http://cphconnect.org/seeds A companion podcast to Growing in Christ Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:01:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/19/june-23-2013-the-case-of-the-little-coat-hannahs-prayer/ http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/19/june-23-2013-the-case-of-the-little-coat-hannahs-prayer/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:01:06 +0000 sengelem http://cphconnect.org/seeds/?p=1479 The text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 1:1–2:21.

Key Point

God cares and provides for the humble and lowly.

Law: The Lord is not pleased with those who provoke others, as Peninnah did to Hannah, or with those who ignore Him and mock His worship, as did Hophni and Phinehas.

Gospel: When we are abused by others, we may suffer for a time, but the Lord has not forgotten us. He shall bless us through His Son, Jesus.

Discussion Points

1. These opening chapters describe the degenerate state of worship during the final generation of the judges and introduce us to Samuel, the last judge, who will help Israel transition to a monarchy. (Samuel eventually anoints the first kings of Israel, Saul and David.) Samuel also becomes a great prophet (1 Samuel 3:19–21) and ministers in a priestly way (1 Samuel 7:7–9). This threefold office of prophet, priest, and judge (kinglike ruler) foreshadows the way Jesus serves His people as Prophet, Priest, and King. As you study the life of Samuel, look for parallels between his life and Jesus’ life, beginning with the blessed and miraculous conception of both and the songs of humility sung by both Hannah and Mary (1 Samuel 2:1–10; Luke 1:46–55).
2. These first chapters of Samuel present clear contrasts between the arrogant and the lowly. Hannah is juxtaposed with Peninnah, the wife who appears to be more blessed than Hannah because she has children. Rather than treating Hannah kindly, Peninnah provokes Hannah, year after year
   (1 Samuel 1:6–7). Although Elkanah, their husband, treats Hannah kindly, there is no indication that he tries to prevent Peninnah from harassing Hannah.
3. The blasphemy of the priest’s sons Hophni and Phinehas is also contrasted with the quiet piety of Hannah and her son Samuel. The story clearly indicates that Hophni and Phinehas were unbelievers and robbers (1 Samuel 2:12–17) not only from the people but also from the Lord Himself. They took the fat that was to be cooked as a gift for the Lord. Scripture reiterates the evil of the two sons, who slept with the women who served around the tabernacle (1 Samuel 2:22), and foreshadows their judgment (1 Samuel 2:27–36). By contrast, Samuel is described there as truly “ministering before the Lord” (1 Samuel 2:18) and as growing in the favor of the Lord (1 Samuel 2:21, 26).
4. When we are faced with difficulty or trouble in this life, or when we think that God is not caring for us, we can remember Hannah’s story and be reminded that God always looks out for us and that His blessing is persistent, even when we have temporary ups and downs. Hannah’s song proclaims the wonderful truth that no one can ultimately rely on his own strength or arrogance, as Hophni and Phinehas tried to do, but that God is the true rock, the true foundation, even when events lead to the rise of some and the fall of others. The Lord protects His “faithful ones” while punishing those who are wicked (1 Samuel 2:9).
6. Ultimately, this judgment depends on the Christ, “His anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10). This is the first reference in the Bible to the Christ. It is really the Christ who judges, not according to works but according to His grace and mercy. As Christ conquers sin and death on the cross, He gives life to the faithful and turns the unfaithful over to destruction.

]]> http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/19/june-23-2013-the-case-of-the-little-coat-hannahs-prayer/feed/ 0 http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/12/june-16-2013-the-case-of-the-scarlet-cord-rahab-believes/ http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/12/june-16-2013-the-case-of-the-scarlet-cord-rahab-believes/#comments Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:56:45 +0000 sengelem http://cphconnect.org/seeds/?p=1475 The text for this lesson is Joshua 2.

Key Point

No matter what sins we may have committed, God works through our repentance and faith to deliver us from destruction and eternal death.

Law: God will punish all who fight against Him and refuse to fear and trust Him, as happened with the people of Jericho.

Gospel: God’s mercy is even greater than His wrath, for He forgives and restores to life all who repent and fear Him, as happened with Rahab.

