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Do you hear God and Obey Him?

Sunday Lesson notes from August 21, 2022

Read Hebrews 4:14-16, Remembering Jesus

  • What do you learn about Jesus after reading this passage?
  • Jesus is the ultimate high priest, who knows our weaknesses and was tempted in every way as we have been as humans. Yet Jesus did not give into temptation and sin. Therefore, he was able to make the final sacrifice for our sins so that we could be reconciled to God
  • We are able to go to Jesus for mercy and grace when we need it the most when we have fallen short in our sins
  • Remember to hold on tight to your faith and to never let go, this will help us to make it in our relationship with God
  • Remember we can go to Jesus with everything, big or small in our lives. He can relate to our weakness and can encourage us in our times of trouble and give us strength to go on and repent and obey God in our daily lives.

Read Isaiah 6: 1-13

  • In this passage, Isaiah is being commissioned by God to become a prophet to the Israelites. He was sent to Judah to warn the people that their hearts were being hardened toward God’s law since they were no longer listening and obeying God. He was to warn them of their upcoming exile and only a remnant of a “stump” would remain in their nation.
  • Isaiah went to warn the people willingly. His attitude to obey God’s command to go and serve the people was like that of Abraham, who willingly left his home to go to another land. It was also similar to Jesus’s attitude, who was willing to come to earth to save humanity. 
  • The Israelites were not able to see or understand or obey God’s word. They refused to listen to the warning of the prophet Isaiah.
  • They were no longer in love with God’s word and could no longer keep in step with God’s commands. 

Read Isaiah 42:18-25

  • Israel was supposed to be the chosen people of God who was given the role of God’s messenger to the other nations. By their obedience to God they were to be an example for the other nations around to follow, but they were blind, deaf and refusing to listen to God and obey his words. 
  • The Israelites were in such bad shape that they could not even recognize that their own sin and bad decisions were burning them alive. They had no understanding of their own folly.

Read Isaiah 42: 14-17

  • What was God’s attitude toward the Israelites although they were disobedient?
  • God was still loving them, crying out for them to listen like a mother does for her children
  • He really cared about the Israelites and wanted the best for them although they were not even concerned about their own disobedience and what it was doing to their nation

Read Isaiah 42:5-9 then read Ch 42: 1-4

  • Unfortunately, the Israelites could not fulfill the destiny God had planned for them. They were supposed to be God’s representatives for all the other nations; an example of what happens if you keep in step with God’s laws, but they fell short and could not fulfill this role
  • Jesus was able to accomplish the task that the Israelites could not. He brought forth justice to the world . Jesus was able to fulfill the role of God’s messenger. He was the embodiment of what humanity and the Israelites was suppose to be, the ultimate representation of what happens when we are in a right relationship with God

Read Matthew 13: 10-17

  • Why did the disciples ask Jesus about why he was teaching in parables?
  •  These disciples had an open mind and heart to learn from Jesus so they engaged and asked questions
  • Jesus was warning the people at that moment by quoting Isaiah’s prophecy from Isaiah Chapter 6 and Chapter 42, where Isaiah warned the people back then that they would had hard hearts toward God’s word and did not listen and did not obey God.
  • Jesus was reminding them of this prophecy because right at that moment they were still having this hardened response to Jesus himself who was in their immediate presence. 
  • He was speaking to them in parables because only those who wanted to know the truth about Jesus and God’s message would stick around and ask questions to find out more.
  • In verse 51- Jesus taught the disciples even more parables and their meanings. He also told them that the teachers of the law who chose to eventually become true disciples would be able to have even more understanding of his teachings and a full connection of the old teachings and the new teachings if they engaged. 

What prevents people from hearing and obeying God’s word today?

  • We have our own thoughts, pride, biases, unwillingness to change
  • Maybe we have had negative interactions with religious people
  • We love to put our own comfort and luxury above God’s law and not acknowledge our need for God
  • Nicodemus was a teacher of the law, but he humbled himself and asked Jesus more questions to find out more about his teachings
  • Are you willing to ask questions, probe and fight for your own relationship with God?

Read Isaiah 32:1-3

  • Isaiah prophesied that there will be a time when a king will rule and people will follow and obey God
  • We are currently living during this time. Jesus brought his kingdom here on earth and as disciples, we are trying to follow and obey God just like Isaiah prophesied.
  • As disciples we are now the new messengers of God’s plan. We have now been given the role of the Israelites in the old testament; our role is to help others to listen and obey God’s commands

Read Isaiah 32: 17-20

  • If we keep God’s commands, God promises there will be a time of peace and the righteous will live in confidence forever. There is an amazing life promised for true disciples of Jesus- we can enjoy this promise now and in the afterlife.
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