Scriptures for October 23rd: Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8; Matthew 22:34-46 Theme: A Faith that overcomes Song: Swing Low Sweet Chariot – UMH 703
1 Thessalonians: Paul tells the congregation at “Salonica” about his trip to Philippians. Things did not go well for him there. It turns out that he was run out of town this time also. He seems to be offending a lot of people – by trying to get them to think in a new way. Paul is on the search to make disciples for Christ. He says that there are real evangelist and fake evangelist. There are people who are concerned about numbers – we should be concerned about a change of heart. It turns out that he was kicked out of Thessalonica also. People wanted a quick faith that would address their needs. Paul wanted them to learn to take faith seriously.
Matthew: The Pharisees are still questioning Jesus. They are trying to do whatever they can to trip him up. They hate him, but the people love him. The only way to get the people to feel like they do is to make sure that he says the wrong thing in public, so that that people can start asking questions also. They ask him two questions this week – what is the greatest commandment and what does it mean to be the messiah. Jesus reminds that that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord. He reminds us that the second commandment is to love our neighbor. Jesus was careful to stick to Hebrew scripture in all of his answers. The Pharisees realize that there is no point in arguing with him – he knows just as much (if not more) than they do. But we can learn to.
Questions: Who was instrumental in you becoming a Christian? What did it mean that Paul was kicked out of the places he preached? – was he a help to them or a hindrance? How do we treat people today who strike at the core of our faith when we are not ready to deal with them or it? Does loving God help us love people more? Why or why not? How can Jesus be the son of God and the son of man at the same time?
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
October 16, 2011
Scriptures for October 16th – Exodus 33:12-23; Psalm 99; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Matthew 22:15-22 Theme: Laity Sunday, song: Rock of Ages – UMH 361
Exodus: This is a shift in the story of the chosen people. This is a shift in God’s role in the lives of the people. They have been in the wilderness enough, now it is time for them to think about reaching the promised land. Their dream is about to become a reality. Moses goes to God to get reassurance that God is with them, and that God will protect them through the unknown. God explains that no one can see the face of God and live. But God protects moses and helps him to witness the glory of God. God wants them to know that he will never leave them
1 Thessolonians: Paul and Silas have gone to the city to talk to people about what it means to be a Christian. But he also wants them to remain steadfast. By this time people are starting to get anxious. How long do we have to wait for this Jesus to come? Why do we have to separate ourselves from the people around us. Paul tells them their strengths are:Their faithfulness and steadfastness in Christ (verse 3) ,An awareness that God has called them and the Spirit has empowered them from the beginning (verses 4-5) ,Living out with joy the way of Jesus they had learned from Paul and others (vs. 6-7) Their willingness to share their conversion stories and their confidence in Jesus who "rescues us from the wrath to come" (verses 8-10).
Questions: What insures the presence of God with a people? Is God with our church? How do you know? What can we learn from the Isrealites about idolatry of faithful people? What impact does our faith have on others? How can others know about God through our lives?
Exodus: This is a shift in the story of the chosen people. This is a shift in God’s role in the lives of the people. They have been in the wilderness enough, now it is time for them to think about reaching the promised land. Their dream is about to become a reality. Moses goes to God to get reassurance that God is with them, and that God will protect them through the unknown. God explains that no one can see the face of God and live. But God protects moses and helps him to witness the glory of God. God wants them to know that he will never leave them
1 Thessolonians: Paul and Silas have gone to the city to talk to people about what it means to be a Christian. But he also wants them to remain steadfast. By this time people are starting to get anxious. How long do we have to wait for this Jesus to come? Why do we have to separate ourselves from the people around us. Paul tells them their strengths are:Their faithfulness and steadfastness in Christ (verse 3) ,An awareness that God has called them and the Spirit has empowered them from the beginning (verses 4-5) ,Living out with joy the way of Jesus they had learned from Paul and others (vs. 6-7) Their willingness to share their conversion stories and their confidence in Jesus who "rescues us from the wrath to come" (verses 8-10).
