Queen's Road Cell

 The earlier parable about the unjust judge taught us to pray with persevering trust even though it seemed that answers were delayed. This second parable tells us the spirit in which were are to pray.   13. What is wrong with the Pharisee's attitude in prayer (18:11-12)? Standing is the usual posture for prayer (Mt 6:5, Mk 11:25) The Jews were only required to fast once, on the Day of Atonement.   What the Pharisee said of himself was true. But there was no sense of sin or humble dependence on God. 'The Pharisee came short of congratulating God on the excellence of his servant, but only just.' (Morris) ‘He glances at God, but contemplates himself’ (Plummer) - his prayer was completely centred on himself and his achievements. It is possible for a Christian to think (or pray) like this, but only in the recognition that God has enabled us to please Him. 14. What is good about the tax collector's attitude in prayer (18:13)? The lifting of eyes to heaven was normal in prayer...

  3. Mary calls God 'my Saviour' (1:47). How does she portray God as Saviour in 1:46-56?   This verse was the reason why the great mediaval theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) felt that Mary was not conceived sinless (the doctrine of the 'Immaculate Conception', officially expressed in 1854). God has exalted her for all generations even though she is humble. God is mighty God shows mercy God has overturned the standards of this world and exalted the humble and cast down the proud (cf. the song of Hannah in 1 Sa 2:1-10, Ps 103:1) God fills those who hunger physically, but who also hunger for righteousness. (cf. Mt 5:6) God has fulfilled His promises to the nation. 4. What does 1:39-56 Reveal aabout Jesus' identity and mission (see 1:43,  51-55)  Jesus is blessed (v.42), the "Lord" (v.43, an exalted title, used only of God in Lk 1-4) Jesus' coming will cause the "fall and rising of many" (Lk 2:34) 5. How do Mary and Elizabeth respond to th...

 1. What do you learn from 1:5-25 about John the Baptist's mission (1:15-17)  To live before God in the spirit and power of Elijah. To turn the Jews to God, turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and bring repentance. So as to prepare the way for Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. How people should respond (1:14-20) For fathers to turn their hearts to the children, and to cause the disobedient/sinners to desire godly wisdom, so that the way for Christ would be prepared. 'Turn' is the operative word (v.16a, 17b)  Verse 17 recalls Malachi 3:1 and 4:6 (the last verse of the OT).  a. What do you think 'to turn the hearts of the parents to their children' means?   He will restore unity to broken families, undoing the effects of sin across generations Alternatively, a reference to the turning of latter day Jews to the faithfulness of their forefathers (taking the parallelism in the passage), or of Gentiles to Jews b. Why do you think turning parents' h...

 1. What is Paul's overall point in the passage? (i.e. what is he talking about?). Why does he say this point here? "Be strengthened to suffer for the gospel".  "Strengthened by Christ, continue working hard for the gospel"  "Be strengthened, share in suffering, endure everything" " Work hard and persevere for the gospel." "Do not be afraid to suffer for the gospel" Why does Paul raise this point here. He has talked about guarding the gospel and not being ashamed of it earlier. He will later talk about the spiritual qualities of those who are faithful in living for the gospel. Timothy is called to suffer (v.3) as Paul suffers (v.9) and to endure (v.1) as Paul endures (v.10) 2. In 1:15-18, Paul describes the actions of some Christians. Many have deserted him, but not Onesiphorus. Why do you think Paul inserted these comments and prayer between 1:1-14 and 2:1-13? Paul talked about those who were ashamed and not ashamed of the gospel,...

Knowing we are saved by faith 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4  But   God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result ...

We asked how it was that we could claim the promise of Abraham for ourselves, far removed from him in time and space. Romans 4:11-17 tells us that we are Abraham's children if we display the same faith he had unto salvation. We also are saved by God's promise to Abraham because it was from the Jewish people that the Christ was born (c.f. Ro 9:5). So the blessings to "all the families of the earth" through Abraham come to us both physically (in Christ's human descent) and spiritually. The connection between this promise to Abraham and the Great Commission in Matt 28:18-20 is simply that it is through the making of disciples (one-off baptism and continuous 'teaching to observe' Jesus' commands) that the blessings to the world are realized. We Christians therefore are not merely the recipients and end-products of the promised blessing - we are the vehicles - the means by which the blessing to the world is put in effect. We pass on what we have receive...