The light (Jesus) was coming to bring light/life to the world. The world, however, did not recognize him or receive him. Those who did believe in him became children of God born of God.
BSF Study Questions John’s Gospel: The Truth Lesson 1, Day 4: John 1:9-13
8a) Most did not recognize Jesus or receive him.
b) God’s chosen people, the Jews
c) Reasons is that they just can’t see Christ or see him in their life. Following Christ is too hard. And, they believe God/Christ to be unloving or distant.
9) You must receive Christ and believe in his name and what he did for you.
10)
Born not of natural descent: We were born of the Holy Spirit.
Nor of human decision: Chosen by God to believe.
Or a husband’s will: Believing in Christ is the choice of no other by yourself.
Born of God: Born or God’s will.
11) I know I am God’s child because I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior into my heart.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions John’s Gospel: The Truth Lesson 1, Day 4: John 1:9-13
Jesus came for one reason: to give us eternal life. Yet, many cannot grasp this simplicity. Do you?
End Notes BSF Study Questions John’s Gospel: The Truth Lesson 1, Day 4: John 1:9-13
We are all born by God’s grace.
How powerful is sin that the Creator of the Universe (Jesus) came and no one recognized him?
This is about God’s treatment of Judah. Israel is the vineyard, and God had done everything possible to care for them, but they only yielded bad grapes. So he lets it grow wild and uncultivated, which yields only bloodshed and cries of distress.
SUMMARY OF ACTS 7:1-53
Stephen tells us the back story: God appeared the Abram/Abraham while he was still in Ur in Mesopotamia before he left for Haran and told Abram to leave Ur and to go to Canaan. So he went to Haran. Then after Terah, his father, died God sent Abram to Canaan.
God gave him no inheritance in Canaan but He promised him his descendants would possess the land. God told Abram his children would be strangers in the land and would be enslaved for 400 years. But God would punish that nation and afterward they will come back to Canaan to worship Him. Here, God instituted the covenant of circumcision as a sign of this covenant.
Then Abraham had Isaac whom he circumcised. Isaac had Jacob who became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
Joseph was sold as a slave, but God was with him and he was made ruler over Egypt and the palace. When famine struck Canaan, Jacob brought his entire family to Egypt, so Joseph could feed them.
Moses was born and saw God in the burning bush. God sent him to Egypt to lead his people out of slavery. The people rebelled while heading to the Promise Land, making a golden calf. Joshua drove the nations out of the Promised Land so Israel could occupy it. Solomon then built God a temple, a permanent place to be worshipped.
Stephen calls the Sanhedrin stiff-necked and just like their fathers. They resist the Holy Spirit, and they killed Jesus.
SUMMARY OF 1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-13
Paul warns against being idolaters, as some of their forefathers were in Moses’s day. They should not commit sexual immorality, not test the Lord, and not grumble. Past events were recorded as warnings for us, but we need to be ever vigilant against temptation. But God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, and He’ll provide a way out to stand up against the temptation.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 1, Day 4: Isaiah 5:1-7; Acts 7:1-53; and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
10) God took care of Israel since the time before they were born and through their lives. He treated them tenderly and watched over them. Yet, they rebelled, so He took away his protection.
11) That God has chosen me out of all the peoples of the earth. What power lies in this fact.
12a)
Stephen tells us the back story: God appeared the Abram/Abraham while he was still in Ur in Mesopotamia before he left for Haran and told Abram to leave Ur and to go to Canaan. So he went to Haran. Then after Terah, his father, died God sent Abram to Canaan.
God gave him no inheritance in Canaan but He promised him his descendants would possess the land. God told Abram his children would be strangers in the land and would be enslaved for 400 years. But God would punish that nation and afterward they will come back to Canaan to worship Him. Here, God instituted the covenant of circumcision as a sign of this covenant.
Then Abraham had Isaac whom he circumcised. Isaac had Jacob who became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
Joseph was sold as a slave, but God was with him and he was made ruler over Egypt and the palace. When famine struck Canaan, Jacob brought his entire family to Egypt, so Joseph could feed them.
Moses was born and saw God in the burning bush. God sent him to Egypt to lead his people out of slavery. The people rebelled while heading to the Promise Land, making a golden calf. Joshua drove the nations out of the Promised Land so Israel could occupy it. Solomon then built God a temple, a permanent place to be worshipped.
The main points of Acts 7 are:
Abraham’s calling (7:2-8);
the Patriarchs in Egypt (7:9-16);
life of Moses (7:17-36);
Moses and Israel in the wilderness (7:37-43);
and the Tabernacle of Testimony (7:44-50).
He emphasizes God’s calling and care of His people and His provision of a leader when they needed it the most. He also emphasized how God was with them without a physical temple for thousands of years.
b) I think all of our lives are like this: we have spiritual successes and failures, but the ultimate goal is to have progressively fewer failures as we move towards God and Jesus. We should learn from the past so we can be better in the future.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 1, Day 4: Isaiah 5:1-7; Acts 7:1-53; and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
A lot of reading in this lesson. I love Stephen’s summary of the Old Testament. It’s concise and covers the big picture. Great stuff!
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 1, Day 4: Isaiah 5:1-7; Acts 7:1-53; and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Isaiah 5:1-7: Israel had everything it needed to grow and follow the Lord and they chose not to. God did all He could do; the fault is solely Israel’s. So, as punishment, God stopped protecting His people and stopped giving them blessings.
Acts 7:1-53: Stephen emphasizes Israel’s perpetual rejection of God and the Law. Then he points out how they rejected Jesus, the Son of God. He is showing how Israel treated Moses and how the Jews treated Jesus the same way. Moses was divinely appointed by God, as was Jesus. Yet, Moses was repeatedly rejected by the people, as was Jesus. The people turned to idols and God let them go.
