tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-166513272024-03-12T23:57:33.884-04:00Just As I Am"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Micah 6:8Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-81081769906075483112010-08-07T18:04:00.001-04:002010-08-07T18:08:00.604-04:00Sunday School Lesson: Giving of Oneself<p class="MsoNormal">Purpose:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To realize that expressing the mind or attitude of Christ results in a willingness to serve others.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Scripture:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Philippians 2:1 – 13</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Today’s Bible lesson contains one of the best known passages in Paul’s letters.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is one of my favorites.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This passage even contains an early church hymn (verses 6-11).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There is one word that is repeated three times in this passage.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That word is “mind”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When you use the word “mind” what do you mean by it?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There are at least twenty definitions for the word “mind” in Merriam-</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Webster’s Dictionary, about evenly divided between noun and verb.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>No definition that I found matches exactly the usage of Paul in this passage.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I am going to give you a few sentences or phrases with the word “mind” and let’s talk about how the word is used:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Keep that in mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>=<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Don’t forget about it.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“I’ve changed my mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>= (usually) “I’ve decided to do something else.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Or “I’m not going to do what I said I would do.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Don’t pay him any mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>= “He has nothing to say of any value.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Or “He’s full of …..”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“I don’t mind.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>=<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“You are not imposing<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>on me.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One definition of “mind” is, <span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;color:black"> “</span></span>the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This definition is not very far from Paul’s definition.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Other words that could describe Paul’s us of “mind” include “personality” or “character”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But none of these words completely get it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For Paul the word “mind” included the whole person:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>thinking, feeling, willing, and acting.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In our student book there is mention of a Sunday School class called the Joy Class.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In that class was a sign which displayed the class motto:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Jesus First, Others Second, Yourself Last.</i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What do you think of that acronym?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What would Paul have thought of<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>J.O.Y.?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul probably would have agreed but would have added:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Putting others first is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">how</i> we put Jesus first.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Php 2:1-4 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In Chapter 1 of the<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Letter to the Philippians Paul called on the Philippians to live “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In these verses Paul continued to expand upon what it means to live that type of life.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is the root cause of most internal conflicts in churches?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul put his finger on church conflict in verses two and three:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>individuals acting out of selfish ambition rather than out of humility.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The opposite of “being in full accord” is to be in discord.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To act out of selfish ambition is to put yourself first and to make your needs, wants, and concerns the highest priority.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Ambition itself can be a good thing as it motivates us to work hard and do the best job we can.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But selfishness combined with ambition is toxic.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Nothing undermines a church’s unity more quickly than individuals putting their own self interest above those of others.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Selfish ambition is totally at odds with the church’s purpose.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What did Paul prescribe as the antidote to selfish ambition?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Humility.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Regard others as better than ourselves and act accordingly.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What does humility mean?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The act of being humble.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How do we become humble?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Does humility require that we put ourselves down or think lowly of ourselves?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is the difference between humility and insecurity or low self-esteem?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Humility does not mean thinking poorly of yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>True humility is putting the needs and concerns of others above your own.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The root word of “humble” is the word humus which means earth.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is it possible to think too lowly of yourself? Can humility be overdone?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">To be safe which would be better: to err on the side of being too humble or on the side of being too proud?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Humility means two things. One, a capacity for self-criticism.... The second feature is allowing others to shine, affirming others, empowering and enabling others.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Are we to ignore our own interests?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Does anything bad happen if we ignore our own interests altogether?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="Answers" style="margin-left:0in">I must take responsibility for my own needs. If I refuse to meet my own personal needs, someone else must meet them for me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then I am not placing their needs ahead of my own.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That is not humility.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Who has been an example to you of genuine, biblical humility?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If we are to be of one mind, does that mean that we must agree on everything?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Php 2:5-11 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How much difference does attitude make? Can you think of an example?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Anyone have a story?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="Answers" style="margin-left:0in">There is a story of a certain organization offering a bounty of $5,000 for wolves captured alive. It turned Sam and Jed into fortune hunters. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forests looking for their valuable prey.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Exhausted one night, they fell asleep dreaming of their potential fortune. Suddenly, Sam awoke to see that they were surrounded by about fifty wolves with flaming eyes and bared teeth. He nudged his friend and said, "Jed, wake up! We're rich!"</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What do we learn about Jesus from this passage?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This early hymn recorded in verses 6-11 portrays the Christ story in three movements:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>preexistence, existence, postexistence.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Christ has always existed with God. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">To say that Christ preexisted, was with God prior to life on earth, is common in the New Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>At least five passages attest to this idea but the passages are difficult for us because the idea of preexistence is for us finite beings a foreign idea.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Christ is equal to God because he is God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Christ did not hold on to his preexistent state.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Though Christ is God, he became a man in order to fulfill God's plan of salvation for all people. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Christ chose to empty himself.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Christ did not just have the appearance of being a man—he actually became human to identify with us. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Christ voluntarily laid aside his divine rights and privileges out of love for his Father. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Christ died on the cross for our sins so we wouldn't have to face eternal death. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Up to this point in the hymn it is Christ who decides and who acts, relinquishing claims, emptying himself, becoming human, serving, obeying, dying.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Now it is God who acts.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">God highly exalted Christ because of his obedience. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jesus Christ is Lord.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">God raised Christ to his original position at the Father's right hand, where he will reign forever as our Lord and Judge.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is submission of the lordship of Christ limited to the human realm?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How did humility benefit Jesus?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">With all of these thoughts in mind what does it mean to “let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus”?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does humility benefit us?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Verse 11 is one of the most important in the New Testament.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jesus Christ is Lord.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Those four words were the first creed that the Christian Church ever had.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To be a Christian is to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was a simple creed, yet all encompassing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Over the years, there have been arguments and disagreements as to what those four words mean exactly, but it is still true and always will be that anyone who can say “Jesus Christ is Lord” is a Christian.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If we can say that, we mean that we are prepared to give him an obedience that we are prepared to give to no one else.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Php 2:12-13 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is the difference between work out and work for your salvation? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What exactly does it mean to work out your salvation?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">From the earliest days of the church, the relationship between the power of God and the responsibility of believers in living the Christian life has been debated.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Is the Christian life essentially a matter of passive trust or of active obedience? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is it all God's doing, all the believer's doing, or a combination of both? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This is not an unusual question when dealing with spiritual truth; in fact, the same question arises about salvation itself. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is it all God's doing, or is there a requirement on man's part in response to the command to believe the gospel?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Scripture makes it clear that it involves both God's sovereignty and human response.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Does Christian living require a lot of effort or very little effort?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What part does grace play in our salvation?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sanctifying grace:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.</span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We work out our salvation only by the grace of God.</p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-44018060852717472922010-07-24T14:51:00.001-04:002010-07-24T14:53:34.947-04:00Sunday School Lesson for July 25<p class="MsoNormal">Lesson:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God’s Own Faithfulness</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Purpose:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To learn how God’s faithfulness to us requires that we live faithfully.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Scripture:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>2 Thessalonians 3</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let’s each share the name of someone who has been one example of genuine Christian living for you?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Who have been the persons in your life who have been there when you needed them?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How do you feel when you know someone is praying for you?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you, and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Th 3:1-5 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What did Paul request in verse 1?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Prayer</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For what, specifically, did Paul ask them to pray?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">He asked “that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere” and “that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people”.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">For not all have faith, but the Lord is faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In contrast to the faithlessness of those who were opposing Paul was the great faithfulness of God.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">What type of opposition does the ministries and missions of the church face today?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Have you ever been prayed for in regard to a specific mission or undertaking?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Have you ever prayed for someone else involved in mission or ministry?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-weight:normal">For most of it’s history the Church has been in a process of slow, steady growth.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Most of our ministries and outreach seem geared toward a goal of slow, steady growth.</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""> </span><span style="font-weight:normal">Did Paul long for slow, steady growth?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is the church in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> growing today?</p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">After decades of net decline, more <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> churches are being started each year (approximately 4,000) than are being closed each year (approximately 3,500).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Total church membership in the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> is up .49% this year to 147.3 million, just under ½ of the total population.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Is the church world-wide growing?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Worldwide the statistics are much more positive than in the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">There are now about 600 million Christians in <st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place>. Protestant Christianity grew 600 percent in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Vietnam</st1:country-region></st1:place> in the last decade. In <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> there are now an estimated 130 million churchgoers.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Astounding church growth has occurred in <st1:country-region st="on">Guatemala</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region st="on">Brazil</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region st="on">India</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Ethiopia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. In <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Nepal</st1:country-region></st1:place>, which had no Christians in 1960, there are now a half-million believers. The Christian population of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Indonesia</st1:place></st1:country-region> has mushroomed from 1.3 million to 11 million in 40 years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Remember we had the Indonesian District Superintendent here a couple of years ago to preach to us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I got to drive him back to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Atlanta</st1:place></st1:city> after the service.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A wonderful man.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The <st1:placename st="on">United</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Methodist</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Church</st1:placetype> in <st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place>, especially has spread rapidly.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">What would it take to see a rapid expansion of the gospel in the <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How could prayer help spread the message of the Lord? <span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does prayer change people or circumstances? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The root word of faithfulness is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">faith</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In current popular usage, the word faith has come to mean in most folks minds an intellectual acknowledgement to a certain set of beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In other words faith has come to be synonymous with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">belief.</i> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In what ways are faith and belief synonymous?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In what ways are they different?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Faith is much more than belief.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith is trust, loyalty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith is dynamic.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Any believer in Jesus can veg out and become essentially a Christian “couch potato”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But faith doesn’t leave room for vegging.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith demands action.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We are not just hearers of the Word, but also doers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?....... faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Jas 2:14-19 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If we accept that faith is trust, what allows trust to develop?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Trust forms only in relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Good relationships are built upon a foundation of trust, and nothing will undermine a relationship like a betrayal of trust.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Why is prayer important?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Prayer is the language of our relationship with God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does prayer protect us? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does our belief about God affect the way we pray?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One of the ways that we live faithfully is to pray for others.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When Paul asked the Thessalonians to pray, he was really asking them to be faithful in their relationship with God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Prayer is a way of connecting with God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does praying for someone connect you to her or him?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When we pray for someone, the person comes to the forefront of our thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We focus on her or his needs and concerns and forget our own.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Praying for one another connects us with what is happening in her or his life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Our prayers can lead to action on her or his behalf.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Verse 4. When he speaks of “doing the things that we command. . .” are we to do the things our pastors command, or is this commanding only a privilege of Paul and friends?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How much authority should a pastor have, biblically?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Th 3:6-13 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There’s another command from Paul.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In this long section Paul pointed to another aspect of living faithfully.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What is that?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul discusses idleness and work.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>According to Paul responsible work is another aspect of the faithful life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why did Paul spend such effort discussing idleness?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After all, whom does idleness really harm?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is idleness simply doing nothing, the same as laziness?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Not really. In this context, idleness involves more than doing nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It also involves doing the wrong things.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is subtle disobedience that is not in keeping with God’s will and purposes for us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There is a difference between doing good things and doing the things God wants us to do.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Not all good ideas are God’s ideas.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At a church administrative council meeting someone observed, “The trouble with the church is that there aren’t enough committed people.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Someone else said, “The trouble with the church is that people are over-committed to the wrong things.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Idleness can refer to being preoccupied with a thousand-and-one good things that allow us to avoid the things God <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">really</i> wants us to do.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We may be busy, but we may be busy doing things other than the things God wants us to do.