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Lesson5 Q 4 Define "justice," "vengeance," and "mercy." Can a Holy and Righteous God justly forgive sins without punishing them? What is the significance of the cross in God's righteousness? "justice"-- Giving someone what they deserve--no less, no more. "vengeance"-- Punishment inflicted in retaliation for an injury or offense. Fair execution of justice. "mercy" -- not giving someone the punishment they deserve. Yes, God can justly forgive sins without punishing them because He is a merciful God. The Cross brings forgiveness for our sins and without the Cross we would remain in our sins and I believe justice and vengeance would prevail.

Lesson 5 Q 3 (Psalm 68:5) Since our God is the Helper of the Fatherless and the Protector of Widows--that is, the poorest and weakest of society--what does this say about a Christians' commitment to social justice in our communities? How should it affect our actions? Christians (the Church) is committed to look after the fatherless and widows in the community. Instead of leaving it to government to look after these people it is the church's responsibility to do so, and out actions should show this instead of sitting back and letting government do it for us. We should, "Share each others troubles and problems and in this way obey the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2

Lesson 5 Q 1 (Isaiah 6:1-8) How does a realization of God's holiness affect Isaiah? Isaiah panics because He sees his own sins and he falls short of God's standard. Why is Isaiah afraid? Isaiah is afraid because he knows he displeased God and he was afraid that anyone who saw God would die. How does God make Isaiah holy? By touching his mouth with a live coal from the altar. It wasn't the coal that cleansed him but God. What is the symbolism of the coal from the altar? The coal from the altar was a painful cleansing process, we must be purified in order to be used by God who is pure and holy. Letting God purify us may be painful. Now made holy--dedicated to God--how does Isaiah respond to God? Isaiah responds to God by submitting himself entirely to God's service. No matter how difficult his task would be, he said, "Here am I; send me."

Lesson5 Q 4 Why is a person's attitude with regard to giving related to that person's attitude towards praise? If we cannot give willingly and with geninue hearts then we will not be able to praise our Lord and Savior with sincere and geninue hearts. Why does an attitude of possessiveness with regards to giving get in the way of worship? If we do not give freely from the heart to God, then we may be thinking that we have earned what we have in our own power and strength, therefore we will not give God all the glory and praise and thankfulness that He deserves. Every good and perfect gift is from above, James tells us. Amen! In what sense do all your possessions belong to God? In the sense that it all comes and belong to God. "It comes from your hand and all of it belongs to you." (29:16) What then should be your relationship to your possessions? Our relationship should be temporary. In your lesson, it states: David is only a temporary steward of God's abundance. We are all like David. How will these truths reenergize your giving? Your Praise? The more I come to know the truth the more I will want to give. Not only 10% but more, for it all belongs to God. Whatever we give, we will be only giving what is God's anyway. We have nothing without Him! My Praise should be and will be more geninue if I give knowing that it all belongs to God, giving willingly and freely.

Lesson 5 Q 3 Verses 11 and 12 both attribute various characteristics to God, such as glory, honor, and might. How might you begin to mention God's greatness in your own prayer? When I pray to God I always praise Him first, then I mention that He is The Lord of lords and the King of kings. He is wonderful counselor, Prince of Peace and The Great I Am. I always tell Him that I cannot do anything without Him. Every good and perfect gift is from above! Amen! Where is this kind of praise found by example in the Lord's Prayer? Our Father, Hallowed be thy Name, for thine is the power and the glory, Amen! What are your favorite songs that point to God's greatness? Great is thy faithfulness How great thou art Love lifted me Amazing Grace Just as I am.

Lesson 5 Q 2 In what way does praise exalt God? Praise exalts God by expressing out loud the respect and honor we have for Him. Why should we exalt God? Because He is the Exalted One! God is exalted far above any ruler or celebrity, general, scientist, or author. What does this exaltation do in us? It strengthens our faith when we acknowledge God's greatness. What does it say about us? That we are willing to openly declare God's greatness, therefore encouraging others to see God in this light and honor Him as well. Exalting God by praising Him gives us awe and love that is felt by others.

