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Lesson5 Q 4 Define "justice," "vengeance," and "mercy." Can a Holy and Righteous God justly forgive sins without punishing them? What is the significance of the cross in God's righteousness? "justice"-- Giving someone what they deserve--no less, no more. "vengeance"-- Punishment inflicted in retaliation for an injury or offense. Fair execution of justice. "mercy" -- not giving someone the punishment they deserve. Yes, God can justly forgive sins without punishing them because He is a merciful God. The Cross brings forgiveness for our sins and without the Cross we would remain in our sins and I believe justice and vengeance would prevail.

Lesson 5 Q 3 (Psalm 68:5) Since our God is the Helper of the Fatherless and the Protector of Widows--that is, the poorest and weakest of society--what does this say about a Christians' commitment to social justice in our communities? How should it affect our actions? Christians (the Church) is committed to look after the fatherless and widows in the community. Instead of leaving it to government to look after these people it is the church's responsibility to do so, and out actions should show this instead of sitting back and letting government do it for us. We should, "Share each others troubles and problems and in this way obey the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

Lesson 5 Q 1 (Isaiah 6:1-8) How does a realization of God's holiness affect Isaiah? Isaiah panics because He sees his own sins and he falls short of God's standard. Why is Isaiah afraid? Isaiah is afraid because he knows he displeased God and he was afraid that anyone who saw God would die. How does God make Isaiah holy? By touching his mouth with a live coal from the altar. It wasn't the coal that cleansed him but God. What is the symbolism of the coal from the altar? The coal from the altar was a painful cleansing process, we must be purified in order to be used by God who is pure and holy. Letting God purify us may be painful. Now made holy--dedicated to God--how does Isaiah respond to God? Isaiah responds to God by submitting himself entirely to God's service. No matter how difficult his task would be, he said, "Here am I; send me."

Lesson5 Q 4 Why is a person's attitude with regard to giving related to that person's attitude towards praise? If we cannot give willingly and with geninue hearts then we will not be able to praise our Lord and Savior with sincere and geninue hearts. Why does an attitude of possessiveness with regards to giving get in the way of worship? If we do not give freely from the heart to God, then we may be thinking that we have earned what we have in our own power and strength, therefore we will not give God all the glory and praise and thankfulness that He deserves. Every good and perfect gift is from above, James tells us. Amen! In what sense do all your possessions belong to God? In the sense that it all comes and belong to God. "It comes from your hand and all of it belongs to you." (29:16) What then should be your relationship to your possessions? Our relationship should be temporary. In your lesson, it states: David is only a temporary steward of God's abundance. We are all like David. How will these truths reenergize your giving? Your Praise? The more I come to know the truth the more I will want to give. Not only 10% but more, for it all belongs to God. Whatever we give, we will be only giving what is God's anyway. We have nothing without Him! My Praise should be and will be more geninue if I give knowing that it all belongs to God, giving willingly and freely.

Lesson 5 Q 3 Verses 11 and 12 both attribute various characteristics to God, such as glory, honor, and might. How might you begin to mention God's greatness in your own prayer? When I pray to God I always praise Him first, then I mention that He is The Lord of lords and the King of kings. He is wonderful counselor, Prince of Peace and The Great I Am. I always tell Him that I cannot do anything without Him. Every good and perfect gift is from above! Amen! Where is this kind of praise found by example in the Lord's Prayer? Our Father, Hallowed be thy Name, for thine is the power and the glory, Amen! What are your favorite songs that point to God's greatness? Great is thy faithfulness How great thou art Love lifted me Amazing Grace Just as I am.

Lesson 5 Q 2 In what way does praise exalt God? Praise exalts God by expressing out loud the respect and honor we have for Him. Why should we exalt God? Because He is the Exalted One! God is exalted far above any ruler or celebrity, general, scientist, or author. What does this exaltation do in us? It strengthens our faith when we acknowledge God's greatness. What does it say about us? That we are willing to openly declare God's greatness, therefore encouraging others to see God in this light and honor Him as well. Exalting God by praising Him gives us awe and love that is felt by others.

Lesson 5 Q 1 In what way do our prayers of praise "bless" God? When we offer up prayers of praise we bless God by extolling and worshipping Him in His greatness, glory, and splendor. What do we mere humans have that God desires in a blessing? We have God's desire for our worship in giving as well as our worship in praise - Uncompelled and free giving of ourselves. What are prayers like, that don't include blessing God? They are self-centered, without joy, and without praise to the Lord our God.