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Those in the Thessalonian church who Paul called out for their idleness were not just passively sitting around and not bothering anyone else; they were meddling in the affairs of others.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What did Paul refer to them as?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Mere busybodies.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How could these idlers justify their unwillingness to work and earn a living?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the root of their idleness was their belief that the day of the Lord was so close at hand that it rendered working meaningless. They apparently reasoned, “Since Christ is returning any day, why worry about living?”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>These idlers tried to convince their fellow church members of their belief.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They were disrupting community life with their irresponsible behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Those who were not working were relying on the hard work of others for food and shelter, no doubt causing resentment within the church.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What are some modern parallels of this group waiting for the return of the Lord?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We actually have a term for these types of groups today.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They are called “doomsday cults” <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; color:black">and can refer to both groups that prophesy</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">catastrophe</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; color:black"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">and destruction, and those that attempt to bring it about.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Arial;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We have many modern examples:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>the <st1:placename st="on">Unification</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Church</st1:placetype>, the group<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial; color:black"> led by </span></span>Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Jim</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Jones</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Peoples</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Temple</st1:placetype></st1:place>, the Branch Davidians, the Heavens Gate group, and many, many others.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For Paul, living faithfully meant working.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He knew the value of hard work and commended it to the Thessalonians not only by word but also by example.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paul reminded them that he and his companions were self-supporting during their visit there and did not ask the community to support them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For those living faithfully, voluntary idleness is not an option.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Theodore Roosevelt said, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">What counts as “work worth doing”?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">There is value in every kind of work, but doing the kinds of work that make positive differences in peoples lives is a great gift.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What price do the idle pay for their idleness?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Prov 13:4 The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. <o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Prov 15:19 19 The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway. <o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Prov 19:24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth! <o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><o:p> </o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Prov 20:4 A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing. <o:p></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What are the benefits of hard work?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt">Prov 12:14 From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt">Prov 14:23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt">Prov 22:29 Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If you could, do you think you would be happier in a world where you didn’t have to work?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Studies show that workers are happier than those who don’t.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If you could engage in any kind of work, what would you do?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">W</span>hat percentage of your average day do you spend doing those things you really like to do?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">You should ask yourself that often.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If the answer is often negative, you may want to explore some options.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does a person learn good work habits? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family:Symbol"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When have you been frustrated with a lazy person? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family:Symbol"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What kind of help do you think should be given to people who do not work? <span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Do you think God normally calls us into work we love?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Have you ever heard someone say: “I'm afraid to surrender my life totally to the Lord because He might send me to <st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place> as a missionary”? Or have you been cautioned, “Don't say what you don't want to do because, sure enough, that's what God will tell you to do”? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What do those statements say about God?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Such statements indicate a lack of trust and understanding of God's love, for He would not call you to be a missionary in <st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place> unless He knew such a call was best for you. There are many people who serve the Lord in dangerous or impoverished nations, and they would not want to be anywhere else in the world. They love their adopted country and its people, and they know God gave them His best when He invited them to serve Him there. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One missionary couple came back to their home in the <st1:country-region st="on">United States</st1:country-region> for a year with their two children before returning to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Zimbabwe</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Their schedule in the <st1:country-region st="on">United States</st1:country-region> was so full and hurried, they declared, “We can't wait to get back to <st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place>. We love African time!” The place in <st1:place st="on">Africa</st1:place> where they work has no electricity. They go to bed when it gets dark, and they rise with the sun. When they go to a village for a meeting, no schedule drives them. Upon arrival, they send word throughout the village by children. A crowd gathers, and they meet until they are finished. The pace is far less stressful than the frenetic schedule in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How literally do you take verse 10?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">According to verse 10, if a man won't work don't let him eat. If he comes to us saying, "I am hungry," should we tell him, "Starve."?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A common argument about our contemporary welfare system is that it is an incentive not to work.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That is not the whole story.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even before the 1996 Welfare reforms limited lifetime benefits to five total years (two consecutive years)<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>House Committee on Ways and Means analyses indicated that 56 percent of AFDC support ended within 12 months, 70 percent within 24 months, and almost 85 percent within 4 years. These exit rates clearly contradict the widespread myth that AFDC recipients wanted to remain on public assistance or that welfare dependency was permanent.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is a very, very, very small percentage of Americans who don’t want to work.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed. Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Th 3:14-15 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In these verses Paul introduced another aspect of living faithfully:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>how we treat those who are disruptive or difficult.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What did Paul advise the Thessalonians to do?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is what Paul suggesting a sort of “time-out” for unruly church members?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What second piece of advice did Paul offer in verse 15?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The disruptive idlers were not to be treated as enemies but as siblings.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even though they were disobedient, these persons were still part of the church.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul offered a first century version of tough love.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He did not want the Thessalonians to tolerate irresponsible behavior, and he wanted them to do what they could to correct it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He asked them to treat the difficult members with love.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is Paul’s advice still valid in the twenty-first century?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Do you believe that the strategies for dealing with disruptive members would work?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why or why not?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Have any of you had to confront irresponsible behavior within the church community?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What happened?</p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-1338162282303240662010-07-10T11:14:00.001-04:002010-07-10T11:17:24.527-04:00Sunday School Lesson: Glory to Christ<p class="MsoNormal">Purpose:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To discern how steadfastness and resolve during trying times bringing glory to Christ.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Scripture:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>2 Thessalonians 1</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What can we do to keep our faith growing?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What times or events in your life have been most trying?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“These are the times that try men’s souls”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Those immortal words are from the opening line of the essay <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Crisis</i> written by Thomas Paine on December 23, 1776.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The essay was so inspiring to General Washington that he ordered it read to the troops at <st1:place st="on">Valley Forge</st1:place>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">War is a trying time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Especially for the warriors and their families.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The winter of 1777 at <st1:place st="on">Valley Forge</st1:place> was a very trying time.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span> It was there that the Continental army was desperately against the ropes — bloody, beaten, battle-weary — and ready to quit. Even General Washington conceded, "If the army does not get help soon, in all likelihood it will disband."</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Early into the six-month encampment, there was hunger, disease, and despair. Raw weather stung and numbed the soldiers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The images are heartrending, dramatic and so powerful that they are embedded in the nation's historical consciousness: Bloody footprints in the snow left by bootless men. Near naked soldiers wrapped in thin blankets huddled around a smoky fire of green wood. The plaintive chant from the starving: "We want meat! We want meat!"</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The future promised only more desperation and starvation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some couldn't take the cold, hunger, and uncertainty any longer. There were numerous desertions. Disease debilitated. Death descended in droves.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">No battle was fought at <st1:place st="on">Valley Forge</st1:place>, yet it is considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What happened?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On June 19, 1778, exactly six months after they Americans arrived, a new army anxious to fight the British streamed out of Valley Forge toward <st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">New Jersey</st1:place></st1:state>. They had been transformed from rebels into a Mature Army.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">At <st1:place st="on">Valley Forge</st1:place>, we read of words like "sacrifice” but the concept of suffering for freedom isn't easily to understood. What kept these men going? What happened at <st1:place st="on">Valley Forge</st1:place>?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">“These are the times that try men’s souls.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">But war is not the only time or circumstance that can try one’s soul.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Everyone has a story.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Everyone has or will at some time encounter trying times – difficult, discouraging, challenging times.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sudden illness.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Don’t even get me started on that one…..</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Chronic illness.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The death of a loved one.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">With illness we have to deal not only with the physical issues but also the emotional.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">And many illnesses are not resolved quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There could be years of pain and discomfort.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If the death of a loved one is sudden and unexpected the shock could be devastating and could linger for years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even if the death is expected, there could still be long periods of grieving.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Coping with illness and surviving the death of a loved one are some of the most trying times that we will ever face in life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There are also other trials, both great and small, that confront us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Each of us knows what tries our soul.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How can a person go through trials and yet have their faith strengthened? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The believers in Thessalonica were living in a time of trial.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The two letters of Paul to the Thessalonians do not detail the nature of the persecutions.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paul does let us know that the Thessalonians were suffering from “afflictions”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This does not tell us whether the suffering was physical or emotional or both.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And it really doesn’t matter as to the exact nature of the suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Only that the suffering was a result of their Christian faith.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What they need in their trying times was the strength to survive the trials.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They needed steadfastness of faith and resolve of will.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>According to Paul, the Thessalonian believers possessed a great measure of both.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We need steadfastness and resolve during our trying times as well.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This lesson can help us discern how these qualities of character bring glory to God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Th 1:3 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Everybody pick one of Paul’s letters and turn to the first chapter of it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Read the first few verses.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Here are a few examples:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">To all God's beloved in <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Rome</st1:city></st1:place>, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Rom 1:7-8 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-indent:.5in;mso-layout-grid-align: none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(1Co 1:3-5 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Php 1:2-4 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Colossae</st1:place></st1:city>: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(<st1:state st="on"><st1:place st="on">Col</st1:place></st1:state> 1:2-3 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What do we learn about Paul from the greetings of his epistles?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">All if Paul’s letters contain a “thanksgiving” section immediately after the initial “greeting”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even when the purpose of one of Paul’s letters was to scold the church, he <span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">began most of his letters by stating what he most appreciated about his readers and the joy he felt because of their faith in God. We also should look for ways to encourage and build up other believers.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Th 1:4 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What was the first of three specific things that Paul was thankful for in the case of the Thessalonians?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">First, he was thankful that their “faith is growing abundantly”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What was the cause of their abundant growth in faith?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Apparently and ironically, it seems as if the trials they were facing was the cause of this abundant growth in faith.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Do we usually view our trials as a positive thing?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We usually go to great lengths to avoid the pain and suffering of trials.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How can our trials become an opportunity for our faith to grow?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Henry Ward Beecher a prominent preacher of the 19<sup>th</sup> century said, “We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Think about that:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>faith is strengthened on the anvil of trials.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Have any of you ever watched a blacksmith at his forge?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rough pieces of red hot iron can be shaped into many useful items by hammering on an anvil.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The working surface of the iron is actually strengthened by the heating, hammering, and cooling process.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This process is called annealing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How can our faith be annealed by suffering?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What happens is that suffering gives us an opportunity to exercise our faith and trust in God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>During times of trial, we tend to turn to God for empowerment and help.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Every time we turn to God we strengthen that relationship.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is the mark of developing Christians that they grow surer of Jesus Christ every day.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith begins as theoretical and ends as a certainty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The thrill of Christian experience progresses to the discipline of Christian thought and action.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What was Paul’s second reason for thanksgiving?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Love.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The love that each of the Thessalonians had for the others was increasing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What was the cause of the increasing love?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The answer is the same:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>because of persecutions and afflicitions.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How is it that suffering can increase love?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When we suffer together, there is a feeling that “we’re in this together.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Suffering common trials can draw us closer together and bring out a deeper compassion for each other.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The word compassion literally means “to suffer with.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; <span style="color:teal">(1Co 12:26 NRSV)</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I can speak to this issue also.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Because of our recent trials there are people, quite a few in fact, whom I have a whole new opinion of.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not that I necessarily had bad opinions before, but folks with whom I had a casual relationship at best, I now think of as family.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And family is much more family than ever before.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is one sure mark of a healthy church?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A healthy church, grows greater in love.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And that love shows itself in service.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Christians begin serving others out of a sense of duty which their faith puts on them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They will eventually come to the point where serving others gives them their greatest joy.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The life of service opens up the great discovery that unselfishness and joy go hand in hand.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What was the third reason Paul gave for thanksgiving?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Thessalonians “steadfastness” in enduring persecutions and afflictions.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Not only was Paul thankful for this but he boasted, like a parent proud of a child’s accomplishments.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The word Paul used (hupomone) is usually translated as steadfastness or endurance is defined as “constancy which endures”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This hupomone does not mean the ability to passively bear whatever trials may befall us but to actively overcome our trials.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It accepts the blows of life but in accepting them transforms them into stepping stones to new achievement.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How do you think Paul could see the Thessalonians’ faith growing? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How did he know? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is the evidence of a life of more and more faith?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul called the Thessalonians faith “growing abundantly”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Other translations say “flourishing” or “groweth exceedingly”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paul could see that their faith was flourishing and that they were all growing in love for each other. Paul chose colorful words to describe this growth. The word translated "flourishing" (hyperauxenei) is used only here in the New Testament and speaks of the type of growth a healthy plant makes. The picture is of internal growth, like that of an oak tree. The word translated "growing" (pleonazei) is also a strong verb picturing something that spreads out or disperses widely—like floodwaters. The Thessalonians' internal faith was flourishing like a healthy plant; their external love was spreading out to many.