The Italian Memorandum

An Approach to Psalm 139

“O LORD, you have searched me and known me!”

(Psalm 139:1)

“Believe that I love you for I do.

Believe that I’m yours forever, for I am”

(The Lion in Winter)

Introduction: According to Psalm 139, God knows all about you (v. 3)!

A. 3  “O Lord My God” statements-

1.         vv. 1, 23 ______________________

2.         v. 4       _______________________

3.         v.17      _______________________

B.        The wonder and the challenge of 139:18b

C.        Yet some prefer to be fugitives (vv. 19-22)

Conclusion: Knowing You Know Me…”Lead me in the way everlasting!”

[Taken from the Gospel According to Matthew]

“This is why I speak to them in parables…”

(Matthew 13:13)

Inrtroduction: In today’s lesson, we shall give seven reasons why Jesus spoke in parables.  See Matthew 13:1-17 (especially note v. 3).

1.      13:10 To create _________________.

2.     13:11 To disclose content ______________about the Kingdom of God.

3.     13:13 To _____________ with a stylistic Hebrew unit known as the

________________.

4.      13:14-16 To distinguish his _______________.

5.      13:19 To place moral responsibility on the __________________, not the nation.

6.      13:34-35 To fulfill ______________________.

7.      13:53-54 To be _________________________.

Conclusion: These parables of Jesus continue to be baffling and enigmatic to the casual and complacent.  They have been coded for a purpose.  Do you see?

“According to your faith be it done to you”

(Matt. 9:29, ESV; the KJV reads- “According to your faith be it unto you”)

Introduction: In the story of the healing of the two blind men of Matthew 9, we have Jesus’ pronouncement of the relatedness of faith to answered prayer (grace).

Applications …

1.         To be mindful of the miracle, is to _____________ from the miracle.

2.        Consider the ____________ of the pronouncement.

3.       When will we ____________ to ______________?

Conclusion:    “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Matthew 9:28 in 2009?

Introduction: The “priesthood of all believers” is taught in the New Testament (1 Pet. 2:5,9; Rev. 1:6).  But, what does this mean?  Leviticus 8, shows the fundamental ideas associated with priesthood

[Note the six-fold program in Lev. 8:2].

1. Aaron and his sons

1. Garments

1. Anointing oil

1. Bull of the sin offering

1. Two rams

1. Basket of unleavened bread

Conclusion: The fundamentals of the priesthood are before us.  While it is true that all believers are priests, not all priests are true believers.  The difference, of course, is in one’s consecration.

“May the LORD fulfill all your petitions”

(Psalm 20:5)

Introduction:      The Lord’s providence should be a concern of every Christian .  Our functional title is – Finding Your Place in His Plan.

100 Level ____________________________

200 Level ____________________________

300 Level ____________________________

400 Level ____________________________

500 Level ____________________________

600 Level ____________________________

Conclusion:    Have you yet found your place in His plan? Sometimes there is a need to re-evaluate how you serve the Lord.  Need more direction?  Let’s talk.

(A Study of the Kingdom in the Gospel of Luke)

E lu’ sive -  1.  tending to elude.  2. hard to grasp, attain or retain; baffling                Webster’s New Universal Dictionary, (unabridged, 589)

“What is impossible with men, is possible with God”

(Luke 18:27)

Introduction: Is the kingdom of God really all that elusive?  Luke’s Gospel affirms this elusive aspect of the Kingdom of God with at least 10 markers.

1.   ______________   ________________________

2.   ______________   ________________________

3.   ______________   ________________________

4.   ______________   ________________________

5.   ______________   ________________________

6.   ______________   ________________________

7.   ______________   ________________________

8.   ______________   ________________________

9.   ______________   ________________________

10.______________   ________________________

Conclusion: Professor Allen Bloom has astutely remarked, “the self has become the modern substitute for the soul” Quoted in David Brock, “A Philosopher Hurls Down a Stinging Moral Gauntlet,” Insight (May, 11, 1987), 12.

A Place Along the Way

“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem ,

to Bethphage and Bethany…”

(Mark 11:1)

Introduction: Bethany was a special place to Jesus.  Let us revisit this village of yesterday to acquire insight for today.

1. Bethany was about ___________________

2. Bethany was about ___________________

3.  Bethany was about ___________________

Conclusion: To revisit Bethany is to be confronted with the blessings of today.  So, now, while the Dogwood blossom and the Redbuds bloom, while the chance of salvation and service are yours’-consider Jesus’ Bethany-House of Sadness, Home of Gladness.

“And I will pray to the Father, and he shall give you another

Comforter, that he may be with you forever, even the

Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive…”

(John 14:16,17, ASV, 1901)

Introduction:   Christianity must contain a theology of the Christian’s Comforter (Paraclete).

I. What’s a Paraclete? [Jesus’ identification]

A. __________________________________

B.   __________________________________

II. Why Paraclete Matters

A. __________________________________

B. __________________________________

C. __________________________________

Conclusion:  The Holy Spirit (Paraclete) is a constant communion for the Christian (2 Cor. 13:14).  May the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you today.

from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)

“I will fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4)

Introduction: As we approach Jesus’ famous sermon of  Matthew 5-7, we see three important indicators of  God–each of them absorbed by the Son of God and communicated with consummate skill.

1.  God is _______________________ (5:48; Gen. 17:5; Jer. 10:10; Lev. 19:2)

2.  Major in _____________________ (6:25-33; 6:6,18; Ps. 77:19)

3.  Recognize _________, but do not ______________ it. (6:34; Ps. 23:4)

Conclusion:    Are you ready to do the Life thing–the right thing–by coming out into the tempest of living?  (Matt. 22:14).

“And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being  saved” (Acts 2:47)

Introduction: Acts 2:41 and 2:47 indicate that the Lord does the adding when it comes to church membership.  Let’s review Acts 2 and notice how this adding is a great at last in God’s plan of salvation (see also Acts 5:14 and 11:24).

Outline of Acts 2

2:1-13 -   Excitation (Heaven => Jerusalem)

2:14-21 -  Explanation (Joel 2:28-32 => Holy Spirit)

2:22-36 – Application (David => Jesus)

2:37-47 – Activation (Pentecostians => Church)

Conclusion:    Man may add to his faith virtue (2 Pet. 1:5ff.); man may add an addition on to his house; man may add mathematically; but, only the Lord can add to his church. Once again, there are certain things that a man cannot do-add to a ratified covenant (Gal. 3:15); by worrying add years to one’s life (Lk. 12;25); and, no man can add himself to the church-for only the Lord does the adding; not man, not the church, not a religious association-only the Lord.  Have you been added to the Lord’s church according to Acts of the Apostles?