Bible Studies
Wholesome Care, A StudyGordon Aeschliman
Some Christian leaders have put forward a view that ultimately we are called only to evangelism and church-planting. However, such a perspective propagates a truncated gospel that causes us to ignore the cries and pain of the world’s people.
Christ’s love is all-encompassing. A very quick reading of Scripture shows how his compassion is readily stirred for the hungry, the homeless and the orphans, and how hot his temper rages against those who oppress.
God’s love is restless to care for all the pain and brokenheartedness in society, and we are called to be instruments of that love. He is constantly redeeming all of us and all the world. He’s the perfect parent whose wholesome love knows no boundary of mercy and justice.
The cries of the twenty-first century must be heard by Christians who understand that deep love.
Read Isaiah
58
1. How was Israel expressing its spirituality (v.3)?
2. Nowhere does God actually say that those forms are wrong; nonetheless, he is angry at Israel. Why? (Notice both what they did do and what they did not do in v. 3-7).
3. How will God respond to correct fasting (v. 8-14)?
Read Luke 4:14-21
4. This passage is Jesus’ introduction of his ministry. According to verses
18-19, what is Jesus’ mission?
5. It should not be surprising that Jesus’ introduction of himself reflects a very broad concern. How does this announcement compare to God’s requirements for true fasting in Isaiah 58?
6. Picture in your mind what Jesus’ ministry would look like in our culture. Describe what that ministry would be like.
7. What commitments can you make to live differently, as concrete evidence that God cares for the whole person?
8. Response: How does your ministry encompass all of the elements which Jesus includes in Luke 4:18-19?
Taken from Leadership in the 21st Century (a Global Issues Bible Studies booklet, and Urbana 90 resource) by Gordon Aeschliman. Copyright 1990, InterVarsity Press. Used by permission of the author.
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