Questions: What insures the presence of God with a people? Is God with our church? How do you know? What can we learn from the Isrealites about idolatry of faithful people? What impact does our faith have on others? How can others know about God through our lives?
Sunday, October 2, 2011
October 9, 2011
Scriptures for October 9th: Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23;
Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14 Theme: the Truth of God; song: It’s Me, O Lord – UMH 352
Exodus: The children of God are still wandering in the wilderness, and they still have not learned to trust God. At first it they asked what they were going to eat, then it was where to get water. Now they are impatient for Moses to return from the mountain of God and to give them a word from the Lord. When he does not return in the expected time, it must be because he is not coming back. Instead of teaching the people patience, Aaron appeases them. He gives them an idol to worship in the meantime. It is God who tells Moses the he must return and fix this. This sense of distrust is something that God never fully recovers from. And yet because Moses asks God not to totally destroy them, God gives them another chance. We can be grateful for God’s willingness to understand our human ignorance.
Philippians: This is the ending of the book of Philippians. Paul finally addresses a conflict within the church. He urges two believers to think more of what they have in common, and not how they are different. His whole message is in our unity, our life, our church, our being is in Christ. We may not like each other, but we all have to love Christ. We can pray and know that Christ will work it out for us. He also addresses the issue of trust in God. Today we struggle with what it is that we should trust in. Paul assures us that God is a God of trust and of beauty. All truth comes from God – so we can freely trust anything that proves itself to be so. In the name of Jesus.
Questions What times in your life have you felt that you cannot trust in God? What times in your life has God given you another chance? What are your complaints to God? Listen to your life – what are the answers God gives today for those complaints? Who within the body of Christ are you at odds with? How can you reconcile with them? How does the unity of Christ call you to move forward? What truth of life do you question as a truth of God? Is God really in that situation?
Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14 Theme: the Truth of God; song: It’s Me, O Lord – UMH 352
Exodus: The children of God are still wandering in the wilderness, and they still have not learned to trust God. At first it they asked what they were going to eat, then it was where to get water. Now they are impatient for Moses to return from the mountain of God and to give them a word from the Lord. When he does not return in the expected time, it must be because he is not coming back. Instead of teaching the people patience, Aaron appeases them. He gives them an idol to worship in the meantime. It is God who tells Moses the he must return and fix this. This sense of distrust is something that God never fully recovers from. And yet because Moses asks God not to totally destroy them, God gives them another chance. We can be grateful for God’s willingness to understand our human ignorance.
Philippians: This is the ending of the book of Philippians. Paul finally addresses a conflict within the church. He urges two believers to think more of what they have in common, and not how they are different. His whole message is in our unity, our life, our church, our being is in Christ. We may not like each other, but we all have to love Christ. We can pray and know that Christ will work it out for us. He also addresses the issue of trust in God. Today we struggle with what it is that we should trust in. Paul assures us that God is a God of trust and of beauty. All truth comes from God – so we can freely trust anything that proves itself to be so. In the name of Jesus.
Questions What times in your life have you felt that you cannot trust in God? What times in your life has God given you another chance? What are your complaints to God? Listen to your life – what are the answers God gives today for those complaints? Who within the body of Christ are you at odds with? How can you reconcile with them? How does the unity of Christ call you to move forward? What truth of life do you question as a truth of God? Is God really in that situation?
