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Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Deuteronomy 12: 10/9 How do we as a church act “according to our own desires" (v. 8)? Notice the growth in vv. 8–11. Behavior that was acceptable before crossing the Jordan is not acceptable after. How do you see this at work in your own Christian life? Labels: bible, bible study, deuteronomy, old testament, the rock posted by Peter at 12:55 PM
Monday, October 08, 2007 Deuteronomy 12: 10/8 Chapters 12-26 of Deuteronomy provide the details of the covenant/Law. They center around three major themes: worship (12:1-16:17), leadership (16:18-18:22), and community life (19:1-25:19). So this week we dive into the material on worship. What are the first actions required by God (vv. 2, 3)? Why is this so important? How do you as a Christian practice this? Labels: bible, bible study, deuteronomy, old testament, the rock posted by Peter at 6:15 AM
Monday, October 01, 2007 Deuteronomy 11: 10/1 What are the great deeds of God for Israel in these verses? What are some particular great deeds of God in your life? **(for the story of Dathan and Abiram, see Numbers 16) Labels: bible, bible study, deuteronomy, old testament, the rock posted by Peter at 6:24 AM
Monday, September 17, 2007 Deuteronomy 10 study guide: 9/17-9/23 At the church we're reading Deuteronomy. It's a way to be formed and shaped together reading the Scriptures together. Here's the plan for the week. How does God respond to Moses’ actions in the previous chapter? What do think verses 6–9 are here? What is significant about God’s speech in verse 11? What does this say about God? Why does God listen to Moses? List out the things that God asks in verses 12–13. What are important about these? Is there an application to Christians today regarding the conversation about believing right things and doing right things? Why does God include the orphan, widow and stranger in his title in verse 18? What does this say about God? Why are they asked to love the stranger, in verse 19? Think about the “strangers” you might interact. What do you think loving them looks like? What do you think this passage has to do with Deuteronomy 10? Keep in mind that Paul is at the beginning of constructing an argument about how Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians get along. According to Paul, what is the point of circumcision? What would you say this whole passage is about? How does this chapter help us better understand what it means to love God with our whole heart? Remember that chapters 4–11 in Deuteronomy are one continuous sermon. How does chapter 10 fit with what came before in chapters 4–9? Sunday @ 10 a.m. Join the discussion at the church downstairs.Labels: bible study, deuteronomy, old testament, the rock posted by Peter at 11:33 PM
Monday, September 03, 2007 Deuteronomy 8 study guide: 9/3-9/9 Here's what we're reading at the church this week. This could get interesting as this passage often comes up in defending Prosperity Gospel stuff, and we're in the middle of a sermon series on what it means to serve the poor, with the poor and just what do we mean when we say "poor." According to verse 2, the wilderness wandering was for developing humility. What is the connection between humility and receiving God’s blessing? Has God ever disciplined you? What was the experience like? Why is the parent imagery in verse 5 significant? What connects verses 5 and 6? Why should Israel keep God’s commands? How does this compare with Psalm 23? How is the Promised Land described? Why is this important? According to verse 11, what are some ways the people can forget God? According to verse 13, what gets multiplied? Do you think this should be taken literally or figuratively? Why or why not? What are these verses saying about wealth and prosperity? What does this mean for Christians today? What does this say about the character of God? What is Exodus 16 about? What does this have to do with Deuteronomy 8? From the context of Deuteronomy 8, what does Jesus mean when he quotes Deut. 8:3 to the devil? How many times are the words “remember” or “forget” or similar words used in this chapter? What would you say this whole passage is about? How does this chapter help us better understand what it means to love God with our whole heart? Remember that chapters 4–11 in Deuteronomy are one continuous sermon. How does chapter 8 fit with what came before in chapters 4–7? Sunday @ 10 a.m. Join the discussion at the church downstairs.Labels: bible study, church, deuteronomy, old testament, the rock posted by Peter at 10:25 PM
