JAIL MINISTRY BIBLE STUDY: PROVERBS 2: 10-15

We go into the city jail each week and teach a class that is part GED preparation, part Bible study, and part life skills course.  To achieve all advance all of these goals in the limited time we have, I use the traditional GED prep materials and I write lessons like the one below. 

Try the lesson for yourself.  Post your answers as comments. 

(Feel free to print and share.)

Hall Memorial CME Church

541 Seibles Road,

Montgomery, AL 36116

Montgomery City Jail Ministry 

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II, pastor/ teacher

Study #9: Seek Wisdom (Proverbs 2: 10-15)

Read Proverbs 2: 10-15.  Think about these verses.

Proverbs 2 ^{: 10} When wisdom enter your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,     ¹¹ discretion will preserve you.  Then understanding will keep you, ¹² to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, and  ¹³ from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness. These is the men ¹⁴ who rejoice in doing evil and delighted in the perversity of the wicked.  ¹⁵ There ways are crooked.  They are devious in their paths.
 

A verb expresses an action.  The action may be physical, mental, or even spiritual.  The subject in a sentence is always a noun or pronoun.  The subject basically performs the action of the verb. 

For example:  

First thing in the morning the twelve sons of Israel went out into the field.

The verb/ action is went. 

Ask yourself “Who or want went?”  The answer is sons went.  Sons is the subject. 

The main verb or verbs in a sentence are called the simple predicate.  The verb and the words that describe the verb are called the complete predicate of the sentence.  The subject and the words that describe the subject are called the complete subject.  

Verbs and subjects have to agree.  The singular subjects have to have singular verbs.

Unlike most nouns, singular verbs have –s or –es added to the end.

Joseph……runs       goes     dismisses         confuses          is          was      gives    

Plural verbs do not have the added –s or –es.

The guys…. run      go        dismiss            confuse            are       were        give    

1.      The word knowledge in verse 10 is a subject.  What is it’s verb?

a.      pleasant

b.      to

c.       is

d.      enter  

2.      According to verse 10, how are you supposed to feel about learning?

3.      Which change should be made in verse 10?  If the verse is correct as written, choose D.

a.      When wisdom enters

b.      heart. Knowledge is

c.       wisdom entered your heart

d.      NO CHANGE 

4.      List the verbs in verse 11.

a.      ________________ à

b.      ________________ à 

5.      Beside the verbs above, list each verb’s subject. 

6.      Discretion means being careful and wise about what you reveal or say.  How can having discretion preserve/ protect you?

7.      Which change should be made in verse 13?  If the verse is correct as written, choose A.

a.      NO CHANGE

b.      who leaves the paths

c.       from that

d.      uprightness to walks 

8.      Verse 11 says that when you have wisdom, your understanding will keep you.  Keep you from what?  (Consider verses 12 & 13.)

9.      Which change should be made in verse 14? 

a.      evil and delights in the

b.      evil and delight in the

c.       who rejoices in doing

d.      NO CHANGE 

10.  In Matthew 5: 19, Jesus said Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.  How does this statement connect with Proverbs 2: 13 & 14?

11.  Which change should be made in verse 15?  If the verse is correct as written, choose D.

a.      Them ways are

b.      They’re ways are

c.       Their ways are

d.      NO CHANGE 

12.  From verses 12-14, list at least four kinds of people you would be wise to avoid?

a.      __________________________________________

b.      __________________________________________

c.       __________________________________________

d.      __________________________________________

e.        

13.  Choose the best restatement of this sentence from verse 15: They are devious in their paths.

a.      The road they are on is the right road for you.

b.      Follow them and you will be successful.

c.       Their way looks good, but it really isn’t.

d.      There is discretion in their paths. 

14.  In one complete sentence, state the main idea of Proverbs 2: 10-15. 

Re-read Proverbs 2: 10-15.  Think about it along with verses 16-19.

Proverbs 2: 16  Wisdom and understanding will deliver you from the strange woman, even from the stranger who flatters  with her words. 17  She forsakes  the guide of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.  18  Her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead.  19  None that go to  her return again, nor do they regain the paths of life.

HE'S STILL THE ONE

The sermon is titled: HE’S STILL THE ONE

Listen well.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church
Call/ fax: 334-288-0577
Email us at hallmemorialcme1@aol.com   
Friend Pastor Graves at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves    

If you want to be a blessing to this ministry, contributions may be made by check or money order made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :

Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

IF YOU'RE GOING TO REMEMBER, REMEMBER IT RIGHT!

The story of Gideon’s calling in Judges chapter 6 reminds us how important and timeless it is to recall the past, to look back and remember the good ole days.  But the power of remembrance only comes when we remember the story right. 