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How do we grow our faith? What is the fertilizer for faith?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We have to go to God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Prayer, worship, Bible study, works of piety and works of compassion: all are the fertilizer of faith.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When we are going through difficulties, how do we know God hasn’t forgotten us? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What are some reasons we use to explain why we experience trials and hard times? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How could trials and hard times be part of God’s plan for us? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, and is intended to make you worthy of the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">kingdom</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">God</st1:placename></st1:place>, for which you are also suffering. For it is indeed just of God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to the afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes to be glorified by his saints and to be marveled at on that day among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Th 1:5-10 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When someone we love is hurt, what is the natural human response?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">We want vengeance.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We demand justice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Retribution.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Can our desire for justice cross over into vindictiveness?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Easily.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is the difference between our idea of justice and God’s idea of justice?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">God’s idea of justice:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Mat 5:39-41 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Mat 5:43-44 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Mat 6:14-15 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">"Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Mat 7:1-2 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Is Paul’s view of justice consistent with Jesus’ teachings?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Rom 12:17-19 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul’s view of justice was in perfect alignment with Jesus’ teachings.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In Paul’s view vengeance is always best left to God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God will not act out of vindictiveness but out of loving justice.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul was always clear that God is the judge of right and wrong and will hold all (even saved Christians) accountable.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">One way to view divine justice is to see it in terms of natural consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Those who persecuted the Thessalonians would get what they deserved because they brought it on themselves.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What consequences would be the natural result of the persecutors of the Thessalonian church (and all sinners)? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They cut themselves off from their fellow human beings, harming the unity of their community.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They separate themselves from a life-giving relationship with God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul believed that this alienation from God would continue beyond physical death.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How does grace and forgiveness fit into this picture of justice?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If accountability and consequences are one side of divine justice, then forgiveness is the other.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Forgiveness is offered to all, even those who persecute Christians.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Remember Paul began as a persecutor.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What did God’s forgiveness do for Paul?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It transformed him into the greatest missionary Christianity has ever known.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Do you agree or disagree with Paul’s portrayal of divine justice?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Th 1:11-12 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our sufferings and difficulties can be easier to endure when we know there is a purpose or reason for them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What reason did Paul give the Thessalonians for their suffering?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They were glorifying God by their steadfastness in the face of diversity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How would it make you feel to hear this prayer of Paul in your time of suffering?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Lord, whenever things do not turn out the way we anticipate, help us not to become discouraged and fail to trust you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Give us the strength and determination to remain faithful to you regardless of the circumstances or the consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In Jesus’ name we pray.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Amen</p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-41733191827885778892010-06-13T09:19:00.001-04:002010-06-13T09:23:54.321-04:00Sunday School Lesson: Pleasing to God<p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">Purpose:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To explore the conflicts and connections involved in pleasing God and pleasing people.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Scripture:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>1 Thessalonians 2</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p>In 1780 John Wesley published a pamphlet titled “Directions for Renewing our Covenant with God”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For Wesley one part of <span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black">what it meant to be a mature disciple of Christ was the joining together of Christian believers in a covenant "to serve God with all our heart and with all our soul."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black">He urged his Methodist followers to renew, "at every point, our covenant, that the Lord should be our God."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black">Many churches use a variation of Wesley’s Covenant Service for the first service of every new year or on Ash Wednesday.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A modern version of the service is in the United Methodist Church Book of Worship.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In Wesley’s Covenant Service we find these words:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; color:black">Christ has many services to be done. Some are more easy and honorable; others are more difficult and disgraceful. Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests, others are contrary to both.</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Verdana; color:black"> </span></i></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Verdana;color:black"><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family:Verdana">In some we may please Christ and please ourselves. But then there are other works where we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves.</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><br /><br /><em><span style="font-family:Verdana">It is necessary, therefore, that we consider what it means to be a servant of Christ.</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black; mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Do you agree that often our desire to please God comes into conflict with pleasing ourselves and others?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black; mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black; mso-bidi-font-style:italic">When have you experienced a conflict between pleasing God and pleasing others?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black; mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black; mso-bidi-font-style:italic">When have you suffered because of your faith?<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black; mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black; mso-bidi-font-style:italic">Paul answered that question in today’s Bible Lesson.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color:black; mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(1Th 2:1-2 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What indignities had Paul suffered at <st1:place st="on">Philippi</st1:place>?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That incident is described in Acts 16:12-40. Paul had cast a “spirit of divination” out of a slave girl.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her owners had used this girl as a source of income.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Upset over the loss of their money maker, the owners took Paul and Silas before the civil authorities with charges of “disturbing our city”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Act 16:22-24 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When the authorities learned that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they released them and apologized.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But they still asked them to leave <st1:place st="on">Philippi</st1:place>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Verse 1.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“You yourselves know..”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paul uses this phrase nine times throughout the letter to the Thessalonians.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(1:5, 2:1, 2:2, 2:11, 3:3, 3:4, 4:2, 4:4, 5:2)<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><br />Paul is encouraging the Thessalonian believers to use their own faith experience as a testimony to the reality of the gospel.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“declare to you the gospel of God”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is the gospel of God?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Gospel translates literally as “good news”, not “good advice” or “good ideas” or “good rules to live by”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The gospel announces the act of God in Christ for human salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God is both the content and the source of the good news. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What kind of welcome would Donalsonville give to a new preacher in town when word got out that he had just been released from jail and asked to leave the last town he was in?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">What was Paul’s visit to Thessalonica like?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Act 17:4 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Some, but not all:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar….. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Act 17:5 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul was forced to flee Thessalonica as well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So why does he say that “our coming was not in vain”?</p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">What would have had to have been true for the trip to be a failure?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What does failure and success mean in following God?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">At 7 p.m. on October 20, 1968, a few thousand spectators remained in the Mexico City Olympic Stadium. It was cool and dark. The last of the marathon runners, each exhausted, were being carried off to first-aid stations. More than an hour earlier, Mamo Wolde of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Ethiopia</st1:country-region></st1:place>—looking as fresh as when he started the race—crossed the finish line, the winner of the 26-mile event.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">As the remaining spectators prepared to leave, those sitting near the marathon gates suddenly heard the sound of sirens and police whistles. All eyes turned to the gate. A lone figure wearing number 36 and the colors of <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Tanzania</st1:country-region></st1:place> entered the stadium. His name was John Stephen Akhwari. He was the last man to finish the marathon. He had fallen during the race and injured his knee and ankle. Now, with his leg bloodied and bandaged, he grimaced with each hobbling step around the 400-meter track.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">The spectators rose and applauded him. After crossing the finish line, Akhwari slowly walked off the field. Later, a reporter asked Akhwari the question on everyone's mind: "Why did you continue the race after you were so badly injured?"<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">He replied, "My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Only quitters are failures at following God.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Can you think of examples of people who failed and went on to succeed greatly?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">On August 6, 1999, a major-league baseball player stepped up to the plate and made another out—the 5,113th of his professional career.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Was the player discouraged that night? No. Did he think he had failed himself or his team? No. You see, earlier in the same game, in his first plate appearance, that player had reached a milestone that only twenty-one other people in the history of baseball have ever achieved. He had made his 3,000th hit. That player was Tony Gwynn.<span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Tony Gwynn averages one hit for every three at bats.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In baseball one in three is huge.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">When you hear the words charlatan and huckster, what behaviors come to mind?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(1Th 2:3-8 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Behind verse 3 there are no fewer than three charges and Paul seems to be on the defensive:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in; mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">It was possible that some charged that Paul’s preaching came from delusion or deceit.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Anyone with a truly original thought runs the risk of being called mad.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There was even a time (Mark 3:21) when Jesus’ friends came to take him home because they thought he was mad.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Christian standards are so different from the standards of the world that those who follow them with enthusiasm can appear to be out of their minds.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>John Wesley was accused by some of being an “enthusiast”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>for which he responded with a sermon on the dangers of “enthusiasm”.<o:p></o:p></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in; mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">It could have been said that Paul’s preaching sprang from impure motives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The word translated as impure was often used to describe sexual impurity.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in; mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Paul may have been charged with trickery or attempting to delude others.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Charismatic personalities have been known to trick folks into following false beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If a lie is repeated often enough and loudly enough it may become accepted as truth. <o:p></o:p></span></li> </ol> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Verse 4.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Why was Paul entrusted with the gospel?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">What do you think Paul meant when he said that God “tests our hearts”?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Verse 5. Why didn’t Paul use flattery? Why is it wrong to use flattery?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">A flatterer is a person who manipulates rather than communicates.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:6.0pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Are you honest and straightforward in your words and actions? Or do you tell people what they want to hear in order to get what you want or to get ahead?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Verse 6. Have you ever found yourself looking for praise of men?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Have you ever seen a preacher or teacher who gave you the impression that he was only seeking praise for himself rather than giving praise to the only one worthy of praise?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Verse 7.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Here for the first instance in Christian literature we have the word “apostle”.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">What is an apostle?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Apostle literally means “one sent with a particular commission” such as a deputy or one’s legal representative with power of attorney.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">What is the difference between “apostle” and “disciple”?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Disciple means student.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>All followers of Christ who progress in the faith are disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Disciples would necessarily be a much larger group than apostles.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We commonly think of the Twelve Apostles, but Paul, James, and other New Testament figures considered themselves and were considered by others as apostles as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Verse 7. Who has been an example of gentleness for you?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Why is gentleness important?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-weight:normal">Verse 8. Why is it important that we share our lives as well as the gospel?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul not only shared the gospel, which many of us want to do, but he shared his life as well. This involved sacrifice; looking out for others' interests and not just his own (Philippians 2:17); and close personal involvement, not impersonal clinical detachment. He loved them—entering into their lives, their joys, and their struggles.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">To be effective in reaching people, we must share ourselves person-to-person. When a person feels cared for, he or she will be open to listening to us share about our faith.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers. As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(1Th 2:9-12 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Why were the missionaries willing to give their very lives for the sake of the Thessalonians? (v. 8)? How did they support themselves (v. 9)?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><strong><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><o:p> </o:p></span></strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">Love shaped by the gospel is never just a matter of feeling. It always translates into action. The missionaries had such a yearning love for the Thessalonians that they were willing to give not only the gospel but also their very lives for them (1 Thess. 2:8).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">Paul now cites an obvious demonstration of his love for the Thessalonians: he supported himself by working as a tentmaker rather than accepting money for preaching to them (v. 9). Paul will later explain in 1 Corinthians 9:1–18 his practice of self-support. There he asserts that he has the right to expect to be paid for his preaching, no less because he is an apostle of Christ. However, he willingly surrenders that right so that his support will not be a burden for those to whom he preaches or an impediment to their listening to <i>the gospel.</i> It is a practice that imitates Christ’s own loving self-sacrifice.</span> <span style="color:red"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">How did Paul summarize the missionaries’ behavior among the Thessalonians? (v. 10)</span></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto">The minister’s<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN"> behavior was not just an expression of their lives before God. It also provided the example that shaped the lives of the Thessalonians. It is often said that the gospel is better “caught” than taught. Paul demonstrates that truth in this section.</span> </p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">What did the fatherly care of the new believers include? (v. 11)<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">How is maternal love different from paternal love?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></p> <p><strong><span style="font-weight:normal;mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Can one person embody both kinds of love?</span></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">Having previously compared themselves with a nursing mother (v. 7), Paul now compares them with <i>a father</i> counseling <i>his children.</i> He says we <i>urged and encouraged</i> them, stressing an urging on toward a goal, in this case a righteous life. With the word <i>pleaded</i> Paul expresses that his teaching had been urgent and insistent. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">Stressing that they had acted this way toward <i>each of you,</i> Paul reminds the Thessalonian Christians of their individual attention and concern for them. Just as a good father treats his children as unique individuals, so the ministers deal with new Christians as unique individuals.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">Which of the two images Paul used (nursing mother or counseling father) is more meaningful to you and why?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">What does it mean to lead a life worthy of God?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language:EN">His point is to urge Christians to conform their lives to the character of God as revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we know God as the God who entered the world as a human being to die for unworthy, rebellious sinners, we are compelled to submit to His authority and become conformed to His image. We want to grow in Christlikeness in response to the wonderful gift we have received. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi- font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-13949128959541025322010-06-04T11:07:00.001-04:002010-06-04T11:12:30.675-04:00Sunday School Lesson: Visible to God<p class="MsoNormal">Purpose:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To see how our words and deeds witness to our Christian commitment.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Scripture:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>1 Thessalonians 1:1-10</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Who is <span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">one person you admire or look up to?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Who in your opinion are the best role models for young people? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family:Symbol"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What would it take for someone to make a lasting impression on you?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What does it mean to witness to our faith?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Do we witness by our words or by our actions?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Which makes the most lasting impression?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I’d like to suggest that we are ALWAYS witnessing.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Every word and every action is either a positive or negative witness to our faith.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t go to church because of the people who do”?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What are some examples of positive witness?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When we act in love, in generosity, and in genuine concern, we are witnessing to the faith within us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When we are kind, gentle, and just we offer a positive witness.