波士頓華人查經班 . 查經筆記 2003 Summer
Summer 2003
Study Notes
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Date |
Content |
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| 05/30 | Faith Group: Intro | Sharing the expectations of what each member wants to get out of studying "Disappointment with God", and setting goals for the study. | |
| Grace Group: "The Last Best Word" | read study guide by Philip Yancey | ||
| 06/06 | Faith Group: Chapter 1-5 | Chapter 1: A
fatal error * By providing 3 examples of people disappointed by God, what are the questions the author asks? - mother of child with spina bifida - homosexual, unsuccessfully seeking a cure - young woman suffering from depression * What does the author feel about his own example of being stranded with stalled car? * The example of television evangelist gives the author what kind of question? Do you think this example may come out this kind of questions? * About the example of church in Indiana that withheld medical treatment from dying child, expecting faith to heal him, is it because of false faith? Or an error in theology? Chapter 2: Up in smoke * Please briefly describe Richard's story. Focus on what Richard's disappointment with God is. Chapter 3: The questions no-one asks aloud * How does Richard's story present the following three questions? - Is God unfair? - Is God hidden? - Is God silent? * Continue Richard's story described in this chapter. * Is it wrong for those who stake their lives on God to expect some return from Him? Chapter 4: What if * How do Exodus and Numbers present the following three questions? - Is God unfair? - Is God hidden? - Is God silent? * Does the intimate interaction between God and Israelite help their faith grow? Why? Chapter 5: The source * What does this chapter want to address? |
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| Grace Group: "What Grace is and isn't" | read study guide by Philip Yancey | ||
| 06/20 | Faith Group: Chapter 6-9 | Chapter 6: Risky
Business * What the world is like at the beginning of creation? Where does the limitation come from, according to the author? * How were Adam and Eve differently created? Why is this "risky business" for God, according to the author? * How was the relationship between God and Adam and Eve at the beginning and how was it changed? What limitation does this "creative" choice of human being involve? Chapter 7: The Parent * How did God intervene with Adam and Cain after they sinned? After the entire human race rejected Him? To whom did God promise what after the flood? What did God do at Babel? What was the common feature of these God's early interventions with human? * What is the momentous change from Genesis 12? Why should Abraham and Joseph be disappointed with God? What did God want from them? From Genesis, what is the change in how God related to his people? Chapter 8: Unfiltered sunlight * During the four hundred years of silence un-recorded in Bible, what probably did the Israelites feel? After that, how did God interact with the Hebrews, through whom? * Power can do everything, but it can not control love. How do you understand this from the story of Israelites? Do you think this can explain why sometimes God seems shy to use His power? What did God really long for? * "Is it possible that we should be grateful for God's hiddenness, rather than disappointed?" Chapter 9: One shining moment * Through whom did the dreams of the covenant surge back? How did the author describe him? * What was the "Golden Age" of a "shining moment" like when Solomon ruled Israel? What did God feel in those days? What was God response to the dedication of the temple? * How did Solomon change? What was Israel like when he died? "Success may have eliminated any crises of disappointment with God, but it also seemed to eliminate Solomon's desire for God at all." Is this true to us too? |
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| Grace Group: "Grace in the Bible" | read study guide by Philip Yancey | ||
| 06/27 | Faith Group: Chapter
10-12 |
Chapter 10:
Fire and the Word * What did some people suggest that might have caused the fire in the famous church? * How would you compare this with fireball on the Mount Carmel? * What power did most prophets possess? * What were their questions when "justice never prevails", according to the author? * What, according to the author, is the most amazing feature of the prophets? Chapter 11: Wounded Lover * Is God silent? How does He talk to us? * Why does God withdraw his presence? How did He explain to Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah? * Why is God holding back his power and not punishing quickly? * How does it feel to be God? What did the author use to help us understand God's feelings? Chapter 12: Too Good to Be True * Where does hope come from? Is it "too good to be true" or "so good it must be true"? Comments: * We should collect questions and ask pastors for answers, or have question-answer session with pastor. |
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| Grace Group: "Forgiveness: An Unnatural Act" | read study guide by Philip Yancey | ||
| 07/11 | Faith Group: Chapter 13-17 | Chapter 13:
The Descent * How does this "condescension" differ from the ones in the Old Testament period? * What did the descent make Jesus vulnerable to? What is "the error of the silence" in the excerpt? What advantages did give Jesus? What is the advantage? Chapter 14: Great Expectations * Why did Jews have such expectations for Jesus? Why did their disappointment not vanish? What gave the most doubt? Would you rather see Jesus use his power? * What did the crowd wan from Jesus? What were Jesus's concerns? Do they appear in your prayers? * What does the quoted passage suggest? How would you describe the Kindom within? Chapter 15: Divine Shyness * Why is it a temptation for Jesus to display his powers? What do you think of Karamazov's words? * Do you think it is fair that God shows restraint to such prayers as for the cure of ill? * Why does God "let evil work its will"? * What are the purposes of the miracles? What are they about? * What are the things to be believed to be seen? Chapter 16: The Postponed Miracle * Was Jesus disappointed with God? Was it his weakness to cry out loud before his death? * Why wouldn't resurrected Jesus show himself to unbelievers? * Do you agree that disappointment drew more people to God? Are they necessary for us to learn to love God? Chapter 17: Progress * |
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| Grace Group: Chapter
8 "Why Forgive?" |
read study guide by Philip Yancey | ||
| 07/18 | Faith Group: Chapter 18-20 | Chapter 18:
The Transfer * In this chapter, what scenes it talks about? * What do these scenes reveal? Chapter 19: Changes in the Wind * The progression Father, Son, Spirit, how does it represent a profound advance in intimacy? * What is Christian, according to the description of the book? * Make examples for the above. * What is Spirit in relation to Christians? * Do you meet God in church? Do you let people feel that God is living within you? Return to the case of Richard, if he met a saint when having questions about faith, his faith turned to be strong? Why? Chapter 20: The Culmination * What does Gods plan for the ages accomplish? * What would be the gains and costs for such a plan for God? * What 3 great humiliations in His efforts to save human race God underwent? * What does God view us, who loves Him? * What would be the gains and costs for such a plan for us? * What does God want from us? Dependence as a baby, or mature love that gives freedom away and becomes dependent? * What are titles given to the Spirit? In terms of them, it implies what in our spiritual life? |
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| Grace Group: Chapter
9-10 "Grace/Forgiveness in Politics" |
read study guide by Philip Yancey | ||
| 07/25 | Faith Group: Chapter 21-23 | Chapter 21.
Interrupted Chapter 22. The Only Problem Chapter 23. A role in the Cosmos |
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| Grace Group: Chapter
11-13 "Oddballs, Jesus, and Me" |
read study guide by Philip Yancey | ||
| 08/01 | special topic |
"Disappointment and God" by Pastor Ho from the Chinese Gospel Church of Massachusetts | |
| 08/08 | Faith Group: Chapter 24-26 | Chapter 24.
Is God Unfair? 1. Why is the most common curse word in the English Language God followed by the word damn? (What do you think these mean when they say this? 2. Concerning unfairness, what are the 5 possible explanations or views of people that Yancey listed? 3. How do Christians more commonly respond to lifes unfairness? (p.210) Give your own example. How do you react to unfairness? Do you do the same? 4. Was Yanceys modern Job, Douglas, disappointed with God? Why? (If you were Douglas, how would you react?) 5. Whose story did Douglas want Yancey to read? What was Jesus attitude toward unfairness? What was Gods response to unfairness? 6. How did most Old Testament heroes (Abraham, Joseph, David, Elijah, etc.) get through trials much like Jobs? What became of the result? 7. Its God who ought to suffer, not you and me, say those who bear a grudge against God for the unfairness of life. What did the Cross reveal about what kind of world we have and what kind of God we have? What did Jesus offer? Chapter 25. Why God Doesn't Explain 1. How does God respond to Jobs question? 2. What are the possible reasons that God keeps us ignorant? Give one example of each reasoning. 3. Yancey says that we humans perceive time in something like a never-ending present. For people trapped in the present and disappointed with God, what 2 cures does the Bible offer? 4. What is Yanceys answer to the question of unfairness? (p.236) Chapter 26. Is God Silent? 1. What kind of faith does God seem to value most? 2. What are the two kinds of faith that Yancey listed? 3. What 2 observations of faith did Yancey make? 4. What attitude does Yancey suggest us to have towards suffering? (Think of what famous people often have experienced and said, what attitude authors of the Bible had.) |
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| Grace Group: Chapter
14 "Loopholes" |
read study guide by Philip Yancey | ||
| 08/15 | Faith Group: Chapter 27-28 | Chapter 27.
Why God Doesn't Intervene Chapter 28. Is God Hidden? |
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| 08/29 | Faith Group: Chapter 29-30 | Chapter 29.
Why Job Died Happy Chapter 30. Two Wagers, Two Parables |
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| 09/05 | Faith Group: Review / Conclusion | ||
Web Resources
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