December 21, 2014

Scriptures for December 21st: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Luke 1:46-55, Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38; Theme: God chose Mary to bring Jesus into the world; Song: Hark the Herald Angels Sing Luke : This is the Magnificat of Mary. It is Mary’s celebration of all that God has done for her. She realizes that she is no one special, but that God was not concerned about the special. God realizes that most of his people are a part of the righteous victims. They have become a part of those who are struggling to make it is a world designed for others benefit. The point of the messiah is to make a difference, and to give the lowly a chance. So he would not appoint a prince in a castle to make a difference, but a baby in a manger. A baby that comes from parents who have nothing, but faith in a God that cares for them. Luke: This is the Magnificat that has been played out in reality. Mary did not understand how she would give birth to a son, when she accepted the prophecy from the angel Gabriel. But she trusted that if God gave her a message, then God would make a way for it to happen. She gets support from her cousin Elizabeth. Elizabeth was a lot older, but she was also pregnant. They could fulfil the prophecy of the future together. God works miracles in our everyday lives, with everyday people. Questions: How does your soul magnify the Lord? How do you live out God’s intention for your life? When God gives you a challenge, what do you do? Do you accept it? Or do you argue with God? Who has God sent in your life to support you in God’s plan?

December 14, 2014 - Third Sunday of Advent

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for December 14th: Isaiah 6:1-4,8-11; Psalm 126; I Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28; theme: The spirit of the Lord is upon you to do mission; Song: Come thou Long Expected Jesus – UMH 196 Isaiah : God has seen our pain, and God will bring about a solution. That solution is in the form of a leader who can truly make a difference. The jews are still waiting for that leader. And yet as Christians, we know that leader has come in the form of Jesus the Christ. In Luke, Christ proclaims that the spirit of the Lord is upon him to make a difference in the personal lives of God’s people. The spirit has given him the power to do what needs to be done. Isaiah 60 spells out what must be done, and who must be saved. We serve a God of righteousness, but in order for there to be righteousness in the world, there must be people who able to live according to that righteousness. This advent season, we not only serve our leader, but we live as he would live and we do as he would do. The spirit of the Lord is upon us! John: John the Baptist is the evangelist of advent. He is the one who spreads the good news. But the news he spread is not all good. In order for it to be good news, we have to be willing to repent. To turn our lives away from sin and to righteousness. When John stands up and speaks, people want to know who he is and why is he speaking. Are you a prophet? No I am a follower of Christ, I have been called not to be Christ for the world, but to follow Christ in all circumstances. We are not prophet, we are not the one who will change the world – but we are called to witness to the one who has come to make a difference. Questions: How do you know the spirit is upon you? Does the spirit make a difference in your life? In your attitude? How is God calling you to serve others? How are you a witness to the power of Christ?

November 16, 2014

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for November 16th: Judges 4: 1-7; Psalm 123; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30; Theme: Jesus depends on us ; Song: Jesus Keep me Near the Cross UMH 301 1 Thessalonians : This lesson is a precursor to advent and the season of preparing for the second coming. It is Paul’s demand that we listen and to prepare ourselves for that day. Paul warns us that there should be a huge difference between Christians and others. People should be able to spot us a mile away, simply based in who we are and how we handle every day life. Paul is telling us that we don’t know when Jesus is coming back, but the second coming should always be in the back of our mind. Preparation is not just for a season, it is for a lifetime. It is our lifestyle that will qualify us to go with Christ, when he returns for us. We will receive a reward for being faithful. We have been practicing our faith for thousands of years, Christ is aware of our faithfulness, our we aware of his to us? Matthew: This is another good message for advent. This is a message to get our lives in order. Each of us have spiritual gifts, and they were given to us in order to be used. God is watching how we use them. They are not to be used for ourselves, but to benefit others. We are reminded that the time is now for us to use our gifts, we are not to wait until later. We don’t know when our day will come. Jesus is giving us a call to action. So we all need to give some serious thought to our plan. But when we have a plan, know that God is with you and will give you the strength to fulfill what he has planted inside of you. If you have only one precious gift in the world, who would you give it to? How would you use it? Go ahead, the time is now to use your gift, tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us. Questions: What do you think about the second coming? Are you really prepared for Christ to return? What do you still need to do? What is your talent? How do you need to give it away? What would you do if you lost your talent? What are you prepared to do if God gives you a new talent?

November 9, 2014

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for November 9th: Joshua 24:1-3,14-25; Psalm 78:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13; Theme: choose who you will serve Song: Battle Hymn of the Republic UMH 717 Joshua : This is my favorite verse if the bible. The 40 years of wandering is over. As a matter of fact, the first leader has passed on. Now the second generation is taking over. As the second leader, Joshua has a new task. It is time for people to settle down and get to work. In order to help people realize the change, he has a special service for them. But he is not asking them to be spectators on what it going on, but participants. Everyone needs to do their part in order for the community to begin a new life. Jesus tells them to choose ye who you must serve. Is it God or is it yourself? And he asks them to make a commitment that very day – to serve God. I have a sign in my house – As for me and my house we choose to serve the Lord. That is Joshua’s commitment – what is yours? Matthew: This is the story of the bridesmaids. They are waiting for the groom, five of them are ready with oil in their lamps and five of them are out of oil. The lesson is that we should be prepared for the groom when he comes. For many, this is the beginning message of advent. It is time for us to prepare for Jesus to come. We don’t know when the second coming will be, but the message is that we should live our lives as if he is coming back at any moment. It is not about when he comes, it is about how we live our lives. Advent is not just about Christmas, it is about how we live our lives. There is never a time when we should not be alert and ready. God appears in our lives in so many ways at so many times. Questions: When has there been a time when you needed to stop and take account of your faith? How do you choose God? How do you choose other things instead of God? What do you have to give up in order to be clear about serving God? Are you prepared for the second coming? When do you think the second coming will come? Is there really something wrong with waiting until the last moment to do something?