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>When we practice civility in a world that relishes in rude and discourteous conduct we offer a positive witness.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In today’s Bible lesson, Paul praises the Christians in Thessalonica for their positive witness.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He cited their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paul told them that not only were they positive examples to Christians living nearby; their shining example had spread much wider and farther.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Would Paul have been able to say the same thing about us?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Into the lesson…..</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What do we know about Thessalonica and the Thessalonians and Paul’s ministry there?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Thessalonica was the capital and largest city (about 200,000 population) of the Roman <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">province</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Macedonia</st1:placename></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thessalonica would be comparable in size with <st1:city st="on">Montgomery</st1:city> or <st1:city st="on">Mobile</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">Alabama</st1:state> or <st1:city st="on">Augusta</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region>; larger than <st1:city st="on">Tallahassee</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">Florida</st1:state> or <st1:city st="on">Columbus</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Georgia</st1:country-region>, smaller than <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Birmingham</st1:city>, <st1:state st="on">Alabama</st1:state></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">If we read between the lines of Acts 16 we see that the story of Paul’s coming to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Macedonia</st1:place></st1:country-region> is one of the most dramatic in Acts.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">They went through the region of Phrygia and <st1:country-region st="on">Galatia</st1:country-region>, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in <st1:place st="on">Asia</st1:place>. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into <st1:country-region st="on">Bithynia</st1:country-region>, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went down to <st1:place st="on">Troas</st1:place>. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of <st1:country-region st="on">Macedonia</st1:country-region> pleading with him and saying, "Come over to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Macedonia</st1:place></st1:country-region> and help us." When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Macedonia</st1:place></st1:country-region>, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Act 16:6-10 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This short narrative gives the impression of a chain of circumstances culminating in one supreme event.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paul had traveled through Phrygia and <st1:country-region st="on">Galatia</st1:country-region> (modern day <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Turkey</st1:place></st1:country-region>).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Ahead of him lay the Hellespont, the narrow straight connecting the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara, the border between Asia and <st1:place st="on">Europe</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>To Paul’s left lay Asia, to his right <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bithynia</st1:place></st1:country-region>; but the Spirit would allow him to enter neither.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Something was driving him relentlessly on to the <st1:place st="on">Aegean</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Uncertain of which way to turn, a vision came to him:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>“Come over to <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Macedonia</st1:place></st1:country-region> and help us.”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paul set sail, and for the first time the gospel came to <st1:place st="on">Europe</st1:place>.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul must have seen much more than a continent to be won for Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was in <st1:country-region st="on">Macedonia</st1:country-region> that he landed; <st1:country-region st="on">Macedonia</st1:country-region>, the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">kingdom</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">Alexander</st1:placename></st1:place> the Great, who had conquered the world and wept because there were no worlds left to conquer.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Paul left from Alexandrian Troas, named after Alexander; he came to Macedonia, Alexander’s original kingdom; he worked at Phillipi, named after Philip, Alexander’s father; He went on to Thessalonica, named after a half sister of Alexander who was also the wife of Cassander, King of Macedonia.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thessalonica was a free city.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It had never had resident Roman troops stationed within it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There was some debate as to whether it or <st1:place st="on">Constantinople</st1:place> would be recognized as capital of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thessalonica’s most important attribute though was that it straddled the Via Egnatia, the <st1:street st="on"><st1:address st="on">Egnatian Road</st1:address></st1:street> which stretched from the Adriatic to <st1:place st="on">Constantinople</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The main street of Thessalonica was the very road which linked <st1:city st="on">Rome</st1:city> with <st1:place st="on">Asia</st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>East and West converged in Thessalonica.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was said to be “in the lap of the <st1:place st="on">Roman Empire</st1:place>”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is impossible to overstress the importance of the arrival of Christianity in Thessalonica.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If Christianity was established there, it was bound to spread east into Asia and west to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Rome</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The coming of Christianity to Thessalonica was crucial to its development into a world religion.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">It is highly possible that 1 Thessalonians is the earliest of all New Testament writings.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">When you write a letter, what words do you begin with?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How do you begin an e-mail?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Every age and culture has norms that it uses for correspondence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>In Paul’s time, letters started with a formal greeting.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(1Th 1:1 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What was included in Paul’s greeting?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Paul included: 1 – whom the letter was from, 2- the recipients of the letter, and 3- a greeting.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How often did Paul use the greeting of “grace and peace”?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Nearly every New Testament letter bearing Paul’s name contains the double blessing of grace and peace.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians 1:2, Colossians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, and Titus 1:4)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><u>The Blessing of Grace and Peace.<o:p></o:p></u></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Grace is God’s undeserved love and enabling power.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We cannot earn and do not deserve God’s love.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Yet God has extended this love to us as a free gift.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Peace has to do with our no longer being at odds with God, resisting and rebelling against God’s will for us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Peace means living in a right relationship with God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The experience of grace and peace can make a crucial difference in the way we view and respond to life, the attitudes we express, the priorities we have, and the commitments we make.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It can also make a difference in the way our lives influence the lives of other people.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Grace and peace are blessings that we internalize and pass on to others.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Surely grace and peace are at the heart of the life of faith.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How have grace and peace made a difference in your beliefs, attitudes, priorities, and relationships?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers and sisters beloved by God, that he has chosen you, because our message of the gospel came to you not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of persons we proved to be among you for your sake. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(1Th 1:2-5 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Following the greeting, Paul turns to thanksgiving.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Can you find another time when Paul said, “I thank God for you?”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">1 Corinthians 1:4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Philippians 1:3 I thank my God every time I remember you. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"">Philemon 1:4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What made Paul believe God had chosen the Thessalonian believers? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal">Can we assume from this that gratitude was the habit of Paul’s life?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What are the advantages for us of being people of gratitude?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal">Is it possible to be grateful and grumpy?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal">Is it possible to be grateful and not be happy?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal">New research suggests that our attitude has a significant impact on our health. And, you guessed it, being grumpy does not generally result in a long, healthy life! On the flipside, living a grateful life leads to better overall health, fewer physical symptoms and more energy. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal">Verse 3. How are faith and works related?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal">Is it possible to have faith and not have works?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal">Would you like Christianity better if there was no working involved?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal">How had Paul presented the gospel to this audience? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Macedonia</st1:country-region></st1:place> and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it. For the people of those regions report about us what kind of welcome we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath that is coming. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in; margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace: none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(1Th 1:6-10 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How had the Thessalonians responded to the gospel message? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They were “imitators” of Paul and his companions and of the Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They “received the word with joy”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">For what kind of faith were the Thessalonians known?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How had the Thessalonians’ lives been a model for others? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What changes did the Thessalonians make in their lives when they heard the gospel? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">They “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God”.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal">What was it that the Thessalonians were anticipating? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal">Rescue from the wrath that is to come.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal">Can anyone remember what the first requirement was to become a member of the early Methodist societies?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-weight: normal">The candidate must possess the “desire to flee from the wrath that is to come.”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="Level1" style="mso-pagination:widow-orphan"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How was the Thessalonians’ hope visible for others to see? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family:Symbol"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What characteristics in a person would convince you that he or she was a genuine Christian chosen by God? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family:Symbol"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What convinces people Christianity is true? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Our witness rings hollow unless our lifestyle and attitudes validate what we say.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>People outside our church are watching us and taking note of whether we live the life we proclaim.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They want to know if Christ is making a difference in our lives.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is not enough for us to say that we believe in Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We must also live like we believe in him.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family:Symbol"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is the difference between presenting the gospel with power and deep conviction, and presenting the gospel without it? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family:Symbol"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">How are the Thessalonians examples for our daily living? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-hansi-font-family:Symbol"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In what ways do we need to imitate Jesus Christ and other Christians we know? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What idols might we need to turn away from in order to better serve God?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If Paul were to visit our church today, what evidence would he find that our words and deeds are a witness to our faith?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Let’s pray:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Jesus,</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We thank you for the faith, hope, and love that you have offered us through your grace.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We pray that we will always be imitators of you and of the great cloud of Christian witnesses that has come before us and been an example for us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We pray that our words and deeds are indeed worthy.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Let us not be idle as we wait for your return.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In your name,</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amen</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-29903391638114370582010-04-30T08:43:00.000-04:002010-04-30T08:44:26.527-04:00The Body of Christ<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">The whole congregation of believers was united as one--one heart, one mind! They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, "That's mine; you can't have it." They shared everything. The apostles gave powerful witness to the resurrection of the Master Jesus, and grace was on all of them. And so it turned out that not a person among them was needy. Those who owned fields or houses sold them and brought the price of the sale to the apostles and made an offering of it. The apostles then distributed it according to each person's need. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Act 4:32-35 MSG)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Rom 12:4-5 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(1Co 12:26-27 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I cannot imagine suffering through an experience such as we have without the love and support of family and loved ones.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I mentioned in an earlier post that if you are part of our life, Patty and I consider you family whether kin or not.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We have lots of kin but a huge family.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Most of that family is the body of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I thank God that most of our blood kin are also part of the body of Christ.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As Christians, we have a bond that goes much deeper than blood.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We are united through the love of God, the blood of Christ, and the witness of the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The spirit of Christian love has poured out on us in this situation like nothing I could have ever imagined.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Your kindness and generosity is overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We are in a hospital one hour away from home and we have 33 pages in a notebook filled with the names of those who have visited or called.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I could not even begin to count the text messages, e-mails, and Facebook comments that I have received. We have had as many as seven preachers visit in one day. During Patty’s surgery on Monday, four Methodist and one Church of God preacher stopped by.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We have a large bag nearly full of cards and letters.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We have had meals brought to us and several gift baskets of snacks.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This type of outpouring of love just doesn’t exist in non-Christian secular families.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Joh 13:34-35 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sadly, not everyone shares in this bond we Christians have.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There are folks here in this ICU who have had very few if any visitors and the few they have are only their immediate family. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They have had no one to pray for or with them. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I lift up in prayer this morning those who are suffering illness without a church family to pray for them.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I lift up in prayer this morning those of my kin who lack a loving relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I praise God this morning for the Body of Christ which demonstrates the love of Christ by sharing that love with others.</p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-25606971461583601392010-04-27T09:42:00.001-04:002010-04-27T09:44:53.373-04:00The Will of GodFrom "The Will of God" by Leslie Weatherhead:<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica; font-size: medium; "><p class="Day" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 12pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Again and again, when people ask, "Is it the will of God?" I think we shall have to separate the subject in order to make an intelligent answer.</span></span></span></p><p class="Day" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 12pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Consider, for example, the matter of disease. The Christian minister is continually confronted, as he does his visiting, by the question as to whether the onset of disease is the will of God. The important answer is No. The will of God for man is perfect health. Other things being equal, God can use a body free from disease more effectively than a diseased body. Jesus would not have been a great spiritual asset in his early ministry if he had been lame or diabetic or tubercular. But there is a will within evil circumstances; and let every sufferer who may happen to read these lines realize that if he makes the right reaction to these circumstances, the ultimate will of God will be reached </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">as effectively as if he had not been ill.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"> God would not allow cancer, if </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">of itself,</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"> it had the power to defeat him.</span></span></span></p><p class="Day" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 12pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">The point may be seen, perhaps, by thinking of these diseases which are due to an invasion of germs. I suppose God is responsible for the creation of the germs, even the germs of disease. Why they are created I don't know. It may be that they serve some good function about which we know nothing. It may be that they have served, in the evolutionary process, some good function. I don't think anybody knows the answer to that question. If these germs invade a body the resistance of which evil circumstances have lowered, then the result is disease; and that disease you can call, if you like, the circumstantial will of God. But it is the will of God only within the circumstances created by evil.</span></span></span></p><p class="Day" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 12pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Here again let me repeat that that circumstantial will can be viewed from two angles - the first natural, the second spiritual. There is the physical condition which we call disease; but, second, there is the possibility of the patient's making such a splendid response to that circumstance that he creates out of it a spiritual asset in the community of much more value than most people's health. It is because the saints have thus reacted to evil that the fallacy has got about that disease and suffering are the will of God. Let me put it this way. Given a spiritual awakening so glorious that the personality lives in close co-operation with God, the healthy body is more in line with his will. But so many healthy people are spiritually asleep and are not co-operating with him at all, and so many sick people, have, through the sickness, become spiritually awakened during their illness that out of the circumstances of evil they have created and set free spiritual energies far more valuable than the spiritual apathy of the healthy person.</span></span></span></p><p class="Day" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 12pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">I am quite sure that the battle </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">against</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"> disease is the will of God, and I thank God for all those people who are taking part in it. In olden days in this country, wolves used to descend from the woods upon a village and do a great deal of harm. But our sturdy forefathers did not call the invasion of the wolves "the will of God." They called up all their resources, and they "liquidated" the wolves. When the community is set upon by an invasion of germs, that is not the will of God. The situation is just the same. You may tell me that the animals are smaller and the germs of disease can be seen only through a microscope, but the problem is the same, and the battle is the same. I cannot understand how anybody who has read the New Testament can ever stand at the bedside of a patient, and without explaining himself, utter the pathetic complaint that disease is the will of God. I always imagine that Jesus would speak with anger about such a thoughtless dictum. When a woman was brought to him who had been ill for a long time, he spoke of her as "this woman ... whom Satan hath bound, lo, those eighteen years." Satan! As far as I can understand Jesus' attitude, but in the words he spoke and the healing miracles he so gloriously wrought, he always regarded disease as part of the kingdom of evil, and with all his powers he fought it and instructed his followers to do the same.