March 11, 2012

Scriptures for March 11th – Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; John 2:13-22; Theme – A Covenant requires rules to obey; Song: The Old Rugged Cross – UMH 504 Exodus: This is the story of the Ten Commandments, or the “ten words” as the Jews call them. In the season of lent we are looking at the promises of God and our response to those promises. What does God ask of us? The Ten Commandments are about freedom, or freedom. It is ways that God says that we are free. The first 3 commandments have to do with our relationship with God, the fourth establishes the Sabbath rest, and the last five have to do with our relationships with God. Before giving the commandments, God states who he is, and why that is important to us. This is the God who bought us out of slavery. We should take this freedom and live it out in every aspect of our lives. Keeping or covenant with God touches every aspect of our lives, and all of our relationships. John: Passover for the Jews comes at sunset on April 6th. As we approach Good Friday, they will be entering into Passover. Passover was a special time for Jesus; it was in this time that he lost his life. It was in this time that he needed to observe the holiday with his people. It was in this time that he found something wrong. God’s house was a house of prayer. But it seemed that people were more concerned about consumerism then they were about prayer. Jesus repeats the words of Isaiah – you have made this a safe house for thieves. Wow! Those are pretty strong words – a safe house – for thieves. What would Jesus say about the church today? Who are we harboring? And for what reasons. But Jesus says that he can rebuild the temple in three days if you let him. The Jews felt his words were blasphemy – but how can we allow Jesus to rebuild our church? What about our lives? Questions: Do you make a commitment to live by the 10 commandments in your life? Does Jesus require us to live by the 10 commandments? Are there moral dilemmas today that the bible does not help us with? What are they? When we have no sense of direction- what do we use to make moral decisions? If Jesus visited our church today would he be pleased? What practices would Jesus overturn and restructure in our church? How would Jesus feel about the way the church handles money?