week of May 31

Psalm 29

Isaiah 6:1-8

John 3:1-17

Romans 8:12-17

 

1.         What does the word ascribe mean? What is the psalmist calling people to ascribe to God (vv. 1-2)? What do verses 3-9 seem to refer to in nature? What are some names one might use to describe God?

2.         How do you describe God? To or for what do you give God credit? For what does the psalmist request from God for the people (v. 11)? What do you request from God for all people?

 

3.         When did Isaiah have the vision in Isaiah 6 (v. 1)? What words impart to you that God was all powerful (v, 1)? What is a seraph (v. 2)? How were the seraphs extolling God (v. 3)? What was the response from Isaiah (v. 5)? What does it mean to have unclean lips (v. 5)? How about your lips—are they clean? What were the normal consequences of seeing God?

 

4.         What does one of the seraphs do to Isaiah (vv. 6-7)? What does this symbolize? What Wesleyan concept does this illustrate (v. 7)? What is the response by Isaiah (v. 8)? What is often the response of a person who receives the Holy Spirit?

 

5.         Who was Nicodemus (v. 1)? And how did he regard Jesus (v. 2)? Why did he think Jesus came from God (v. 2)? How does Jesus answer Nicodemus and how does Nicodemus respond (vv. 3-4)? According to Jesus, what is required for a person to enter thekingdomofGod, and what does this mean to you (v. 5)?  Is Wesleyan terms, what form of grace is Jesus describing?

 

6.         What does Jesus accuse Nicodemus and the leadership of not doing (v. 11)? Do you hear the testimony of Jesus and believe? How did God exemplify God’s love for us (v. 16)? What was Jesus’ purpose in the big picture of humanity (v. 17)?

 

7.         How does Paul describe believers in verse 12 of Romans 8? What does it mean to live by the flesh, and what are the consequences according to Paul (v. 13)? Is the body evil? Why do we do things with our bodies that separate us from God and one another? What does Paul say we must do and how will we do it (v. 13)? If you say you are a child of God, how do you know what to do (v. 14)?

 

8.         What does Paul mean that believers who follow Christ receive a spirit of slavery (v. 15)? What does Paul imply is the opposite of love (v. 15)? If we have received a spirit of adoption, into what have we been adopted (v. 15)? What continues to bear witness within us to return us to following Christ (v. 16)? Why or how do we suffer if we allow the Spirit to draw us ever closer to Christ and to transform us?

 

Second Sunday after Pentecost, June 7, 2015

1 Samuel 8:4-20;11:14-15

Psalm 138

Mark 3:20-35

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1