ragnew

(Luke 2:7-8) Why do you think the message of Jesus' birth comes to shepherds, of all people? Why is Jesus born in a stable with a manger for a bed? This has to be intentional. What point is God making? I think that right from the beginning God was making it clear the His Son had come for the whole world, even the most humble person. He was placed in a manger because there was no room in the inn, presumably because the census had caused a lot of influx of people into Bethlehem. I think God did this so that people would not have the wrong idea about who Jesus was and what His purpose on earth was. He did not come as a political leader, but as the saviour of the world.

Why do you think the journey to Bethlehem was difficult for Mary? Is pleasure an indication that we are in God's will or not? Any examples from your life? Extra Credit: Argue for or against this proposition: "Being a consistent Christian causes more hardships than just going with the flow." She was 9 months pregnant travelling on dusty dirty hilly roads with no place proper to sleep at night. It would have been exhausting. Pleasure a not a good measuring stick to determine if you are in God's will or not. Clearly Mary's journey would not have been a vacation, however, there would be a measure of pleasure in knowing that she was serving God. I think that being a Christian causes different hardships than going with the flow. As a consistent Christian you will sometimes stand out of the crowd which will lead some to misunderstand, hate or despise you. However, as a Christian you will avoid many of Satan's traps and will not live a life of slavery to sin. I would choose freedom from sin over going with the flow.

(Luke 2:1-2) Why does Luke name the rulers in 2:1-2? What point is he making? I think that Luke was placing Jesus into a historical context. It also reveals God's sovereignty in all things, to orchestrate a census by a foreign ruler that would fulfill ancient prophecy by bringing Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.

(Matthew 1:23) How did the prophetic concept of the virgin conception and the name "Immanuel" find their fullness in the birth of Jesus to Mary? This prophecy was partially fulfilled in the time of Ahaz, but reached complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Immanuel means God with us and Jesus is God and He came to live among us as a man. If Jesus was just an ordinary child, conceived by a man and a woman, he would have had a sin nature and he would not have been God.

(Matthew 1:21) What is the significance of the name Jesus? Why do you think the angel gave the name to both Mary (Luke 1:31) and Joseph independently? Jesus means "Yahweh saves" and that is exactly what Jesus came to do, save us from the penalty of our sins. He told them both, I suppose, so that there would be no argument or question as to what His name should be.

(Matthew 1:19) What were Mary's options being pregnant and carrying a baby not her husband's? What kind of character did Joseph exhibit by deciding to divorce Mary quietly and leniently? Mary didn't really have many options. Joseph had some options. He could have married her, quietly divorced her, or publicly disgraced her (which would have led to her death by stoning). Joseph must have been a gentle and loving man. He was not a legalist or a hot head.

What would Jesus have learned as the son of a carpenter? What experiences would this have exposed him to? He would have learned carpentry: working with wood, building things, carving, design and skilled with His hands. He knew how to work hard, exhaustion, pain, splinters, working with people (customers).

(Luke 1:42-43) In what sense are the titles "Blessed Virgin Mary" and "Mother of God" appropriate for Mary? Why are we sometimes hesitant to exalt her as "blessed among women" Mary was blessed, she was a virgin and Jesus, her son, is God. I think we often err on the side of caution because some groups have exalted Mary above her position, placing her as an equal with God and displacing Jesus as our Saviour and intercessor. However, Scripture clearly states that she is blessed among women, so I think we can look to her as an example of Godly womanhood.

(Luke 1:38) What is the essence of Mary's positive response to the angel? What can we learn from her response for our own lives? In what sense was Mary's response an "informed consent"? When we respond to God, what do we consent to? She is humble and obedient, accepting God's plan for her with great faith. We can know that the Lord won't take us down a road that will lead us to harm. We can have faith that even though circumstances in our lives look bad that He will turn it to good (like the story of Soul Surfer). Mary understands the situation and submits to God's plan. Sometimes we are consenting to trials and difficult circumstances. We also acknowledge His sovereignty over us.

