Bible Class: Do You Hear What I Hear

Pentecost: The Day The World Began To Change – 1 Do You Hear What I Hear? I will never forget the first time I heard_________________________________. Two Problematic Ways To Read the Bible 1. Using the Bible like it is proof text…___________________________________ 2. Exploring the Bible to find its flaws…__________________________________ Both approaches result in unproductive success and inappropriate conclusions. _________________________________________________________________ Two Productive Ways To Read the Bible Read the Bible with authentic curiosity.__________________________________ Read it to get acquainted with God._____________________________________ An Interpretive Approach to the First Eleven Chapters – The Introduction Genesis 1:1-2:3 – The Creation – A Poem Genesis 2:4 – 3:23 – God and Human Beings – The Advent and Consequences of Evil Genesis 4 – A Broken World Life Story - Cain and Abel Genesis 5 – A Family Tree Genesis 6-9 – A New, “In the Beginning” – The Flood Genesis 10 – A Snapshot of the Recreated World Genesis 11:1-9 – From One Language to Many – The Tower of Babel Genesis 11:10-32 – Another Family Tree Leading to Abram Take a few minutes to explore a short story from this introduction to the Bible. Discuss the questions that follow. Genesis 11:1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. What do you think about this ”one language” thing?________________________ 2 As people moved eastward they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel— because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. What was wrong with the peoples’ plan. Why did God disapprove and stop it? (See Genesis 9:7)__________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ What is interesting about verse 7? (See Genesis 1:26)_____________________ What must it have been like when the people first found that they were speaking different languages?_________________________________________________ why do you think this story was included in this introduction to the Bible?_______ _________________________________________________________________ Jumping forward a few thousand years. about fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, we find ourselves in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. A few quick reminders – Jesus, crucified and buried on a Friday, began appearing to his followers on the following Sunday. This continued for forty days. On the fortieth day, Jesus told his followers to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. They didn’t know how long they would have to wait. Neither did they know who, or what, the Holy Spirit was. Even so, they went to Jerusalem – and they waited. Acts 2: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues[a] as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?--- 14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.--- 36 “Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” And the point of this lesson is?________________________________________