May 17, 2015

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for May 17th: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53: theme: Ascension Sunday ; Song: Up From the Grave He Arose UMH 322 Acts: This book chronicles the early church and how it grew and survived. It tracks the steps of the risen Christ in the lives of his followers. An important point in the journey was the day that he returned to heaven. This is one of the few non Sunday observances that John Wesley thought important enough to keep in his church calendar. I love that at the end of today’s scripture, angels ask why are you looking up in the sky for Jesus? Jesus is inside of our hearts, most importantly, Jesus is out and about in the world. Jesus promises us the power of the Holy Spirit. So we can start to expect it in our lives. If Jesus is in heaven now, it is up to us to embody the presence of Christ in the world. Luke: This is the story of the Ascension, as Jesus brings his disciples out to the beach and he gives them instructions and then goes up to heaven. Once again he tells us to wait for the presence of the holy spirit, and then first repent yourself, and second preach the power of repentance and forgiveness to the world. You don’t need to worry about traveling, change the world right where you are! There is a reason that we are in the place that we are in. We have work to do, and we have a message to give to others. Jesus is not going to do that work, he went to heaven. He left it to us to do. The scripture says that the followers has a deep sense of joy for having Jesus with them. They continually rejoiced in the temple – spreading the word, and living it brings joy and appreciation. The spirit of Jesus is with us when we are spreading his message! Questions: do you think the ascension of Jesus really happened or is it just an informative story? Where is heaven? Is it up in the sky or in our hearts? What are you doing in preparation for the Holy Spirit? Do you get a sense of joy from telling the story of Jesus to others?

May 10, 2015

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for May 10th: Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17; Theme: Mother’s Day; Song: Blessed Assurance UMH 369 1 John: The essence of God is love. The essence of being a Christian is knowing how to love one another. This Easter season, we are being pounded with messages of love for one another. We are reminded that if we live our life in Jesus then it is easy to love others. We are reminded that it is not human nature to love. But Jesus gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we can indeed learn to love like Jesus loves, which is in turn how God loves us. There are still a lot of people in the world who don’t know what love is – it is the job of the church to show them. John: In the book of John, we are examining the I am statements. Jesus tells us step by step who he is, and why we should care. He is telling us that our salvation comes through him, and through his efforts. And that if we want to have a relationship with God, then we need to have a relationship with Jesus. Today, Jesus tells us that he is the vine, and that we are the branches, and that God is the vine keeper. But he goes farther than that. If God can take care of us through Jesus, then we are to take care of one another and God’s creation. He commands us to love. To learn to love sacrificially. But whatever we do in the name of the Lord is not a sacrifice, because we will always get it back! God will pay us back for the love we give to others. The command to love is not to give to others, but to invest in ourselves! Questions: What stands in the way of you loving others? What do you get in return when you are able to show love? How have you experienced God’s love in your life? How do you get your nourishment from Jesus for your life?

May 3, 2015

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for May 3rd: Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8; Theme: The Love of Jesus in our lives; Song: Swing Low Sweet Chariot (UMH 703) 1 John: We will be focusing on 1 John for the rest of the Easter season. I think that it has an important message on love for us to keep in mind. And for us to be reminded that live in Christ, is a life of learning how to love. You can tell the fruits of our spirit based on our ability to love one another. Love is not a feeling, love is action. Jesus showed us true love by dying on a cross for us. He chose to die in that way, because he knew the consequences. Not only should we be baptized into his blood, but we should but we should live our lives inside of his love. People should see Christ in all of our actions. When people are able to see Christ, they are also able to see God. People come to Christ, or they step away from Christ based on what they see in us. John: As United Methodist, we live in Christ by participating in worship, studying the word, private and corporate prayer, communion, fasting, and listening to the word. Jesus says that he is the vine and that we are the branches. As branches we stay connected by practice of these five things. We are not responsible for our own salvation, neither are we responsible for growing fruit. We stay connected and God is able to work through us. When we are disconnected, then we become very ineffective. In John, Jesus uses a lot of I am statements in order for us to understand what our relationship needs to be like and how we should trust him in all things. Do you trust Jesus to work his magic through you, are you open so that Christ can come in and work with you? Questions: How do others see Christ in your actions? How do you show love to others? Can you show love to those who don’t show love to you? Are you grateful that Christ died for your sins? What does it mean for Christ to be the true vine? When Christ gives you fruit do you give it away for keep it for yourself? What ways do you depend on Christ in your life?