(Luke 1:35) What does the virgin conception teach us about Jesus' nature? How central is the doctrine of the virgin conception to the Christian message? It teaches us that Jesus did not have a sin nature because He was not born of a man. It's essential that Jesus be born of a virgin. If He had not then He could not have paid the penalty for our sins. Bye, bye gospel, bye bye Christian message.

(5:19-20) In the light of James' emphasis on active faith vs. dead faith (2:17), why is the role of finding and bringing back the wandering sheep so important? To bring a child of God back to active faith in God is a great victory and brings glory and honour to God, while at the same time avoiding the potential shame that can be heaped on the name of God when a believer strays.

(5:14-16) In the healing prayer, what is the role of oil? What is the role of the prayer of faith? What is the role of faith? What is the role of confession of sins? I think that the oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit and is a good visual reminder that the healing work is God's work, not the work of a person. The anointing of oil helps ensure that all the glory goes to God for this healing work. It is the prayer offered in faith that makes the sick person well, but it is the Lord who raises the person up. It is the faith of those that are praying that is the catalyst to the Lord's healing work. Sometimes our sicknesses are a direct result of sin in our lives. It is important to have confessed these sins to God, repented and asked for forgiveness and also that we confess to those we have sinned against and sought forgiveness from them. When we are right before God and man our prayers are more effective and powerful.

(Luke 1:34) In what way does Mary's "How?" question (1:34) to the angel's declaration differ from Zechariah's "How?" question (1:18)? Why was Mary rewarded and Zechariah disciplined? Zechariah's question revealed a lack of faith while Mary's question revealed a lack of understanding. Mary was rewarded for her extraordinary faith, Zechariah was disciplined because he didn't believe, even when an angel was right in his face talking to him in the Holy of Holies in the temple in Jerusalem.

(Luke 1:31-34) What did the angel's announcement say about who Mary's Child was and who he was to become? He will be a boy, He will be called Jesus, He will be great, He's God's Son, He will be given the throne of David, reign over the house of Jacob, His kingdom will never end, He's the holy one.

(5:14) What is the elders' role in prayer for the sick? What must be their spiritual qualifications for this ministry of prayer? The elders are to pray over the sick person and anoint him with oil. This prayer must be offered in faith.

(5:13-14) According to verse 14, who is to initiate prayer for healing? Why might this be important? The sick individual is to ask the elders to come and pray over him. It's important that the person wants prayer and has a measure of faith in the value of prayer if the Spirit is to work through this situation.

(5:9) What does our grumbling and complaining say about us? About our faith? About our patience? Seeing as it is God who is sovereign, when we are complaining and grumbling we are really complaining and grumbling about God and His plan for us. God's Word tells us that God always has our best interests in mind, so when hard and painful times come we need to trust in His perfect plan. Thus grumbling and complaining show a lack of faith in the goodness and sovereignty of God. If we instead would be patient, trusting God through the bad times, knowing that He will see us through and that He will use these circumstances to make us more like Him, then we could endure with joy even through the toughest circumstances. This may sound very matter of fact, but we all know that in those times of trial sometimes we feel like we've lost our faith or that we're holding on by the skin of our teeth, but God always proves Himself to be faithful.

(5:7-8) What can happen to us Christians if we lack the patience to eagerly expect Christ's return? Why is patience so vital? If we lose patience we may begin to complain and we may lose our focus on what God is accomplishing here on earth and begin to live indulgent lives like what is described in verses 1-6. Patience is vital because God is in the business of saving people. It is not His desire that any should perish.

