parkerslope

Explain how we can have the mind of Christ? - When we are converted at baptism, the Holy Spirit comes to us to live. As a result, we have the mind of Christ (the Father and Holy Spirit also). How does this work, according to these verses? - As we have become God's chosen people, our minds have been filled with God's Spirit (the Spirit of Christ) so we can understand the workings of God enough to present the true, full gospel to all How does having the Holy Spirit "circulating" through our minds explain spiritual gifts working through us? - 1 Corinthians 12:11 = All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. (NIV) Our minds contain our "being" and so the Spirit lives in our mind to give us direction on how to live, what gifts we will use, and what we need to speak and to whom.

Why didn't Paul conform to the rhetorical standards of his day in order to communicate more clearly? - Paul did not want to compete with the philosophers, but to present the gospel in a language style that all people could understand and accept. Most of the people were poor and begging, with no formal education to understand the worldly wisdom of the upper class of people, so Paul used this way of speaking to exert the power of the Holy Spirit in his speaking. What is the danger of "repackaging" the message? - By wanting to use our own "knowledge" and "wisdom" in presenting the gospel, we would tend to not let the Spirit do His work through the gospel. What does it mean that Paul relied on a demonstration of the Spirit's power? - Even though Paul was educated with worldly wisdom, he did not consider it the way to communicate. Instead he relied upon the Holy Spirit using the words he spoke to bring about the conviction of sin in the hearers.

In what way does Christ represent God's wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption? - Wisdom - Jesus shared the knowledge of God, the Father, to the Jewish people in a way to provide them with the understanding of what the Holy God needed from them. - Righteousness - Jesus Christ opened the door into the presence of God by giving the Christian a right standing before God. - Holiness - Jesus Christ, by His death on the cross, has separated a class of people to call His own in purity. - Redemption - A perfect human sacrifice was needed to pay for all sin and Jesus, being sinless, went to the cross to die for all sin, thus redeeming those who chose the grace that God had given in Jesus. How far do these go to lay the basis of a truly Christian philosophical system? - The wisdom, righteousness, holiness and redemption of God is the end point of philosophical systems that try to explain the purpose of man.

In what areas do non-Christians in our culture stumble over the basic gospel of Christ? - 1. A savior who died. - 2. They do not need their sins forgiven. - 3. The meaning of true love has been changed. - 4. Too many restrictions. - 5. Their knowledge and wisdom is superior. To what degree can we help bridge this gap through careful and creative presentation? - By not trying to compete with their "wisdom" in knowledge, but using the simple gospel presentation of the love of God, in sending Jesus to pay the price for the sins of all people. The world has no love or care for the individual, but we do! To what degree might that be "watering down" the gospel? - Our words must not be fancy or scholarly, but words, given by the Word of God, to us to show how much Jesus loves them. Why can't we escape the tension between culturally-relevant communication and changing the essence of the message? - In some ways, in different cultures, we will need to use different examples and apply them in a way the these people can understand what the gospel is saying. Most of the time, we will need to speak plainly (like Jesus was tortured and crucified on a cross for public display).

Name four value differences between Christian teaching and the values you see pushed to us on television? example" sex between consenting adults i okay, vs. sex belongs in marriage, name four more. - 1. Homosexuality and same sex (man to man) marriage. - 2. Abortion - the killing of babies in the womb. - 3. Hate crimes - you cannot say anything negative about any minority group. - 4. Anything to do with Christian values is denied any place in the public square.

What kind of divisions do you see in your congregation or in the Christian community in your area? - I see - Family Church - The Father's House - Assembly of God - Lutheran (2) - Christian Church (2) - Baptist (4) - Presbyterian is my community with no fellowship between any of them. What is the cause of the divisions in Corinth? - Paul, Appollos, Cephas, and "Christ" were all speakers of the truth to the congregation in Corinth. So the people felt that the preacher they liked to listen to, was the one to follow, not realizing that they all spoke the same thing. We are not to follow the different speakers who speak the words, but to follow Jesus Christ in the Bible. What is the cause of divisions today? - Pride, wanting my way, I am always right - are a few of the mind sets of the division makers today. They will say, "I don't think you are right, therefore i am going to start a new church with my own teaching." Opinions have become the bedrock of divisions. How do we obey the command to "agree with one another"? - Simple = draw close to Jesus and absorb His love and then love one another. We do not have to have our own way all the time. But we do need to follow the command to love everyone!

