond to the blind and
lame who “came to him at the temple” (verse 14)?
When did the chief priests and teachers
of the law become indignant (verse 15)?
How did Jesus answer when they said “do
you hear what these children are saying” (verse 16)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In
your opinion, how does this passage help us see the joy in God’s “house of
prayer”?
In
your opinion, how are the temple courts that Jesus entered in Matthew 21:6-16
different from the temple that Isaiah 56:1-8 prophesied about?
1
Timothy 3:14-4:5 - New International Version (NIV)
14 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these
instructions so that, 15 if I am delayed, you will know
how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s
household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and
foundation of the truth. 16 Beyond all question, the
mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
He appeared in the flesh,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.
1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some
will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by
demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars,
whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They
forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain
foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by
those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything
God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received
with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word
of God and prayer.
When does Paul hope to come to Timothy (verse 14)?
Why is
Paul “writing you these instructions” (verses 14 and 15)?
What is “God’s
household” (verse 15)?
In your
opinion, who “appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen
by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was
taken up in glory” (verse 16)?
What does the Spirit say that some will do “in
later times” (verse 1)?
Whose “consciences have been seared as with a hot
iron” (verse 2)?
Why were the foods that people are forbidden created
(verse 3)?
When is nothing to be rejected (verse 4)?
How are things consecrated (verse 5)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, how does
this passage help us see the joy in God’s “house of prayer”?
In your opinion, how is “God’s
household” in 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5 related to the “house of prayer for all
nations” on Isaiah 56:1-8?
In your opinion, how do the children
shouting “hosanna to the Son of David” in Matthew 21:6-16 help us
understand the essence of what Paul is teaching in 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5?
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
has rejected “the living Stone” (verse 4)?
What
are those who come to the living Stone being built into (verse 5)?
Who “will never be put to shame” (verse
6)?
What is the stone “to those who
believe” (verse 7)?
What is the stone “to those who do not
believe” (verse 7)?
Why do people stumble (verse 8)?
What are the ones called “a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” to do (verse
9)?
What have this “people of God”
received (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does this passage
help us see the joy in God’s “house of prayer”?
In your opinion, how
are the people who come to the living Stone in 1 Peter 2:4-10 and those who God
gathers in Isaiah 56:1-8 related?
In your opinion, how is the difference
between those who shouted “hosanna to the Son of David” and those who
were indignant in Matthew 21:6-16 explained by 1 Peter 2:4-10?
In your opinion, what does 1 Peter 2:4-10
help us understand about “God’s household, which is the church of the
living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” that Paul gives
instructions about how to behave ourselves in of 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Isaiah, Matthew, 1 Timothy and 1 Peter teach us about the people who go
into “house of prayer for all nations”?
In your opinion, how can we, as God’s household, “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness” today?
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