</span></span></span></p><p class="Day" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 12pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">I like to think of our Lord standing by the bedside of the patient and working with the doctors and nurses toward the regaining of health, working on the mind and spirit of the patient as the physicians work on the body. Then if the latter fail, I like to think of him showing the sufferer that, in co-operation with him, victory may still be wrested from defeat and the purposes of God realized.</span></span></span></p><p class="Day" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 12pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">One final thought. If you say, "Well, it's a bit casual of God to </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">allow </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"> these things to happen if they are not his intention," I agree that there is mystery there. It would be foolish to speak as if all the ways of God to men were clear. I should not like to give the impression that I could make a glib answer to any specific case of suffering that was brought to my notice. I too am often appalled at the suffering people endure, and especially little children.</span></span></span></p><p class="Day" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 12pt; "><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">Yet I wonder if, in a sense, we are not all in the position of little children. I can imagine a child looking up to his own father who loves him, and saying to him, "Don' t you think you are rather casual to let me get hurt the way you do?" I amused myself, as I thought about this, by imagining a mass meeting of tiny toddlers who magically had the gift of putting their thoughts into words. Think of them, if you like, crowded into a great hall, with a little toddler as chairman, who adjusting his bib, addresses his fellow toddlers in some such way as this: "I am sure my parents don't care. Look at my knees!" but we do say, "Look at my frustration and sorrow and disappointment and pain! How </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">can</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"> you be so callous, and how </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">do</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"> you expect us to think you care?" Perhaps childhood's tragedies are to us what our tragedies are to God - not that he is callous any more than the ideal parent is, but that his perspective is different. But the thought that comforts the child comforts me. If the child thought about it, I think he would say, "There is much I don't understand, but I know that my father both loves and cares." So, for myself, I am quite certain that because God is love there is nothing in his world that can be regarded as meaningless torture. There is much I cannot understand. There must be much that I cannot be made to understand until I have passed out of childhood's stage. But because I know him through other means, and especially as revealed in Jesus, I know that although I cannot understand the answer to my questions, there </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;">is </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#666666;"> an answer, and in that I can rest content.</span></span></span></p></span></div>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-52168840952971669802010-04-25T05:59:00.000-04:002010-04-25T06:01:36.319-04:00Time keeps on slippin'<p class="MsoNormal">Time gets weird in the ICU.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I find it difficult to grasp that we have been here for fourteen days now.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It seems like just yesterday that we rode the ambulance over from Donalsonville.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And then again it feels like forever since the BAD day.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Even though the doctors won’t use the word stable, we had hoped that after the orotracheal intubation and the insertion of the chest tube things would settle down a bit and Patty could begin to rest and heal.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Not to be.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On Tuesday afternoon, April 13, we had our worst crisis yet.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Patty’s blood oxygen level and blood pressure suddenly and drastically dropped.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This was probably caused by a pulmonary embolism.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They had to remove Patty from the ventilator and manually “bag” her for over an hour before being able to stabilize her vitals and reconnect the ventilator.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The dedicated health care professionals did not give up and saved Patty’s life.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That was the worst day for me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I had convinced myself that this was “just the flu” and after a few days it would run its course and we would go home.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is not “just the flu”.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This is the hellfire and brimstone of influenza.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So we count the days in many ways.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Fourteen days in ICU on the Ventilator.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Hospitalized for sixteen days.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Fifteen days since I last was able to talk to Patty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Twenty days since she first became ill.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Twenty one days since we last did a P90X workout.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How many more days we’ll count only God knows.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Then I think about how this time has gone for Patty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Doctor says that she’ll not remember any of this.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But I cannot imagine what she is going to think when I tell her, “Patty, you’ve been here, unconscious for _______<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>weeks."<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Life was progressing along fairly routinely and then BAM, struck by lightning.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture--"I believed, and so I spoke"--we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Co 4:7-18 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Amen.</p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-72641391298828147862010-04-24T16:18:00.001-04:002010-04-24T16:19:18.607-04:00More on PrayerPam just sent me this in an e-mail:<div>(Thanks Pam. We love ya'll)</div><div><br /></div><div><div>This is a verse and some sayings from the UMW retreat last year at Epworth lead by B.J. Funk on prayer.</div> <div><br /></div> <div>2 Kings 20:5-- This is what the Lord God your ancestor David says "I have heard your prayers; I have seen your tears. Look I will Heal Patty___"</div> <div><br /></div> <div>God can do marvelous things during darkness (Miracles)</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Mother Teresa: " My secret is a very simple one. I pray."</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Matthew 21:22: If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer</div> <div>( Have no doubt I know you believe)</div> <div><br /></div> <div>We are not self sufficient, so we need prayer.</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Fear is the biggest fear we have to fear. But our God can knock down a door of fear.</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Let Jesus get into your boat, with you. When Jesus steps in, the wind stops. Everything becomes calm.</div> <div><br /></div> <div>Our circumstance may not change, but Jesus will be with us to calm us.</div></div>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-72706079621455720632010-04-22T19:17:00.001-04:002010-04-22T19:22:46.948-04:00Prayer<p class="MsoNormal">The sheer volume of prayers that we have received and experienced in the last two weeks is almost beyond comprehension.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Every single prayer has brought us comfort and joy even in this desolate place<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The peace that came over me last week and that continues in me now can only be the result of your many petitions to God on my behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Drew is the same.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We both could easily be overwrought with fear and anxiety but we are not.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We both are experiencing a calm serenity that I feel can only come from the Holy Spirit.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(2Co 1:3-7 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Our consolation is abundant through Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></span>.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I cannot recall and recount each and every prayer that has been lifted up for us in this, but I would like to share a few. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Mr. Jim Brown, a man that Patty and I really love and admire, on the telephone with me spontaneously went into a wonderful prayer claiming healing and comfort for Patty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This prayer brought the first whisper of comfort into my nearly panicked soul.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Dianne Odom and Robyn Alday, who were at the hospital visiting a relative, gathered me up with the first few family members there that first morning , formed a circle and offered up some very encouraging prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There is a great power in a circle of Christians, hand-in-hand calling on our God, praising our God, loving our God.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Both Kirk and Scott have pulled me aside and prayed for me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I love you brothers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Another wonderful circle with Donna Sue Roberts, Wayne and Becky Worsham, Dr. Homer, Renea Moody, Tondra Rich, and several others offering phenomenal prayers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Gayle Thomas called me and prayed an awe-inspiring prayer over the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Gayle has been praying for my family for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I will never forget the day Patty’s mother died, standing in the hallway outside of Patty’s classroom along with some other teachers and Gayle prayed for Patty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Later Gayle read some of her poetry at Linda’s funeral.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thank you, Gayle, for years of prayers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Slade Alday came by and prayed with us.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Raymond Burke had a conversation with God in our presence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have known Raymond only casually for many years.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I aspire to learn to talk to God the way Raymond does.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was awesome.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Being told of the prayer in the chapel at Friendship UMC where <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Crystal</st1:place></st1:city> acted as surrogate for Patty warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That prayer took place at the exact same time that the surgeon was inserting a drain tube into Patty’s chest.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">An angel prayed with Porky.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Patty’s brother John (whom we affectionately call Porky) was in the lobby of the hospital making a phone call when a woman walked up behind him and told him that she felt a need to pray for him.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He told her that he was here for his sister and she went into a spontaneous prayer that really moved him.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He said that the woman was blonde, ivory skinned, and dressed completely in white.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The only jewelry she had looked like white spoon lures.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>No wings or halos, though.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Josh and Crystal were here about an hour ago.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>They had everyone here lay hands on Mama, Drew, and me and pray.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">We just prayed with a young lady here in the waiting room.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This girl’s mother has been here for several days and the girl has been here all alone.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her mother just had some sort of incident and she thought that she was dying.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This place is hell even when you are surrounded by friends and family. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I could not imagine the thought of being here all alone.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. <o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Jas 5:13-16 NRSV)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-46828469990526218612010-04-21T08:58:00.000-04:002010-04-21T08:59:50.823-04:00Get vaccinated<p class="MsoNormal">This is one roller coaster ride that has gone on far too long for my nerves.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After the chest tube was inserted and over a liter of fluid was drawn off of Patty’s lung cavity, I thought the worst may be behind us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Getting all of that infected fluid out had to make the situation better.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Didn’t it?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That was when we were informed that Patty was positive for Types A and B Influenza.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>(How can you have two flus at the same time?) An H1N1 confirmation could only be made by the CDC and was confirmed two days later.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Patty went into quarantine.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Her room was sealed and a powerful HEPA filter was installed.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Everyone who visited her was now required to wear a particulate filter mask, gown, gloves and hairnet.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Everyone who had been in contact with her for the past week, including all the physicians and nurses (who had all been vaccinated in the Fall), was also urged to get a prescription for Tamiflu anti-viral medication as a precautionary measure.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I began to seek out any information that I could find on influenza and specifically on H1N1.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have read every word concerning H1N1 that the CDC has made available on its website.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This virus is a killer.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I and my family have learned our lesson well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We have never had a flu shot;<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>ever.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We will be the first in line when new flu shots become available in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>H1N1 is the prevalent flu in the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> since April 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>99% of confirmed influenza cases in the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> currently are H1N1.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Reading the CDC reports it becomes obvious that the experts at the CDC are very frustrated that so many people have not been vaccinated.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I believe it is because the facts have not been reported and the seriousness of this flu has not been given the proper sense of urgency.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Any bug that can affect a reasonably healthy person like Patty the way this one has is frightening.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Imagine what would happen to a weaker person?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">If you haven’t already, get your flu shot today.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-9021315927374691142010-04-19T11:18:00.001-04:002010-04-19T11:20:48.183-04:00Life in the ICU - 3<p class="MsoNormal">Life in the ICU - 3</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The phone on the wall across from me rang.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A nurse ran out of the ICU, pointed at me and said, “That is for you!”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My heart skipped a beat.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Had something gone wrong?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Was it worse than we thought?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>My soul was struck with grief. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Hello”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“Tony, it’s Homer.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Tell me what’s going on.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In a moment of solitary agony nothing is as welcome as a familiar voice.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Dr. Homer had learned of Patty’s predicament as he made his rounds at <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Donalsonville</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Hospital</st1:placetype></st1:place> that morning.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I was so struck with dread that I could barely respond.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The pain in my cry must have been obvious.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After a couple of stammered sentences I was back to the hallway pacing and praying, “Yea though I walk through the valley…..”<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And I was at that moment in the valley.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Fearing no evil is easy to say but very difficult to do.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Especially when alone, without backup.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Thoughts ran through my mind that morning that I wish to never have to think again.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Worst case scenarios.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What would I do if……?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>How would we…..?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Oh my God, what about Drew?</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Talking to Homer helped.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I calmed down considerably more when Jack walked in.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After filling him in on the details, we both settled down to a shocked silence.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After a while Homer and Ronnie Shingler showed up.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And soon after many other family members showed up.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Patty and I have always been of the mind that if you are part of our lives then you are family.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Yes we do have lots of kin, but we also have numerous families and many family members.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Church family, school family, work family, community family.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The family spirit began showing itself that morning.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That family spirit and outpouring of love is what began in me the process of claiming a conviction of faith that all will be well.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">A friend loves at all times, and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Pro 17:17 NRSV)</span></i><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia; color:teal"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia; color:teal"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Or as the Message says it:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;color:teal">(Pro 17:17 MSG)</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">And God knows all you whom we call family have stuck with us in this time of trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The outpouring of love has been overwhelming and humbling.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have known for almost three decades that Patty is one special child of God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It fills my heart with joy to know that all of you think so too.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">As the family love began to comfort my breaking heart, Dr. Crenshaw came out and informed me that the surgeon was on the way to insert <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>a tube into Patty’s chest wall to remove fluid that had accumulated.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">Surgeon?!?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia">The foreboding dread returned full force.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-52083309080134845832010-04-18T21:19:00.003-04:002010-04-18T21:29:22.916-04:00Life in the ICU, Part 2.<p class="MsoNormal">As I sat in the waiting room wondering what was going on with Patty, my fears nearly got the best of me.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Being alone and helpless in an unfamiliar place, unable to do anything to help a loved one in distress is very likely one of the most frightening experiences of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I did not panic, but did become very uneasy in spirit.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Not long ago, after seeing a speaker who gave an excellent talk with no notes, I began to try to memorize scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I began with some easy ones:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>my favorite verse of the Bible, Micah 6:8 and another favorite Psalm 51:10.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After memorizing a few verses, I became a little more ambitious.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Going back to childhood memories of Sunday School and <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Vacation</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Bible</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">School</st1:placetype></st1:place>, I remembered that as a child I had committed to memory the 23<sup>rd</sup> Psalm.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>If I could memorize an entire chapter as a child, I should be able to accomplish the same feat as an adult.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I tried it using the NRSV and the NIV but it just didn’t sound right.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I ended up going back to the King James:</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><i>The LORD </i><span><i>is</i></span><i> my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou </i><span><i>art</i></span><i> with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. <o:p></o:p></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi- font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;color:teal;"><i>(Psa 23:1-6)</i></span><span style="font-family:Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;">In my moment of anguish, I began pacing the hallway reciting that Psalm as a prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After several repetitions of that I went through the Lord’s prayer a couple of times.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Then some of the other verses that I had committed to memory.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This worked well to somewhat calm my nerves.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;">Some of you veteran prayer warriors may not appreciate my elementary mode of prayer, but it worked and I believe is as valid an approach to God as any other.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I could have just as easily walked up and down the hall saying the ABC’s or multiplication tables.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>God would have heard my cries either way.