SUNDAY’S COMING: BIBLE STUDY –
Bible Study for The Feast of the Pentecost (06/09/19)
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 11:1-9
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
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Points to Ponder:
This is a reading for our time in that it is a reading about hubris and the need for understanding. In the Acts reading we have many people gathered, all seeking an understanding of the truth. The question that Genesis asks is “What does the community do and seek when it gathers together?” So looking beyond the etiological nature of the story we read a morality tale about the need for understanding the other when they are separated from us. The “understanding” should be a gift of the Spirit is a good realization. That community amongst many different peoples is the gift of the same Spirit, is a necessary realization for us. Isn’t it interesting that many were scattered by God only to be gathered again by God?
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The Take Away: What does this mean for my life? Some questions –
1. Where in your life do you challenge God?
2. Where in your life do you challenge creation?
3. What about life in our time do you find difficult to understand?
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After studying the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Bible Study for The Feast of the Pentecost (06/09/19)
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 11:1-9
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
**************************************************************
Points to Ponder:
This is a reading for our time in that it is a reading about hubris and the need for understanding. In the Acts reading we have many people gathered, all seeking an understanding of the truth. The question that Genesis asks is “What does the community do and seek when it gathers together?” So looking beyond the etiological nature of the story we read a morality tale about the need for understanding the other when they are separated from us. The “understanding” should be a gift of the Spirit is a good realization. That community amongst many different peoples is the gift of the same Spirit, is a necessary realization for us. Isn’t it interesting that many were scattered by God only to be gathered again by God?
**************************************************************
The Take Away: What does this mean for my life? Some questions –
1. Where in your life do you challenge God?
2. Where in your life do you challenge creation?
3. What about life in our time do you find difficult to understand?
**************************************************************
After studying the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.