January 12, 2013 - First Sunday of Epiphany

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for January 12th: Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17; Theme: Baptism of Christ; Song: I am Going to Sing when the Spirit Says Sing – UMH 333) Isaiah: This is called a servant song. It talks about all of the things that a messiah will do. It reminds us that our task I serving God is I serving others. We have to be patient, we have to be humble, we have to have a relationship with God. Justice and mercy are important to God. So it much be important to our service. Jesus took these songs seriously as an example, and he made sure that he could follow this example in all that he did. God has a history of salvation and creation. God makes sure that in every generation, that he continues this work. The example of the suffering servant is not just for Jesus, it is for us also. We have to sacrifice our will for God will. And live as God wants us to. If we serve him, he will not only empower us, he will reward us for our faithfulness. We have to know that as we serve God, that we also hope and work for a new world. It is not our vision, it is God’s vision. God gives each of us a part to play in his heroic act of salvation. We don’t have to be the servant, but how else to we truly learn to love God? Matthew: We are following the life of Jesus. The verses that talk about the childhood of Jesus are very few. That was not important for the early Church. Easter was celebrated much before Christmas. Actually, the beginning holiday for the church was the epiphany season. The baptism of Jesus was when he realized his call from God. It was when God acknowledged to the world that this was his son. It was the beginning of Jesus ministry. We don’t realize that his teachings was only one year of his life. When we are baptized, we too are empowered to start our life in Christ. When we get baptized, we have just as much power as Christ does, and we have to power to teach, to evangelize, to heal. So it is importat to remember our baptism, so that we can remember our power. Questions: What does it mean to suffer for God? What does it mean to be rewarded by God? What justice work needs to be done in your community? How do you prepare yourself to do that work? What does baptism mean to you? How do you live out your baptism? How does God affirm your work (and if it is of God you will find some affirmation)? How does God equip you? How have you experienced the power of God to help you? What do you think of the baptism of the kids in the church?

January 5, 2013 - Epiphany

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for January 5th: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12 Theme: Epiphany – Discovering Christ Anew; Song: This Little Light of Mine Isaiah: The entire story of Isaiah is the story of the story of moving from exile to freedom, from oppression to well being, from darkness to lightness. This entire story covers 500 years of history. Chapter 60 is part of the ending. People are assured that the “thick Darkness” is about to dissipate. The people who have been thrown out of their land are returning home for the last time. They have dreamed of home, but when they get there, everything is in shambles, everything must be put back together, the future is present, but it looks bleak. Isaiah gives words of encouragement, because while in the midst of darkness the world changed, the world opened up, trade became more affluent. That meant things were getting better, the world would come and help the Israelites rebuild their land, they just had to be patient and see the light present in their lives. We too are a people who live in great darkness. We too are wondering where are hope comes from. The world is changing today, and it is changing for the better. When our light comes and frees us from the darkness, we have to be ready to rejoice in God. Matthew: Last week we heard to horrible side of the story – Herod heard that the wise men had fooled him and not told him when the baby Jesus arrived, so the babies family had to flee to Egypt to escape danger. This week we hear the good news of that story. The wise men visit the baby and bring him gifts fit for a king. This is the basis of the 12 days of Christmas – the difference between when Jesus was born into the world and when the three kings came to acknowledge his birth. This is the time between December 25th and January 6th. It helps us to realize that in our lives there is a period of time between when we are healed and when we realize that we are healed. When we eat, there is a time between when we have eaten enough and when our brains finally realize that we have eaten enough. It sometimes takes us awhile to truly get the significance of the events in our lives – and yet change does come, things get better. Questions: How do you feel about darkness? Are you comfortable, or do you have to wait for the light? What are the signs in your life that things are getting better? What things do you need to take notice of? What is God trying to show you in your life that you have not seen before? Who are the people who are reaching out to help you, how are you treating them?