Lesson 4 Q 4 What does it mean to have a broken heart and spirit? It means we become aware of God's divine presence and our hearts become broken because of our sins, making us want more than anything forgiveness. We become aware that our sins hurt God who loves us and by our sins we are injuring His reputation. We become broken to the extent of sorrow. Why is this essential in the prayer for pardon? Because until we become aware of how much this hurts God and we bring Him down with our sins we will not pray the prayer for pardon. We will only have religion and not a geninue relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In what sense is this a "sacrifice"? We have to give up following what we want to do ourselves and be obedient to God, which we find hard to do, because we like to be in control. We have to "sacrifice" self. Why do we tend to resist a "broken and contrite heart" in ourselves? Pride! We do not want anyone to see or think we are not perfect and we do not want to admit it to ourselves.

Lesson 4 Q 3 Is it possible to have a pure heart? Yes! How does God bring about a pure heart? By the blood of Christ that was shed for us. Jesus died for our sins and He desires to forgive us, no matter what we have done. What is our part in this? To pray a prayer for a pure heart and a willing spirit. A spirit that longs to serve God, and a heart that is inclined to Him. This is our part.

Lesson 4 Q 2 In his prayer does David seek to minimize his sins? To maximize them? No, David do not seek to hide or minimize his sins. I believe he is maximizing them by affirming that he is sinful through and through. Why does an authentic prayer for pardon require clear, unvarnished acknowledgement of sin to be effective? So we will take full responsibility for our sin and call it what it actually is and be sorry for offending God. By praying this kind of prayer we will not be rationalizing our sins to make them seem somewhat less guilt-worthy thus helping us to confess our sins to God in a way that is necessary.

Lesson 4 Q 1 In what way does a prayer for pardon require faith? We have to believe God can and will "Blot out", "wash away" and "cleanse" our sins to pray a prayer for pardon. We have to have faith in God to forgive us of our sins. We have to know who God is. What is that faith based on? I believe it is based on our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is based on knowing God's merciful nature, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How does a person gain the faith to pray this prayer in confidence? By admitting we are sinners and we need to be restored to fellowship with our God. We do this by studying His Word and gaining a closer relationship with Him everyday in our everyday lives.

Lesson 3 Q 4 In what way does Abraham show persistence? Abraham shows persistence by he do not give up, he keeps bargaining with God until God gives the answer. Why is persistence necessary in prayer? Persistence is necessary in prayer because it shows our faith in God and by persisting we believe God will answer our prayers. Have you ever experienced "praying through"? What was it like? I can not say that I have been so faithful in praying like the older generation but I have prayed, knowing within that God will answer my prayer one way or another. I have total faith in God that He will come through for me.

Lesson 3 Q 3 Do you think Abraham's boldness pleased God? Why or why not? Yes, I believe Abraham's boldness pleased God because it shows Abraham's faith. Abraham believed in God and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness. What might cause God to take delight in your prayers to him? Coming to God in prayer shows God that He is my Father and I believe in Him and I am as a little child coming to Him with all my joys and sorrows, showing Him that I have faith and believing He is a righteous God who acts justly. It shows I believe in Him and understands Him enough to ask everything. God delights in us when we come to Him in prayer because He has chosen to adopt us into His family and bless us....because of Jesus. Amen!

Lesson 3 Q 2 How did Abraham demonstrate his humility before God? By repeatedly acknowledging his own humble place before Almighty God. Why must boldness be tempered with humility? When we come to God with boldness we must realize who God is. God is our Father, king of heaven and He is awesome and holy. We must not think we know better than our God.

Lesson 3 Q 1 What is the basis of Abraham's argument that God should spare Sodom? If there are ten righteous people in Sodom then it would be wrong to kill the righteous with the wicked because God is a righteous God. How does it relate to God's character? By God is a righteous God and He will treat the righteous justly. God's character is righteous, mercyful, loving and everything that is good. Amen?

Lesson 2 Q 4 How can prayer change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God? Prayer can change God's mind without conflicting with the doctrine of the Immutability of God by man's response. A change in man's conduct brings about a change in God's judgment. God's character, holiness, and purpose do not change but as Cole observes, "In the Bible, it is clear that God's promises and warnings are always conditional on man's response." Can God answer a prayer for something outside of the scope of his will? I believe we will learn to pray according to God's will, therefore,we will not be asking God for something that is out of the scope of His will. When we pray like this (according to His will) God is willing to change His actions to respond to our intercessions and petitions but not outside the scope if His will.

