Monday 18 August 2014

Some sheep think they can cope without a shepherd: do you?

Reading: John 10:1-21
 
If you missed it, here's a link to the Sermon: Have You Got A Good Shepherd?  


There are too many questions here for one study, so please do select those you want to study more as a group.

1)   Who is Jesus speaking to? (see chapter 9) Who acted as a good shepherd to  the man born blind and who didn’t? Why?

2)   What does the shepherd know about his sheep, and what is the significance of this? (Ps. 139:2&3).

a)      How does he care for them? (Ps. 23).
b)      What does it mean that he goes ahead of them?
c)      What is the lesson here for us today?

3)   What do the sheep know about the shepherd? Why is this important? (Ps. 100:3).

a)      How can we know the voice of our Shepherd, God? (Rom. 1:18-21; Ps.53:1).
b)      Did Jesus' listeners understand him? Why?

4)  What claim does Jesus make in verse 7, and what did he mean?

5)  What does he promise to those who enter through him? (7, 9, 10b).

6)  Is there any other way to God? What does he say about all others?

7)  What does Jesus claim about himself? (11, 14a) and what backs up his claim? (11, 14-18; 1 Sam. 17:34-36, 45-47).

8)  How does the hired hand act when it comes to the crunch? Why? (12, 13) How is he like the shepherd? How and why is he fundamentally different to the shepherd?

9)   What does Jesus say about his "other sheep"? (16) Who is he talking about?

10) Why do all people need a shepherd?

11) Why did Jesus lay down his life for the sheep? (17, 18; Isa. 11:6) and what does  this teach us about God? (Isa. 42:6; 49:6; 56:6)?

12) How can there be one flock and one shepherd?

13) How can we be good sheep?

14) What does this passage say, if anything about the shepherds of his flock?

15) How did the people listening respond to Jesus' words? How will you respond?
 

Calvin L. Smith: Christians and Modern Israel

Do check out Calvin's latest blog post:

Calvin L. Smith: Christians and Modern Israel: Theologically compli...
Once again conflict in the Middle East raises that perennial question: How should Christians view and respond to the modern State of Israel?....