December 8, 2013 - Second Sunday of Advent

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for December 8th: Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12; Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming UMH 216; theme: Second Sunday of Advent Romans: We are studying the book of Romans for our bible study. And the first thing that we learned, is the Paul always considered himself to be a jew, who was given the task to include gentiles into the family of God. One of his major task for the urban Roman task was to make sure that these groups could put their differences aside and live as one, so diversity has been a major theme of the church for years. He was trying to teach the jews to learn to accept the gentiles, in spite of their upbringing. Today we still struggle with the same issues. The gentiles of today are the homeless, the needy, the unchurched. We say that we want to church to grow, but ideally, we want to attract people who are able to give their tithes, and who are well mannered. We don’t want people who step out of line, who are hard to control. The word gentile meant – barbarian. Someone who did not have manners, and did not fit in the genteel society. So Paul still has a message for us – the church is for the gentile and the jew, the church is for everyone who comes to our door. Matthew: Last week we talked about the second coming of Jesus, today we move on to the story of John the Baptist. Last week the theme was hope in the midst of darkness, this week the theme is about the righteousness of God (and the wrongness of man). This week, advent gets personal and reminds us that we are sinners. And that in order to live in God’s world we have to repent of our sins. We have to know what our sins are, and we have to be willing to do something about them. The world to come, is not a world where sinners are welcome. John is just an ordinary man with an extraordinary message. He is telling us that one who is extraordinary is coming to do the work of letting us into a new world, but before he can help us, we have to be able to help ourselves. We have to be able to ask for help. And we need to prepare ourselves to go to the rivers edge to be cleaned. For advent, you may clean the house, you may clean the church, but did you clean out your soul in preparation for something new that God will do in your life? Questions: What are you doing for advent in order to cleanse your soul? What justice issues does God need to address this year? Who are the gentiles that need to know that they are welcome and accepted in the church? How can we strive to be a more accepting church?

December 1, 2013 - First Sunday of Advent

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for December 1st – Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:36-44; Theme: First Sunday of Advent Song: O Come, O Come Emmanuel – UMH 211 Romans: We are always tempted to go back into the past. We are always tempted to try and change things, to go back to the point in our lives where things made sense. It is hard for us to accept that the past is gone and there is nothing that we can do about it. What we can change is the future, we can do something to change the future. This is a transitional time, it is time for Christmas, but it is not time for nostalgia. Paul tells us that it is time for us to wake up and to take charge of our life, but most importantly, we have to take charge of our service to God. The past is a part of the darkness, and the future is the light that we have a chance to walk into. But we have to prepare ourselves to live in the light and to avoid sin. We have to put on the clothing of salvation. If we are able to put on Christ, just as we put on our clothes, we will be fully prepared to fight temptation and obey God. Matthew: We always start at the end. I know that in order to truly have a good day, that I have to get a good night’s sleep. I have to start at the end, in order to control the beginning. The same is for our spiritual life. We don’t start the year off with the baby Jesus. We start with Jesus telling us that it is time to wake up and to be prepared for a change. We always start out advent with the second coming, not the first coming. A time when we will be held accountable for our actions. So we need to be prepared to clean up our act. We need to think about the way that we treat other people. We need to think about how we read the bible. We need to think about how we obey the call of God in our lives. It is a connection to Romans – to wake up and to look around at the life that you are living. If we get too comfortable with ourselves, with sin, with the world – then Christ will return at an unexpected time. Advent is a time to prepare ourselves, to wait for what is coming, and to please God. Questions: What spiritual darkness exists in the world today? What do we need to be more aware of in ourselves this year? What do we need to be aware of in others? What do we need to put aside this year? What does advent mean to you? What will you do to prepare for Christ coming in a brand new way? What light are we being called to bring into the world? What needs to happen in order to light that candle inside of you?

November 24, 2013 - Christ the King Sunday

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for November 24th: Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 1:68-79; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43: Theme: Last Sunday of the Year – Christ the King; Song: We are Marching in the Light of God – FWS 2235 Colossians: These are believed to be the words of a hymn that people would sing when they came into worship. How is it that we learn about who Christ is. Today not a lot of people will read the bible. We should all be studying, but many people consider that to be work. But we all like to listen to the songs. It is the songs of our faith that tell us who Christ is. This song says that Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, he is the head of the church, the forgiver of sins, the fullness of heaven. Our faith is dependent upon him being our savior. If we are able to put Christ first, then we cannot go wrong. We are reminded that he is more than the Son of Man, he is the Son of God. He is worthy of our faith, because he is our savior. If it was not for him, we as gentiles would not be saved, and we would not know God. This man is certainly worthy to be praised. Luke: In America, we are not used to giving honor to a king. There have been a lot of kings, but we also have to remember that the Isrealites also did not have a king. Not since the dynasty of David died out. Today we acknowledge that Christ is our king. Christ is head of our lives, he is our benefactor, he is worthy of our life obedience. We also have to remember that he died as “King of the Jews”. The powers that be thought that he was very arrogant. And there was no one who could put themselves on the same level as God. As a matter of fact, it was not until he was resurrected that he truly proved that he was worthy of being worshipped as a king. This is the story of his last hours, how we was killed, and why he was killed. It is the story of the robbers who asked to be with him in paradise. It is our last impression of Christ as we complete the book of Luke. Jesus knew that he was a king, so on earth, he never needed to honor. When people tried to give it to him, he rejected it. It is in his humbleness that we have a chance to now exalt him. It is his lowest moment in his life, that he was lifted up as the highest. Questions: How would you describe the attributes of Christ? Why do you consider him to be your savior? What is your favorite song about Christ? What does it mean to truly have peace in life? how does such a violent act as crucifixion bring about eternal peace? What is our role in bringing about Peace? How is Christ the King of your life?

