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Monday, October 22, 2012

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (10/21/12)

James 4:13-17 (ESV) 
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— [14] yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. [15] Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. [17] So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Questions for Reflection
1.    If you knew you had just three months to live, what are some things you would want to do?
2.    Whose attention did James want to get? (4:13)
3.    What warning did James give to those who make plans for the future? (4:13-14)
4.    What is the best way to plan ahead? (4:15)
5.    What should we say when we are making plans? (4:15)
6.    What responsibility does God want us to take in planning our lives?
7.    What is the best use we can make of our lives?
8.    How can we make plans for business or living which are pleasing to God?
9.    Given how long you think you could live, how can you plan for the future with humility and faith?

Friday, October 12, 2012

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (10/14/12)

Please be in prayer for the family of Bill Higginbotham (Barbara McGinney's Father) who went home to be with his Lord this past Tuesday night.

Scripture
James 4:1-12 (ESV) 
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? [2] You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. [4] You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [5] Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? [6] But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." [7] Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. [11] Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.  [12] There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Questions for Reflection
1.    What do families and friends commonly fight about?
2.    What is the root cause of fights and quarrels between people? (4:1-3)
3.    Why don’t people have what they want? (4:2)
4.    Why doesn’t God give some people what they ask for? (4:3)
5.    What does friendship with the world do to our relationship with God? (4:4)
6.    When does God give us grace? (4:6)
7.    How did James describe the way we should come to God? (4:7-10)
8.    What do most people think God wants from them?
9.    What do we want from God most of the time?
10. Why do we hesitate to give our lives to God?

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (10/7/12)

Announcements
  1. We will have Men's breakfast Saturday morning at 8:00am, come and bring a friend. Menu scrambled eggs, biscuits, bacon, sausage, grits and fried potatoes
Scripture
James 3:13-18 (ESV)
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. [14] But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. [15] This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. [16] For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. [17] But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. [18] And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. 

Questions for Reflection
  1. What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?
  2. What kinds of jobs or occupations require wisdom or discernment?
  3. How can a person demonstrate wisdom and understanding? (3:13)
  4. What is wrong with the “wisdom” of a selfish and bitter person? (3:14-15)
  5. How is a person’s character related to his or her ability to discern? (3:14-16)
  6. What is the difference between earthly wisdom and God’s wisdom?
  7. What life experiences increase our wisdom?
  8. What are the marks of humility in a person?
  9. What godly characteristics are present in our speech when we are pursuing God’s wisdom?