What gifts does God give us to ensure that we'll continue in faith until the end? - Strength - Forgiveness - Faithfulness - Fellowship are the real gifts that God gives us to ensure that we last until the end. Why does each require our active participation to receive its full benefits? - By using our gifts, we are able to understand them better and we will benefit from the involvement with great joy. Which do you need to enter into more? - Fellowship with God is the most important because by being close to God we will understand Him better concerning His will for us.

What does "called to be holy" or "called to be saints" mean? - As we have been sanctified by Jesus, we then have been declared holy by Him. Being holy by Jesus, not by our lifestyle, we are saints - which means through Jesus, we are without sin. What is a saint according to the Bible? - A saint is "a holy one" that is set apart from the world. Why is it so comfortable for us to say, "I'm no saint"? - Speaking in the worldly sense, we are sinners, like everyone else. But speaking in the spiritual sense, we sinners saved by grace, becoming saints. What is expected of a person who has been set apart as the personal property of the living God? - We no longer belong to ourself. We belong to God, as Jesus paid for us by His blood. Therefore we are to live by a higher standard than the world and to accomplish this, we are to let LOVE be our guiding light. What kind of behavior does the world expect of those who claim to be followers of Christ? - PERFECT! Doing nothing wrong - hurting no one - always being polite - letting love be our guide.

1. Judah is God's people and they should have trusted in God. Instead they made their own preparations to defend against the Assyrians. Again, it is the idea that, "I will do what I can see, not follow God who I do not see". 2. God is their protector! And they needed to look to God as the One who would save them from destruction. Being God's people didn't seem to matter to them. 3. Shebna's sin was taking the publics money and using it for private means. He was making a lavish tomb for himself while Assyria was outside the walls of the city. 4. Yes, I believe all of us have done that and occasionally still do it. It is so much easier using someone else's money than your own.

1. God was using the person of Isaiah as a picture of what would happen to those in Judah if they did not follow God. Prisoner of war are stripped of their clothing so they feel shame and humiliated. 2. They tried to follow God, but they were too much into the pagan worship of other nations. They trusted in other nations to help them instead of God. 3. I would hope that I would have the faith to do whatever God told me to do.

1. This ruler that Isaiah is talking about believed that he was all powerful, even to the place of exalting himself above any gods that his nation worshiped. 2. Earlier Isaiah spoke of a virgin giving birth to a son, applying this Isaiah's time also to Jesus. So why not apply this scripture to both Babylon and Satan. He was cast out of Heaven. 3. Most of the time, we want to exalt our opinion above that of God and other people. We want to feel important and have others follow us. 4. It is different in that I am not a leader of a nation and speak out loud for all to hear. 5. We must choose to obey God in humbleness, yielding to His way of doing things. We must choose to have patience with God and His plan.

1. Jesse was the father of King David. 2. Jesse is the "stump" from which the Messiah will come. 3. He will have these attributes: wisdom and understanding - counsel and power - knowledge and fear - He will delight in the fear of the Lord. 4. He will bring down judgment upon the wicked of the land, judging with a sash of righteousness and a belt of truth. 5. The poor and weak are those who have been judged unrighteously in these nations who God fights for. 6. Jesus spoke of separating the sheep from the goats on the LAST DAY, with the "goats" the unrighteous and the "sheep", those who followed the laws of God.

1. We who are strong, well to do and self-sufficient want keep the poor and weak - poor and weak. We do not want them to invade our part of society and so degrading us. So we make laws that keep the poor out of sight and neglected. 2. We can prevent this from happening if we just push to have laws that affect everyone the same. And most of all push to have good moral laws. 3. Jesus went about helping the poor and weak, healing and casting out demons. We, Christians, need to make a priority of helping the poor and weak. We were there! So, God gives us everything, cannot we give what God has given us to those who have a need.

