week of March 29

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Mark 11:1-11

Philippians 2:5-11

 

1.         How does the psalmist regard God according to the first two verses of Psalm 118? What reason would the psalmist have to speak this way—what has God always done for the people ofIsraelandJudah? To what gates is the psalmist referring in verses 19-20? Why is where these gates so important?

2.         Why is the psalmist (or the congregation) so thankful (v. 22)? What do you think the people believed was meant by verse 22? Who was responsible for this action (v. 23)? So, as Christians, how do we interpret verses 22-23? Do you celebrate every day you wake up—why or why not? The people ask for success in verse 25—what is success for you? Who was given the treatment described in verse 26? Of what do verses 26-27 foreshadow? Who or what is your God or god (v. 28)? Do your actions verify your answer to the previous question? Nevertheless, what remains constant (v. 29)?

 

3.         What did Jesus instruct two disciples to do (vv. 1-2)? How would you have responded if you had received such an instruction? Why do you thin Jesus requested a colt rather than a mature horse or donkey (see Zechariah 9:9)? What other requirement of the colt did Jesus stipulate and why (v. 2; see Numbers 19:2)? At what point were the disciples to find the colt (v. 2)?

 

4.         Who questioned the taking of the colt and how did they react (vv. 5-6)? How would you have reacted? What did the disciples do before Jesus sat on the colt (v. 7)? What did other people do as Jesus entered the city and what does it symbolize (v. 8)? As Jesus entered the city, what did the people who went before Jesus begin chanting, and where did the chant come from (vv. 9-10)? Where did Jesus go when he enteredJerusalemand what did he see (v. 11)? What do you see when you enter a church? What do you want to see?

 

5.         What does Paul say we should do in verse 5 of Philippians 2? What does that mean to you? What interferes so that we cannot always do what Paul says?

 

6.         How does Paul describe Jesus in verse 6a? How do you describe Jesus? What made Jesus so unique after gaining so much power (v. 6b)? In fact, what did God do through Jesus (v. 7)? How did Jesus who was still in human form react (v. 8)? How difficult is it for you to take on the mind of Christ? What is the end purpose of God’s act through Jesus (vv. 9-11)? If a person acts as Paul says in verses 10-11, will God abandon that person? Does following the action Paul describes make that person better than people who do not? How did the psalmist in Psalm begin and end Psalm 118?

 

Easter Sunday, April 5, 2015

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Mark 16:1-8

John 20:1-18

Acts 10:34-43