Lesson 2 Q 3 How can a wrong understanding of determinism and predestination keep us from the kind of gutsy prayer that Moses prayed? If we believe that God predestined everything then we would not believe that there is power in prayer, therefore making us pray wimpy prayers. If we have a wrong undrestanding of determinism and predestination then we believe that we cannot change God's mind and action, we would not have any bold prayers like Moses. What do you call a belief that our prayers make no difference to God's response? I would call our prayers passive and and unbelieving.

Lesson 2 Q 2 What aspects of Moses' prayer of intercession should we emulate in our own prayers? We should emulate boldness and take God's interests into our hearts as our own. Upon what logical grounds does Moses offer this bold appeal to God? On keeping with the concerns of God and God's character. The Israelites are God's own people, God's reputation among the heathen, God's promises, and God's consistent mercy. What do you think it means to "pray the promises of God"? It means knowing Scripture and then pray according to God's will. How does knowing the Bible help you get your prayers answered? It helps us to pray according to the will of God rather than contrary to it, thus we align ourselves with God's will. How does this help our prayers be within God's will? By knowing Scripture we can learn to pray by praying Scripture back to God.

Lesson 2 Q 1 Read Exodus 32:1 -14. What had the people done that was so bad? The people had broken the law. They worshiped a golden calf that they demanded Aaron to make and claimed that the idol brought them out of Egypt - blasphemy. How can a loving God be angry? Because God is holy, separated from sin and our sins offend God's very character. His nature is utterly opposed to injustice, sin, and human degradation. God is a loving God but He can become angry because of His own holiness. Is God's sentence to destroy Israel and raise up a new nation through Moses justified? Yes. Since Moses himself is a direct descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God's promises to the patriarchs would be fulfilled.

Lesson1 Q 4 Why should we continually ask forgiveness? Because we are humans and we sin everyday, therefore we need God's forgiveness. How can unforgiveness on our part block God's blessing? When we are unforgiving we are in bondage to sin and hate, therefore God will not bless us in those situations. We have to seek His forgiveness first and allow Him to help us to forgive others that have hurt us, then we will receive something better. How can unforgiveness block God's forgiveness? We have to be willing to forgive others in order for God to forgive us. If we cannot forgive others, how can we come to God for forgiveness. I believe Pride comes in here. We need to be broken vessels, let pride go, forgive, then we will be ready to come to God for forgiveness.

Lesson 1 Q 3 Why do we seek to be independent of asking anyone for help? Because of pride. It hurts our pride when we have to ask someone for something. Why do we seek to be independent of God? Because most of us are living within our means and think we do not have to rely upon God. It's only when things change for the worst that we realize that we do need Him. Why should we ask God to "give" us daily bread so long as we can earn a living for ourselves? Because without Him we can do nothing. We need God to give us health and strength to make a living. We need Him for every aspect of our daily lives, from putting our feet to the floor in the morning to putting them to bed at night, we need Him. Amen!

Lesson 1 Q 2: In what sense are we asking that the Father's Kingdom should come? The sense we are asking that the Father's Kingdom should come is we are asking God to manifest the power and glory of his kingdom in us, and throughout our world. Why are we asking that the Father's will to be done here on earth? So all can know His power and glory and praying that Christ might reign over all. Also to hasten the return of Jesus Christ to this earth. How should this prayer affect our living? We should be living with God's will on our minds at all times. Our living should be in tune with and guided by God's will. Amen!

The Lord's Prayer, question 1: What about our lives and words "hallows" the name of our Father? Our lives and words "hallows" the name of our Father by showing our Father is holy by the way we live and talk. To do this we have to be set apart from sin like our Father who is holy. What desecrates and besmirches it? By using our Father's Name in a profane way and living in a way that is not pleasing to our Father. How should we "hallow" the Father when we begin to pray? We should approach the Father with reverence and respect for His greatness and holiness.

Lesson 9 Q 4 (a) The condition that must be met for the promise to be valid is we are to love God and it is our heart's desire to please Him. (b)The limit of the fulfillment of the promise is that "God will meet ALL our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." © The promise means to me is God will supply all my needs. I can make my requests known to God and I will not have to worry because by seeking Him, He will meet my needs. It's a burden lifted. Amen?

Lesson 9 Q 3 (a) The Philippians' financial gifts were credited to their heavenly account, I think by supporting Paul financially, they were winning souls for Christ through Paul's labor. They would both share in the reward. Eternity! ( Their giving was linked to temporal blessings by they would not have to wait until eternity for their blessings to start, but they would see blessings from their investment now in this life.