The majesty and the power of Your glory O Lord is beyond our comprehension. Yet You continually make Yourself available to us in surprising and helpful ways, showing us Your love and compassion. May we always be alert to Your presence and responsive to Your touch O Lord; AMEN.
Use these for group work, or to assist your personal reflection.
- Do people who attend church see themselves as ministers and priests to the world? If not, why not?
- Discuss what you believe to be the Christian inheritance through Jesus Christ our Lord. How do we receive it and how do we pass it on?
- What does this passage tell us about Gods new covenant with His people. What is this agreement about and what does it require of us?
Topis covered by this text
- The priesthood of all believers
- God’s blessing on His people
- The New Covenant
Personal comments by author:
I feel that the study today may be interpreted by some as more political than analytical. True I feel strongly about what I have written, but unless we take these climactic words of Isaiah’s prophecies this seriously, we do Isaiah, Scriptures and the Lord a disservice. The thought the God’s people today have made the Christian faith into some kind of private religion in which we simply cannot expect people to do anything about their faith except come to church on Sundays as a social expression of their needs, scares me. There is nothing in the Bible to support the idea! Fighting injustice and preaching the Good News is possible for all people if the church is willing to be what it was created to be, the vehicle for God’s redemption in the world.
Ideas for exploring discipleship
- Read 1 Peter 2:4-10 and compare what you find there with what you have concluded from this study. How can you help God’s people come to terms with their call to be His ‘priests’ and ‘ministers’?
- Pray for the joy of the Lord God to come upon His people this Christmas time, so that they begin to know afresh the great joy of being His and the privilege of putting His call into practice.
Please refer to the general advice on the page ‘discipleship challenges’
The notes below are offered to help you think about the challenges of God’s Word. Read the notes and suggestions below, but don’t try to follow through any more than one thing at any one time!