The Holiness of God (Feb 4)

“It is Written”

1.       How does the God of the New Testament compare/contrast with the God of the Old Testament?

2.       What does “Thus saith the Lord” mean?  What does it imply?

To Be Set Apart

1.       What is the meaning of ‘hallow?’

2.       How does tithe compare with Sabbath in terms of being set apart?

To Repent in Dust and Ashes

1.       When we are in the presence of another person we admire, why do we feel inferior or inadequate?

2.       Why would even the greatest of the prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel feel reluctant to accept being God’s spokespersons?

Depart from Me

1.       Why did Peter ask Jesus to depart from him instead of he himself departing from Jesus?

2.       Is there a difference in our attitude to Jesus when we (a) recall that we are sinful, and (b) when we recall a specific sin?

When Demons Speak

1.       Why do people cast out demons in the name of Jesus rather than of God the Father?

2.       How can demons be so afraid of Jesus and humans not be so afraid?

The God of Grace and Judgement

Judgement Day

1.       Are judgement texts in the Bible intended to frighten or reassure?

2.       If there were no judgement in the future would it be worth living a righteous life?  Would there be such a thing as “right?”

Judgement and Grace in Eden

1.       Is there more to grace than merely forgiving?   If so what?

2.       Did Satan receive grace? Does he show grace?

3.       Does grace exist only in the context of sin?

The Flood

1.       Why did the door of the Ark shut before the rain descended?

2.       Is there some goodness in bad people?  If there is why is there no reward for that?

3.       What factors would have kept people from entering the Ark? If you had been there would you have had the courage to go in?

Condemnation and Grace

1.       Does condemning = judging? Does judging = condemning?

2.       Does acceptance of grace imply acceptance of condemnation?

The Hour of His Judgement

1.       How can God show grace and still be just?

2.       If you had to judge yourself would you make it to heaven?

3.       What is the everlasting gospel? What is its connection to judgement? 

God as Our Redeemer

At the Cross

1.       Did God choose to die on a cross or did men decide the method of death for Jesus?

2.       How did Christ’s death impact God’s attitude to humans?

The Gospel in the Old Testament

1.       Why did humans have to wait thousands of years for the Messiah?  Why couldn’t Adam and Eve’s son have been the Saviour?

2.       Who seems to be winning the Great Controversy – good or evil?  What makes us confident that good will triumph?

Salvation in Isaiah

1.       Does one have to foreknow the Messiah and/or the cross in order to describe a suffering servant the way Isaiah did?

2.       How easy is it to do good to those who do evil to you? What can make this possible?

The Gospels and the Cross

1.       What do you think is easier – to live a perfect life or to die innocent but condemned, for you?  For Christ?

2.       Why were the disciples so impervious to the agony of Jesus the week before he died?

3.       Why do you think the gospel writers described the last week of Jesus life in so much more detail than the rest of his life?

The Cry on the Cross

1.       Why does it seem harder for Christ to die than for humans?

2.       Does God love all sinners or only the repentant ones?

3.       How can God love the sinner when he hates sin so much?

In the Beginning

Do you feel it is unscholarly to believe in creation?

Creation Week

1.       If the creation week can be divided into 3 days of removing the “without form” status of the earth and 3 days of solving the “void” status, how does the creation of vegetation on the third day fit in? Is a land with plenty vegetation but no fauna full or empty?

2.       Is the “week” of creation flexible?

The Heart of the Creator

1.       Do animal and birds mothers “love” their young, or function out of instinct? Does your answer affect the lesson – that the creator loves creation?

2.       Can evolution account for the existence of love?

The Heavens Declare

1.       When you observe nature do you see order or disorder?  How well are the laws of nature followed?

2.       Why did sin of humans affect nature?

The Cross and Creation

1.       Which do you consider more difficult, creating or redeeming?

2.       Why would a God permit what he had created to go astray?  Why would he then try to save his creation?

3.       Can there be a cross without creation?  Does the fact that God died for us “prove” or at least “suggest” that he created us?

Creation and Re-creation

1.       Is a belief in evolution compatible with a belief in the new earth?

2.       If you were God would you take millions of years to create or recreate the earth?  What does it matter to a God for whom time has no meaning?

1 The Triune God (Jan 7)

The Oneness of God

1.       If God is only one how could people have started believing that there might be hundreds and thousands of gods?

2.       Is it harder to understand the plurality of God or the oneness of the three? Why?

The Deity of Christ

1.       Does “Son of God” imply any less godness than “God?”

2.       For what types of reasons might people think Christ was not divine?

3.       If Jesus were not divine how would that affect our salvation?

The Holy Spirit

1.       Is the Holy Spirit more spirit than the Father and the Son, or any less a “body” than they?

2.       Do we witness the work of the Holy Spirit only after Christ’s departure or even concurrently during his life?  Why is this question important?

In Unity and Equality

1.       Who assigned the roles for the three persons in the Godhead? 

2.       Could the three persons in the Godhead interchange roles?

3.       Describe the characteristics and nature of each person of the Godhead.  How does each have a different personality?

The Trinity and Salvation

1.       Would it have been harder for a one-person God to save humanity from sin?

2.       Whose work among the three was the hardest in the work of saving humans?  Who had the easiest task?

3.       Is the doctrine of trinity critical for salvation?