Sunday, September 25, 2011
October 2, 2011
Scriptures for October 2nd: Exodus 20:1-4,7-9, 12-20; Psalm 19; Philippians 3:4-14; Matthew 21:33-46; Theme: World Communion Sunday; Song: When we all get to heaven – UMH 701
Philippians: The principle lesson of Philippians is that Christ is the center of our lives and of all that we are. Paul gives an impressive list of accomplishments, yet says that they mean nothing in comparison to giving his life to Christ. We are flesh, we can’t help but to live in the flesh. And the reality is that we all work hard in the flesh. When we work for something, we want to be acknowledged for it. If I worked 12 hours on a project, I am not going to donate my pay to the church, I am going to put it in my pocket. I earned it. And yet Paul reminds us that if it had not been for Christ in our lives, we would not have the strength to work, so we need to acknowledge Christ in everything. We have to remember, that no matter how hard we work, we will never be perfect. As long as we are in the flesh, we need to strive for what it right, realizing that we will not be perfect until death.
Matthew: In his last days, Jesus has taken on the tasks of tasks. To challenge the thinking of the religious powers that be in hopes that they will respect his teachings. When he realizes that is probably not going to happen, Jesus hopes to at least get them to think about what they are doing. To at least add another perspective to their thinking. Not only are they not willing to listen, they want to kill him. That is why he tells the parable of the people who kill the son of the landowner. People get violent when you try to tear apart their raquet. When you tell them to give up their unfair advantage over others. Jesus knows that in the midst of the dialogue, there are some people who are listening and taking what he says to heart. Are you one of those people?
Questions: How has knowing Christ changed your priorities in life? What things used to be really important to you, which now are not as important? How did knowing Christ change Paul’s priorities? Is there something we can learn from him? When does being a righteous person become a burden? Is it possible to be so righteous that you start to destroy the faith of other people? How do we heal the people that we have heart in our zealousness?
Philippians: The principle lesson of Philippians is that Christ is the center of our lives and of all that we are. Paul gives an impressive list of accomplishments, yet says that they mean nothing in comparison to giving his life to Christ. We are flesh, we can’t help but to live in the flesh. And the reality is that we all work hard in the flesh. When we work for something, we want to be acknowledged for it. If I worked 12 hours on a project, I am not going to donate my pay to the church, I am going to put it in my pocket. I earned it. And yet Paul reminds us that if it had not been for Christ in our lives, we would not have the strength to work, so we need to acknowledge Christ in everything. We have to remember, that no matter how hard we work, we will never be perfect. As long as we are in the flesh, we need to strive for what it right, realizing that we will not be perfect until death.
Matthew: In his last days, Jesus has taken on the tasks of tasks. To challenge the thinking of the religious powers that be in hopes that they will respect his teachings. When he realizes that is probably not going to happen, Jesus hopes to at least get them to think about what they are doing. To at least add another perspective to their thinking. Not only are they not willing to listen, they want to kill him. That is why he tells the parable of the people who kill the son of the landowner. People get violent when you try to tear apart their raquet. When you tell them to give up their unfair advantage over others. Jesus knows that in the midst of the dialogue, there are some people who are listening and taking what he says to heart. Are you one of those people?
Questions: How has knowing Christ changed your priorities in life? What things used to be really important to you, which now are not as important? How did knowing Christ change Paul’s priorities? Is there something we can learn from him? When does being a righteous person become a burden? Is it possible to be so righteous that you start to destroy the faith of other people? How do we heal the people that we have heart in our zealousness?
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Sepember 24, 2011
Breaking Open the Scriptures
Scriptures for September 25th: Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32; Song: Trust and Obey – UMH 467 Theme: God has a plan for us, if we just follow it.
Philippians: Paul has one major theme in all of his writings – that theme is Christ. Specifically, it is life in Christ. Christ is life, and anything else is death. Today Paul talks about what it means to live in Christ. It means living in community with people that are not like us. Christ will give us what we need in order to overcome our differences. The theme for today’s reading is unity. As Christians if Christ is our center: then we can be of the same mind, same love, and on the same accord. Paul uses a familiar hymn to remind the congregation of what it means to be one body of Christ. What are the songs of unity that we sing today? We sing them, but do we really live them out. Do we love all Christians? What stands in the way?