Lesson 5 Q 1 In what way do our prayers of praise "bless" God? When we offer up prayers of praise we bless God by extolling and worshipping Him in His greatness, glory, and splendor. What do we mere humans have that God desires in a blessing? We have God's desire for our worship in giving as well as our worship in praise - Uncompelled and free giving of ourselves. What are prayers like, that don't include blessing God? They are self-centered, without joy, and without praise to the Lord our God.

Lesson 4 Q 4 What does it mean to have a broken heart and spirit? It means we become aware of God's divine presence and our hearts become broken because of our sins, making us want more than anything forgiveness. We become aware that our sins hurt God who loves us and by our sins we are injuring His reputation. We become broken to the extent of sorrow. Why is this essential in the prayer for pardon? Because until we become aware of how much this hurts God and we bring Him down with our sins we will not pray the prayer for pardon. We will only have religion and not a geninue relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In what sense is this a "sacrifice"? We have to give up following what we want to do ourselves and be obedient to God, which we find hard to do, because we like to be in control. We have to "sacrifice" self. Why do we tend to resist a "broken and contrite heart" in ourselves? Pride! We do not want anyone to see or think we are not perfect and we do not want to admit it to ourselves.

Lesson 4 Q 3 Is it possible to have a pure heart? Yes! How does God bring about a pure heart? By the blood of Christ that was shed for us. Jesus died for our sins and He desires to forgive us, no matter what we have done. What is our part in this? To pray a prayer for a pure heart and a willing spirit. A spirit that longs to serve God, and a heart that is inclined to Him. This is our part.

Lesson 4 Q 2 In his prayer does David seek to minimize his sins? To maximize them? No, David do not seek to hide or minimize his sins. I believe he is maximizing them by affirming that he is sinful through and through. Why does an authentic prayer for pardon require clear, unvarnished acknowledgement of sin to be effective? So we will take full responsibility for our sin and call it what it actually is and be sorry for offending God. By praying this kind of prayer we will not be rationalizing our sins to make them seem somewhat less guilt-worthy thus helping us to confess our sins to God in a way that is necessary.

Lesson 4 Q 1 In what way does a prayer for pardon require faith? We have to believe God can and will "Blot out", "wash away" and "cleanse" our sins to pray a prayer for pardon. We have to have faith in God to forgive us of our sins. We have to know who God is. What is that faith based on? I believe it is based on our relationship with Jesus Christ. It is based on knowing God's merciful nature, through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How does a person gain the faith to pray this prayer in confidence? By admitting we are sinners and we need to be restored to fellowship with our God. We do this by studying His Word and gaining a closer relationship with Him everyday in our everyday lives.

Lesson 3 Q 4 In what way does Abraham show persistence? Abraham shows persistence by he do not give up, he keeps bargaining with God until God gives the answer. Why is persistence necessary in prayer? Persistence is necessary in prayer because it shows our faith in God and by persisting we believe God will answer our prayers. Have you ever experienced "praying through"? What was it like? I can not say that I have been so faithful in praying like the older generation but I have prayed, knowing within that God will answer my prayer one way or another. I have total faith in God that He will come through for me.

Lesson 3 Q 3 Do you think Abraham's boldness pleased God? Why or why not? Yes, I believe Abraham's boldness pleased God because it shows Abraham's faith. Abraham believed in God and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness. What might cause God to take delight in your prayers to him? Coming to God in prayer shows God that He is my Father and I believe in Him and I am as a little child coming to Him with all my joys and sorrows, showing Him that I have faith and believing He is a righteous God who acts justly. It shows I believe in Him and understands Him enough to ask everything. God delights in us when we come to Him in prayer because He has chosen to adopt us into His family and bless us....because of Jesus. Amen!

Lesson 3 Q 2 How did Abraham demonstrate his humility before God? By repeatedly acknowledging his own humble place before Almighty God. Why must boldness be tempered with humility? When we come to God with boldness we must realize who God is. God is our Father, king of heaven and He is awesome and holy. We must not think we know better than our God.

Lesson 3 Q 1 What is the basis of Abraham's argument that God should spare Sodom? If there are ten righteous people in Sodom then it would be wrong to kill the righteous with the wicked because God is a righteous God. How does it relate to God's character? By God is a righteous God and He will treat the righteous justly. God's character is righteous, mercyful, loving and everything that is good. Amen?