Read Matthew 6:9-13.
(a) What does the Lord’s Prayer tell us about who God is, and who we are?
(b) Why not pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly, stopping at the end of each phrase to allow each person in the group an opportunity to offer a short prayer of their own?
…
‘The Virgin Birth meshes harmoniously with the rest of the New Testament message about Jesus. He himself worked miracles and rose miraculously from the dead, so no new problem is involved in affirming that he entered the world miraculously. He left the world supernaturally, by resurrection and ascension, so a supernatural way of arriving was entirely fitting. The stress laid on Jesus’ preincarnate dignity and glory (Jn 1:1-9; 17:5; 2 Cor 8:9; Php 2:5-11; Col 1:15-17; Heb 1:1-3; 1 Jn 1:1) made a mode of entry into incarnate life that involved proclamation of the glorious role he was coming to fulfill (Mt 1:21-23; Lk 1:31-35) more natural than any alternative.…
(a) What do you think the disciples’ thoughts and feelings were just before this encounter with the risen Jesus? And just after?
(b) What special mission did Jesus give to his disciples, and how did he equip them for this?
(c) Christians today could be described as ‘those who have not seen and yet have believed’ (verse 29). In what sense are we ‘blessed’ because of this?…
(a) Suppose you had known nothing about Jesus, or about the Christian faith. Then, you pick up John’s Gospel and start to read it through. You reach chapter 20. What might be your thoughts and feelings, as you read this chapter for the first time?
(b) Critics sometimes claim that the resurrection accounts found in the four Gospels are hopelessly at odds with one another. What do you think? If there are variations between the different accounts, why might that be so?…
1. Which is more important: physical healing, or the forgiveness of sins? Why? And why do you think the two are linked together on this occasion?
2. Surely, healing and forgiveness are good things? So why do you think the Jewish authorities were so resentful of what Jesus did?
3. In what ways can we follow in Jesus’ footsteps by bringing God’s healing and forgiveness to others?
…
Referring to the glorious angels, Trapp remarks that they do the will of God,
(a) Suppose a friend says to you, “I’m not interested in church or in organised religion, but I do try to live according to the Sermon on the Mount.” How might you respond?
(b) What do you think Jesus was getting at in the repeated pattern, first seen in v21, where he says, “You have heard that it was said…but I tell you”?
(c) Supposing we really took verses 13-16, 21-26 and 38-48 to heart during the coming week. …
Bible commentator William Hendriksen, while expressing some sympathy for artistic representations of biblical scenes, rightly asks if some images of the angels announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20) give the correct impression.
Take, as an example, ‘Good Tidings’ by the artist William Plockhurst.
‘The sheep are huddled together in some kind of pen. Right near them are a few shepherds. Leaning against one of these sturdy men is the faithful shepherd’s dog.…
1. Luke 2:41-52 tells us all we know about Jesus’ childhood. What else do you wish you knew about his childhood and family life in Nazareth?
2. Jesus says to his parents (verse 49), “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” The following verse tells us that his parents ‘did not understand what he was saying to them.’ Do you think they should have understood? What do you think he meant?
…
In his book The Fire That Consumes Fudge devotes an entire chapter (chapter 4) to the meaning of the Greek word aiōnios (usually translated ‘eternal’).
The key question is this: does the word mean (a) lasting for ever, (b) characteristic of the age to come, or (c) either or both of these (depending on context)?
A key text is Matthew 25:46, which speaks both of ‘eternal life’ and ‘eternal punishment’. Many argue that aiōnios must mean the same in both parts of the verse. …