Matthew: By what authority is Christ allowed to work in your life? Do you give Jesus permission, or do you trust the will of God? As Jesus begins his teaching ministry – those same questions are asked of him – who gives you authority to do what you do? Jesus knew that any answer that he gave would be the wrong answer for the crowd. So he gives a parable instead – a parable of obeying the word of God. He was pointing out that sometimes it is those who think the most of God, who do the least of what God tells them. They (we) get so caught up on our own understanding that we forget that God is not in our minds and our hearts. The word of God is in the bible, and we have to constantly check our actions and our thoughts against the word in order to truly obey God. And that we need to be more concerned about our own actions than the actions of others.
Questions: What situations in our congregation require us to be on one accord? What do we need to do in order to get there? Is Christ really the center of the church? Does Christ have authority to work in our lives? By what authority to we do our work in the world?
Scriptures for September 25th: Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32; Song: Trust and Obey – UMH 467 Theme: God has a plan for us, if we just follow it.
Philippians: Paul has one major theme in all of his writings – that theme is Christ. Specifically, it is life in Christ. Christ is life, and anything else is death. Today Paul talks about what it means to live in Christ. It means living in community with people that are not like us. Christ will give us what we need in order to overcome our differences. The theme for today’s reading is unity. As Christians if Christ is our center: then we can be of the same mind, same love, and on the same accord. Paul uses a familiar hymn to remind the congregation of what it means to be one body of Christ. What are the songs of unity that we sing today? We sing them, but do we really live them out. Do we love all Christians? What stands in the way?
Matthew: By what authority is Christ allowed to work in your life? Do you give Jesus permission, or do you trust the will of God? As Jesus begins his teaching ministry – those same questions are asked of him – who gives you authority to do what you do? Jesus knew that any answer that he gave would be the wrong answer for the crowd. So he gives a parable instead – a parable of obeying the word of God. He was pointing out that sometimes it is those who think the most of God, who do the least of what God tells them. They (we) get so caught up on our own understanding that we forget that God is not in our minds and our hearts. The word of God is in the bible, and we have to constantly check our actions and our thoughts against the word in order to truly obey God. And that we need to be more concerned about our own actions than the actions of others.
Questions: What situations in our congregation require us to be on one accord? What do we need to do in order to get there? Is Christ really the center of the church? Does Christ have authority to work in our lives? By what authority to we do our work in the world?
Sunday, September 11, 2011
September 18, 2011
Scriptures for September 18th : Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16; Giving us what we deserve; song: UMH 130 – God will take care of you.
Exodus: Apparently, being set free and put into the promised land is not enough to free our souls. Now we have to survive from day to day, and we don’t know how to do that. Why would God free us, only to kill us by not taking care of us? we all have our moments when we are concerned and ask for God to take care of us. The Isrealites were able to exit Egypt. They saw the amazing salvation of God. But now they felt that they were in the middle of no where. They had no idea of what to do. God challenged them to open their minds and to think in a brand new way. To learn to trust in a brand new way. Eventually they were fed and taken care of even in the midst of their doubt.
Matthew: This scripture challenges our idea what it means to be fair. In a world that is fair, it is a world where we are unequal. If I work harder than you, then I should be given more than you. This is the story of workers who have been given a job. Some worked 8 hours, some worked an hour. All got paid exactly the same. That is what is fair in God’s world. That reminds us that God’s grace is not something that we can ever earn, it is something that is freely given. It is not in how hard we work, but in how much God cares for our needs. If God gives us grace, we are we to give to others?
Questions: When in your life have you followed God’s leading, yet questioned whether God would see you through? How long did you fear? When has God provided for your needs, when you could not care for yourself? If you had to use God’s measure of fairness and not your own, how would that change the way you treat people? Are we treated fairly in work? How do we address this injustice?