Discussion Points

1. After leading Israel forty years in their wilderness wanderings, Moses died. He had appointed his assistant, Joshua, to lead the Israelites into Canaan to conquer and settle the land. Not only would this fulfill the Lord’s promise that the Israelites would receive this land as an inheritance, but it would also be an example that the Lord punishes evildoers. The Canaanites were idolaters whom the Lord devoted to destruction as a warning against those who fail to worship Him as God. Jericho was the first city of Canaan to be conquered because of its economic and tactical importance. It was a center of commerce, and it was also a central power in Canaan. By destroying Jericho, the Israelites would weaken the center of Canaanite resistance and also make space for their own military base, from which to carry out further operations against other Canaanite cities.
2. The story of Rahab is a wonderful narrative of God’s grace for individuals of all nations, no matter their background or past. Rahab is a prostitute (Joshua 2:1). Yet her story is one of the wonderful conversion that God worked by grace in her. Rahab’s actions show her fear and trust in God. From an earthly perspective, the spies are at her mercy and have little to offer her. The city gates have been closed; with one word, Rahab could have handed over the spies and perhaps received some kind of reward. There is no earthly reason whyshe should think the Israelites would conquer Jericho. Jericho was a mighty fortress with superior military technology. Rather than turn the spies over to Jericho’s officials, Rahab hides them in her house at great personal risk.
3. Then Rahab gives an account of the reason for her trustin God (2:8–11). The reports of God’s mighty works have reached all the way to Canaan. He parted the Red Sea to provide for the Israelites’ escape from Egypt, and He recently led the Israelites in conquest over Sihon and Og, two powerful Amorite kings east of the Jordan (Numbers 21). But Rahab sees these conquests not just as struggles between gods but as the victory of the true God. It is not as though the Lord is a god only of the Israelites and He happened to defeat the Egyptian gods and the Amorite gods on a good day. Rather, the Lord is “God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath” (Joshua 2:11). He is God over all the nations, even the Egyptians, Amorites, Israelites, and Canaanites. Rahab has come to believe this. She confesses her belief and asks for deliverance and salvation through this faith.
4. The spies ask her to hang, as a sign of her faithful confession, a scarlet cord from her window to indicate to the invading army not to harm those in the house so marked. The red color of this cord also symbolizes the blood shed to cover all of God’s faithful. For it is not Rahab’s blood, nor the blood of the Israelites or of the people of Jericho, that purifies, but the shed blood of Jesus alone that cleanses all from sin. This blood of Jesus also marks everyone in Rahab’s household so they are forgiven and delivered from destruction..

]]> http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/12/june-16-2013-the-case-of-the-scarlet-cord-rahab-believes/feed/ 0 http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/05/june-9-2013-the-case-of-the-floating-basket-birth-of-moses/ http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/05/june-9-2013-the-case-of-the-floating-basket-birth-of-moses/#comments Wed, 05 Jun 2013 18:01:19 +0000 sengelem http://cphconnect.org/seeds/?p=1468 The text for this lesson is Exodus 1:8–2:10.

Key Point

God sent Moses and then protected him so that he could deliver the Israelites from slavery; in the same way, God sent His greater Son, Jesus, to deliver us from the slavery of sin.

Law: Sin, death, and the devil try to tempt, oppress, discourage, and enslave us because they are opposed to the joy of life in Christ.

Gospel: God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, born in a humble way, to deliver us from this temptation, oppression, discouragement, and slavery.