1. When the scripture says that He will sit on David's throne forever and that there will be no end to His reigning. 2. He is to be the perfect ruler with all wisdom and strength as well as called "everlasting Father and Prince of Peace". 3. I believe that I need most the wisdom that is from above, to guide me in my life every day.

In what sense is Yahweh (and His Messiah Jesus) a "stumbling stone" and "a trap and a snare"? God has given us the truth and we have slipped away from it, knowing only what the world knows. So God puts out His truth and we don't want to accept it because it will embarrass us, and make us feel guilty. We do not want the feelings of guilt, so we continue with other gods. In what way are people broken in this stumbling? The knowledge of truth will hit people and make them think about what they should do. When we stumble, we sin in disobedience and are snared by that sin by the works of the Devil. Why do you think people stumble over a God who is almighty and righteous and must be obeyed. People do not like others telling them what to believe and do. Especially God, who cannot be seen, who is right in everything He does. We just are stubborn. We like independence.

What was the gist of Isaiah's prophetic instruction to Ahaz? Follow God's instructions of don't try to get an alliance with any other nation and trust God. Why do you think Ahaz chose to ignore it? Ahaz was following other gods and did not believe in God or want to follow His advise. What did Ahaz do instead? Ahaz chose to make an alliance with the king of Assyria, against Syria and Israel. What was the consequence of this disobedience? Judah became a vassal nation to Assyria. Ahaz took all the gold and silver from the temple and gave to the king of Assyria as tribute. Why do we sometimes seem to think that we're smarter than God? God is not visible. We operate on vision to get things done. And most of the time, God takes longer than we want to wait. So we trust what we know (of the past) and don't trust God (who knows the future end) to do it right. Why is it sometimes so hard to do what God tells us to do? We know the answer. We don't need God to tell us something different. And usually God's way takes longer than we want.

You make sense of these words by knowing that God knew before the words were spoken how the listeners would respond. Isaiah's mission is not impossible because their were the few, the remnant, that would hear and trust Him. If someone told you that you would reply a certain way, I sure you would not like it - even angry about it. These words are quoted by Matthew in 13:14 - 15. Jesus was frustrated because people would only have lip service for what was the truth and eternally important. Jesus wanted all to be saved, and cared about those with stopped up ears. There is always hope as long as there is life. Always a few will listen and the many will go about their way over the dead body of Jesus.

Coming from possible well to do parents, Isaiah knew what the rich did and how God was going to judge them. So I believe that Isaiah needed some reassurance of the "justice" of God. Seeing God's power and strength gave Isaiah the courage to answer God's question, "Who will go for us?", by saying, "I will". I believe that people think of "majesty" as all the finery of Kings. But when it comes to God's Majesty, we can only see the "unseen". His Holiness - His purity - His justice - His righteousness - His strength. God is greater than anyone! God, Yahweh, is Holy, Pure, Always Right -- God is mighty, commanding myriads of angels. He speaks and things happen -- God is known by what He has created, all of nature, the universe, every living thing.

His vision was to have the nation of Judah follow Him and worship Him. And He, God, would take of the people and the land. He will clear the land, take out any stones in the dirt, build a hedge around, with a tower and winepress. When the grapes matured, they were rotten, foul smelling. The fruit was all bad. He would destroy the vines - the soil - the hedge - the tower. Everything would be torn down. To those of Judah, it doom coming soon - it meant that the leaders and rich were raping the land and the people of their dignity and self worth in God's eyes. To us, the warning is that we live by our choices and we need to make good, moral decisions in our life. We make the choice for going to hell.

