Sunday, August 19, 2012

August 26, 2012

Scriptures for August 26th: 1 Kings 8: 1,6,10-11,22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 5:56-69; Jesus gives us everything; Song: Standing in the Need of Prayer – UMH 352 Ephesians: Paul has been explaining to us what it means to live a Christian life. People should be able to look at our lives and tell that we are different. When we give our lives to Christ, we should change. We should put on new clothing, so that people will notice that we are different. We live in a very mean world. And no matter how you want to be different, the world has a way of sucking you in. So Paul says that not only do we need to put on physical clothing, we need to put on spiritual clothing. We need to make sure that we are spiritually protected. Our biggest battles are in the spiritual realm. We have to put on salvation, peace, truth, and the word of God. Being a Christian, and changing your life is not a passive activity. We have to be strong in Christ, not in ourselves. This is the end of Ephesians. Paul wants to send us out in the world protected. The biggest thing we can do to protect our spirit is to stay in prayer. John: We also come to the end of the John lesson on Jesus being the bread of life. Jesus tells us to eat his flesh and to drink his blood. This angers the Jews. They are told not to eat the blood of animals, much less the blood of a man. What does that mean? It means to take on spiritual nourishment. Jesus realizes that not only is this confusing to the crowd, but the disciples don’t understand either. The church does not understand what it means to take communion. Is the flesh contained in the bread? No this is not about flesh and blood. Flesh and blood are temporary. Jesus says that when the Israelites ate manna they died. That is what happens to flesh and blood. But when you believe in Jesus, you have eternal life. Not because of what you eat, but because of what you believe. Believe in Jesus and have eternal life. Questions: How have you been threatened by the evil of the world lately? What did you have to do to protect yourself? What is the armor that you put on everyday to keep yourself grounded? How do you take in the word of God in your life? What does it mean to have eternal life? What do you have to do in order to earn eternal life? What does the fact that Jesus is the bread of life mean to you?

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