Discussion Points

1. Jacob’s son Joseph became a great ruler in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh, and helped the rest of his family—Jacob along with his eleven other sons and their families—to settle in Egypt (Genesis 37–50). At first, the pharaohs were favorable toward the Hebrews and entrusted to them the care of all the flocks and herds of Egypt. However, as the Hebrews grew more numerous and the memory of Joseph’s wisdom and management faded, a new pharaoh arose who turned the relationship between the nations from one of friendship to one of fear.
2. The whole account of Pharaoh’s oppression of Israel, his struggle with the Lord, and his eventual destruction demonstrates God’s faithfulness to His people and His victory over His enemies and the enemies of His people. For Christians today, this account reminds us that while Satan and our sinful nature work to enslave us and put us to eternal death, the Lord fights against them for our release.
3. Fearful of the rapid growth of the Israelites, Pharaoh enslaves them and tasks them with making bricks, and then constructing buildings and cities with these bricks, and toiling in the fields (Exodus 1:11, 14). Slavery and hard work do little to control the population of the Israelites, however; they continue to multiply and spread in Egypt. In a second attempt to reduce the number of the Israelites, Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives to slay the boys birthed to the Hebrew women. Although threatened and oppressed, the midwives secretly refuse, protecting life rather than engaging in murder. As a reward, the Lord gives the midwives their own children. Now Pharaoh’s fear increases, and he tries to make his whole nation complicit in the murder of the Israelites (1:22).
4. Pharaoh represents not only the oppression of God’s people but also the fear that strikes each of us when we fail to trust God. Without the faith and peace God gives us by His Holy Spirit, we would all be mistrustful of others. To the extent it would be in our power, we would attempt to control and even harm others to avoid the perceived threat they present.
5. Pharaoh’s fear and tyranny do not win this time. With her fear of God greater than her fear of Pharaoh, Moses’ mother hides him for three months; then she places him in a waterproof basket among the reeds of the Nile. (Notice that she does not send him drifting uncontrollably down the river.) Because the Nile was the center of Egyptian religion, agriculture, and commerce, Moses’ mother could have expected that her baby would be discovered after a short amount of time and perhaps cared for by an Egyptian household. Not only does this happen, but Moses is also brought into the very household of Pharaoh himself. God’s care and provision is clearly evident, working directly against the one who is trying to destroy God’s people.
6. This account shows how God’s hand is at work to protect and release His people, even when the greatest of earthly powers works against us and when it appears that God has forsaken us. God actually works through evil and perilous circumstances to bring forgiveness and salvation.

]]> http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/06/05/june-9-2013-the-case-of-the-floating-basket-birth-of-moses/feed/ 0 http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/05/29/june-2-2013-the-case-of-the-broken-debris-tower-of-babel/ http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/05/29/june-2-2013-the-case-of-the-broken-debris-tower-of-babel/#comments Wed, 29 May 2013 12:39:33 +0000 sengelem http://cphconnect.org/seeds/?p=1465 The text for this lesson is Genesis 9:18–19; 11:1–9.

Key Point

God sends temporary disruptions into our lives to call us to repent of the sinful desire to attain glory for ourselves apart from God. God will make a name for us and bless us through His Spirit.

Law: Our resistance or failure to listen to God’s Word leads Him to disrupt our self-glorifying plans.

Gospel: Such disruptions are calls to repentance, which our heavenly Father follows up with His grace, forgiveness, and eternal life.

Discussion Points

1. The events surrounding the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 actually occurred prior to the spread of the nations described in the genealogies in Genesis 10. Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, were commanded to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1), just as Adam and Eve had been commanded earlier. However, Noah’s descendants were afraid to be dispersed (11:4). The events surrounding the tower of Babel describe how these descendants changed from a homogeneous group working together to make a name for themselves into diverse nations with many languages, spread over the face of the earth.
2. In the time just after the flood, all people spoke the same language and appeared to operate together as a united society. They moved together, migrating from the region of Ararat (the eastern part of modern Turkey) southwest into the plains of Mesopotamia. Shinar is the ancient Hebrew designation for northern and southern Babylonia (see Genesis 10:9–10), perhaps related to the Akkadian word for the region, Sumer.
3. Due to a scarcity of rock in the region, the people baked clay to make bricks, and joined these together with a coal or tar slime (bitumen; 11:3) as mortar. The people hoped to use these bricks to create a monument to themselves, a tower marking their empire that would compete with God by reaching all the way to heaven. Rather than submitting to God’s command and trusting His provision for them, they sought to compete with God. They thought that to survive and establish themselves, they had to resist dispersal. They viewed God’s command not as a blessing to fill and enjoy the whole earth but as a threat of extinction. Lack of fear, love, and trust in God was the motivation and cause for this suspicion and rebellion.
4. The Lord’s observation that “nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them” (11:6) is hyperbole. It is not that the Lord felt threatened or thought that the people could compete with His rule. Rather, He was concerned that the people might think themselves invincible and be confirmed in their sinful arrogance. By confusing their speech, the Lord was not cursing them; He was reminding them of their
   limits. He was hindering their ability to build up themselves falsely and make an idol of themselves.
5. Instead, God called the people to repentance, to be aware of their limitations, and to again call upon God to care for them. God wanted them to trust Him again, rather than to put false hope in the name they desired to make for themselves. Similarly, God calls us to trust Him, and He offers every blessing of this life and the life of the world to come, even in those uncertain times when we feel dispersed over the face of the earth. Centuries later, at Pentecost, God’s Spirit announced the Gospel of forgiveness in many languages, demonstrating that God, not our human efforts, makes a name for us through His Son, Jesus (Acts 2:1–11).