The nation of Judah was given the temple worship and prophets, but they could not understand that the way they lived was the opposite of God's way. They were God's people to please Him, but instead they only lived for themselves, the way of the nations around them. Judah wanted to be called God's people, but by their behavior and hypocrisy, they portrayed a sinful nation. Christians today want to live with all the pleasures of the world, but be know as followers of God. That will not work. We must seek Jesus and follow His example in how to live each day and how to please our God for creating us. Firs they had hands full of blood and needed to wash their hands. Next they were to take evil deeds out of God's sight - stop doing wrong and do what is right -seek justice - encourage the oppressed - defend the cause of the fatherless - and plead the case of the widow. God, who is love, offered them forgiveness, but they kept up their rebellion and followed the world. God offered life, free from sin - from the burning red of sin to the brilliant white of wool.

What does the Bible teach about sloth and idleness among those who can work but refuse to? Summarize it briefly. In Genesis, God put down the words that we should use as a standard: Genesis 3:19a - By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food . . . And through out the scriptures, especially in the Book of Proverbs, it spells out what we should not do. Such as - if you are capable of working and don't work, you should be ignored. But as Christians, teachings of Jesus was to give and sometimes it is hard not to give to people who do not take care of their own family. While not working produces idleness and gossiping, work and give. What is our Christian duty? As Christian we must have wisdom in our dealings with people, knowing some about their character and work ethic. We are to help others (all people). But we must decide if we are giving only to further a bad habit or to promote Jesus Christ. God has given us His Holy Spirit to help in our decisions.

Why is perseverance so important as we see wickedness increasing? As wickedness increases, our faith will be tested to stand with the truth. This means that perseverance must be a part of our over all faith. We are not to listen to the lies and deceptions of the wicked, but be persistent in believing the truth only. What happens if we stop believing and being patient? We will fall under the spell of the evil one who will render us unsaved. We will start to believe anything someone says, lie or truth. How can we help one another persevere? By standing together, we can gain strength from each other. When one is facing an attack, we can hold them up and give them help in defeating the enemy. What part does faith and perseverance have in our salvation? We must be faithful until we die or Jesus comes again. We possess salvation now, but we do not have the complete salvation until we lay down this mortal body. If we lose our faith, we lose our salvation. What part does God's redemption and grace have in our salvation? There is no "predestination" of who will be saved or not saved. God knows who will believe and who will not believe. According to 1 Peter 1:1 - 2, by God's foreknowledge, those were predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ are saved. God's grace is giving us the knowledge of the truth on how to turn to Jesus to be saved. But ultimately, we are saved by grace, through faith.

What makes people so gullible that they believe the man of lawlessness' deceptions? People love their own sinful lifestyle and would feel guilty if they would believe the truth. The man of lawlessness provides believable deceptions that sinners want to believe and follow. Following the truth is too hard or difficult for them to accomplish. What is the reason that God gives them over to this deception? God is all knowing and knows who's conscience will not change, so He lets them "do their own thing" to dig deeper into sin. Why is a fearless seeking of God's truth so important to us? God wants us to truly believe, so He gives us "crashes" in life to show our faith and grow stronger in our ability to seek God's truth and not lies. How can a preaching of the truth set people free? God has set forth preaching of the Gospel to let people know what needs to be done to gain eternal life. By knowing the truth and believing it will set you free from the control of this world of sin.

What are the characteristics of the "antichrist" that Paul gives in this passage? The Man of Lawlessness will oppose and exalt himself over everything of God and is worshiped. He will go into God's temple and proclaim himself to be God. And what does Revelation 13:5 - 8 add to our basic understanding? The beast was given a mouth to blaspheme God and His dwelling place and all in Heaven. He made war with all of God's people, gathering all who opposed God to be on his side of the battle. He will end up in the Lake of Fire to be tormented forever and forever

What are the characteristics of the "antichrist" that Paul gives in this passage? The Man of Lawlessness will oppose and exalt himself over everything of God and is worshiped. He will go into God's temple and proclaim himself to be God. And what does Revelation 13:5 - 8 add to our basic understanding? The beast was given a mouth to blaspheme God and His dwelling place and all in Heaven. He made war with all of God's people, gathering all who opposed God to be on his side of the battle. He will end up in the Lake of Fire to be tormented forever and forever