April 26, 2015

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for April 26th: Acts 4:5-12; Psalm 23; 1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18 Theme: Good Shepherd Sunday Song: 407 Close to thee Acts: When I was a little girl, my aunt told me that if I didn’t remember anything else about faith, to remember that salvation was in the name of Jesus, and Jesus alone. She told me to make sure that I was not baptized in the name of the father, son and holy spirit, but in Jesus name alone. She, like many people believed that there was power in the name of Jesus. She told me to always refer to this scripture about the power in one name alone. Jesus. There is power in one act alone – that is resurrection. Peter is being questioned by the authorities as he is preaching the gospel. Who gave you authority to speak to the people and to do these acts? By what authority do you speak? They were witnesses to God’s power in Jesus Christ, that is all that was needed to make a difference. Jesus gives us the power to witness to his goodness today. We have the authority to speak in Jesus name! John: This is the week when we remember what it means for Jesus to be the good shepherd. What does it mean that Jesus will take care of you? What does it mean for you to be a sheep in need of a shepherd? We are always in need of guidance. It can become so easy for us to become caught up in life and to see nothing else in front of our noses. And we need someone to guide us to the right places, sometimes in spite of ourselves. Jesus says that we don’t have to think in order to truly hear his voice in our lives. We automatically respond to his command. Even in the midst of other voices that call out and try to lead us astray- God’s sheep still follow their shepherd. It takes a special person to be God’s shepherd, and that special person has a special name – Jesus Christ. Questions: What power does Jesus have in your life? How do you tell others about the power of Jesus name? Is Jesus the ultimate authority in the world today? Why or why not? How do you recognize Jesus voice? What other voices compete for your attention in your life? Where is Jesus leading you right now? Is it peaceful? Is it to a better place than you are now?

March 29, 2015

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for March 29th : Mark 11:1-11; Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 32:9-16; Mark 14:1-15:47; Theme: the passion of Christ; Song: Were you there? Mark : The reading for today is the passion story. The story of how Jesus was betrayed, how he was led to the cross, and we hear every gory detail of how he was nailed to the cross and died. It is important for us to hear this story every year. And in some sense feel pain that Christ felt, because it was felt on our behalf. The year that the passion of Christ came out, I had a youth ask me if we needed to remember every detail of the cross. I used the example of a gift, when you give a gift to someone do you leave the price tag on the gift or do you take it off. We hear the story, but we don’t have to live the pain. That pain was a gift given to each of us freely. The correct response of getting a gift is saying thank you. Let us hear and read this story and say thank you. Be present to our sin and develop a determination to repent and sin no more. During lent we have journeyed with Christ. We have journeyed with him to the Cross and now we are invited to journey with him to death. That is the only way to get to true resurrection. Questions: How has lent been for you this year? What have you learned about yourself? What have you learned about God? What does it do to for you to relive the story of Christ? How are you affected by hearing the Christ story? What sins need to be forgiven? How can you repent in time for Easter? What needs to be resurrected inside of you?

March 22, 2015

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for March 22nd: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12; Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33; theme: time for a new covenant; Song: Where he Leads me UMH 338 Jeremiah : All throughout lent, the Hebrew bible lesson has been about the promises of God. God made promises to the church fathers, and God does not break his promises, so they are still in effect today. And yet today’s passage is about a new covenant with God. the promises do not change, but the relationship that we have with God does. God says that the new covenant will not be written in stone, but will be written on our hearts. In order to make a covenant, something has to be cut. God says it will be our heart muscle. That hurts! Sometime being loyal to God hurts, but it is worth it. God makes this promise not just to individuals, but to all who are children of Abraham through faith. It is time to let go of the old and to embrace the new – our new hearts with a new master – God not our sins! John: The journey of lent is about following Jesus. We followed him to the cross, we followed him to be fishers of men, and now he invites us to follow him to death. In order to truly have new life, there has to be a death, there has to be pain. He knows that he is going to die, he asks us to die with him. He knows he will be resurrected, he asks us to be resurrected with him. Somehow things have got to change, and this is the process for change. When we hold on, things stay the same, when we let go and let God, it all falls into place. Jesus is asking su to trust him on a fantastic journey! Questions: What does it mean to have a covenant with God? How are God’s promises written on your heart? What instructions of God’s are written on your heart which you know automatically? Which ones do you still have to think about and read in order to do? How well do you follow Jesus? Are you willing to follow him to the death? Are you willing to follow him to resurrection?

March 15, 2015

Breaking Open the Scripture Scripture for March 15th: Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3,17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10;John 3:14-21; Theme: Our entire life is inside of Christ; Song: Because he Lives UMH 364 Ephesians : I think that this epistle is the best example of the good news that we have in the bible. I think that it’s message is so uplifting. It is a message total and complete grace. Paul explains to us that we are not bad people. But that there are forces inside of us that compel us to be selfish, to be unloving, and to do things that are not always in our best interest. God knows us, that is why he sent Jesus Christ. The work of saving us is in the cross, there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. God cares for everyone, even those who will never understand what love is. It is that mercy that saves those who do have a relationship with God. When we live a life in thankfulness, we become an accomplishment of God and demonstrate God’s glory. John: The gospel lesson is a throwback to the old testament lesson. Moses knew what he needed to do in order to help his people. He needed to do things in order to save his people. Jesus did what he needed to do to save his people. It is just that there are more people who need to hear the message of Jesus. In this crazy world, we need to have something to believe in. Moses knew that he needed to create a symbol for the people to look up to. The cross is a symbol that we can look up to. The cross is more than a symbol of salvation, it is the basis of salvation. God knew what needed to be done to make a difference in the world. We have to lift up the cross, so that others can truly see the light. Questions: What does it mean to be dead, while you are still alive? How does Christ give life to us today? How are you God’s accomplishment? How do you lift up Christ to others? Are you a child of light or a child of darkness? What is the real difference?