Exodus: Apparently, being set free and put into the promised land is not enough to free our souls. Now we have to survive from day to day, and we don’t know how to do that. Why would God free us, only to kill us by not taking care of us? we all have our moments when we are concerned and ask for God to take care of us. The Isrealites were able to exit Egypt. They saw the amazing salvation of God. But now they felt that they were in the middle of no where. They had no idea of what to do. God challenged them to open their minds and to think in a brand new way. To learn to trust in a brand new way. Eventually they were fed and taken care of even in the midst of their doubt.
Matthew: This scripture challenges our idea what it means to be fair. In a world that is fair, it is a world where we are unequal. If I work harder than you, then I should be given more than you. This is the story of workers who have been given a job. Some worked 8 hours, some worked an hour. All got paid exactly the same. That is what is fair in God’s world. That reminds us that God’s grace is not something that we can ever earn, it is something that is freely given. It is not in how hard we work, but in how much God cares for our needs. If God gives us grace, we are we to give to others?
Questions: When in your life have you followed God’s leading, yet questioned whether God would see you through? How long did you fear? When has God provided for your needs, when you could not care for yourself? If you had to use God’s measure of fairness and not your own, how would that change the way you treat people? Are we treated fairly in work? How do we address this injustice?
Sunday, September 4, 2011
September 11, 2011
Scriptures for September 11th : Exodus 14:19-31; Exodus 15:1-11, 20-21; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35; Theme: How we treat one another as a church; UMH 560 – Help us Accept Each Other
Exodus: This text is about the departure in the Red Sea. This is an important text no matter what our faith. Because if God can do this for the Isrealites, then God can do it for us. God does it for us ever day. God sets us free from our burdens, God prepares a way in the midst of no way. This is the moment where the great I am proves to be more than the God of the ancestors. This is the God who is in charge of the wind, the sea, the heavens and everything in between. This is the God who will use all of that and more to give us freedom and salvation. This is a week for remembering that God is a God of the Christians, Jews and Muslims. If that is so, then as people of faith, we have to love and live with all kinds. In the name of Gods love.
Romans: We are still reading text that tell us how we should treat one another in the church. And Paul says that we should treat everyone with mutual respect. The church is not a group of like minded people, the church is a group of faith minded people. We don’t always think alike. We don’t always agree on the same things. And Paul is saying that is okay. We need to be careful in how we judge people to be wrong. Only God was that power. We have to leave everything up to God. Our task is to figure out how to put differences aside and live as one body of Christ. Carrying on the mission in spite of ourselves.
Questions: How does God continue to lead us out of bondage today? Who are the leaders that God sends to lead us out of bondage? How do we become a people of faith that honors all of those in the God family? How do you treat others who seem to live their faith differently than you? Where do you draw the line on who follows God in the right way? Who or what is the judge of the right way to be faithful?
Exodus: This text is about the departure in the Red Sea. This is an important text no matter what our faith. Because if God can do this for the Isrealites, then God can do it for us. God does it for us ever day. God sets us free from our burdens, God prepares a way in the midst of no way. This is the moment where the great I am proves to be more than the God of the ancestors. This is the God who is in charge of the wind, the sea, the heavens and everything in between. This is the God who will use all of that and more to give us freedom and salvation. This is a week for remembering that God is a God of the Christians, Jews and Muslims. If that is so, then as people of faith, we have to love and live with all kinds. In the name of Gods love.
Romans: We are still reading text that tell us how we should treat one another in the church. And Paul says that we should treat everyone with mutual respect. The church is not a group of like minded people, the church is a group of faith minded people. We don’t always think alike. We don’t always agree on the same things. And Paul is saying that is okay. We need to be careful in how we judge people to be wrong. Only God was that power. We have to leave everything up to God. Our task is to figure out how to put differences aside and live as one body of Christ. Carrying on the mission in spite of ourselves.
Questions: How does God continue to lead us out of bondage today? Who are the leaders that God sends to lead us out of bondage? How do we become a people of faith that honors all of those in the God family? How do you treat others who seem to live their faith differently than you? Where do you draw the line on who follows God in the right way? Who or what is the judge of the right way to be faithful?
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