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;">Patty was unconscious, but I have no doubt that God heard her cries as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;color:teal;">Rom 8:24-27</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span style="font-family: Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="color:teal;">(25)</span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="color:teal;">(26)</span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><span style="color:teal;">(27)</span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.</span></i><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;">Even if we do not know how to pray as we ought, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>That is a very comforting thought.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I heard one person say this week that if you do not believe that your prayer is going to be answered and believe that a miracle was going to happen than you might as well not even pray.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I kind of agree and disagree with that statement.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Faith is, I believe, one key ingredient to answered prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>But the power of prayer is not at all reliant on any quality of the one doing the praying.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I believe that God hears and listens to prayer even if that prayer comes from an enemy of God.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The power of prayer is in no way related to how eloquent the words or how faithful the supplicant.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There is only one key element to a powerful prayer:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>you’ve got to pray it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So I welcome all of the prayers for Patty.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even if you don’t even believe in God, God believes in you.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Cry out in distress and God gets it.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Every time.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Georgia;font-size:11.0pt;">More later…….<o:p></o:p></span></p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-57607685546163264502010-04-18T09:42:00.001-04:002010-04-18T09:45:25.996-04:00Life in the ICULast Sunday morning I was awakened by someone shaking my leg. It was Dr. Crenshaw. Dr. Crenshaw was the last person I saw Saturday night as I fell asleep. Patty had slept fitfully. She was very frightened. We had ridden the ambulance to Thomasville and Patty was admitted directly into the ICU. Drs. Santos and Crenshaw met the ambulance there and immediately went to work with the nurses and respiratory people taking samples, installing IV’s, and trying to comfort Patty. Amy, the RN assigned to Patty very compassionately asked if I would like to stay in the room with Patty. This was a gesture of kindness that I was not expecting. Amy brought a very comfortable recliner and I settled in and tried to ease Patty’s anxieties. She was very frightened. Before leaving Donalsonville, Dr. Jeff Holley had explained to us many of the possible consequences of the severe pneumonia she had developed. These consequences were very frightening. I tried to reassure her that we were in a very good place with specialists, medications, and equipment to combat any complication that may come up. It is very difficult to calm someone who feels helpless and not in control.<br /><br />As I jumped up, Dr. Crenshaw said, “We’re going to have to intubate her.” The Respiratory nurse had already injected the sedatives into Patty’s IV. The only communication between Patty and me at that point was the look of terror in her eyes. The Dr. asked that I leave the room. I went into the adjacent waiting area. The only other folks in the waiting area that morning were sleeping in their chairs. I was alone in a place foreign to me while my best friend and wife of 26 years fought for her life on the other side of those institutional doors which can only be opened from the inside. We were both prisoners at that point: Patty, bound by IVs, a breathing machine, and a hospital bed; Me, caged by helplessness, fear, and those ICU doors. I was utterly alone.<br /><br />To be continued…….Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-49070820327835432702010-04-16T07:39:00.000-04:002010-04-16T07:40:28.143-04:00Thoughts on prayer, chronos, and kairos<p class="MsoNormal">The sheer volume of prayers that have been lifted up for Patty (and the rest of us too) is almost staggering. I know of groups of people gathering to pray specifically for Patty in almost every town in <st1:place st="on">Southwest Georgia</st1:place>. This prayer is working. The timing (chronos) of some of these is also interesting. On Sunday, around 40 members of our church gathered in the chapel to pray for healing for Patty. What they did not know was that at the exact time they were sending up those prayers, the surgeon was installing a tube into Patty’s chest wall. That procedure was a success and continues to serve its purpose in Patty’s recovery. Later on Sunday I came out of the ICU and was told by Drew that there had just been an awesome group prayer in the waiting room. What that group did not know was that at the exact time they were sending up that prayer, Patty was being attached to the dialysis machine in an attempt to remove some of the fluid that was gathered in her chest cavity. That procedure was also a success. On Tuesday just after lunch some trauma, possibly a blood clot, caused Patty’s blood oxygen levels to suddenly and sharply bottom out. This was the most frightening hour of my life to this point. She had to be removed from the ventilator and manually bagged for an entire hour before becoming stable enough to go back on the ventilator. That was when Dr. Hicks told me that we needed a miracle. So many prayers were going up you could almost feel them in the air. One lady, whose son has been in this ICU for five weeks, told me later that she felt that it would have been impossible for anything bad to enter this ICU there was such a movement of the Spirit going on. After that crisis the doctors did not offer much hope. Dr. Woolf said that he needed a CT scan of Patty’s lungs to aid in his evaluation, but that getting a scan was out of the question because he simply did not think that she could survive the trip downstairs to radiology. But on Wednesday morning Dr. Hicks came in smiling. We got our miracle. Patty’s oxygen levels had improved. Later on Wednesday morning I received a text message from Tim Bell that the Seminole County Ministerial Association had just had a healing prayer for Patty. What they did not know was that at that exact time, Patty was being moved downstairs to have the CT done. Another success.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Which brings me to the conclusion that the chronos (timing) of these various prayer events were actually kairos moments.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Chronos is the Greek word for time. It is used throughout the scriptures in verses such as Mat 2:7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time (chronos) when the star had appeared.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Chronos denotes a particular point in time, such as 12:35 PM, Tuesday, April 13, the exact time when Patty’s oxygen levels dropped.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kairos is another Greek word for time. Kairos is also used in scripture. Mar 1:15 …., "The time (kairos) is fulfilled, and the <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">kingdom</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename st="on">God</st1:placename></st1:place> has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Kairos denotes the perfect time, or God’s time, the opportune moment. At chronos 12:35 PM on Tuesday, many prayers were delivered kairos, at the perfect, opportune moment.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Not only have your many prayers led to great results for Patty’s physical recovery, they have had a profound effect on my emotional well-being. I have to admit that this has been the most traumatic event of my life. I never saw this coming. For the first several days I was filled with dread. This was probably the nearest I have come in my life to a broken heart. But yesterday afternoon something happened. A peace came over me. I no longer have any sense of dread and am convicted that this event is going to have a hallowed outcome. The only explanation that I have for this peace is that it is another result of your many prayers. You have called the Spirit down on me. The Spirit has witnessed with my spirit….</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rom 8:11-16 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. …….. (14) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. (15) For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" (16) it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God,</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">So we begin Friday, the fifth day on the ventilator with the knowledge that God is doing something. Dr. Woolf says that he sees signs of improvement in Patty’s lungs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thank you for all you prayers and please, please continue to pray without ceasing.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Tony</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-67869999996749815922008-08-29T12:44:00.002-04:002008-08-29T12:47:55.641-04:00Sunday School Lesson: Prayerful CommunityPurpose: To rejoice that we can express in prayer that we are sick and sinful and only God can make us whole.<br /><br />Scripture: James 5:13-18<br /><br />What are some situations in life when most people pray?<br /><br />I love the story of the man who sat on his roof while floodwaters crept up his house. The man cried out to the Lord to be rescued. He was offered a ride in a kayak. He declined. He said, “I’m waiting for God to rescue me.” He waved off a small fishing boat. He dismissed a helicopter hovering overhead. Each time he professed with ever growing indignation, “I will wait for the Lord Almighty to save me from this flood!” He was convinced the Lord would perform some spectacular miracle and deliver him from his roof.<br /><br />Well, eventually, the water reached the roof and the currents swept the man away to his death. In Heaven, the man told an angel, “You know, I was faithful my entire life. Why did God not answer my prayer?”<br /><br />Can you guess the angels response? “God sent you a kayak, a fishing boat, and a helicopter. What more did you need?”<br /><br />Clearly, the man had his own idea of how God should deliver him from the flood, but God did not cooperate.<br /><br />Have you ever been there?<br /><br />We’ve all been there. “God, I know you’re the Almighty, but I believe I have a better understanding about this situation.” We often bring our concerns and requests before God, and then we give him a choice of what we consider acceptable resolutions and a time frame in which to accommodate us. We are surprised and sometimes angry when the Creator disregards our human logic and reasoning.<br /><br />How have you seen prayer bring changes in people or circumstances?<br /><br />What should a person do when he or she is in trouble? Why? (see James 5:13, 15)<br /><br />What should a person do when he or she is happy? Why? (5:13, 15)<br /><br />What should a person do when he or she is sick? Why? (5:14-15)<br /><br />How can we use prayer to help someone who is sick?<br /><br />When do you find it most difficult to pray? Why?<br /><br />How does prayer help shape and grow your faith?<br /><br />What are your views about anointing with oil and praying for healing?<br /><br />When have you had the opportunity to pray specifically for someone or for a special need?<br /><br />Why is prayer important? (5:15)<br /><br /><em>13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.<br />James 5:13-18 (NRSV)<br /></em><br />What are some things that we may be reluctant to pray about?<br /><br />Why are we sometimes reluctant to pray?<br /><br />What does James mean by “suffering”?<br /><br />How do we respond when someone says that they have prayed for healing for another person, but the person was not healed?<br /><br />I am going to tell you a story. <br /><br />Some of you may have heard this before.<br /><br /> My daddy was dying. He had developed emphysema and had been totally unable to work for several years. At that time all he could do was sit and read. And that’s what he did. He could not even walk to the next room without an oxygen bottle. This was at the time that I was first acknowledging that I was a Christian. I, for the first time in my life, developed a prayer habit. I prayed all the normal young Christian prayers: “Thank you God for your blessings, thank you for my family and my church, take care of Daddy, amen.” In my immaturity, I always thought of that “take care of Daddy” as equivalent to “make Daddy better, heal his body.” I was not the only person praying for Daddy, I’m sure. There was my wife and daughter, my mother and my brother. And there was a preacher who was visiting Daddy regularly.<br /><br /> Daddy had known Andy for years. They both were both farm equipment salesmen and were acquainted through business. Andy was also a preacher, preaching at the church down the road that my daddy had grown up in. In the forty years that I had known Daddy, I could only remember a couple of funerals that he had been to inside a church. I have no memory at all of Daddy going to a church for any other reason. Daddy, being the reader he was, read the Bible and had some tough questions for Andy. Daddy knew he was dying. He also knew what the Bible said about salvation. <br /><br />Andy assured Daddy that all he needed was faith, but Daddy felt a desire to be baptized. One of the most moving services that I have ever witnessed was the night that a few members of Hebrew Free-Will Baptist church gathered at Daddy’s house along with the family and Andy sprinkled Daddy and we all sprinkled tears. I cried more that night than I did at Daddy’s funeral a two months later.<br /><br />Do you see the point of my telling this story?<br /><br />God did “take care of Daddy”. My prayers WERE answered, only in a way that I would not have imagined. God “took care of Daddy” all right. God took care of Daddy in a way so far beyond my immature imaginings that I did not really realize the implications until much later. The healing that God brought to Daddy was much, much greater than if he had been given new lungs.<br /><br /><br />Why should we confess our sins to one another? (5:16)<br /><br />What healing is promised to the person who confesses their sin to God, but never to another human being? (5:16)<br /><br />Why not just confess your sin individually and privately to God-why confess to someone else?<br /><br />Some Christians do practice confessing their sins to people (priests). We Protestants generally confess our sins directly to God.<br /><br />Why does James say confess your sins one to another?<br /><br />How does our church provide for the confession of sin so that it serves a redemptive purpose in our lives?<br /><br />The Protestant Reformation never taught that we do not need to confess our sins to a priest. But….the Reformation brought us the concept of the priesthood of all believers. We are all priests.<br /><br />Do we need a priest (another believer) to confess to?<br /><br />What is the role of clergy in hearing confessions in the UMC?<br /><br />Do you like the idea of confessing your sins to one another?<br /><br />What are the benefits of confessing our sins one to another? What does it cost us to not confess our sins one to another? What happens to us individually and to the church when we fail to confess?<br /><br />There is something very healing about coming clean to someone who will listen and respond in a godly way.<br /><br />Quote of the day: "We are only as sick as our secrets." - Rick Warren<br /><br />What qualities would you look for in someone to confess your sins to?<br /><br />Do you think it would be a good idea to confess all your sins all at once, or get into it gradually?<br /><br />Have you ever been hurt by confessing your sin to someone who could not keep a secret? Who has a story?<br /><br />Does failure to confess affect the outcome of our prayers?<br /><br />What is the effect of a righteous person’s prayers? (5:16)<br /><br />How do you understand James’ statement that “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective”?<br /><br />Does our righteousness obligate God to answer our prayers?<br /><br />Who is a good example of how God answers prayer? How? (5:17-18)<br /><br />Think about Elijah. What do we learn about following God from Elijah?<br /><br />Have you seen prayer bring changes in people or circumstances?<br /><br />Would anyone care to share any real-life examples of how God answers prayer?<br /><br />What hinders Christians from praying with confidence?<br /><br />What hinders Christians from confessing sins and praying for each other?<br /><br />If we confess our sins to God, why should anyone else have to know about it?<br /><br />What circumstances beyond our control can we affect through prayer?<br /><br />Do you think God is pleased when we bring our joys as well as our needs to Him in prayer?<br /><br />What would it take for us to learn to be honest with God and with one another?<br /><br />What does our church do to create a climate in which we all can be honest with one another and build healthy relationships?<br /><br />James tells us that we are to:<br /><br />¨ Pray about bad feelings and circumstances.<br /><br />¨ Sing with cheerfulness.<br /><br />¨ Pray for the sick.<br /><br />¨ Confess our sins.<br /><br />How effective is our church in providing opportunities for these things to happen?<br /><br />Which of these opportunities lend themselves to small groups?<br /><br />Which are better suited to a worship service?<br /><br />Which has been particularly meaningful to you? Why?Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-65583527269673639602008-08-16T11:35:00.002-04:002008-08-16T11:43:10.106-04:00Book StudyWe have started a new book study (Wednesday nights 6:30 in the Grace Sunday School Class room). The book is <em>The 4:8 Priciple: The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life</em> by Tommy Newberry, a motivational speaker from Atlanta. The study is being led by Bill Burke.<br /><br />The book is inspired by Philippians 4:8:<br /><em>Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, <strong>think</strong> about these things.<br />Phil 4:8 (NRSV)</em><br /><em></em><br />The key word in that verse being "<strong>think</strong>". If we can learn to control our thoughts, to make all of our thoughts <em>honorable, just, pure, pleasing, commendable</em> we will experience joy.<br /><em></em>Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-22587626986220688992008-08-16T11:21:00.002-04:002008-08-16T11:34:50.497-04:00Sunday School Lesson: Wise SpeakersAfter reading and studying this week’s lesson I am almost tempted to say let’s just read the scripture and then meditate in silence for the remainder of our time. I think that would make the most impact.<br /><br />But, I also realize that the chance of this class sitting in silence is pretty slim….and that’s a good thing.<br /><br />So…here’s the lesson.<br /><br />Lesson: Wise Speakers<br /><br />Purpose: To recognize that God’s wisdom gives us the power to control the tongue and speak true and constructive words.<br /><br />Scripture: James 3<br /><br />If you could hear a tape recording of everything you said last week, what would you want to edit out?<br /><br />Listen to these quotes and tell me what you think of them. I’m not going to tell you who said what, but you can guess if you want to….<br /><br /><em>"I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." (This statement made shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast)<br /><br />"As millions of people anticipate the release of the latest Harry Potter book and film, we're reminded once again of Satan's ongoing attempt to deceive and destroy. The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult."<br /><br />"Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom (Washington, D. C. neighborhood, home to the U. S. State Dept.) to shake things up"<br /><br />"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say: "You helped this (Sept. 11) happen."<br /><br />“God told me: I want you to get this going in one year or I will call you home. It will cost $8 million and I want you to believe you can raise it. "<br /><br />“I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm going to be blunt and plain: if one ever looks at me like that, I'm going to kill him and tell God he died.<br /><br />"The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West… a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ."<br /><br />“The world will be destroyed by fire on April 3rd 1843.”<br /><br />“My observation is that women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership.”<br /></em><br />What do all of these statements have in common?<br /><br />They were all public statements made by prominent Christian leaders. Whether we agree with the statements or disagree, or whether we personally consider these folks “Christian” leaders or not really doesn’t matter. These are the folks that are in the spotlight. They are the ones who are sought out when the news reporters need a “Christian” opinion. They are the ones who the people outside of the Christian faith think of when they think of Christians. They, whether we like it or not, represent us; and, even of even more importance, they represent Jesus.<br /><br />What overall impression or feeling do you get listening to those statements?<br /><br />What impression do you think these statements would make on someone outside the Christian faith?<br /><br />What image of God is projected by statements such as this?<br /><br />Did the persons I quoted exercise careful and responsible speech?<br /><br />Did the persons I quoted advance peace and understanding or did the words have the potential for creating confusion and conflict?<br /><br />Like all of us, religious leaders occasionally fail to exercise the best judgment in speaking. Sometimes the Church and the faith community at large come across as judgmental, harsh, unforgiving, and exclusive because of ill-chosen words of a single religious leader quoted on a particular occasion. At times, a religious leader may promote a teaching that is unclear or unaccepted as truth within the larger faith community. Words that take only seconds to speak can cause damage that may take years to repair.<br /><br />How do you react when you hear someone cursing and using abusive language or speaking improperly?<br /><br />Can a person be hurt by the words of others? How?<br /><br />What can you learn about a person by listening to him or her speak?<br /><br />Anytime any of us speaks, we have an opportunity to build bridges of understanding, sow seeds of peace, and extend words of grace.<br /><br /><br /><em>1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. 4 Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits.<br />James 3:1-5a (NRSV)</em><br /><br />We often say in our churches, "We need more teachers. Will you please teach? Please help us by teaching a class." Why does this passage suggest people ought not to teach?<br /><br />What qualifications are required to be a teacher in your church? In ours the only qualification is to be willing or to possess an inability to say “no”.<br /><br />What does it mean, "will be judged with greater strictness"?<br />In the New Testament, we get glimpses of teachers who failed in their responsibility. Some teachers tried to turn Christianity into another kind of Judaism by requiring Gentile converts to practice circumcision and follow the law (Acts 15). Some teachers lived lives which were a contradiction of what they taught (Romans 2). Some teachers tried to teach before they had learned (1 Timothy 1). Some teachers only taught what the crowd wanted to hear (2 Timothy 4).<br /><br />Is James’ caution for teachers just a caution against false teaching?<br /><br />James seems to think that teaching is a dangerous occupation for anyone.<br /><br />What unique responsibility does a teacher bear?<br /><br />There are two dangers which all teachers must avoid. Because of the position, it is very likely that you will get the opportunity to teach either those who are young in years or those who are children in the faith. Teachers must struggle to avoid two things: 1) They must take every care that they are teaching the truth, and not their own opinions or even their own prejudices. It is easy for teachers to distort the truth and to teach not God’s version but their own (see quotes above). 2) They must take great care that they do not contradict their teaching by their living. No “do as I say, not as I do”. A teacher must never get into the position where his students cannot hear what he is saying for listening to what he does.<br /><br />What is the primary instrument used in teaching? Speech.<br /><br />What is it’s (speech’s) agent? The tongue.<br /><br />If we were able to control our tongue perfectly, what else would be true of us?<br />Verse 2 tells us that one who can control his tongue is totally in control of his or herself.<br /><br /><em>And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.<br />(Jas 3:2 MSG)<br /></em><br />What about the first line of verse 2: For all of us make many mistakes.<br /><br />Is all sin deliberate? Is sin sometimes the result of a slip-up when we were off our guard?