November 17, 2013 - 26th Sunday after Pentecost

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for November 17th: Isaiah 65:17-25; Isaiah 12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13; Luke 21:5-19; Theme: The end is near Song: Soon and very Soon UMH 706 Isaiah: They are still assessing the damage from the hurricane in the Phillipines. They are saying that as many as 10,000 people could be dead. And the damage is unspeakable. Here in Illinois we have never experienced having to recover from a disaster of that magnitude. But how do you even begin to put the pieces of your life together as such a catastrophe? One block at a time. Sometimes the damage may not be physical, it may be spiritual. It is next to impossible to rebuild, unless you have hope for the future. God realizes the in order for his people to go forward, he has to give them hope. He has to help them to realize that they are not rebuilding alone. God is has already seen what must be. If you knew that it was all going to be destroyed, would you work to rebuild? But if you knew that things would finally get better, that all that you have hoped for would come to fruition, you would move forward. God encourages us to move forward in our lives, and to know that what we are rebuilding is the first steps to heaven. 2 Thessalonians: Paul gets to the point in chapter 3, by telling others that if they do not work, then they should not eat. Common people felt that there was no need to work, because the end was near. Those who were rich, felt they would rely on others to work. Paul continues to help them understand that waiting for God does not mean giving up and working less. As a matter of fact, it means working more. Work is a part of our faith. We have to work in order to build the foundation of the kingdom of God. But what does work mean? What type of work must be done? Is God a taskmaster, like an earthly boss? Work for God should be fulfilling and should energize us, not wear us out. When we do not work, Paul says that we become busybodies. He also said that we should never get tired of doing what it right. God has a purpose for us, when he calls us- he calls us to a task – to a job. May we always have hope in God and his plan for us. Questions: What would you hope to see in a new world? What are you willing to give up in this world? Do you look forward to God promise of a new world, or is it scary? What is you attitude toward work? Do you see God in the work that you do? What do you think about tose who freeload off of others? How do we encourage everybody to give their equal part?

November 10th - 25th Sunday after Pentecost

Breaking Open the Scriptures Scriptures for November 10th: Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Psalm 145:1-5,17-21; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5,13-17; Luke 20:27-38; song: Standing on the Promises – UMH 374: Theme: Living Faith of a Living God. 2 Thessalonians: There was a time in my life that I believed that life had gotten so bad, that the end of the world was near. I gave away all of my stuff because I felt that I would not need it anymore. I stood by the door, and waited for Christ to arrive. It took a friend to remind me that I probably needed to hold on to things, because life was going on. Going on without me. The world coming to an end was the easy way out. God is not the God of easy ways out. The God of our faith, encourages us to endure. Not to give up. And not to predict when the end will come. Paul is trying to help the church understand that in life, the easy answers are not the God answers. Paul reminds us that the end of the world is not about our life and our understanding of life. It is about the redemption of the whole world and making the devil pay for all of the evil he has done in the world. When we reach the end of the rope – we can know that Christ will be with us to make sure that our lives move on. Luke: The marriage vow that we take says till death do we part. Marriage is a part of our life on earth, but not a part of our eternal life. Jesus is challenged about what happens when we die? Do our relationships continue? When Jesus is challenged by the Sadducees, he does not directly answer that question. He does not talk about what life will be like. Just as our relationships shape an important part of life on earth, our character, our belief in God, our behavior has an important influence on where we spend eternity. We only get to heaven based on our own efforts, not on who we know. Jesus reminds us that life and death is not about heaven and earth, but about our relationship with God. There are some people who are on earth, but are dead in spirit. There are some who have passed on, whose spirits are very much alive. Being alive is in understanding the presence of God- seeking God in all things, all places and in all situations. We should seek life, eternal life with God. Questions: What do you believe about the end of days? Do you think that life can get any worse than it is right now? What do you believe about the end of days? How do you think God will come to us? How does that belief affect the way that you live? What does it mean for you to seek Christ? To seek life? what does it mean that God is the God of the living? Who are the dead? Have they left the presence of God? Or has the presence of God left them?