Bible Studies
Mission Bible Study 1: An Affair of the Heart
Read Ezekiel
11: 16-21.
1. God tells the Israelites that they must remove the "vile images" and "detestable
idols" from the land before he works on their hearts (w. 18-19). Why do you
suppose he puts that requirement on them up front?
2. What would modern-day idols and images look like?
3. What is an "undivided heart" (v. 19)?
4. Ezekiel tells us that the Lord has said of idol worshipers, "I will bring down on their own heads what they have done" (v. 21). What does this mean?
Read Ezekiel
16.1-34 for a picture of God's response to betrayed love.
5. Contrast the "undivided heart" of Ezekiel 11:19 with the picture described
in Ezekiel 16:15-29.
6. List the three outcomes of an undivided heart.
7. A "heart of flesh" is an image of compassion, a tenderness that can feel the pain of the world, in contrast to a heart of stone that has no feelings. Give one example of how our loving God has softened your heart.
8. Following the decrees of God is also a consequence of an undivided heart. Describe how our loving God has led to obedience in your life.
9. Community, a sense of belonging, also results from a heart refined by God's love. Compare Ezekiel 11:20 to Titus 2:14 and describe God's desire for relationship. What is the prerequisite for a deep relationship with God?
Read 1John 2:15-17.
10. Ezekiel 11:19-21 is repeated, in a fashion, in 1John 2:15-17. Describe three
ways in which devotion to God will lead us to say no to the world.
11. Leadership question: What forms of infidelity are currently blocking your love relationship with God?
12. Response: Identify the influences or forces in your life that tend to make obedience and works, rather than love, the basis of your relationship with God.
Click Below to
see the other Bible Studies in this series.
Mission
Bible Study 2: Wholesome Care
Mission
Bible Study 3: The Creation of Culture
Mission
Bible Study 4: God's Love for All Cultures
Mission
Bible Study 5: Competent to Minister
Mission
Bible Study 6: Spiritual Armor
Taken from Leadership in the 21st Century (GIBS) by Gordon Armstrong © 1990 by Gordon Aeschliman. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400 Downer's Grove, Illinois, 60515.
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