<br /><br />Other translations use the words “slip up” or “stumble” where the NRSV uses “make many mistakes”. Does it sometimes seem as if all of life is walking on banana peels?<br /><br />How much of what it means to sin has to do with what we say?<br /><br />Let's test this. Turn to Exodus 20-the 10 Commandments. How many of these have to do with how you use your tongue?<br /><br />There is no sin into which it is easier to fall and none which has graver consequences than the sin which is the result of something uttered. This idea was woven into Jewish thought. Jesus warned that we will give account for every word spoken.<br /><br /><em><span style="color:#ff0000;">36 I tell you, on the day of judgment you will have to give an account for every careless word you utter; 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."<br /></span>Matt 12:36-37 (NRSV)</em><br /><br />Of all the Jewish writers, Jesus ben Sirach, the writer of the Apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus, had the most to say about the terrifying potential of the tongue.<br /><br /><em>13 Honor and dishonor come from speaking, and the tongue of mortals may be their downfall.<br />Sirach 5:13 (NRSV)</em><br /><br /><em>11 Be quick to hear, but deliberate in answering. 12 If you know what to say, answer your neighbor; but if not, put your hand over your mouth.<br />Sirach 5:11-12 (NRSV)</em><br /><br /><em>1 Happy are those who do not blunder with their lips, and need not suffer remorse for sin.<br />Sirach 14:1 (NRSV)</em><br /><em><br />16 A person may make a slip without intending it. Who has not sinned with his tongue?<br />Sirach 19:16 (NRSV)<br /><br />The Evil Tongue<br />12 If you blow on a spark, it will glow; if you spit on it, it will be put out;<br />yet both come out of your mouth.<br />13 Curse the gossips and the double-tongued,<br />for they destroy the peace of many.<br />14 Slander has shaken many,<br />and scattered them from nation to nation; it has destroyed strong cities,<br />and overturned the houses of the great.<br />15 Slander has driven virtuous women from their homes,<br />and deprived them of the fruit of their toil.<br />16 Those who pay heed to slander will not find rest,<br />nor will they settle down in peace.<br />17 The blow of a whip raises a welt,<br />but a blow of the tongue crushes the bones.<br />18 Many have fallen by the edge of the sword,<br />but not as many as have fallen because of the tongue.<br />19 Happy is the one who is protected from it,<br />who has not been exposed to its anger, who has not borne its yoke,<br />and has not been bound with its fetters.<br />20 For its yoke is a yoke of iron,<br />and its fetters are fetters of bronze;<br />21 its death is an evil death,<br />and Hades is preferable to it.<br />22 It has no power over the godly;<br />they will not be burned in its flame.<br />23 Those who forsake the Lord will fall into its power;<br />it will burn among them and will not be put out. It will be sent out against them like a lion; like a leopard it will mangle them.<br />24 As you fence in your property with thorns, As you lock up your silver and gold,<br />25 so make a door and a bolt for your mouth. so make balances and scales for your words. 26 Take care not to err with your tongue,<br />and fall victim to one lying in wait.<br />Sirach 28:12-26 (NRSV)<br /><br /></em>What is the purpose of a bit in the mouth of a horse?<br /><br />What is the purpose of the rudder of a ship?<br /><br />What damage can a small spark cause to a great forest?<br /><br />What similarity does a person’s tongue have to a horse’s bit, a ship’s rudder, and a spark of fire?<br /><br /><em>How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, 8 but no one can tame the tongue--a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.<br />James 3:5b-12 (NRSV)<br /></em><br />What damage do our tongues do to us?<br /><br />What is so difficult about taming the tongue?<br /><br />Of what inconsistencies are we capable?<br /><br />In what ways are we inconsistent?<br /><br />What are the ways we sin with our speech?<br /><br />Why are sins of speech often overlooked as not serious?<br /><br />How is our speech influenced by others around us?<br /><br />What practical advice would you give someone who wanted to control his or her tongue better?<br /><br />What weaknesses in our lives does our speech often expose?<br /><br />In what times or places can your tongue be used for good?<br /><br />Does James call us to practice silence?<br /><br />Would a life of silence be an improvement over a life of harmful speech?<br /><br />James does NOT want us to be silent. He is pleading for the control of the tongue, not the silence of the tongue. Aristippus, the Greek philosopher, had a saying: “The conqueror of pleasure is not the man who never uses it. He is the man who uses pleasure as a rider guides a horse, or a steersman directs a ship, and so directs them wherever he wishes” James is pleading not for the silence that comes from a fear of saying something wrong or hurtful but for a wise use of speech.<br /><br />Respond to this statement: Christian living is mostly about talking right. Is that true or false?<br /><br />What are some good things we can do with our speech?<br /><br />Verses 9 - 12 offer some hint as to how we can gain some control over the tongue. What is it?<br /><br />Let’s look at Matthew 12.33 – 35:<br /><em><span style="color:#ff0000;">33 "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.<br /></span>Matt 12:33-35 (NRSV)<br /></em><br />What do these verses teach about controlling our speech?<br /><br />Is this saying that if we think bad thoughts about people that those thoughts will eventually make their way out?<br /><br />Matthew 12.33 says, "make the tree good." How do you do that?<br /><br /><em>13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. 15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.<br />James 3:13-18 (NRSV)<br /></em><br /><br />What is the best way to make a lasting positive impression on others?<br /><br />What is the difference between earthly wisdom and God’s wisdom?<br /><br />What life experiences increase our wisdom?<br /><br />What are the marks of humility in a person?<br /><br />What damage can bitter envy or selfish ambition do to a person?<br /><br />How can we get or experience heavenly wisdom?<br /><br />What are practical ways we can sow seeds of peace during our life?<br /><br />What godly characteristics are present in our speech when we are pursuing God’s wisdom?<br /><br />What kind of bitter envy or selfish ambition do you tend to hold in your heart?Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-73655886571759768302008-08-08T14:59:00.002-04:002008-08-08T15:03:52.407-04:00Sunday School Lesson: Impartial DisciplesPurpose: To realize that the expression of Christian love makes it possible to avoid social and cultural discrimination and to honor all persons.<br /><br />Scripture: James 2:1-13<br /><br />What are some reasons why we may think that one person is more important than another?<br /><br />What is it in us that makes us want to favor certain kind of people?<br /><br />Where do you see prejudice being practiced?<br /><br />What is the most extreme example of prejudice that you have personally witnessed?<br /><br />Have you ever been the brunt of prejudice?<br /><br />Have you ever been around someone who made you feel judged? Describe how that felt?<br /><br />In what ways have you been a victim of favoritism or prejudice?<br /><br />How have you shown favoritism or prejudice toward other people?<br /><br />Why do we often treat rich people as more important than poor people?<br /><br />How do we use physical appearance, job status, and athletic ability to show favoritism toward people?<br /><br />Who is richer, a man with five children or a man with five million dollars? Why?<br />The man with the five kids, because he doesn’t want any more.<br /><br /><em>1 My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? 2 For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, 3 and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?<br /></em>James 2:1-4 NRSV<br /><br /><br />What is the greatest threat to the church?<br /><br />Does the greatest threat come from the outside or the inside?<br /><br />The greatest threat to the church, in my opinion, is the threat of becoming irrelevant. If the church is no different and holds the same attitudes as the outside world, then what use is the church?<br /><br />(From page 75 in Adult Bible Studies):<br /><br /><em>James asked the early church, “How can you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and show such blatant partiality on the basis of wealth and social status?” That question holds relevance for us and should cause us to reexamine our attitudes and actions.<br /><br />The danger of Christians and the church adopting the secular standards of the world is ever near. Too often the finance boards of churches are composed primarily of the wealthiest members, simply because of their wealth. Those with obviously less means are still often virtually ignored in some churches. Our own social circles are usually composed of people from similar economic means and racial backgrounds.<br /></em><br />It is one thing to run a clothing bank or food pantry; it is quite another to invite the poor to teach your children in Sunday School or to serve on the Board of Trustees.<br /><br />Do you think there are certain kinds of people we treat better when they come to our church?<a href="http://www.joshhunt.com/ss/James%201B.htm#N_2_#N_2_"> </a><br /><br />How can we welcome poor people in our church?<br /><br />Why does God have a special concern for poor people?<br /><br />Why is it wrong to show favoritism to the wealthy?<br />(From Life Application Study Bible):<br /><em>1. It is inconsistent with Christ’s teachings.<br />2. It results from evil thoughts.<br />3. It insults people made in God’s image.<br />4. It is a by-product of selfish motives.<br />5. It goes against the biblical definition of love.<br />6. It shows a lack of mercy to those less fortunate.<br />7. It is hypocritical.<br />8. It is sin.<br /></em><br />Why is it wrong to judge a person by his or her economic status?<br /><br /><em>Wealth may indicate intelligence, wise decisions, and hard work. On the other hand, it may mean only that a person had the good fortune of being born into a wealthy family. Or it can even be the sign of greed, dishonesty, and selfishness. By honoring someone just because he or she dresses well, we are making appearances more important than character.<br /></em><br />Why would we do that?<br /><br /><em>…because (1) poverty makes us uncomfortable; we don’t want to face our responsibiblites to those who have less than we do; (2) we want to be wealthy too, and we hope to use the rich person as a means to that end; (3) we want the rich person to join our church and help support it financially. All these motives are selfish; they view neither the rich nor the poor person as a human being in need of fellowship. If we say that Christ is our Lord, then we must live as he requires, showing no favoritism and loving all people regardless of whether they are rich or poor.<br /></em><br /><br />Is it OK to have favorite people?<br /><br />Is it OK to play favorites?<br /><br />What is the difference between having favorite people and playing favorites?<br /><br />What is the opposite of favoritism? (prejudice) Is it equally bad? Worse? Better?<br /><br /><em> 5 Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? 7 Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?</em><br />James 2:5-6 NRSV<br /><br />What has God promised to the poor of this world?<br /><br />Quote of the Day:<br />“<em>God must love the common people because he made so many of them.” – Abraham Lincoln.<br /></em><br />What does "rich in faith" mean? Can we control whether we are rich in faith?<br /><br />James seems to be of the opinion that the poor are more likely to trust and to love God than are the wealthy. Is this true?<br /><br />What are some possible reasons for why the poor may be more faithful?<br /><br />It may be because the affluent rely on their riches for security, the poor have no riches on which to rely. God is their only hope for a better future. It may be easier for them to acknowledge the need for a savior. One of the greatest barriers to faith is pride.<br /><br />What does the church do to the poor person when it shows favoritism toward the rich?<br /><br />In what practical ways can we show genuine love to people of different races, cultures, and economic standing?<br /><br />How does our church and class help the poor? What else could we do?<br /><br /> <em> 8 You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 9 But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.<br /></em>James 2:8-13 (NRSV)<br /><br />What is the royal law found in Scripture?<br /><br />Why is it “royal”?<br /><br />From William Barclay’s New Daily Study Bible:<br /><em>It may mean the law which is of supreme excellence; it may mean the law which is given by the King of Kings; it may mean the supreme law; it may mean the law that gives the regal quality to people and is fit for royalty.<br /></em><br />If you followed the one command in verse 8, would it be possible to sin in any other way?<br /><br />How is favoritism a violation of the royal law of verse 8?<br /><br />What does practicing favoritism do to a person who is trying to keep the law?<br /><br />From Barclay:<br /> <em>James has been condemning those who pay special attention to the rich man who enters the church. “But”, they might answer, “the law tells me to love my neighbor as myself. Therefore we are duty-bound to welcome this man when he comes to church.” “Very well,” answers James, “if you are really welcoming the man because you love him as you do yourself, and you wish to give him the welcome you yourself would wish to receive, that is fine. But, if you are giving him this special welcome because he is rich, that is favoritism and that is wrong – and, far from keeping the law, you are in fact breaking it. You don’t love your neighbor, or you would not neglect the poor man. What you love is wealth – and that is not what the law commands.”<br /></em><br /><br />James’ key point is that wealth cannot be the criterion for assigning value to people and determining how we treat them. How does his view compare to ours?<br /><br />Are there categories of sin, or are all sins alike?<br /><br />How does a “minor” sin like prejudice rank against such things as adultery and murder?<br /><br />What does a person have to do to be considered a lawbreaker?<br /><br />Personally, I would much rather you lie to me than murder me and, if you are going to rob me, I would much rather you steal a dollar than a thousand. But I’m not sure God sees it that way.<br /><br />Why is favoritism or prejudice often overlooked as a sin?<br /><br />Verse 12 says that the law is a “law of liberty”. <br />How does the law give freedom?<br /><br />If Christianity is about freedom, why do so many see it as about mere rule keeping?<br /><br />Have there been times in your life when you perceived Christianity to be about mere rule keeping?<br /><br />What place does rule keeping have in the Christian life?<br /><br />Verse 13. Do we earn God's mercy by being merciful to others?<br /><br />What does it mean mercy triumphs over judgment?<br /><br />Those who have shown mercy will, in the end, find that their mercy has blotted out their own sin.<br /><br />This question is just for our new members:<br /><br />What has been helpful to you in feeling like you are a part of this congregation and this class?<br /><br />What could our class or congregation do to make it easier for visitors and new members to feel welcomed and valued?Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-39868724157172846702008-07-31T10:25:00.002-04:002008-07-31T10:31:39.986-04:00Sunday School Lesson: Jesus is MessiahPurpose: To understand what it means to confess that Jesus “is the Christ, the Son of the living God” and how that confession shatters our presuppositions about Jesus.<br /><br />Scripture: Matthew 16:13-23<br /><br />If you could ask any person in the world one question, whom would you ask, and what would you want to know?<br /><br />Let’s locate Caesarea Philippi on a map. It is north and east of the Sea of Galilee, about halfway between the Sea of Galilee and Damascus Syria.<br /><br />Why were Jesus and the Disciples at Caesarea Philippi?<br /><br />They were travelling and preaching, teaching, and healing. They had just recently traveled to Tyre and Sidon in Phoenicia, then returned to the Sea of Galilee and the city of Magadan where the Feeding of the Four Thousand took place, then left there and proceeded to Caesarea Philippi.<br /><br />Caesarea Philippi was located at one of the sources for the Jordan River. In ancient times the location had been a shrine to the Greek and Roman nature god, Pan and was originally named Panion. Caesar Augustus gave the city to Herod the Great. Herod’s son Philip renamed the city after the emperor and himself.<br /><br /><br /><em>13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"<br /></em>Matt 16:13<br /><br />Why do you think Jesus asked this question?<br /><br />When Jesus said, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" was that like saying, "Who do people say that I am?"<br /> <br />From William Barclay’s The New Daily Study Bible:<br /><br /> <em>Confronting Jesus at this time was one pressing and demanding problem that would not go away. His time was short; his days on earth were numbered. The problem was – was there anyone who understood him? Was there anyone who had recognized him for who and what he was? Were there any who, when he had departed from this world, would carry on his work, and labor for his kingdom? Obviously this was a crucial problem, for it involved the very survival of the Christian faith. If there were none who had grasped the truth, or even glimpsed it, then all his work was undone; if there were just a few who realized the truth, his work was safe. So Jesus was determined to put all to the test and ask his followers who they believed him to be.<br /></em><br /><br />Who do people today say Jesus is? If you were to ask ten people on the street, "Who do you think Jesus was?" how do you think they would answer? What are some common views of Jesus among our generation?<br /><br />Why do you think Jesus cared who people said he was?<br /><br />Should we care what people think of us?<a href="http://www.joshhunt.com/ss/Jesus2004-3.htm#N_3_#N_3_"></a><br /><br /><br />What is the correct answer to the question “Who do you think Jesus was”?<br /><br />Are you familiar with C.S. Lewis' "Lord, liar, or lunatic" argument? Can anyone explain that to us?<br /> <br />From C. S. Lewis’s <em>Mere Christianity</em>:<br /><br /><em>I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.<br />We are faced, then, with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said, or else a lunatic, or something worse. Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God. God has landed on this enemy-occupied world in human form.<br /></em><br /><br />14 <em>And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."</em><br />Matthew 6:14<br /><br />From Barclay:<br /><em>….Jesus determined to demand a verdict from his disciples. He had to know before he set out for Jerusalem and the cross if anyone had even dimly grasped who and what he was. He did not ask the question directly; he led up to it. He began by asking what people said about him, and who they took him to be.<br /></em><br />What different answers did Christ get to His question?<br /><br />What do the answers tell us about Jesus’ reputation with the people?<br /><br />For 400 years the Jewish people had believed that the time of the prophets was history. But they did believe and several passages in the Old Testament concur that the prophets would return and usher in a savior for all the people.<br /><br />15 <em>He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"<br /></em>Matthew 16:15<br /><br />Can you imagine that upon hearing that question, there may have come a moment of silence?<br /><br />Who do you say Jesus is?<br /><br /><br />16 <em>Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."</em><br />Matthew 16:16<br /><br />What does “Messiah” mean?<br /><br />From the Hebrew “Mashiah”, translated into the Greek “Christos”, literally means “anointed one”, an anointed agent of God appointed to a task affecting the lot of God’s chosen people. Mashiah is used numerous times in the Old Testament most commonly connected with the anointing of kings or priests. In the New Testament it is used exclusively for Jesus. After the death and resurrection of Jesus, “Messiah” took on a specifically Christian meaning as a title that referred only to Jesus and it was used so frequently that the Greek form “Christ” became his second name. “Lord” and “Savior” are also used but not with the same frequency as “Messiah”.<br /><br /><br />What happened the first time you spoke publicly about your faith in Christ?<br /> <br /><br />17<em> And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.<br /></em>Matthew 16:17-20<br /><br />Why was Peter blessed?<br /><br />When Jesus says, "this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood. . ." does he mean we can't come to this conclusion without God revealing it to us?<br /><br />In what way is coming to faith and understanding the gospel a supernatural event?<br /><br />How did God work in your life and lead you to faith in Christ?<br /><br />What does he mean by, "this rock"?<br /><br />This is the first of only two times in the New Testament that Jesus speaks of a “church”.<br /><br />What exactly is a church?<br /><br />The word church is the English translation of the Greek “ekklesia” which literally translated means “assembly” or “gathering”.<br /><br />What exactly is a church?<br /><br />Some say it is Rome. Some say it is a local church as we think of it. Some think of it as any gathering of believers, formal or informal. Some think of it as the universal, invisible church. Some say that parachurch organizations such as campus ministries or mission organizations are like a church or part of the church. What exactly is a church?<br /><br />Is this group, in some sense, a church?<br /><br />What kind of church like activities can this group engage in?<a href="http://www.joshhunt.com/ss/Jesus2004-3.htm#N_4_#N_4_"> </a><br /><br />Loving one another. Teaching one another. Encouraging one another. Forgiving one another. Bearing with one another. Greeting one another.<br /><br />Are there any church-like activities that this group cannot do? What about baptism? What about the Lord's supper?<a href="http://www.joshhunt.com/ss/Jesus2004-3.htm#N_5_#N_5_"> </a><br /><br />In what way is a gate a weapon? What is being suggested here?<br /><br />What does it mean that “the gates of Hades will not prevail” against the church?<br /><br />Gates are actually more defensive than offensive. It sounds like the church is going to take the offensive.<br /><br />Barclay:<br /><br /> <em>….Hades was not the place of punishment, but the place where, in primitive Jewish belief, all the dead went. Obviously, the function of gates is to keep things in, to confine them, to shut them up, control them. There was one person whom the gates of Hades could not shut in….<br /></em><br />Who?<br /><br />Barclay:<br /><br /><em>Jesus Christ…burst the bonds of death….this may be a triumphant reference to nothing less than the coming resurrection. Jesus may be saying: “You have discovered that I am the son of the living God. The time will soon come when I will be crucified, and the gates of Hades will close behind me. But they are powerless to shut me in…</em><br /><em>However we take it, this phrase triumphantly expresses the indestructibility of Christ and his Church.</em><br /><br />Someone explain verse 19. What does that mean?<br /><br />Why do you think Jesus warned the disciples not to tell?<br /><br />What two great truths can we glean from this passage?<br /><br />1. Human categories, even the highest, are inadequate to describe Jesus Christ.<br /><br />2. This passage teaches that our discovery of Jesus must be a personal discovery. Jesus’ question is: “You – what do you think of me?” When Pilate asked him if he was the king of the Jews, his answer was: “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”<br /><br />Our knowledge of Jesus must never be at second hand. We might know every thought about Jesus that human minds have ever thought out, we might be able to give a competent summary of the teaching about Jesus of every great thinker and theologian – and still not be a Christian. Christianity never consists of knowing about Jesus; it always consists in knowing Jesus. He did not ask only Peter, he asks every one of us: “You – what do you think of me?”<br /><br />Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection<br /> 21 <em>From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." 23 But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."<br /></em>Matt 16:21-23 (NRSV)<br /><br />We don't have the actual words of Jesus in verse 21. How do you imagine this-do you think Jesus just mentioned His upcoming death in passing, went into detail about it, or something in between?<br /><br />We know that the disciples didn't get it. They were totally caught off guard by Jesus' death. Why didn't they get it, in light of Jesus clear teaching on this?