July 13, 2014 - 5th Sunday After Pentecost

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for July 13th: Genesis 25:19-34; Psalm 119:105-112; Romans 8:1-11; Matthew 13:1-9,18-23: Theme: family drama continues: Song:Let There Be Peace on Earth UMH 431 Genesis: Just as you can’t talk about family without talking about marriages, then come the children. And as the children grow they each have their own unique story and personality. They each have their own way of fitting into the family. In the last generation Isaac and Ishmael had their own lives and their own blessing. This generation, Isaac also has two sons, and they have their own lives and their own blessings, but they came into the world together. We can be grateful that God has enough blessing to go around. That there is no one child that God puts all of his faith in. but it takes us working together as a family. Unfortunately the first family of faith never learned that lesson, they worked against one another. But we can learn from their mistakes and know that God is with us all. The whole human family is just one family – God’s family. Romans: Paul continues in his conversation of life in the spirit and life in the flesh. Sometimes even Paul admits that there are physical things that we just cannot escape. It is easy for us to feel defeated and to feel that sin will always take over in our lives. There is no sense in avoiding sin, it will always be there. Chapter 8 is a word of hope in the midst of our humanness. It is not all about our will, it is about God’s love for us. God has done all of the hard work through Christ. Christ is a conqueror, so that makes us a conquerer. No matter how much we sin, Christ will not abandon us. the flesh does not have the final word, the spirit does. Sin is with us, but the Spirit of Christ is also with us. the Spirit of Christ is stronger. Questions: Do you know your family history? How does it uplift you? What is the relationship with your siblings? How do you overcome sibling rivalry? What does it mean to have life in the spirit? What brings you hope in the midst of despair? How do you know are you are child of God? What do you do to overcome the fleshly life?