November 2, 2014 - All Saints Day

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for November 2nd: Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10,22; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12; Theme: All Saint’s Day Song: Marching to Zion UMH 733 1 John : This verse is the prequel to the book of Revelations. John is reminding us that one day we will all live in heaven with Jesus, but today we all still live on earth. In heaven life will be perfect, but we will be perfect also, but today we are all less than perfect. John tells us that we are not in heaven yet, but we should live as if we intend to get there. We need to purify ourselves and to purify our lives. We need to know that Christ gives us the power to live as perfect people here on Earth. We are perfect when we strive for heaven and do the will of God. The power of Christ lies in our ability to love one another. Matthew: This is the beatitudes. These are the keys to our happiness. Jesus us saying that it is in our struggles, our hardships our suffering, that we learn to have faith. He is saying that those who persevere in spite of those things, have to keys to happiness. God knows their hearts and will bless their efforts. Heaven is only for those who persevered in this life. It is only in this life that we truly come to understand who God is. If everything is going well, then we have no need for God. And if we have no need for God, when we meet God face to face then we will not even know who he is. So do not be afraid of the challenges and struggles. God will be with you through it all, and he will reward you afterward. We also remember the struggles of others, and we thank God that they are now at peace in heaven. Questions: What do you imagine heaven to be like? What would it be like to live in a perfect world? As a human would you get bored? How are you preparing yourself for heaven in your life now? How do you feel blessed? When was a time in your life when you know God bought you through? How were you different after that experience?

October 19, 2014 - 19th Sunday After Pentecost

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for October 19th: Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; 1 Thessalonians 1”1-10; Matthew 22:15-22; Theme: Laity Sunday; Song: O how I Love Jesus UMH 170 Exodus: This section of Exodus shows a shift in where the people are. God has told them that they are to move from the wilderness and now it is time for them to come to the promised land. And the people are not ready to go – they like where they are. It takes Moses a year to convince them that it is time to go to a different place. In his leadership, Moses goes to God for assurance. He needs to make sure that it is really God leading them. As a matter of fact, God says that he will lead the people to where they have to go himself. Moses needs to sure that he is really talking to God, so he asks if God will appear to him, so that he can see his face. No one can look upon the face of God and live, but God appears to our lives, and more importantly, if we are paying attention we can feel God’s presence. Matthew: This is the section where Jesus is tested by the Pharisees. We learned last week that Jesus took no formal training to be a rabbi. He talked to the common people in common language. This was a direct threat to the power of the religious leaders. No wonder they spent so much time hunting him down and asking him questions. They were not supposed to have a coin with Ceasar’s face in the temple. Jesus uses this coin to show them that they are hypocrites. They are criticizing him, when they are not doing what is right. The lesson from Jesus is that we should do the things of God, and not man. Give what belongs to man to man, but give what belongs to God to God. Your heart and soul should belong to God. Questions: When has God appeared in your life? What did God look like? What did God do? Where has God led you in the last year? Where do you want to go in your faith? How can you give your heart and soul to God? What things do you do to test Jesus? What things does he do to test you?

October 12, 2014 - 18th Sunday of Pentecost

Breaking Open the Scripture Scriptures for October 12th: Exodus 32: 1-14; Psalm 106: 1-6,19-23; Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14; Theme: Jesus’ Salvation is intended for everyone; Song: What a Friend we have in Jesus UMH 526 Philippians: Community is the key to being a Christian. You cannot be a Christian on an island. And yet sometimes living with others is the biggest challenge of the church. Paul understands that even the best of churches have conflict. It is conflict that can destroy the worst of churches. In this verse, Paul addresses conflict in the Philippian church head on. Two women are going at it and everyone is taking sides. Paul tells them that it time to cool out. He enlist the help of the local bishop to keep the women honest. He tells all churches that when conflict is destroying the church – the church should rejoice, pray, and once you give it to God to go forward in peace, knowing that God will take care of it. Matthew: Jesus is explaining to the powers that be, the authority that he has to teach people about God. He is the Son of God and received his authority directly from God. God does all that God can to get our attention. God sends all kinds of messages and all kind of messengers. The biggest messenger we can have is Jesus Christ. Coming to God is like taking part in a feast. We are all invited to the party. God learned that is was useless to have an exclusive list. People get so interested in coming to the party that they forget who invited them. Jesus reminds us as church people that we should not get to exclusive and thinking that we are special. We are only special because of God’s love. We have to remember, just because we get an invitation, doesn’t mean we will get in the party. We have to put on the fruits of the spirit, love, gentleness, peace, kindness and demonstrate them in all that we do. God does not need us, we need God. Questions: What happens in your church when there is conflict? What biblical principles are put in place to help solve it, who are the people that serve as mediators? What does it mean for God to invite all people to the table? What role do you play in making that happen? Is being a Christian a right or a priviledge? Is God’s party here on earth, in heaven or both?