(5:5-6) What is the spiritual danger of our demand for comfort and luxury? Extra credit: How might our demand for low-priced goods and services cause us to (1) oppress our own employees or (2) cause workers in this country or abroad to be under paid or oppressed? How does all this relate to the need for patience? There is a danger that in these last days, when we should be devoting ourselves even more fully to the furtherance of the Gospel, that instead we will only be focused on ourselves and our own desires and pleasures to the point that we would even trample other righteous people in order to satisfy ourselves. To be sure the availability of cheap "stuff" has made us increasingly materialistic without even a thought of the high human price that is paid to produce cheap merchandise. Instead of rushing off to buy cart loads of cheap "stuff" we would be better off to pray for God to provide our needs. I've been amazed many times to see how God provides if I just sit back and wait for Him to work, but this requires patience. There have been other times that I've rushed ahead and bought things we needed even though we couldn't afford them at the time, only later to have it revealed that God was going to provide for that need without my jumping ahead.

(4:13-16) What danger is James warning us about in verses 13-16? How can we be humble in our planning without being indecisive and wishy-washy? James is warning us against the arrogance of thinking that we are the masters of our own destiny. He reminds us that our lives are fleeting and can end at any moment. Therefore we need to acknowledge the sovereignty of the Lord when we make plans for the future by saying (as a reminder to ourselves and to others) that we will do various things "if the Lord wills." By making this statement we are humbling ourselves before the Lord and His plan for us while at the same time not being stalled in our fear of making a wrong move. In the end, the Lord's will will be done regardless.

(4:6-10) Verses 7-10 contain 10 different commands. Why are these actions so vital? In what way do they go against our nature? Which of these commands is most difficult for you? All of these commands exemplify a life of humility before God, therefore to be a friend of God, to live in His Spirit and to experience greater grace we must not be proud, but humble ourselves before Him. My nature is to be proud. My nature is to try to do it myself and in my way. These commands force me to face the sin of pride in my life and humble myself in the presence of the Lord. I kind of think that if I accomplish the first one, "submit therefore to God," that the others would fall into place. I would count that as the toughest one to obey. Sometimes I want to run ahead of God and other times I drag my feet on moving in the direction He is moving me, and sometimes I don't have the discernment to know which is which.

(4:4) Why does James refer to church members as "adulteresses"? What does the adultery consist of? Who is the aggrieved husband? What is wrong with friendship with the world? James is drawing on the imagery of the Church being the bride of Christ (the groom). If Christians show friendship with the world they are adulteresses because they are turning their backs on Christ (the husband) and giving their intimacy to another, the world. You can not serve both God and the world. It's either one or the other. As the verse goes on to say, "whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

(4:1-3) Is God against pleasure? What wrong in living to increase one's pleasure? God is not against pleasure, after all, He created us for His pleasure. What God is against is when we live for our own pleasure. When our efforts are focused on meeting our own needs and desires instead of meeting the needs of others. This attitude will put us in direct conflict with God and with others making it impossible to fulfill that "royal law."

(3:13-16) In what ways are "bitter envy" and "selfish ambition" (3:14) direct opposites of "humility" (3:13)? How does denial of "bitter envy" and "selfish ambition" prevent healing? How does boasting about these prevent healing? Humility causes us to act with gentleness, kindness, peaceable and is self effacing. Bitter envy and selfish ambition will lead to conflict, unnecessary fighting, behaviour designed to attract attention to oneself and will cause a complete lack of peace. God will not be able to bring about a change in our hearts until we acknowledge that this sin is lurking in there. Boasting about anything reveals pride in the heart and the proud person is not ready to admit that there is sin in his/her life. Until we acknowledge the sin and humbly ask God for forgiveness and to help us turn away from that sin, there can be little in the way of healing or reconciliation.

(3:7-8) Read Matthew 12:34 and 15:18. In light of these verses, why is the tongue untamable? What has to happen before it can be tamed? The tongue us untameable because the heart is untameable. The words that come out of our mouths originate in our hearts and as the prophet Jeremiah says, the human heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. What needs to happen to tame the tongue is that I need a heart transplant. i guess this begins at salvation and continues through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.