Delivered for the 138th anniversary of Pleasant Grove CME Church, the message is called
IF YOU’RE GOING TO REMEMBER, REMEMBER IT RIGHT!

Listen well.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church
Call/ fax: 334-288-0577
Email us at hallmemorialcme1@aol.com  
Friend Pastor Graves at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves   

If you want to be a blessing to this ministry, contributions may be made by check or money order made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

MESSIAH IN THE PASSOVER

What: MESSIAH IN THE PASSOVER, a vivid and exciting demonstration showing how Jesus fulfilled the ancient feast of Passover and instituted what we remember in Easter & the Holy Communion.

When: Thursday, March 22^nd, at 6:00 P.M.

Where: Hall Memorial CME Church is at 541 Seibles Road, Montgomery, 334.288.0577

Montgomery, AL – (March 22, 2012) – Thursday, March 22, 2012, at 6 P.M., Hall Memorial CME Church (541 Seibles Road in Montgomery, AL) presents Messiah in the Passover.

MESSIAH IN THE PASSOVER, is a vivid and exciting demonstration showing how Jesus fulfilled the ancient feast of Passover. MESSIAH IN THE PASSOVER will be conducted by Robert Walter of Chosen People Ministries, an over 100 year old ministry of Jews who have come to know Jesus as the promised Messiah. From its humble beginnings in Brooklyn, New York, Chosen People Ministries has grown into a worldwide ministry to “the Jew first and to the Gentile.”

MESSIAH IN THE PASSOVER begins with the traditional Passover Seder table—complete with all the articles of this important Jewish celebration. The speaker will explain the symbolic meanings of the various items of the Passover feast and highlight their relationship to the Last Supper that Jesus the Messiah celebrated with the disciples, giving special emphasis on the redemptive significance of the crucifixion.

MESSIAH IN THE PASSOVER gives the Christian community insight into Jewish traditions so that the Jewish roots of Christianity can be better understood. This program also helps the Jewish and Christian communities understand their common heritage.

 

This meeting is free and open to the public, and Hall Memorial CME Church would like to invite the Christian as well as the Jewish community to attend. 6 P.M., Hall Memorial CME Church is located at 541 Seibles Road in Montgomery, Alabama. A love offering will be received.

We want to have enough of the elements of the meal for all attendees, so if you plan to attend, or if you have any questions, please call Pastor Graves at 334-318-3004 or email HallMemorialCME1@aol.com .

GRACE IS FREE BUT IT ISN'T CHEAP!

Imagine that you bought your teenage child a brand new Mercedes C63 AMG coupe.  For your child, the car would be free.  It’s price would be $0.00.  Now imagine how you’d react if your kid treated the car like it was worth $0.00? 

This scenario represents the deep and fundamental spiritual problem explored in this message. 

The problem is that
GRACE IS FREE, BUT IT ISN’T CHEAP

Listen well.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church

Call/ fax: 334-288-0577
Email us at hallmemorialcme1@aol.com   
Friend Pastor Graves at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves    

If you want to be a blessing to this ministry, contributions may be made by check or money order made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :

Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

SINGLE MINDED OBEDIENCE

“Single-Minded Obedience”

from chapter 3 of The Cost of Discipleship

by Deitrich Bonheoffer

  
   When He was challenged by Jesus to accept a life of voluntary poverty, the rich young man knew he was faced with the sim­ple alternative of obedience or disobedience. When Levi was called from the receipt of custom and Peter from his nets, there was no doubt that Jesus meant business. Both of them were to leave everything and follow. Again, when Peter was called to walk on the rolling sea, he had to get up and risk his life. Only one thing was required in each case—to rely on Christ's word, and cling to it as offering greater security than all the securities in the world. The forces which tried to interpose themselves between the word of Jesus and the response of obedience were as formidable then as they are to-day. Reason and conscience, responsibility and piety all stood in the way, and even the law and "scriptural authority" itself were obstacles which pre­tended to defend them from going to the extremes of antinomi-anism and "enthusiasms." But the call of Jesus made short work of all these barriers, and created obedience. That call was the Word of God himself, and all that it required was single-minded obedience.