Worship does not have to be in a temple, as Israel’s history showed.
Fun Fact: This is the longest speech in Acts.
1 Corinthians 10:1-13: Paul lists all the blessings the Israelites in the wilderness had:
They had God as a cloud, a constant reminder of His presence
All were baptized via the Red Sea
God provided them with food and drink
Yet, they did not please God, and they died in the wilderness, never entering the Promise Land.
The point is just becuaes you are a believer, you may not be pleasing God. This is why you should not be an idolater, commit sexual immorality, not test the Lord, and not grumble.
We need to learn from Israel’s mistakes and God gives us the ability to resist our temptations.
Luke records how the angel of God reassured Mary, too. We are told that the angel, Gabriel, went to Nazareth in Galilee to a virgin named Mary. Gabriel told Mary that the Lord was with her and that she is highly favored. However, Mary was afraid, but the angel said that God has favored her and chosen her to bear His son to be named Jesus. He will inherit the throne of David and will reign over God’s people for eternity.
The Holy Spirit will come upon her. Her relative, Elizabeth, will have a child (John the Baptist) in her old age for nothing is impossible with God. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered, and the angel left.
BSF STUDY QUESTIONS MATTHEW LESSON 1, DAY 4: GOD’S PLAN FOR MARY: LUKE 1:26-38
11a ) Gabriel told Mary that the Lord was with her and that she is highly favored. The angel said that God has favored her and chosen her to bear His son to be named Jesus. He will inherit the throne of David and will reign over God’s people for eternity. The Holy Spirit will come upon her. Her relative, Elizabeth, will have a child (John the Baptist) in her old age for nothing is impossible with God.
b ) The Holy Spirit. Because it is God’s child, his Son, the Savior of the World.
12 ) “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be as you have said,” she told the angel Gabriel upon hearing she would bear God’s Son.
13 ) How I can see everything working in my life that He planned, not me. To impact my little corner of the world as He sees fit. Everything has come to this moment.
CONCLUSIONS BSF STUDY QUESTIONS MATTHEW LESSON 1, DAY 4: GOD’S PLAN FOR MARY: LUKE 1:26-38
I love how we can have the same stories from different points of view. So great! God is good!
END NOTES BSF STUDY QUESTIONS MATTHEW LESSON 1, DAY 4: GOD’S PLAN FOR MARY: LUKE 1:26-38
Curiously enough, no writer of the Old Testament ever mentioned the town of Nazareth. This tells you how insignificant it truly was. Until this moment when God chooses the human parents of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. They live in Nazareth. Here, we get the term “Jesus of Nazarth” plus the Nazarenes, or followers of Jesus.
One could say we are all favored, blessed, and have the Lord in the form of the Holy Spirit with us.
Mary’s mind turns to the practical when asking how she will have a baby when she has never had sex. Does this show a lack of faith? No. It simply is a question that most of us would ask. How will this happen?
On the fourth day, God made the stars, the sun, and the moon. God said this was good.
On the fifth day, God made the sea creatures and the birds according to their kind. He told them to multiply. God saw that this was good.
On the sixth day, God made the land animals according to their kind. God said this was good.
BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 1, Day 4: Genesis 1:14-25
9) On the fourth day, God made the stars, the sun, and the moon. God said this was good.
On the fifth day, God made the sea creatures and the birds according to their kind. He told them to multiply. God saw that this was good.
On the sixth day, God made the land animals according to their kind. God said this was good.
10) The lights on the 4th day are more specific. On the first day, God created light. On the 4th day, God created more light with a specific purpose: “to separate the day from the night, serve as signs to mark seasons, days, and years, and to give light on earth.” The stars, sun, and moon were to separate light from darkness and to govern the night and the day.
11) Personal Question. My answer: God knows what is good and what is not good. Thus, in our lives, God’s rules of how to live let us know what is good and what is not. It is clear-cut. Man does not have to decide. Instead, man frequently does what is not good against God’s wishes.
12) I have no answer for this. I have always believed, and when you look around at the amazing vastness and diversity of this earth, it is evident that only a higher power could create this. I think those who don’t believe in the Creator God choose to turn a blind eye, or God blinds them. They are in denial. Let’s face it, it’s easier this way; then you don’t have to follow God’s laws, and you can live as you choose.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 1, Day 4: Genesis 1:14-25
I love re-reading the formation of everything on this planet. It’s always so humbling to know how insignificant we truly are.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 1, Day 4: Genesis 1:14-25
Man has used God’s provision of the sun, moon, and stars to mark and measure time and direction since the beginning on humanity, as God has intended.
God knew exactly how far to set the sun from the earth. If the earth were closer or further from the sun, life as we know it would be impossible.
We see birds and sea creatures were created at the same time, not evolving slowly over millions of years.
The fossil record totally rejects the idea of millions of tiny changes. Most creatures stay the same over time.
Only an omnipotent God can create such a variety of land animals, and God shows His sense of humor, too, in the variety of unusual creatures that only a Creator could make up.
Passage: Â In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Questions:
9a) Â The heavens and the earth
b) Â After creating the heavens and the earth, God fills both with more creations. Â Genesis Chapter 1 is all about what God created.
10) Â John 1:1-3:Â Christ was with God in the beginning
Colossians 1:15-19:Â Christ was born before creation in order to be supreme above all things
Colossians 2:3:Â Christ holds all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
Colossians 2:9:Â For Christ is God in bodily form
Hebrews 1:3: Christ is God’s glory
All of these support the idea Christ was there from the beginning (Creation).
Conclusions: Â Easy day. Â Not much here to conclude we didn’t already know: Â God created the heavens and the earth and Jesus was with Him. Â Makes sense since God is Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
