The Lord's Table Bible Study

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The other ‘gods’

14 March 2012

Opening Prayer/Worship

Theme: Connecting with God

Topic: The other ‘gods’

Reading: Exodus 20:1-17

Then God spoke all these words: ² I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;³you shall have no other gods before^* me. ⁴ You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,⁶but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation^* of those who love me and keep my commandments. ⁷ You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. ⁸ Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.⁹For six days you shall labour and do all your work.¹⁰But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it. ¹² Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. ¹³ You shall not murder.^* ¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery. ¹⁵ You shall not steal. ¹⁶ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour. ¹⁷ You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Introduction

In today’s Bible study we will consider the things around us that have the potential to disconnect us from God. We shall also consider the place of God’s Law in our journey of faith in Christ. It is clear from the Scripture that if we are to be connected with God, all our focus has to be on Him. We have to trust Him absolutely and have complete faith in Him. But then it’s easier said than done because in the present world, things that keep us from connecting with God are ever increasing. I call these distractions: the other ‘gods’. They are those things that if allowed, will take the place of God in our lives. The God we serve is a jealous God and desires that we connect with Him completely without trusting any other thing or being.

Questions/Discussion

1. Why did God give the Ten Commandments?

Is it law, love or both?

Exodus 20:5-6

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,⁶but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation^* of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Psalm 19:7-13

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.

Galatians 3:1-6, 10-14, 19-25

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! ²The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?³Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?⁴Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing.⁵Well then, does God^* supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? ⁶ Just as Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’,

¹⁰ For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.’¹¹Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for ‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’^*¹²But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, ‘Whoever does the works of the law^* will live by them.’¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’—¹⁴in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring^* would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator.²⁰Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one. ²¹ Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law.²²But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ^* might be given to those who believe. ²³ Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.²⁴Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,

1 John 2:3-6

Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.⁴Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him’, but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist;⁵but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: ⁶whoever says, ‘I abide in him’, ought to walk just as he walked.

2. God desires that our allegiance shall be to Him alone.

List some of the things that take the place of God in our lives.

Exodus 20:1-4

Matthew 6:19-21, 24

¹⁹ ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust^* consume and where thieves break in and steal;²⁰but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust^* consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. ²⁴ ‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.^*

Luke 10:38-42

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.³⁹She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying.⁴⁰But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.’⁴¹But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; ⁴²there is need of only one thing.^* Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.’

1 Timothy 6:10

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

3. How do we deal with the other ‘gods’ around us today?

Exodus 20:5

Deuteronomy 4:23-24, 39-40, 11:1

So be careful not to forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you, and not to make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you.²⁴For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.³⁹So acknowledge today and take to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.⁴⁰Keep his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you today for your own well-being and that of your descendants after you, so that you may long remain in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.

11:1 You shall love the Lord your God, therefore, and keep his charge, his decrees, his ordinances, and his commandments always.

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,^* and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,²looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of^* the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,^* so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.

1 John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world;¹⁶for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world.¹⁷And the world and its desire^* are passing away, but those who do the will of God live for ever.

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

Though all around us distractions abound, let us continue to make God the center of our lives; loving and serving Him as well as people around us with all our heart always.

Closing Prayer

We thank You Lord for You first loved us and sent Your only Son, Jesus Christ to redeem us from the power of sin, sickness, death and Satan. Grant us a heart that will love and trust You completely all the days of our lives. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Divine invitation

7 March 2012

Opening Prayer/Worship

Theme: Connecting with God

Topic: The Divine invitation

Reading: Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty;^* walk before me, and be blameless.²And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’³Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,⁴‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.⁵No longer shall your name be Abram,^* but your name shall be Abraham;^* for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.⁷I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring^* after you. ¹⁵ God said to Abraham, ‘As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.¹⁶I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.’

Introduction

Connecting with God in most occasions arise from answering an already made call from God. A call to be His, live for Him alone and a call to love Him and be loved by Him. It is very clear from the Scripture that God chooses His people. But then one may say that God is not fair; well all I know is that He is good and just and knows what is best for His creation. He knows us more than we know ourselves and has sent out His invitation to all mankind that all who answer the call will enter into fellowship with Him. The call to connect with God is backed with blessings too numerous to list here. He is a faithful God and is worthy of all our praise and worship. He called us before we came into existence and still calls us daily to walk with Him and be blessed.

Questions/Discussion

1. Why did God call Abraham to walk with Him and what are the lessons for us today?

Genesis 12:1, 17:1

12:1 Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty;^* walk before me, and be blameless.

John 15:15-16

I do not call you servants^* any longer, because the servant^* does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.¹⁶You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.