If, as we read our Bibles, we heard Jesus speaking to us in this way to-day we should probably try to argue ourselves out of it like this: "It is true that the demand of Jesus is definite enough, but I have to remember that he never expects us to take his commands legalistically. What he really wants me to have is faith. But my faith is not necessarily tied up with riches or poverty or anything of the kind. We may be both poor and rich in the spirit. It is not important that I should have no possessions, but if I do I must keep them as though I had them not, in other words I must cultivate a spirit of inward detachment, so that my heart is not in my possessions." Jesus may have said: "Sell thy goods," but he meant: "Do not let it be a matter of consequence to you that you have outward prosperity; rather keep your goods quietly, having them as if you had them not. Let not your heart be in your goods." —We are excusing ourselves from single-minded obedience to the word of Jesus on the pretext of legalism and a supposed prefer­ence for an obedience "in faith." The difference between our­selves and the rich young man is that he was not allowed to solace his regrets by saying: ' 'Never mind what Jesus says, I can still hold on to my riches, but in a spirit of inner detach­ment. Despite my inadequacy I can take comfort in the thought that God has forgiven me my sins and can have fellowship with Christ in faith." But no, he went away sorrowful. Because he would not obey, he could not believe. In this the young man was quite honest. He went away from Jesus and indeed this honesty had more promise than any apparent communion with Jesus based on disobedience. As Jesus realized, the trouble with the young man was that he was not capable of such an inward detachment from riches. As an earnest seeker for perfection he had probably tried it a thousand times before and failed, as he showed by refusing to obey the word of Jesus when the moment of decision came. It is just here that the young man was entirely honest. But we in our sophistry differ altogether from the hearers of Jesus' word of whom the Bible speaks. If Jesus said to someone: "Leave all else behind and follow me; resign your profession, quit your family, your peo­ple, and the home of your fathers," then he knew that to this call there was only one answer—the answer of single-minded obedience, and that it is only to this obedience that the promise of fellowship with Jesus is given. But we should probably argue thus: "Of course we are meant to take the call of Jesus with 'absolute seriousness,' but after all the true way of obedience would be to continue all the more in our present occupa­tions, to stay with our families, and serve him there in a spirit of true inward detachment." If Jesus challenged us with the command: "Get out of it," we should take him to mean: "Stay where you are but cultivate that inward detachment." Again, if he were to say to us: "Be not anxious," we should take him to mean: "Of course it is not wrong for us to be anxious: we must work and provide for ourselves and our dependents. If we did not we should be shirking our responsibilities. But all the time we ought to be inwardly free from all anxiety." Per­haps Jesus would say to us: ' 'Whosoever smiteth thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." We should then sup­pose him to mean: "The way really to love your enemy is to fight him hard and hit him back." Jesus might say: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," and we should interpret it thus: "Of course we should have to seek all sorts of other things first; how could we otherwise exist? What he really means is the final preparedness to stake all on the kingdom of God." All along the line we are trying to evade the obligation of single-minded, literal obedience.

How is such absurdity possible? What has happened that the word of Jesus can be thus degraded by this trifling, and thus left open to the mockery of the world? When orders are issued in other spheres of life there is no doubt whatever of their meaning. If a father sends his child to bed, the boy knows at once what he has to do. But suppose he has picked up a smattering of pseudo-theology. In that case he would argue inure or less like this: "Father tells me to go to bed, but he really means that I am tired, and he does not want me to be tired. I can overcome my tiredness just as well if I go out and play. Therefore though father tells me to go to bed, he really humus: 'Go out and play.' " If a child tried such arguments on his father or a citizen on his government, they would both meet with a kind of language they could not fail to understand—in short they would be punished. Are we to treat the commandment of Jesus differently from other orders and exchange single-minded obedience for downright disobedience? How could that be possible!

WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?

Genesis chapters 17 & 18 tell the story of a husband and a wife who laughed.  The wife laughed behind God’s back.  The husband laughed in God’s face.  Their names were Abraham & Sarah. 

The story teaches powerful principles about doubt, faith, and how you deal with promises long delayed.

The sermon is called  WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?

Listen well.

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Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church

Call/ fax: 334-288-0577
Email us at hallmemorialcme1@aol.com   
Friend Pastor Graves at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves    
 
If you want to be a blessing to this ministry, contributions may be made by check or money order made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church
 
Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116

Eulogy for Henrietta Barnett: HOW PRECIOUS IS ANOTHER CHANCE

Eulogy for Sister Henrietta Griffin Barnett, stewardess, choir president, medical professional, daughter, sister, mother, wife, friend, and inspiration to us all.

HOW PRECIOUS IS ANOTHER CHANCE

Listen well.

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church

Call/ fax: 334-288-0577
Email us at hallmemorialcme1@aol.com   
Friend Pastor Graves at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves    

If you want to be a blessing to this ministry, contributions may be made by check or money order made out to: Hall Memorial CME Church

Mail all contributions to :
Hall Memorial CME Church
541 Seibles Rd.,
Montgomery, AL 36116