Welcome From Pastor Justin Greene

Welcome From Pastor Justin Greene!

Welcome to the Fade Blog. I pray that that you are reading this as result of making a personal one year commitment to FADE. It is my hope that you will find the devotions and materials suggested here helpful to you as you pursue a deeper walk with Christ and the life change that will accompany it.

The commitment card you were asked to sign in the third message was a slightly modified version of the one found at the end of the book Radical by David Platt and many of the devotions and application questions that will be posted will be coming from the church at Brook Hills where he is the pastor. Other books that were inspirational to me as these messages were brewing in my mind will also be noted, along with a link to purchase them on Amazon.

It is my greatest desire that each one of you would see the Lord stoke the fire of your first love. I pray that your passion for Christ and the lost would be unquenchable, and that your commitment to the local body of believers will stretch your heart, mind and resources. The goal? That you would agree with John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”(John 3:30), and Paul,

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. . . Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”( Phil. 3:7,8,13,14)

They are calling us to FADE.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Week 8 (November 21-27) Discussion and Application Questions

Introduction

This week we will be reading from Leviticus 11 - 27 and Numbers 1-5.

On the Day of Atonement the high priest (as the people’s representative) came before the mercy seat of God.

Discussion

• Read Leviticus 10:1-3 and Leviticus 16:1-5.
• What was the consequence for entering the presence of God in an inappropriate manner?
• Where did God appear? Is there significance in this location?
• How does God tell Aaron to prepare to enter the Holy Place? What is the emphasis of the preparation? How is purity or holiness represented? (see v. 4)
• In verses 3 and 5, what does Aaron bring with him? (offerings/sacrifices)

Application

• Read 1 Corinthians 3:16. Remember the “you” is plural. Since the church is the temple of the Holy Spirit, how should this affect our approach to corporate worship?

• How do we prepare or not prepare for corporate worship today?

• What should be the emphasis of our preparation (internal or external or both)?

• What sacrifice paves the way for us to have fellowship with God? (see Romans 3:25, which describes Christ in a way that references the Day of Atonement)

• What offerings can we bring to God in worship as a church and as individuals, not to earn forgiveness, but as a response to forgiveness?

Aaron had to sacrifice offerings for himself and for the people.

Discussion

• Read Leviticus 16:6-19.
• Who does Aaron sacrifice for first?
• Who does he sacrifice for next? (v. 15)
• What is the scope of the forgiveness offered? (v. 16)
• In verse 13, what is the purpose of the incense? Does Aaron get a full view of the glory of God?

Application

• Read Hebrews 7:27 and Hebrews 9:12. Did Jesus need to sacrifice for Himself? Why not? What did Jesus offer instead of the blood of goats and bulls? What is the scope of Jesus’ sacrifice?

• Can anyone really atone for his or her sins apart from trusting in the work of Jesus Christ?

• How should Jesus’ perfect sacrifice give us perfect assurance of our forgiveness?

• Is any sin beyond the scope of God’s forgiveness? Explain.

• Read Hebrews 1:3. How do we see the glory of God? How is it unveiled? How should this focus our worship?

• Read 2 Corinthians 3:18. Who is being transformed into the image of God (reflecting his glory)? How? To what degree? How should this humble us? Encourage us? Symbolically, the scapegoat took on and then removed the sins of the people, along with the other sacrifices.

Discussion

• Read Leviticus 16:20-28.
• How many sins does the live goat representatively take on itself?
• How does v. 22 represent the forgiveness and removal of sins? Read Psalm 103:12.
• Once forgiven, does God remember our sin? Explain. (See Isaiah 43:25.)

Application

• As forgiven saints, how should we view our past sins?

• Read Hebrews 13:11-13. How does the writer of Hebrews connect Jesus to the burning of the bodies outside the camp?

• Since Christ bore our shame is there any reason we should be ashamed of Him? Nevertheless, in what ways or situations are we sometimes ashamed to identify with Him?

• Read Hebrews 13:14-16. How should we now live in response to Christ’s sacrifice? In relation to God? In relation to others?

The Day of Atonement occurred yearly and was marked by rest and repentance. Christ offers something much better; He sacrificed Himself once for all. Our response is to rest in His work and repent of our sins.

Discussion

• Read Leviticus 16:29-34.
• How often did the Day of Atonement occur?
• How many people were involved? Who was the one person who could enter the Tabernacle before the mercy seat? How is Jesus our High Priest? How is Jesus our Perfect Sacrifice?
• How were the people supposed to observe the Day of Atonement? (v. 31)
• How are repentance and rest connected? In whom were the Israelites to put their faith?

Application

• Read Hebrews 9:25-26 and 10:11-14. How is Christ’s sacrifice better than all others?

• Is there any way to God except through Christ and His death on our behalf?

• How should we mourn our sin?

• How can we rest in Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf?
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)