August 8, 2021

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for August 8. 2021: 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 31-33; Psalm 130, Ephesians 4:25-5:2, John 6:35- 41-51; Theme: New Beginnings of School, Song: Take my Life and let it be Consecrated UMH 399 Ephesians: Being Christian is not natural. It requires us to constantly rethink our responses to life. Being angry is normal. Being a part of the church does not protect us from situations that infringe upon our spirit. The writer of Ephesians gives us specific instructions on how to fight life a Christian. In other words, when people make us angry how to do we respond to them? We should respond to them the way Christ would respond. And when Christ was crucified, he responded, but he responded in live. We are constantly reminded of what it means to live with the mind of Christ. the writer says once you were a part of the world and you would have done….but today you are new creation on Christ, so this is what you do now. We pause, we pray, we consider the consequences, we respond in a way that builds up the body of Christ, not tear it down. Psalm 130: David never thought that he would have to protect himself from his own flesh and blood. But his son Absalom has gone to war with him. As David’s servants struggle to keep the King safe, David asks them not to hurt his son. In the end Absalom is killed and David cries and prays. Psalm 130 is that prayer, I cry out to you o Lord. This is a difficult situation to deal with. David prays for forgiveness of his sins as well as the pain of the situation. He gives the message to the faithful to trust God in all situations. To wait for God and to trust God in all times. When we are in pain, when we are desperate, that is hard to do. But that is the point of being trained in faith – to be able to handle those hard times. Questions: What do you do when you are angry? How do you include Christ in your response to people? Have you ever had to pray a conflicted prayer with mixed emotions? How have you had to trust the wisdom of God in a situation recently?