September 30, 2018

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for September 30th: Esther 7:1-6,9-10,9:20-22; Psalm 124; James 5:13-20; Mark 9:38-50: Theme: It is a Christian’s job to support one another. James: This is the last chapter and the last lesson of James. James wants us to have a faith that is able to sustain us in every day life. Some practical tools that we don’t have to search for. For James, wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord. James is teaching us that our faith is a gift from God, it is assurance that God is with us in our lives. The major lesson if James is that faith without works is dead. In this chapter James is not talking about a personal faith, but a communal faith. The last gift of faith that God gives us is a caring community.n James says that we as a community should pray for those who are in need and bless them. We should be confident to pray for others. James ends by saying that the greatest gift of community is teaching others a new way of life as they learn what it means to be forgiven and to give up their sin. Esther: This book is considered a book of wisdom. This is an interesting story – God is not mentioned, there is a lot of things that should not be mentioned or talked about in front of kids, yet it still made it into the bible. This is a story about a woman who chose to risk everything for her nation, and her bravery paid off. This story tells us not to be afraid to stand up for what we believe in, even in times when it would be easy to keep silent. In return, Esther will love forever in history. The Jews celebrate Purim in her honor. The celebration reminds us that God can work in the most difficult of circumstances, when things do no seem to be in our favor, God can still turn them around. Questions: How important is Christian community to you? Have you ever visited someone in the name of Jesus Christ? Has someone visited you? Name a time when you thought you were doomed, but God worked it out for you. What has the church done to make your life better?

September 23, 2018

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for September 23rd: Proverbs 31:10-31; Psalm 1; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8; Mark 9:30-37: Let the children come! Mark: For most of Mark, the disciples are thoroughly confused about what Jesus is trying to tell them. It does not become clear to them until Jesus has been resurrected. The rest of the time, they are trying to figure it out. In this verse, Jesus has just healed a blind man and made him see. It doesn’t make any sense to the disciples. But when Jesus asks them what they are talking about, no one wants to say for real. They are silent, so Jesus heals their misunderstanding by explaining what the kingdom of heaven is like. Heaven is a place where the children come freely. So the church should also be a place there the children come freely. When we welcome the children, we welcome the face of God into our lives. Jesus welcomes us into the kingdom even when we don’t understand what is going on. We should be able to do the same. James: James continues his discussion on what it means to have common sense. And how do we apply common sense to the life of a Christian? We use wisdom, the wisdom that has been around since the beginning of time. Treat people the way you want to be treated. James says that there are actually two types of wisdom. There is the wisdom from God and the wisdom from earth. Wisdom from earth is always self serving. It causes conflict, because then we start to compete with one another. We want what we want and we don’t care who we hurt in the process. But James reminds us that we cannot control our cravings, but God can. If we draw near to God, then we will learn to live in harmony, because we are using God’s wisdom and not our own. Questions: What does it mean to let the children come? What can we as a congregation learn from our children? How do you control your cravings and desires? How do you come near to God? What is the source of wisdom?

September 16, 2018

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for September 16th: Proverbs 1:20-33; Psalm 19; James 3:1-12; Mark 8:27-38; Theme: Watch what you say to others. James: This is one of the more controversial chapters of James and of his teaching of faith without works is dead. The lesson for this week is that we have to watch what we say, once it comes out of our mouth, we can’t take it back again. Every word that comes out of our mouth has a consequence. James says that we have to be very careful about what we say when we are teachers because we are responsible when our words are taken in the wrong way. If we say that we are a Christian, then we have to make sure that our words reflect God and not our own issues. If we are on God’s side, then our life cannot reflect negativity, and neither can our words. Tame the tongue, be responsible for our words, and never be afraid to teach others the ways of God. Proverbs: I love this lesson in Proverbs. I personifies good advice as a woman crying in the streets. Sofia is wisdom. If you read the story of creation, you will see that Sofia (lady wisdom) was with God as God created the world. In the first chapter of Proverbs, she is in the middle of the street talking with people, telling them to do different and to think and listen to the ways of God. She is frustrated because the young people do not listen. I would imagine that lady wisdom is still in the middle of the street, and the young people who don’t come to church still don’t want to listen. We can be grateful that no matter how much we ignore lady wisdom, she has not been silenced, and she is still willing to speak to us. We just have to put aside our busy lives and learn to listen. We need to listen to the elders who have experience. We need to listen to the spirit of God speaking through scripture. We need to listen to our own hearts. We need to listen to the spirit of God in the world today. Questions: What do you do to control your words? What is lady wisdom saying to this generation?