3:1-10 Will you use all
twenty verses or just the first ten? I will use just the first ten this year.
3:1 What does it mean that
“the voice of the Lord was rare in those days”?
What does the voice of the Lord sound like? Is the voice of the Lord
rare today?
3:2 What does Eli’s failing
eyesight have to do with the story?
3:3 What is the lamp of
God? What does the ark of God represent? What do you know about the spiritual
discipline of incubation? Have you ever
slept in the sanctuary of a church?
3:4 Why does the Lord call
Samuel’s name twice? Who else is called with their name being used twice? Where
have we heard “Here I am” before?
3:5 Maybe the problem was
that Eli had not called him.
3:6 Why does Eli refer to
Samuel as “my son”?
3:7 How can God be calling
a person by name if that person does not know God or the word of God has not
yet been revealed to that person? What does it mean to know the Lord? What does
it mean for the word of the Lord to be revealed?
3:8 Is there any symbolism
behind the fact that God called Samuel three times?
3:9 How often do we not
listen when the Lord is speaking?
3:10 Note that the Lord did
not call but rather “stood” there? Was
this a vision or was the Lord physically present?
3:11 What makes your ears
tingle? Do your ears ever tingle while you are in a service of common worship?
3:12 But we have not heard (in this reading) what was spoken.
3:13 What does this say to
parents whose children are not churched?
3:14 So sacrifices and
offerings have only limited effect?
3:15 How many people do you
think might have experienced a spiritual vision but are afraid to talk about it
with anyone, even their pastor?
3:16 Samuel still responds
to Eli the same way he responded to God. How many times have we heard “Here I
am”? Why am I thinking of Dan Schutte?
3:17 How many people hide
spiritual matters from their Pasto or Spiritual Director?
3:18 Who is quoted, Samuel
or Eli?
3:19 What does it mean for
the Lord to be with someone? Is the Lord with you? Whose words, Samuel’s or
God’s? How does one earn the
trustworthiness of others?
3:20 What is the difference
between a trustworthy and an untrustworthy prophet?
139:1 How does the Lord
search us? What does it mean to be known
by the Lord?
139:2 How far away?
139:3 What is the meaning
of “path”?
139:4 How can God know what
we are going to say before we ourselves know?
139:5 What does it mean to
be hemmed in by God?
139:6 What was inscribed on
the Temple at the Oracle of Delphi?
139:13 What about in-vitro
fertilization?
139:14 Can the Human body,
or the human eye, still be used to argue for intelligent design? What would Darwin say about this verse? What
would an oncologist say?
139:15 Was the psalmist woven
in the depths of the earth or knitted in his or her mother’s womb?
139:16 What is unformed
substance? Is this book available for kindle or the nook?
139:17 How much do
thought’s weigh? How can thoughts be added up?
139:18 Do you recall the story
of Augustine and sand at the beach?
6:12 Just because I have
the right to do something does not mean I should do it.
6:13 What is the definition
of fornication? Did it mean anything different in Paul’s day than it does
today? How do we responsibly deal with
this verse when many young adults are postponing marriage until they are in
their late 20’s or even early 30’s?
6:14 How did we go from
food to fornication to resurrection?
6:15 Is Paul suggesting
that fornication and prostitution are one and the same?
6:16 I wonder if Paul is
thinking about cultic/temple/pagan prostitution of just run of the mill prostitution.
6:17 How does one become
united to the Lord?
6:12-18 Why is Paul
singling out fornication? Perhaps Paul doth protest too much.
6:19-20 I think these
verses have been used to speak out against the abuse as well as the use of
alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, meat, and who knows what else.
1:43 What happened the day
before this? Please note: Jesus found Philip.
Philip did not find Jesus. I
think I will market a new bumper sticker saying “Jesus Found Me”.
1:44 What do you know about
Bethsaida? I wonder if Philip knew Andrew and Peter.
1:45 Maybe I will market a
bumper sticker that reads “Philip Found Me.” Who are “we”? I would not be expecting to read “son of
Joseph here”? Why not son of Mary or The
Virgin Mary?
1:46 Is this a rhetorical
question? What was the problem with
Nazareth? Is not “come and see” the quintessential invitation? I prefer it to “Are you saved?”
1:47 How could Jesus know
this? Compare this to John 1:29 and 1:36. At this point I would be expecting to
read a lot more about Nathaniel than we are given in this Gospel.
1:48 I think Psalm 139:16
would have been a better answer. Was there only one fig tree in Bethsaida?
1:49 And Jesus did not even
ask Nathaniel who people said he (Jesus) was! Does this qualify as a confession
of faith?
1:50 Nathaniel will see
greater things than what?
1:51 Was this ever
fulfilled or is Nathaniel still waiting to see this spectacular thing? Why
would angels of God be both ascending and descending upon the Son of Man? Is
this the first occurrence of “Son of Man” imagery and language in this Gospel?
ADDENDUM
I am currently serving at the Interim Pastor of The Presbyterian Churchof Cadiz, worshiping at 154 West Market Street, Cadiz, Ohio, every Sunday at
11:00 AM.
No comments:
Post a Comment