Queen's Road Cell

1. How does Acts 3:1-10 reflect Jesus’ words in John 14:12-14?   "do the works that I do" "greater works than these will he do" "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it" Jesus' disciples asked in His name A miracle was done like Jesus would have done For Thought and Discussion: How does the former cripple respond to his healing (see 3:8)? Is there an example here for us? Compare Luke 17:11-19.  Like the healed Samaritan leper, he demonstrated his healing and praised God. He entered (3:8) the temple with Peter and John, associating publicly with them. He 'clung' to them (3:10) showing dependence. So he testified to those who had affected the healing. We must be humble enough to give credit to those who have ministered to us. Optional Application: Have you experienced any kind of healing by Jesus’ power? If so, how should that affect what you do?      2. The beggar asked for money (see 3:3), but Peter and John met quite a different need. ...

5. What is Jesus's point about faith in Luke 17:5-6? The apostles may have felt that great faith is needed for forgivenes. Jesus is not concerned about the quantity of faith, but its genuineness. It is not so much great faith that is required as faith in a great God.(Morris)   The rabbis held that the roots of the tree with this name would remain in the earth for 600 years. Why are mulberry trees not uprooted in our experience then? The immediate conclusion would be the lack even of minimal amounts of faith, but that is not Jesus' point. Answers to prayer depend on trust in God, implying a certain knowledge of His character and will. Answers depend then on: our relationship with Christ (Jn 15:7) steadfastness of trust (Js 1:6) asking according to God's will (1 Jn 5:14) not asking for selfish reasons (Js 4:3) Faith, then, is not a force where, after reaching a certain level, answers to prayer become possible.  6. How should God's servant feel even if he manages to exerci...

Notes The crowd 'welcomed Him' (cf. the Gerasenes, who asked him to depart from them, v.37)   Luke says that the people 'pressed round' Jesus, where his verb is that used of the thorns crushing out the wheat in the parable (8:14). The woman touched the fringe of his garment, i.e. the tassel on the end of the square garment that was thrown over the left shoulder and hung down the back (Num. 15:38ff.)   Because this complaint made her ceremonially unclean (Lev. 15:25ff.), the sufferer was not permitted to take any part in temple worship or the like. Her uncleanness was readily communicable to other people (a touch was all that was needed, Lev. 15:27). Luke mentions spending money on physicians, but Mark (5:26-27) is more critical ("suffered much under many physicians...spent all she had...'no better but rather grew worse')   There is the first mention of the inner group of 3 in Luke (cf. Lk 8:51)   6. Once again, Jesus revealed His power (see 8:40-56). What d...

 6. Paul also wants Timothy to draw strength from what he has "learned and...become convinced of" (3:14). What is the difference between what you have 'learned' and what you have become 'convinced of'? Selwyn asked, “what is faith?” Heb 11:1 seems like the textbook answer -“ the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen”. The verse speaks of certainty in things we cannot see and things we hope for.  Heb 11 speaks of active response to that assurance . Heb 11:6 tells us we need faith to please God, because we need to believe in His existence and His action even though He is invisible. In seeking Him we are longing for the restoration of what was lost , and reconciliation. But seeking can be of God’s face (2 Chr 7:14, Ps 27:4) ,or His kingdom (Mt 6:33)  so all that we do and are must take into account His reality and the reward He gives when we look for His favour. We trust in His reality and His character. Faith also is a gift of God (Eph...

Edmund Chan says that modern-day discipleship must be re-grounded in Christ-centredness. Christ is not merely to be a figurehead monarch or symbol, but truly the Lord - the one who makes the decisions. Christ must have authority and give Him full ownership over our individual lives. Paul's Christocentricity is seen in Colossians: Christ is the prototokos (firstborn, 1:15). Not a created being, but the One through whom all things are created (1:16), who has all the privileges and rights of a firstborn son ("I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth" Ps 89:27). Christ is also the eikon (image, 1:15) of the Father, just as we are called to be in His image (1 Co 15:49, 2 Co 3:18, Col 3:10). All things were created by Him (1:16), through Him, and for Him (1:16). He existed before all things, and he sustains the universe 'by the word of His power' the pleroma (fullness/completeness, 1:19). He is the One in whom all the fullness of Deity dw...