Ephesians 1:3-4, 11-14

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,⁴just as he chose us in Christ^* before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.¹¹In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,^* having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,¹²so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.¹³In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;¹⁴this^* is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

1 Peter 2:9-10

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,^* in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

2. God pledged to bless Abraham with numerous blessings; list as many as possible and relate them to God’s promise to us today.

Genesis 12:2-3, 17:2-7

I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’^*²And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.’³Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,⁴‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.⁵No longer shall your name be Abram,^* but your name shall be Abraham;^* for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations.⁶I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.⁷I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring^* after you.

Ephesians 1:5-10

He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will,⁶to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace⁸that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight⁹he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ,¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

3. What should be our response to the invitation to walk with God?

Genesis 12:4-5, 17:3-4

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.⁵Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan,³Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him,⁴‘As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.

Romans 4:13-14

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.¹⁴If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

4. List some of the factors that hinder us from answering the divine invitation. How do we deal with them?

Mark 8:34-38

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.³⁵For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel,^* will save it.³⁶For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?³⁷Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?³⁸Those who are ashamed of me and of my words^* in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.’

Luke 9:57-62

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’⁵⁹To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’⁶⁰But Jesus^* said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’⁶¹Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’⁶²Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’

Romans 4:16, 18-25

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,¹⁸Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become ‘the father of many nations’, according to what was said, ‘So numerous shall your descendants be.’¹⁹He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already^* as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.²⁰No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,²¹being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.²²Therefore his faith^* ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness.’²³Now the words, ‘it was reckoned to him’, were written not for his sake alone,²⁴but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,²⁵who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

The invitation God has made to all mankind to connect with Him is through Christ alone. Let us answer the call daily that His blessings will continually be upon us.

Closing Prayer

Lord give us your grace to pick up our cross and follow you everyday of our lives. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Baptism

29 February 2012

Opening Prayer/Worship

Theme: Connecting with God

Topic: Baptism

Reading: 1 Peter 3:18-22

For Christ also suffered^* for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you^* to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, ¹⁹in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight people, were saved through water. ²¹And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for^* a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Introduction

For the next few weeks, we will be looking at the theme “Connecting with God”. I believe that our ultimate desire as Christians is to be in fellowship with God; knowing and doing His will at all times and in all places thereby serving His purpose. During this Lenten season, we will be discussing strategies that will make our daily work with God what He really wants it to be. We shall also consider certain traditions of the Church that connect us with God; what some people may refer to as sacraments or ordinances. We shall begin this series by first looking at baptism. Baptism is generally referred to as the initiatory rite of the Church through which the baptized become part of the body of Christ i.e. the Church. There are different conceptions as to how and when baptism should be done. We shall be discussing all that but more importantly, we shall be looking at the spirituality of baptism and how it connects us with God.

Questions/Discussion

1. What are the two forms of baptism and why are they spiritually essential?

Matthew 3:11

I baptize you with^* water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with^* the Holy Spirit and fire.

Acts 2:38-39

Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’

Acts 11:15-18

And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁷If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?’ ¹⁸When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, ‘Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Ephesians 4:1-6

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ²with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

1 Peter 3:18-21

2. Is there any particular time that one should be baptized?

Acts 16:14-15, 29-34

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us. ²⁹The jailer^* called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰Then he brought them outside and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ ³¹They answered, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ ³²They spoke the word of the Lord^* to him and to all who were in his house. ³³At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. ³⁴He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

1 Corinthians 15:29

Otherwise, what will those people do who receive baptism on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?

3. How do we get connected with God through baptism?

Luke 7:27-30

This is the one about whom it is written, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” ²⁸I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.’ ²⁹(And all the people who heard this, including the tax-collectors, acknowledged the justice of God,^* because they had been baptized with John’s baptism. ³⁰But by refusing to be baptized by him, the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)

Romans 6:1-4

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

Colossians 2:9-12

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision,^* by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; ¹²when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

4. Does baptism guarantee eternity with God?

1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 11-12

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,^* that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, ²and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³and all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness. ⁶ Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. ¹¹These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. ¹²So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.

Ephesians 1:13-14

In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; ¹⁴this^* is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

Through baptism, we outwardly declare our allegiance to God through Christ. Let our inner being also reflect the pledges made during our baptism that through us, God will reach out to others.

Closing Prayer

Thank you Lord for drawing us into fellowship with you through baptism. Refresh us with Your Holy Spirit that we may live the life of the risen Christ all the days of our lives. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Welcome to this Blog!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The other ‘gods’

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Divine invitation

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Baptism