God’s Good People

INTRODUCTION

Several years ago, my wife and I took one of those vacations…you know the kind, It was a 4 day trip to Disney World, tickets included, for a total of $350 dollars. Total! They only required and hour or so of our time on Saturday morning for a tour of their facilities. So, we signed up!

I prefaced our tour with Phillipe by saying, “We won’t be buying anything today. So if you want to save your time, we’ll sign the paper and be on our way.” Phillipe assured us that we’d be quick and that he wasn’t allowed to let us off the hook that easy. We took the tour, which ended up taking about 3 hours, not one. The facilities were awesome. The rooms were fantastic! They had a lazy river and pizza shop right by the pool. I understate it when I say it was indeed nice.

We ended our tour sitting with Phillipe at a small round table in a big room with a lot of other small tables. (Every time someone would purchase a time share, I mean become a member of the vacation club, they would pop a bottle of champagne. There was a continuous popping going on in this room. They were selling these things left and right.) Phillipe gives us a run down of all the benefits and where you could vacation around the world.  All this could be yours for $43,000! I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. He had to be crazy! I just paid $350 for a vacation, what made him think I had $43,000 laying around the house for a time share. I had no problem saying no.

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God’s Good World

INTRODUCTION

Every good story has a good beginning. Consider this line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Can you name this book?*

Do you remember the first movie you ever saw in the theatre? I don’t know if it was my first movie, but I remember being a small kid watching  Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The opening music…the way the words scrolled across the screen…and then the camera moved into panning an imperial ship. I was hooked.

What’s one of your favorite movies? How does it begin? One of my favorite movies is Red Dawn.** In the movie’s opening, a high school teacher is giving a lecture on the  invasion practices of a medieval army, describing their practices. This foreshadows the films plot and ending. It also shows the beginning of the invasion of WW3 in a small Colorado town.

The Bible has a great beginning too! The opening words are, “In the beginning God…” There’s a lot we can learn from how the Bible begins. What do these 4 words tell us about God and/or the Bible?

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Exegetical Notes: 2 Samuel 22:26-36, 50-51

2 Samuel 22 is comprised of a psalm of thanksgiving and praise directed toward God from King David. It reveals much about the king’s love for God. It also revels much about the character of God. Chapter 22 proves to be highly significant because of it’s classic psalm structure and the fact that this is the longest quoted material we have from King David.

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Small Group Lesson One – A Personal Study Guide to Accompany “Living Generously: First”

Read Genesis 4:3-7

We assume these five small words in English to be rather unimportant. They sound, at first glance, to be a casual way to introduce the story we are about to encounter. Much like fairy-tales begin with “Once upon a time”. However, if we pause for a moment we see Cain’s “flaw in the intention of the giver” (see note on Gen. 4:5). Perhaps these five words give us a bit of a glimpse into the mind and heart of Cain, and maybe ourselves.

Verse 3 (especially when compared to v. 4) seems to suggest, at the very least, that giving was not a priority for Cain, both in WHEN he gave and in WHAT he gave. He gave when he “got a round to it”. He gave something, but the sacrificial aspect in his giving must have been missing.

All of these reflect the poor condition of Cain’s heart.

We often seek to cover up the condition of our hearts with an excuse. That’s what happens in Genesis 3:12 when God inquires to Adam about why he’s recently discovered his nakedness. “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” The woman follows the same thought when she says, “The serpent deceived me…” What did Adam and Eve do? They tried to cover their sin by clothing themselves and hiding from God’s presence. What was David’s initial reaction upon learning that Bathsheba had become pregnant? He sought to cover up his rebellion.

Too often, our first inclination is to respond to sin by 1) covering it up, and 2) making excuses. 

Can we be honest for a moment? What excuses do you use for not giving?

1) I can’t pay my monthly bills as it is, much less give any extra. We often quirk, “There’s too much month at the end of the money?”

2) I need just a little more income, then I’ll be able to give. Maybe you tell yourself that you’ll start giving when your financial situation improves.

3) I plan on giving as soon as I pay off _________.

4) My past financial mistakes keep me from giving.

This list could keep going I’m sure. We don’t have time to dive into each and every excuse. Let’s just summarize be noting, “Any excuse will do when you’re looking for one.” 

Paul said, “in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money…(2 Tim. 3:1-5). Here again, we see Paul linking together money and the heart. If we’re honest, let’s just admit that the absense of giving is a symptom of a deeper problem.

Exegetical Notes: 2 Samuel 21:1-6, 10-14

Chapter 21 provides us with a somewhat odd story regarding an ongoing famine during the reign of David. It gives seemingly several odd theological and ethical dilemmas. However, we do see an emphasis on the justice of God for those who may be oppressed as well as some possible causation for natural disaster.

21 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the people of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites. Although the people of Israel had sworn to spare them, Saul had sought to strike them down in his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah. And David said to the Gibeonites, “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”

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Exegetical Notes: 2 Samuel 13:15-20; 31-39

The immediate context of these verses is found in 2 Samuel 13:1-14, where Amnon, with the help of his friend Jonadab, devise a plan for Amnon to force himself upon his half sister Tamar.

One common thread we see between our two pericopes is that of grief, which can be noted from the tearing of garments and wearing of ash on the forehead (13:19, 31). We would do well to consider that grief, no matter its shape or form, is a consequence of sin. This is not to say that grief is always the result of personal, direct sin. At times, it may be. However, at other times, as is the case with Tamar in verses 1-14, her grief is caused by the sin of others.

Grief runs in direct contrast to God’s original creation where everything is described as blessed by God and “good” (Gen. 1:28-31). We weren’t meant to experience the pains of death, illness, and sin. Yet, in a fallen world, we often do. Grief is meant to cause us to seek comfort in the gracious redemption of creation through Christ (Rom. 8:18-25).

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No Man Is An Island; The Gospel and Christian Community

Consider the poetry of John Donne.

No man is an island entire of itself; every man 
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; 
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe 
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as 
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine 
own were; any man's death diminishes me, 
because I am involved in mankind. 
And therefore never send to know for whom 
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

We might not be familiar with this work in it’s entirety, but we’ve all certainly heard and used the phrase “no man is an island”. In general, we use it positively to mean that people are designed to thrive in community, not alone.

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