Sunday, August 19, 2007 Deuteronomy study guide: 8/20 - 8/25 So I'm trying out something new with the Sunday morning Bible discussion group. I'm trying to write up little study guides each week to hand out for every body to work through during the week. The idea is to get everybody reading the same text throughout the week, and not just on Sunday mornings. It's intimidating for some to absorb and respond to a big chunk of text on the spot, so this gives everybody some time to chew on it before we talk. Mona told me today that she and Leo and the other Mona spent four hours at McDonalds yesterday going over it together. That warmed my soul. This is the second one I've put together. Maybe you'll find it useful. August 20 - 25 Loving God Totally Deuteronomy 6:1 - 25 Verses 1–3 are all about results. What are the results of obedience? How are verses 1–3 connect to verses 4–9? If verse 5 is the bottom line for God wants, does this change anything about what it means to be religious or how we “do church”? Again, according to verse 18, what the results of obedience? Think about a time you were obedient to God. What happened? What was this experience like? Verse 15 is now the third time God describes himself as “jealous” (see 4:24 and 5:9). How is this such an important quality of God? What is the value in telling our story with God? Why this continued emphasis on teaching this story to our children? How is this a story about “testing”? Think of a time you tested God. What happened? When Jesus is tempted in the desert, twice he quotes from Deuteronomy 6 (6:13 and 6:16). What does Jesus’ application of this passage mean for our own lives? When Jesus is asked about the most important commandment, he quotes Deuteronomy 6. Why might this be important or significant? What would you say this whole passage is about? Remember that chapters 4 – 11 in Deuteronomy are one continuous sermon. How does chapter 6 fit with what came before in chapters 4 and 5? Sunday @ 10 a.m. Join the discussion at the church downstairs.“A Methodist is one who loves the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength. God is the joy of his heart, and the desire of his soul, which is continually crying, ‘Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth whom I desire besides thee.’” –John Wesley, from “The Character of a Methodist” Labels: bible study, deuteronomy, old testament, the rock posted by Peter at 10:33 PM
Sunday, July 29, 2007 Beautiful abode worthy of God Message of GOD, the Master. On the day I scrub you clean from all your filthy living, I'll also make your cities livable. The ruins will be rebuilt. The neglected land will be worked again, no longer overgrown with weeds and thistles, worthless in the eyes of passersby. People will exclaim, "Why this weed patch has been turned into a Garden of Eden! And the ruined cities, smashed into oblivion, are now thriving!" The nations around you that are still in existence will realize that I, GOD, rebuild ruins and replant empty waste places. I, GOD, said so, and I'll do it. --Eugene Peterson, The Message, Ezekiel 36:33-36 ![]() I think it's significant that when God first made people, He put them in a garden. It's not the forest of Eden, not the plain of Eden, not even the suburb of Eden or urban-dwelling of Eden. It's the Garden of Eden. I think that's important. God made us for gardens. ![]() There's a vacant lot on Arceme Ave behind Arlington Elementary school, just across the street from the church. A couple months ago, we at the church started planting a garden on that lot. Jackie and I try to watch over the cucumber/zucchini squash/pumpkin/okra section that we helped plant. We try to make it out about once a week to do some weeding and spread out some coffee grounds, which enrich the soil. If you've been following Aaron's blog over the last few months, you know the story. We've done this for a whole bunch of reasons. We of the church end up hanging out and working on a project with others we may not usually talk to. We end up talking with people in the neighborhood who want to know what in the world is going on. We've got fresh vegetables to give away to people in the community who can't afford good produce and end feeding their kids McDonalds or White Castle. We get to be what I think Jean Vanier is after when he talks about being a gospel "sign to the community." I really like this idea of reclaiming and redeeming these forsaken and abandoned places in the city. ![]() But the craziest thing is still coming. It all started with a visit from three strangers. (Seriously, when three strangers show up on your door, you gotta pay attention.) Aaron says it this way, Three guys show up at the church this afternoon. They represent a growing coalition of community gardeners. They heard about what we are doing at Third Street Stuff, a coffee house 7 or 8 blocks down Lime. We spent