]]> http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/05/29/june-2-2013-the-case-of-the-broken-debris-tower-of-babel/feed/ 0 http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/05/22/may-26-2013-the-beatitudes/ http://cphconnect.org/seeds/2013/05/22/may-26-2013-the-beatitudes/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 12:39:24 +0000 sengelem http://cphconnect.org/seeds/?p=1462 The text for this lesson is Matthew 5:1–12.

Key Point

Jesus explains in His Word that He was poor, hungry, sorrowful, hated, and rejected for our sake so that God would grant us His gifts and blessings.

Law: In this world I suffer and struggle because of my sin.

Gospel: Jesus offers comfort, mercy, and grace through faith in Him and grants eternal riches and blessings.

Discussion Points

1. In light of what you have just read, in what way can the Beatitudes properly be called “the definition of a saint”?
2. If you work hard at your job, you often will get promoted. The world usually blesses diligence. How does Jesus’ description of blessedness in the Beatitudes differ from the world’s views? According to Matthew 16:16–17, what is the only source of blessing?
3. The first beatitude is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Jesus opens His first public sermon with these words, so they must be important.
   In this case, being poor in spirit refers to how a person stands before God. The poor in spirit do not make any claims on God but stand before Him as beggars who expect no rewards. The kingdom of heaven cannot be a reward for works but is God’s work in Jesus to save the world.
   According to 2 Corinthians 8:9 and Matthew 20:25–28, how does Jesus live out this beatitude?
4. The second beatitude is “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). For whom does Jesus mourn in Matthew 23:37 and Isaiah 53:4? According to Isaiah 61:1–2, why did Jesus receive the Spirit? According to Revelation 21:4, what promise does Jesus make?
5. The third beatitude is “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). In Genesis 12:1, the Lord promised Abram a land for possession, which was never retained by Israel.
   Jesus merited the true Promised Land for His people through His impoverishment on the cross. According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, how do Christians inherit the earth? According to Matthew 25:34, when will the full inheritance occur?
6. The fourth beatitude is “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6). Jesus’ great love for us manifested itself in a hunger and thirst to acquire righteousness for us.
   Righteousness is what God has done for us in Christ. He has justified us, that is, declared us righteous. See Romans 4:24–25. When was that hunger and thirst for righteousness fulfilled?
7. The fifth beatitude is “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7). Jesus bore the sins of the world on the cross, and when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46), He was asking for His Father’s mercy.
   The Father was merciful in raising His Son from the dead. According to Matthew 18:23–27, how does Jesus act mercifully to us?
8. The sixth beatitude is “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Pure in heart means completely committed to God with complete integrity. Jesus is truly the only one who loved the Lord with all His heart and mind and strength. He also is the only one who can see God face-to-face, as John 1:18 says.
   According to 1 John 1:5–10, how does Jesus make us pure in heart? According to John 14:9, how can we see God’s face?
9. The seventh beatitude is “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Jesus is identified as a peacemaker in the messianic prophecy of Isaiah 9:6, when He is called “Prince of Peace.”
   In His Baptism, Jesus fulfilled all righteousness and was called “Son of God.” According to Romans 5:1 and Colossians 1:19–20, how does God make peace with us? When are we made sons of God?
10. The eighth beatitude is “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). Jesus exemplifies suffering for righteousness’ sake. His work is what merited the kingdom of heaven for us.
    Who identifies Jesus as the “Righteous One” in Matthew 27:15–20? Who should have died instead of Jesus? According to 1 Peter 2:21–25, in what manner did Jesus endure this persecution? According to 1 Peter 3:18, what was His purpose for enduring this?
11. What kinds of things do you normally think of as blessings? What are typical emotions and experiences brought about by persecution? How does Jesus turn everything upside down (or right side up) in the ninth beatitude? How did the apostles in Acts 5:40–42 live out this beatitude?
    Should the absence of persecution in the life of a Christian be cause for alarm? When we are given the opportunity to suffer for the name of Jesus, how should we receive it, according to 1 Peter 4:13?

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