Sunday School Lesson about Forgiveness Topic Discussion

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Sunday School Lesson about Forgiveness Topic Discussion

I. What are some things that can be rebuiltonly by the power of God? How are humanssometimes arrogant in thinking that such powerbelongs to them?

Given the power of our technology, it is tempt-ing to assume that nothing is beyond building orrepairing—eventually. Think of all the wondermedications we have today! They hold out thetantalizing promise of repairing human emotionsand bodies. Some people have their bodies cryo-genically frozen at death, hoping for the daywhen ultramodern science will resurrect them.But human arrogance is nothing new—see Daniel 4:28-33; Acts 12:21-23. Only God can reclaim sinners and save them for eternity.

2.Cyrus said that God had given him a mis-sion to rebuild the temple, but other decreesfrom Cyrus gave equal credence to other deities.Is this an early form of "political correctness"?Why, or why not?

Unfortunately, political leaders will refer occa-sionally to God in more of a manipulative or pan-dering fashion rather than as an expression ofgenuine, personal faith. The goal of gaining politi-cal support from religious people sometimes ismore important than the goal of attaining God'ssupport. In such cases God may be referred to in abland, generic way in order to include as manyreligions as possible and to offend as few as possi-ble. This is sometimes called ceremonial theism.For a politician to attune his or her policies toGod's will and fight the prevailing political windsis a big challenge. But God can ensure that even apolitician who isn't particularly interested in Himwill carry out God's will regardless. There may beno obvious way to know when that is happeningat the time—it may take hindsight to tell.

3.Material support for this "second exodus"came from the gifts of fellow Jews. Support forthe original exodus came from non-Jews (Exodus12:36).

When should a church rely on supportfrom the world to accomplish a ministry, if ever?Some churches feel very strongly that min-istries must be supported only from the offeringsof the members. We need to acknowledge,though, that outside support is essential for some ministries to happen.

Church building projectsrequire support from zoning boards and neigh-bors. After-school programs may require at leasttacit support from teachers and school officials.Your church's reputation within the town caninfluence how effective it is for ministry in areaslike these. But expecting the community to sup-port the church by participating in churchfundraisers involving pancake breakfasts, thesale of Christmas trees, etc., may be going too far.The apostle John notes that "because that for hisname's sake they went forth, taking nothing ofthe Gentiles" (3 John 7).

4.In what ways can a non-Christian rulerbecome an agent for God?

Ideally, of course, we would love to see every non-Christian ruler come to Christ. Yet God canuse even the most unholy ruler to be His unwill-ing agent. Pharaoh from the book of Exodus maybe the most obvious example.

Even outside the testimony of Scripture, wecan see examples of rulers who seem to be actingas agents for God in at least one area of theirleadership. (To avoid politicizing these observa-tions, we won't suggest names here!) This maybe done actively, with a politician promotingpro-Christian policies intentionally—though per-haps from less-than-holy motives. Other times itcan be done unintentionally, through policiesenacted for reasons that God uses to achieve Hispurposes.

5.What special items from your church's pastare worth holding on to because of their legacyvalue? What things are best discarded as point-less relics of a bygone era? How do you decidewhich is which?

Symbolically, the temple objects connectedthe Jews to both the lost glory of Solomon's tem-ple and God's favor that allowed that temple tobe built in the first place (1 Kings 5:5). The arti-cles reminded the Jews that the God of Solomonwas the same God leading them back to thepromised land. Objects from your church's pastthat serve as reminders of the .changing God inthe midst of an ever-changing world may well beworth keeping.

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