February 28, 2021

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for February 28th: Genesis 17:1-7,15-16, Psalm 22:23-31, Romans 4:13-25, Mark 8:31-38 Theme: The Promise of Abraham: Song: Faith of Our Fathers UMH 710 Romans: The task of lent is for us to remember the promises of God. In our modern world, we spend so much time finding solutions for ourselves, that we forget that God promises to take care of all of our needs. We don’t give God time to show us things that we never though of before. In Romans, Paul reminds us that we are a part of the family of Abraham, because Jesus was a part of the family of Abraham. Abraham is our prime example of what it means to trust God with our lives. God responded by promising to make sure that Abraham had a legacy, even though the earthly means of having children did not seem to be available to Abraham. Paul says that God fulfilled that promise not just on Abraham’s behalf, but on our behalf as well. To show us that God is still here, in the midst of our discouragements, our broken dreams, our chaos and confusion. How is the promise alive and well today? Psalms: We are all familiar with psalm 23, but we don’t know a whole lot about psalm 22. Why is the singer of psalm 23 so comfy and cozy with God. Because he has spent to former psalms crying out to help to the Lord. In the beginning of psalm 22 he cries My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? Our scripture is on the last part of psalm 22 – where he is praising God again. One of the major differences between the Christian bible and the Jewish bible is the way the chapters are numbered. In many ways Psalm 22 are two different psalms. Our focus in on the second part. Those who believe in God and follow Israel are invited to praise God. We can look at all of the times that God has worked for us and say thank you. Praise and acknowledgement are the precursor to the message of psalm 23 – God really does love me, God really does protect me from my enemies. Questions: What does trusting in God mean to you? What are the modern day promises that we need to hear? How has God protected you? How do you praise God for all that was done for you?