Scripture & Questions for Sunday (2/24/13)

Scripture
Luke 4:1-13 (ESV) 

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness [2] for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. [3] The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." [4] And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.' " [5] And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, [6] and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. [7] If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." [8] And Jesus answered him, "It is written, " 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.' " [9] And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, [10] for it is written, " 'He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,' [11] and " 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.' " [12] And Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.' " [13] And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Questions for Reflection
1.    Why do people laugh when they hear someone say, “I can resist anything except temptation”?
2.    After forty days of fasting and facing temptations, how did Jesus feel? (4:2)
3.    How did the devil challenge Jesus to prove He was the Son of God? (4:3, 9-10)
4.    How did Jesus reply when the devil urged Him to turn a stone into bread? (4:4)
5.    Where did Jesus get the answers He gave the devil? (4:4, 8, 12)
6.    What physical needs or desires make us vulnerable to temptation?
7.    How might we be tempted to worship the devil in exchange for power or position?
8.    In what situations are you sometimes tempted to put the Lord to the test?
9.    What did Jesus use repeatedly in resisting the devil’s temptations?
10. How can a person become skillful at using the Bible as Jesus did?

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (2/17/13)

Scripture
Luke 13:31-35 (ESV) 

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." [32] And he said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. [33] Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.' [34] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! [35] Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' "

Questions for Reflection
1.    With what images of Jesus are most people familiar?
2.    How was Jesus in danger? (13:31)
3.    What did Jesus call Herod? (13:32)
4.    What message did Jesus have for Herod? (13:32)
5.    What were Jesus’ goals? (13:32-33)
6.    What prompted the Pharisees to warn Jesus of Herod’s intentions?
7.    How was Jesus driven by His mission?
8.    What does this passage tell us about God?
9.    How does God show His care for us?
10. What is meaningful to you about the image of God as a mother hen?

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (2/10/13)

Scripture
1 Cor. 15:1-11 (ESV) 

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, [2] and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. [3] For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, [4] that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. [9] For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. [10] But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. [11] Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Questions for Reflection
1.    What do you think is important to pass on from one generation to the next?
2.    Why did Paul pass on what he had received? (15:3)
3.    How did Christ’s life fulfill the Scriptures? (15:3)
4.    What are the key points of the gospel? (15:3-8)
5.    How would you describe, in your own words, the importance of the gospel to your life?
6.    What has God’s grace accomplished in you?
7.    In what one area of your life have you been stubborn about allowing God’s grace to work?
8.    How could you rely on God’s grace in your efforts to tell your friends about Christ?

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (2/3/13)

Don't forget Men's Breakfast Saturday at 8:00am.

Scripture
1 Cor. 13:1-13 (ESV) 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. [4] Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant  [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [8] Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [9] For we know in part and we prophesy in part, [10] but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. [11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. [12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. [13] So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Questions for Reflection
1.    What to you is an unmistakable demonstration of love?
2.    What qualities do you associate with love?
3.    Why is love important? (13:3)
4.    What qualities does love have? (13:4-8)
5.    Why do you think Paul wrote about love to the Corinthians?
6.    What is difficult about loving?
7.    How could you show love to a difficult person this week?