Jeremy Hoover

My Sunday morning Bible class finished reading much of the New Testament in the fall quarter (October-December). In that experiment, we read about 2 chapters of a book of the New Testament each day, 7 days a week, and read nearly all of the New Testament. We decided to keep on with this pattern for the winter quarter, but to read from the Old Testament this time. Because the New Testament relies so heavily on Isaiah and Psalms (these two books are the most often cited OT books in the NT), we decided to read these books.

This time, I broke it down differently. Rather than reading 2 chapters each day, I divided Isaiah and Psalms into equal divisions based on number of pages. We'll read Isaiah over 5 weeks and Psalms over 7 weeks by reading an equal number of pages. (I used a standard Bible with no notes to count pages.)

Using the bookmark below, please feel free to read along with us! This is a great way for you to read two very important Old Testament books right at the beginning of the year and get your Bible reading off to a fast start.

Acts 22

Paul's Defense Before the Jews in Jerusalem (1-21)
1. What are some signs of Paul's zealousness for God before his conversion (3-5)?
2. How does Paul describe his conversion (6-11)?
3. What did Ananias relate as the substance of Paul's ministry (12-16)?
4. What were the elements of Paul's conversion (16)?
5. What is Paul's testimony about the word he received from the Lord (17-21)?

Aftermath (22-29)
1. At what point did the people become angry? Why? (22)
2. What did they propose to do with Paul (23-24)?
3. What response did this lead to by the Roman authorities, and what controversy was created by this (23-29)?

Acts 23

Paul Before the Jews, Part 2 (22:30-23:11)
1. What did the tribune do the next day? Why? (22:30)
2. What controversy occurred between the high priest and Paul? Who was obedient to the law? Did Paul really not know who the high priest was? What else could this mean? (23:1-5)
3. How did Paul play the Pharisees and Sadducees against each other? What did this say about the charges against him? (6-10)
4. What did Paul's vision foretell? (11)

The Plot to Kill Paul (23:12-35)
1. Who was complicit in this conspiracy (12-15)?
2. How was Paul's assassination avoided? (16-22)
3. How did Lysias handle Pau? (23-35)
4. What does Lysias' letter to Felix say about the charges against Paul (26-30)?
5. What is Paul's fate as this chapter ends? (34)

When we're not focused on the right things, we can tend towards nitpicking other people and finding fault in them. People inevitably sin. Jesus knows this and acknowledges it by saying, "Things that cause people to stumble are bound to happen" (Luke 17:1). We don't need to be the sin-police, pointing out to everyone else their own sin and making it worse for them. This is why Jesus continues, "But woe to anyone through whom they come" (Luke 17:1). In other words, woe to you if you make it worse for people by causing them to stumble.

The solution to this is simple: "Watch yourselves" (Luke 17:3). When we keep our emphasis on ourselves, we will pay attention to our own lives, how we live, and what particular sins we commit. Then we will be able to seek the Lord and improve ourselves, not someone else.

Later in this same passage Jesus teaches a method of watching yourself--do your duty. He teaches this through a parable where he takes the example of a servant to point out that when that servant has completed a day of serving, he deserves no special honor; he has simply done his duty. This is an example to us to serve and to keep our emphasis on serving with humility. We do not serve to show ourselves better than others and we do not serve to gain a greater standing for ourselves; rather, we serve because, in Christ, we are servants.

By serving in this way--by doing our duty--we will not become a cause for sin for someone else because we will be too busy following the Lord in our own lives to criticize them and lead them astray. In fact, we will more likely become a source of grace for them and an example, leading them closer to the Lord.

When Jesus says "Wisdom is justified by all her children" (Luke 7:35, ESV), he means that those who follow his way will be vindicated, even though some will disparage them as messengers. If some tried to discredit even John the Baptist and Jesus himself, things will be no different for us. But if we stick with it, we'll see it all come together in the end.

I intend to write a longer post at some point, or a series of posts, but I want to submit some ideas today about the practice of daily family worship. I've also created a couple other posts you can use to springboard off from this one.

My simple goal is to exhort you to take responsibility for the spiritual growth and development of your own family. Sadly, many families, and especially husbands and fathers, have neglected this duty and responsibility. It's now possible in some churches to take your family to church, send your children to different classes, and then separate as a husband and wife, one going to one adult class and the other to another. Then, families reunite after worship, having studied different topics in different classes. Many families consider this to be their Christian duty for the week, and the bible (or God, or Jesus) is rarely mentioned in their homes the rest of the week.

Now, I am criticizing the offering of classes. But classess--whether together as a family bible class or separate, divided by ages--must be seen as supplementary to what happens at home. In the scenario above, the biggest problem is the lack of attention paid to spiritual growth in the household. As I said a couple weeks back in a sermon, it is not good enough to think that what you receive on Sunday is enough to get you through the week.

One way to solve this problem is to have a regular time of family worship, where your family gathers around the Word of God, reads together from the bible, learns the meaning of the bible for their lives, and prays together. Some recommend doing this daily, and I agree. In my own experience, a daily practice of family worship keeps us centered on the importance of it in our lives and family. If we miss a day, or skip a day (for whatever reason), we feel that something has been missing.

If possible, this family worship should be led by the husband or father. Clearly, this is still something you can do even if you don't have children. The husband can lead his wife in family worship. If there is no husband, or the husband is an unbeliever, the mother should seek to lead her own children in this way to build them up in their faith. The husband or father (or leader) should find some system of reading through the bible that he is comfortable with, say, a chapter each day, or some other unit. I recommend reading continuously through entire books of the bible instead of jumping around. If the leader reads the passage ahead of time, he can create a series of questions, or a brief summary, that he can use to help his family learn. Prayer requests can be gathered, and a theme from the bible passage can be added to be prayed for. Then, prayer can be said, and the time for family worship is over. It takes our family about 15 minutes each day.

I encourage you to begin the practice of daily family worship. If you have any questions about the value of it, or how to do this, please let me know. I'd be more than happy to help you. You can contact me through my contact page, or at jeremyhoover AT gmail dot com (via email).