Sunday, September 16, 2012

Sepember 23, 2012

Scriptures for September 23rd: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; Mark 9:30-37; Theme: wisdom is living in the right way; song: I surrender all – UMH 354 James: James is considered the wisdom book of the new testament. He uses a lot of the themes from the Hebrew testament. In proverbs there is lady wisdom and lady folly. James says that there are two types of wisdom. A wisdom that comes from above and a wisdom that comes from the world. James is much more frank about the consequences of following folly. He is very frank about sin. It is not enough to have envy and want something you don’t have, when the wisdom of the world is present, you will murder someone just to get what they have. You engage in conflict out of jealousy. It is important to choose the wisdom of God. A life walking in the fear of the lord is a life in which you are at peace with God, with others and with yourself. Mark: The disciples are still confused about what their role is. They still think that the closer to Jesus they are, the more power they have. They are still striving for power. Jesus tells them that real power is not being close to Jesus, but being close to the least of these. To help those who are not able to help themselves. Children are of absolutely no value to this community, to be a child was to be nothing. Jesus tells his disciples to take care of the children. To create a safe space for children. We are to be servants of God, not leaders of God. We are not to go to the front of the line, we are to go to the end of the line. God will elevate us. God will show his power through us. Even Jesus who is the greatest, must undergo the greatest of punishment on our behalf. What do we need to do in order to day thank you? Questions: What ministries do you do personally to reach out to children? What do you think about children? How to you demonstrate servant leadership in your life? What reward do you think Jesus owes your for serving him? What reward do you think you will actually receive? When you are in a negative mood, what do you do to become positive? How do you draw near to God? How do you send the devil away? What does it mean to seek the wisdom from above?

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