January 26, 2019

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for January 26th: Isaiah 9:1-4, Psalm 27:1,4-9; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23; Theme: Following Jesus Matthew: Throughout the year, we are following in the life of Jesus. Jesus starts his ministry after he has been baptized. His cousin John the Baptist is soon captured and killed for telling people to repent. Jesus feels that he is next, so he goes to a safe place to hide and to pray. Not very soon after he is able to regroup does he start to call followers. He is by the sea of Gallilee and talking to the men that are present. They immediately leave their lives and start to follow him. How many of us are willing to give up our lives and follow Jesus and become fishers of men? This scripture tells us that one of the first things that Jesus did was to recruit disciples. We are very important to the ministry of spreading God’s love in the world. But it requires of to make a commitment, a full commitment to Jesus and his mission. 1 Corinthians: Paul’s whole point in writing Corinthians is encourage followers to put Christ first in everything that we do. We all live the same life, but Christians are called to respond to life, to situations and to people differently. I like his comment that he message of Cross is foolishness to the average person, but to us it is life. We are also encouraged to find unity with other Christians, there is no division amongst us – and when we discover them, we are to work to bridge them. There may be different denominations – different ways to follow, but there is only one Christ, so there is only one Christ body. Paul asks has Christ been divided? When we disagree with one another, we should also work to find our commonality in Christ. Questions: What does it mean to follow Christ? What are some ways that you follow Christ? What are some ways that you encourage others to follow Christ? What are some ways to overcome our church differences and to be one body of Christ? How does being a Christians affect your decisions?