Maadi Women's Bible Study

J. Earnestly Desire the Gifts ch. 13-14

Ch. 13-14 Questions

Have you ever experienced someone loving you by suffering long with you? If so, who? Can you share the story?

Which of the 15 characteristics of love is most difficult for you and why? How can you work to change that?

Do you find yourself resistant to the gift of prophecy? What holds you back in “earnestly desiring” this gift?

Some worship services are so “orderly” that they put us to sleep. Others are so “free that they seem out of control. How does ch. 14 promote both freedom and orderly worship?

I. Ch. 11, 14 Wild Women of the Corinthian Church

Background Texts

1 Cor. 11:3-11

1 Cor. 14

Gen 2:18-24

Acts 2:15-18

Gal.3:26-28

Questions

1. In the presentation, you heard this:

When it comes to the roles of women and men in the Church, Biblical conservatives typically fall into two camps:  complementarians,  and  egalitarians. 

1. 1. Complementarians say…  men and women have complementary roles in the Church, but cannot have the same roles. Scripture defines those different roles.  Scripture must be read literally.
   2. Egalitarians say … men and women may have the same roles in the Church depending on the Spirit’s calling (1 Corinthians 12). The Spirit defines those roles.  Scripture must be read in its context. 

Is this the first time you heard the terms “complementarian” and “egalitarian?”   Is your church back home “complementarian” or “egalitarian?”  What is the church you attend here?

 

2. Our speaker believes that Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, was an egalitarian.   
   1. Do we have any evidence for believing Paul was an egalitarian based on these specific 1 Corinthian texts from chapters 11 and 14?   
   2. Do we have any evidence for believing that Paul was an egalitarian based on anything Paul wrote outside of these two texts?

 

3. Your daughter (or grand-daughter) believes God is calling her to be a preacher and a teacher…maybe even a pastor.   But her church is a church that follows the complementarian model when it comes to men and women.  What would you advise her to do? 

H. Ch. 12 Now Concerning Spiritual Gifts

1. When was a time when you sensed that God particularly strengthened or gifted you to serve someone else or the church in general?

2. In reading through 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, how would you describe some of the temptations or challenges we face in regards to spiritual gifts within the church, which Paul describes using the metaphor of the body?

3. How do you think your local church would look and act if the whole congregation got serious about their individual spiritual gift?

G. Love Trumps Liberty

1. How have you experienced the tension between serving God/others with a motivation of duty/legalism verses a motivation of love? What can we do to become more motivated by love than duty/legalism?

 

2. Can you think of a time from your life or someone you’ve observed, where the gospel was shared by somehow ‘being a Greek to the Greeks’ (contextualization)? How did it go - how was it messy/hard, ineffective/effective? 

 

3. In what relationship or situation is God inviting you to let love trump your rights?

F. Should I or Shouldn't I Eat This Meat...or Drink This Wine

1. If you could be granted PhD-level knowledge in one academic area, what would it be? Why? What would you do with that knowledge?

 

2. Can you think of an area where you thought you clearly knew something to be true, spiritually speaking  and then learned otherwise? 

 

3. How can you relate in some way to the messiness that is being addressed in this text?

E. Ch. 7:7-40

1. Oswald Chambers said “People were created with a two fold need; fellowship with God and companionship with other human beings. Fellowship with God is the solution for loneliness and companionship with other people is the cure for aloneness.”                                                                - Discuss your thoughts on loneliness and aloneness.                                                                        - Is either a challenge for you?                                                                                                  - How have deep relationships  affected and shaped you?

 

2. In what area or ways do you find yourself making a “good thing” an “ultimate thing?”                          - How can you alone and within community reorient yourself and work on keeping your priorities holy?

 

3. Everyone is in some type of situation or circumstance that they wish they could get out of. Share a way that your table can pray and strengthen you to walk and live fully in the place that God is asking you to. 

D. A Theology of Body

Questions

1. Where is “messiness” in today’s lesson that you can relate to?

    2.  Married or unmarried  what is an applicable point that you need to

         focus on?

C. Citizens of a New Society

B. 1 Corinthians 1-2 The Foolishness of the Cross

Questions

1. Has the message of the cross ever struck you as foolish even as a believer?
2. What does 1:18-31 tell us about God’s character, personality and values?
3. How might you envision acting as a “theater of holy fools” could actually change the culture in which we live?

Deuteronomy 32

Questions 

1. Is there a song whose words have shaped your thinking or radically influenced your life?
2. What is one thing you would like to have said about you after you die?
3. Amy discussed the Divine Council did you find this easy to accept and understand or find yourself resistant to the idea? Why or why not?
4. How would your prayer life be different if you lived more open and attentive to the supernatural realm? 

 

5. Why do we struggle to initially see God’s grace and so readily see the harsh realities?