some time riffing on outrageous ideas for community gardens. A realtor told one of the guys he could have 15 vacant lots. We just need the manpower. We talked Farmer’s Market right here at the Rock, we talked food access Northside vs. Southside, we talked setting up small businesses to market fresh, local produce to some of the upscale restaurants, and we talked about what one guy called “gardens of eatin’” at houses of worship. They are setting up a garden tour of various community gardens to get us all hooked up and let people and government know what we’re up to and the positive benefits of the work.So one thing leads to another and this week is the garden tour--Thursday from 9am to 12pm. There was even a big write up in Saturday's Herald-Leader. And you can find all the details over at sustainlex.org. You should come. It starts and ends at The Rock / La Roca. God likes gardens. And now we get the opportunity to tell people passionate about making "beautiful abodes worthy of man," as Emerson says, that we do this to make a beautiful abode worthy of God, too. ![]() Labels: church, community, garden, lexington, old testament, the rock posted by Peter at 11:37 PM
Thursday, July 19, 2007 Starting Deuteronomy Yesterday was my first attempt at grilling steaks on my new toy. They turned out quite tasty. Maybe it's beginner's luck. But the rub I made out of paprika, garlic powder, basil, chili powder and thyme didn't hurt. Jackie's on her second overnight at her new job. Pray for her. I gotta think it's pretty weird coming home just the sun is coming up. This morning, my alarm to get up went off 10 minutes after she crawled in bed. Last Sunday we kicked off a new study through the book of Deuteronomy at The Rock. I personally think that reading Scripture in community is important. While we as evangelicals put a high emphasis on personal Bible reading, I think we miss a lot of the time the great value in reading Scripture together. There may be stuff that you see that I don't and stuff I see that you don't. I think the more eyes we put on a text, the more we all see together. I'd really like to read this book to see how it applies to reading Scripture together. A couple weeks ago in the Sunday service I made an announcement about this. I talked about the Never Ending Story--how it's one of my favorite movies. I love the scene at the beginning, where the shopkeeper is warning Bastian away from the book: "This book isn't safe!" Yeah, I think the Bible is kinda like that. Anyway, on Sunday we just did a quick overview and outline of the book. I started out wondering why we should look at the Old Testament in the first place, much less Deuteronomy. Jesus says some glowing stuff about the OT. Paul does, too. In more than one place. But two narratives that to me best show what Christians do with the OT are from the Gospels. The first is Luke 24:13-25, the road to Emmaus. As Jesus explains to these shell shocked disciples, the Resurrection only makes sense in light of Moses and the prophets. The second is Mark 9:2-8, the Transfiguration. Here, in front of Moses (the Law), Elijah (the Prophets) and Peter, James, and John (the apostles/Church), the voice tells them all the listen to Jesus. So as we read the words of Moses in Deuteronomy, we listen for Jesus. I may never stand before SBL and get away with that, but I can in a Sunday school class. Next we talked some about how Deuteronomy isn't our book. It's a book for 3000-year-old Israelites. It's not a book for 21st century, English-speaking, Western, white folk. There are a lot of cultural barriers to cross, because there's a lot of weird stuff in there. On the other hand, it is our book. If we take "authorial intent" seriously, and the inspiration of the Spirit seriously, then the same Spirit that first breathed these words still speaks to us, the Church. So, in that sense, it is our book. And then I did some talk about Deuteronomy as an ancient near eastern suzerainty treaty. I read a couple of sections from a Hittite treaty dating back to about 1500 BC. There are a lot of striking similarities. If the book started out, "once upon a time," we would expect a certain set of conventions. Because it starts out, "these are the words..." as these treaties do, we can then expect that structure. The point being that what is recorded here has some historical credence. We're listening to a God that intervenes with human history. And next week we'll start digging into chapter 1. So if you happen to me in north Lexington on a Sunday morning at 10 am, feel free to drop by and say hello. Labels: bible, bible study, church, deuteronomy, old testament, scripture, the rock posted by Peter at 11:28 PM
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