CBR Discussion for 12.19.11

Ecclesiastes 9, Job 26-27, Mark 15

Get Acquainted:

• Favorite Christmas Memories
• Favorite Christmas Gifts
• Funniest thing you ever saw in a Christmas play or program
• Best Christmas present giver – has to be over a long period of time, not a one gift wonder

Passages for Worship, Bible Study and Mission – Read Luke 2:1-20, Mark 15:1-32 and Revelation 5:1-14

Worship: Respond to reading in Worship

• Stir your heart to worship a God who would send His One and Only to die for us so that we might be saved.
• Anticipate the opportunity to sing Worthy is the Lamb.

Bible Study:

• How do these passages bring you to Amazement about God?
• How do these passages bring you to express your Gratitude to God?
• How do they reveal the repulsiveness of you sin?
• How do they cause you to cry out to Jesus to save you from you sin and despair?

Mission Reflection: 2011 Start to finish

• January to December – Think about your year
  • How do you know God better?
  • Do you submit to Him with greater joy?
  • How has He shown Himself faithful?
  • To whom have you bragged about the wonder of God?

Prayer:

• Rejoice in the Lord
• Sing together about the wonder of God
• Praise God from whom all blessings flow

CBR Discussion for 12.12.11

Reading:  Ecclesiastes 4, Job 21, Zechariah 1, Mark 10

Get Acquainted: Ecclesiastes 4:7-12

• Friendship: Think of jobs you do that you have learned it is essential it be a two-man operation.
  • How did you come to know it?
  • What is the good of another’s help?
  • What are your thoughts about the person who came to your aid?

Worship: Amazement at God’s Glory Displayed

• Fear the Lord – Worship Him in spirit and truth
  • Read what He will do to those who war against His favorite city – Jerusalem. Read of the plague described in Zechariah 14:12-15.
  • Do you know God to be like this? What if He comes against you? How would you do?
• The Fearlessness of Jesus
  • Read Mark 10:32-34. He led them to Jerusalem while others were afraid. He knew what to expect.
  • What was due those who fought against Jerusalem would come to Him?
• Mark 10:45 – the work of ransoming many – Worship Him

Prayer: Mark 10:46-52 – The Prayer of Blind Bartimaeus – Have mercy on Me! And he cried out all the more.

• What a prayer! Have mercy!
• How deep was Bartimaeus convicted of his need for mercy? The more He was rebuked the more He cried out.
• Do you leap when called? Jesus summoned him and He sprang up.
• Do you get louder with your prayers as others around you tell you to be quiet? Is your request for mercy so loud that others know?

Bible Study: Like children, receive and enter the kingdom of God.

• What are the simple, “children’s truths,” from each chapter?
  • Figure out how to live together.
  • Give away your stuff.
  • Following Jesus has benefits.
  • Do what God says and love what God loves.
  • Work and live for God. Don’t compare yourself to your neighbor.
• What would it look like to obey each of the truths from the 4 chapters like a child would?

Mission: How are you living with your neighbor rather than God in mind?  How does it affect your mission?  How will you change this orientation?  Why does it matter?

• Compare Ecclesiastes 4:4 and Colossians 3:23,24
  • Ecclesiastes 4:4 (ESV) ⁴ Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
  • Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV) ²³ Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

CBR Discussion for 12.05.11

Proverbs 30, Job 16, Zechariah 9, Mark 5

Proverbs 30 is the perfect summary of today’s reading in verse 5 when he says “every word of God proves true”.

Proverbs 30: What gets your creativity flowing?

The author poetically reflects on the things God has created that cause him to worship.

Friendship Question: Name something ordinary that you encountered recently where you were amazed in God’s creative hand in it?

Job 16: Nobody knows the trouble I see…

The saga continues with Job and his friends. Job has heard enough and is ready to vent. He feels all alone, that he is a special case.

Repentance Question: What part of your life has a tendency to overwhelm and distract you from the promises of God and causes you to forget God’s hand and control over all creation as good?

Zechariah 9: No more confusion…the King is in the Building

Finally, the promise we are to remember. God is finally coming out with His plan. He is going to crush His enemies and save His people.

Faith Question: Where are you grateful to God that He has not handed you over to fear and sin (in the first half of this chapter) and what is your favorite promise of God’s work for you (in the second half of the chapter)?

Mark 5:  The Work of Jesus to Fulfill the Old Testament

The promise is fulfilled. What an amazing finish to our readings today. Think back to Proverbs 30:5, what an amazing work of Jesus to make God’s promises and words true.

Mission Question: How do you see Jesus fulfilling and redeeming what you have read in the old testament today? Think about the diseases that have plagued Job, the evil God promises to defeat in Zechariah…God is amazing. Make it your goal to today to look for ways that Jesus has brought hope to hopeless situations.

This a a rare day where the readings just flow. Worship him for where you see Jesus fulfilling His Father’s love for us.