<br /><br />We sometimes only hear what we want to hear. There is an admonition for real humility for us. We have to wonder in what ways we have missed Jesus teaching and not know it. We must not be like the disciples who assumed they got it.<br /><br />What do you think about Peter’s reaction in verse 22?<br /><br />How do you think Jesus’ reaction made Peter feel?<br /><br />What difference does it make what we believe about Jesus?Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-59367893628156913052008-07-31T10:23:00.000-04:002008-07-31T10:24:17.087-04:00I'm backI have neglected this blog for a while, but I plan to do better in the future.Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-52000249769660342142007-03-09T09:28:00.000-05:002007-03-09T09:36:12.902-05:00Sunday School Lesson: Love is LightPurpose: To motivate us to appreciate and live in the light of God’s love in a world of darkness.<br /><br />Scripture: 1 John 2:7-17<br /><br />This week we start a new series of lessons. This series follows the previous series perfectly. Last quarter we studied how in Jesus Christ we have a perfect image or portrait of God. Most of those lessons were taken from the writings of John in the Gospel of John and the First Letter of John. In this new series we will discover how the Church is called to be a portrait of Christ. These lessons will all be from the writings of John in 1 John and Revelation.<br /><br />This week’s lesson is from 1 John and follows scripturally directly from our December 17 lesson. That lesson was from 1 John 1:1 – 2:6 and was titled <em>Walking in the Light</em>. The purpose of the December 17 lesson was: To show that the reality of the Incarnation enables us to walk in fellowship with God and one another. This week’s lesson follows thematically directly from last week’s lesson which was taken from John 15:1-17. the purpose of last week’s lesson was: To show that true life is life in Christ and that such life bears fruit worthy of Him.<br /><br />From John 15:<br /><br /><em><strong>Joh 15:4-7 ESV</strong> Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. (5) I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (6) If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (7) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.<br /></em><br />In the lesson last week I asked several times throughout the lesson these questions:<br /><br />Jesus said: “Abide in me..”<br /><br />How do we abide in Jesus?<br /><br />How can we tell that we are abiding in Jesus?<br /><br />Our answer was that we abide in Jesus by following His Word and that we can tell that we are abiding by the fruit we produce.<br /><br />We should have gone back to the December 17 lesson. That lesson gives us a better answer to: How do we abide in Jesus?<br /><br /><br /><br /><em><strong>1Jn 1:5-7 ESV</strong> This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (6) If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. (7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.<br /><br /></em>These were the key verses from that lesson and they do contain picture of Jesus as the perfect image of God: In Him is no darkness at all. Do these verses also contain a portrait of believers? In what way do believers portray Christ?<br /><br />Back to abiding:<br /><br /><em><strong>1Jn 2:6 ESV</strong> ....whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.<br /></em><br />How do we abide in Christ?<br /><br />So the new question for this week is:<br /><br />How did Jesus walk?<br /><br />How do we go about walking as He walked?<br /><br />What are some adjectives that come to mind that describe how Jesus walked?<br /><br /><br /><br /><em><strong>1Jn 2:7-8 ESV</strong> Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. (8) At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.<br /></em><br />Any idea what commandment John is writing about?<br /><br />We would probably look back and think that he was referring to the statements in verse 6: to walk as Jesus walked. How can we further define walking, abiding, and this old/new commandment.<br /><br />John is very likely also referring to words of Jesus as recorded in John’s Gospel:<br /><br /><em><strong>Joh 13:34-35 ESV</strong> A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. (35) By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."<br /></em><br />In what sense is that commandment both old and new?<br /><br />It was old in the sense that it was already there in the Old Testament:<br /><br /><em><strong>Lev 19:18 ESV</strong> ….. you shall love your neighbor as yourself….<br /></em><br />The Jews were taught this from earliest childhood. Jesus also taught this as an old commandment:<br /><br /><em><strong>Mat 22:36-40 ESV</strong> "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" (37) And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (38) This is the great and first commandment. (39) And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (40) On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."<br /></em><br />The command to love each other was also old in the sense that this was not the first time these Christian believers had heard it. John was probably nearly 100 years old when this epistle was written. He had witnessed almost the first century of Christianity. This commandment was taught by Jesus and had been taught by the Church from the very beginning. From the very first day of entry into the Christian life, believers had been taught that the law of love must be the law of their lives. This commandment went a long way back into the history of God’s interaction with man and a long way back in the lives of the Christians to whom John was writing.<br /><br />So how was it new?<br /><br />It was new because of the way Jesus made it new. It was new as to who was considered a neighbor and worthy of love. Jesus included even sinners, who under the law would have been hated instead of loved. Jesus included even Gentiles, who under the law were despised. Jesus widened the boundaries of love until there was no one outside it’s embrace.<br /><br />It was new because of the lengths to which it would go. No lack of response, nothing that anyone could ever do to Him, could turn Jesus’ love to hate. He even prayed for God’s mercy on those who nailed Him to the cross.<br /><br /><em><strong>1Jn 2:9-11 ESV</strong> Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. (10) Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. (11) But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.<br /></em><br />What did John mean by the words “light” and “darkness”?<br /><br />If you dislike someone, does that mean you are not a Christian or cannot be a Christian?<br /><br />Is there any room for hate in a Christian heart?<br /><br />How are claiming to be a Christian and loving one’s neighbor related?<br /><br />How do we regard our neighbors? <br /><br />Do we regard them as negligible? Do we make all of our plans without taking our neighbors into consideration at all?<br /><br />Do we regard them with contempt? Do we think that they are all fools when compared with our intellectual level, so their opinions should just be brushed aside?<br /><br />Do we see them as a nuisance? They are here and we have to interact with them or even care for them when necessary. But do we sometimes begrudge that necessity?<br /><br />Do we see them as enemies? As our competitors?<br /><br />Or do we see them as brothers and sisters?<br /><br />If we walk in the light we are in fellowship with God. True?<br /><br />Who else will we be in fellowship with?<br /><br />Love and light go together as do hatred and darkness.<br /><br />Is Christian love just a feeling or something that we can agree to intellectually?<br /><br />What is required for a feeling or thoughts of love to actually become love?<br /><br /><br />What love does God hate?<br /><br /><em><strong>1Jn 2:15-17 ESV</strong> Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. (17) And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.<br /></em><br />Verse 15 says not to love the world. What does that mean?<br /><br />Is the "world" the earth itself?<br /><br />Are we commanded to not love the earth and all the natural beauty created by God?<br /><br />Is the world the people of the world?<br /><br />We have already been told in this lesson that we are to love our neighbor. Is this a reversal? Are we now told that we are not to love the people of the world?<br /><br /><em><strong>Joh 3:16 ESV</strong> "For God so loved the world </em>(the people of the world),<em> that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.<br /></em><br />God loved the world, but we are not supposed to?<br /><br />So what is John speaking of when he says: “Do not love the world”?<br /><br />Can I love a beautiful sunset?<br /><br />Can I love to see a small child grin?<br /><br />Can I love the family pet?<br /><br />What is this world that I am commanded not to love?<br /><br /><em><strong>Eph 6:12 ESV</strong> For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.<br /><br /><strong>1Jn 5:19 ESV</strong> We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.<br /></em><br />The world in this sense does not mean the world in general, for God did indeed love the world and the people which he had made; it means the world which, in fact, had and has forsaken the God who made it.<br /><br />What restrictions should we place on our affections?<br /><br />What things in the world are you tempted to love?<br /><br />What would you categorize as the “desire of the flesh”?<br /><br />What would you categorize as the “desire of the eyes”?<br /><br />What would you categorize as the “pride in riches”?<br /><br />Why are the things of the world so enticing to us?<br /><br />What worldly things or values do we substitute for God?<br /><br />What are some ways that Christians disagree concerning the definition of worldliness?Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-84391927494901986872007-02-28T15:22:00.000-05:002007-02-28T15:29:46.367-05:00Book Study - The Cost of Discipleship - Intermission<strong>We're giving up Bonhoeffer for Lent!</strong><br /><br />well, not really, but we are taking a break. Our Church is doing a church-wide study during Lent called <em>Serving from the Heart: Finding Your Gifts and Talents for Service</em> and our Book Study Group is taking part. So we'll be back on Bonhoeffer the week after Easter.Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-61846567969793428302007-02-28T15:14:00.000-05:002007-02-28T15:22:26.480-05:00Sunday School Lesson: Secure ConnectionsPurpose: To show that true life is life in Christ and that such life bears fruit worthy of Him.<br /><br />Scripture : John 15:1-17<br /><br /><em><strong>Joh 15:1-4 ESV </strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. (2) Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (3) Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. (4) Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.</span></em><br /><br />Jesus commonly used ideas or examples which were part of the religious heritage of the Jewish people. This passage from John 15 is no exception. Over and over in the Old Testament Israel is pictured or described as the vine or the vineyard of God.<br /><br /><em><strong>Isa 5:7 ESV </strong>For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting….<br /><br /><strong>Jer 2:21 ESV </strong>Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed……<br /><br /><strong>Eze 19:10 ESV </strong>Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water.<br /><br /><strong>Hos 10:1 ESV </strong>Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. …<br /><br /><strong>Psa 80:8-9 ESV </strong>You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. (9) You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.</em><br /><br />The vine became the symbol for the nation of Israel. The emblem on the coins of Israel was the vine. One of the greatest distinctive features of the Temple was a great golden vine on the front of the Holy Place. It was considered a great honor to give enough gold to mould even a single grape on that vine. When Jesus used references to the vine He was not introducing something new. Any reference to the vine would have been immediately recognized by any Jew of the time as a reference to Israel and her special place in the vineyard of God.<br /><br />How do you think Jesus’ statement: “I am the true vine” would be understood by His Jewish audience?<br /><br />What exactly was Jesus saying with that statement?<br /><br />If we look closer at the Old Testament references to the symbol of the vine, we see that in the Old Testament the symbols were always in reference to a declined, degenerate, and corrupt Israel.<br /><br />Isaiah pictured a vineyard that had run wild:<br /><br /><em><strong>Isa 5:10 ESV </strong>For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath….</em><br /><br />Jeremiah complained:<br /><br /><em><strong>Jer 2:21 ESV </strong>….. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?</em><br />So what was Jesus’ message to Israel?<br /><br /><br />Jesus seemed to be saying: “You may think that just because you belong to the nation of Israel you are a branch of the true vine. But the nation is a degenerate vine, as reported by the prophets. It is I who am the true vine. The fact that you are Jews will not save you. The only thing that can save you is to have an intimate living fellowship with me, for I am the vine and you must be the branches joined to me.”<br /><br />Who we are, which nation we are born into, which church we belong to , etc. will not save us. No external qualification can set us right with God. Only our relationship with Jesus Christ can do that.<br /><br />Since the Jews had not produced righteousness, God sent the “true vine” to accomplish His work. Jesus replaces Judaism as the means by which people are connected to God. The only way to God is through Christ.<br /><br />Jesus said: “Abide in me..”<br /><br />How do we abide in Jesus?<br /><br />How can we tell that we are abiding in Jesus?<br /><br />What is the difference between “removing branches” and “pruning branches”?<br /><br />Pruning is essential to grape production. Grapes are only produced on one-year old canes. Care must be taken to ensure that sufficient one-year canes are on the vine to produce a crop and also that some canes are growing to be the producing canes for next year. All two-year canes are removed as they are past their usefulness. What do you think happens to a one-year old cane that fails to produce?<br /><br />They are completely removed so that they will drain away none of the plant’s strength which is needed by those that are producing fruit.<br /><br />A vine cannot produce the crop of which it is capable without much severe pruning – and Jesus knew that.<br /><br />And what happens to the pruned branches?<br /><br />They are thrown into the fire. One curious characteristic of the vine is that the wood of the vine is good for nothing. It is too soft and not durable enough for any purpose.<br /><br /><br /><em><strong>Eze 15:2-5 ESV </strong>"Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? (3) Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? (4) Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? (5) Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!</em><br /><br />Who was Jesus thinking of when He spoke of “fruitless” branches?<br /><br />He may have been thinking of two groups. He may have been thinking of the Jews. They were certainly branches of God’s vine. But did they accept Jesus? Did they “abide” in Jesus? If they did not then their branch would wither and die.<br /><br />The second group He was thinking of was more general. He was thinking of “fruitless” Christians: Christians whose Christianity consisted of profession of faith without practice of faith, Christians of words without deed. Those are useless branches, all leaves and no fruit. He may also have been thinking of Christians who heard the message and accepted and later fell away.<br /><br />What is Jesus pruning tool?<br /><br />In what way has God removed dead and useless branches from your life?<br /><br />Have you noticed God “pruning” in you life?<br /><br />What have you learned from the experience?<br /><br /><br /><em><strong>Joh 15:5-8 ESV </strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (6) If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. (7) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (8) By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.</span></em><span style="color:#ff0000;"><br /></span><br />How do we abide in Christ?<br /><br />How do we know that we are “bearing fruit”?<br /><br />Is “bearing fruit” limited to bringing others to Christ?<br /><br />How well do you think we are doing at “abiding” in Christ?<br /><br />What are some things that we could do to abide in Christ more than we do?<br /><br />What are the benefits to abiding in Christ?<br /><br />What are the costs of failing to abide in Christ?<br /><br />Verse 4: “For apart from me you can do nothing.” What does that statement say to a very good person who is not a Christian?<br /><br />Is there a such-thing as a “good” non-Christian?<br /><br />Can a non-Christian bear good fruit?<br /><br />What is the only way to live a truly good life?<br /><br /><em><strong>Joh 15:9-11 ESV </strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. (10) If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. (11) These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.</span></em><br /><br />What is the relationship between abiding in Christ and obedience?<br /><br />How is joy and love related to abiding and obedience?<br /><br />What is Jesus’ goal in this lesson?<br /><br />Do you think most believers enjoy their relationship with God?<br /><br />How can we come to find complete, continuous joy in God?<br /><br />Is the joy spoken of in this passage the kind of joy that makes you smile, or is this a deep, deep joy that no one ever sees?<br /><br />How do we abide in Jesus’ love?<br /><br />Can we simply tell ourselves over and over that “Jesus loves me”? Is that abiding in His love?<br /><br />Is it possible to have a warm, loving relationship with God if we don’t dutifully follow His commandments?<br /><br />Does the warmth of relationship always go along with the duty of obedience?<br /><br />Is it possible to be dutifully obedient without being connected in a warm, loving relationship?<br /><br />How does joy fit into obedience? Can you have joy without obedience?<br /><br />Do you normally think of joy and obedience as going together?<br /><br />Is it important that we be joyful or just that we are obedient? Is it ok to be obedient but grumpy?<br /><br /><em><strong>Joh 15:12-15 ESV </strong>"<span style="color:#ff0000;">This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (13) Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (14) You are my friends if you do what I command you. (15) No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.</span></em><span style="color:#ff0000;"><br /></span><br />Who did Jesus say were His friends?<br /><br />Why does Jesus call His disciples friends?<br /><br />Can you command love? Is love that is the result of a command true love?<br /><br />What does it take to be a friend of God?<br /><br />As followers of Christ shouldn’t we be called servants?<br /><br />We are called to obedience, but not called servants. Why?<br /><br />Do we sometimes struggle to love others as Jesus has loved us?<br /><br />In what ways is it hard to be Jesus’ friend?<br /><br /><br /><em><strong>Joh 15:16-17 ESV </strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (17) These things I command you, so that you will love one another.</span></em><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#000000;">Did the disciples choose to follow Christ of their own free will?</span><br /></span><br />We like to think of our relationship with Jesus as something we decided to do. Is this true? Do we choose to follow Christ of our own free will?<br /><br /><br />Why did and does Jesus choose His disciples?<br /><br />What is Jesus’ commandment?<br /><br />Homework:<br /><br />Imagine yourself as a branch on the vine of Christ. What do you look like?<br /><br />Are you a healthy branch?<br /><br />What do you need? More water, fertilizer, sun?<br /><br />What do you need from Christ to nourish you so that you become an outstanding specimen and bear much fruit?Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16651327.post-44771931879412609302007-02-28T14:59:00.000-05:002007-02-28T15:14:30.791-05:00Book Study – The Cost of Discipleship, Week 6 – Chapters 14-16Chapter 14 – The Hidden Righteousness<br /><br /><em><strong>Mat 6:1-4 ESV </strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (2) "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (3) But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, (4) so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.</span></em><br /><br />We have already studied Matthew 5: 13-16 which tells us that our life of righteousness must be seen. The Body of Christ is to be visible in the world and known by it’s righteousness. Salt and light. Here we are told that our righteousness is to remain hidden. Which is it supposed to be? Visible or invisible?<br /><br />The passage from Matthew 5 left no doubt that our discipleship must be visible to the world. If it is not seen, it probably doesn’t exist. Being a witness to the world is the purpose of discipleship. So, from whom are we to hide our discipleship?<br /><br />Not from others, but from ourselves. When we begin to notice our own righteousness, we have taken our eyes off of the One who is truly righteous.<br /><br />How can the visible and invisible aspects of discipleship be combined?<br /><br />How can, at the same time, discipleship be both visible and invisible?<br /><br />Bonhoeffer:<br /><br /><em>“To answer this question, all we need to do is to go back to chapter 5, where the extraordinary and the visible are defined as the cross of Christ beneath which the disciples stand. The cross is at once the necessary, the hidden and the visible – it is the ‘extraordinary’.”</em><br /><br />If our “visibility” ever takes the eyes of the world away from the cross, we have crossed the line. If our discipleship ever is seen as “our” righteousness then it is no longer the righteousness of the Cross.<br /><br />How is the seeming contradiction between Matthew 5 and 6 resolved?<br /><br />Notice that in the Table of Contents the chapters dealing with Matthew 5 and those dealing with Matthew 6 are separated. Matthew 5 is subtitled <em>Of the “Extraordinariness” of the Christian Life</em> and Matthew 6 is subtitled <em>Of the Hidden Character of the Christian Life.</em><br />Bonhoeffer:<br /><br /><em>“All that the follower of Jesus has to do is to make sure that his obedience, following, and love are entirely spontaneous and unpremeditated.”</em><br /><br />Easy for him to say. How can we, if we are “making sure” of anything do so spontaneously and unpremeditated? If we are thinking about it enough to “make sure” it is spontaneous, we have in so doing lost it’s spontaneity.<br /><br />Chapter 15 – The Hiddenness of Prayer<br /><br /><em><strong>Mat 6:5-8 ESV </strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (6) But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (7) "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. (8) Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him</span>.</em><br /><br />Jesus had to teach his disciples to pray. Is prayer a natural thing for man?<br /><br />Bonhoeffer:<br /><br /><em>“Prayer is the supreme instance of the hidden character of the Christian life. It is the antithesis of self-display. When men pray, they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon. Prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world; it is addressed to God alone, and is therefore the perfect example of undemonstrative action.”</em><br /><br />Do you agree with the statement that “prayer does not aim at any direct effect on the world”. Isn’t that why we pray? To plead with God to “effect” the world?<br /><br />John Wesley:<br /><br /><em>“God does nothing but in answer to prayer. Even people who have been converted to God without praying for it themselves (which is extremely rare) were prayed for by others. Every new victory that a soul gains is the effect of a new prayer.”</em><br /><br />Who do you agree with, Bonhoeffer or Wesley? Does prayer “not aim at any direct effect on the world” or is every direct effect on the world the result of prayer?<br /><br /><br />Chapter 16 – The Hiddenness of the Devout Life<br /><br /><em><strong>Mat 6:16-18 ESV </strong>"<span style="color:#ff0000;">And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (17) But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, (18) that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.</span></em><span style="color:#ff0000;"><br /></span><br />How many of you have ever fasted?<br /><br />Is it wrong to admit that I have fasted, or should my fast remain secret?<br /><br />I’m sure next week folks will be asking, “What are you giving up for Lent?”<br /><br />Should we just keep our Lenten fast between us and God?<br /><br />Jesus doesn’t tell the disciples to fast. He takes it for granted that they will.<br /><br />Bonhoeffer:<br /><br /><em>“strict exercise of self control is an essential feature of the Christian’s life.”</em><br /><br />What does this passage say to those who desire a monastic lifestyle? Those who intentionally and very visibly seek suffering as a show of piety?<br /><br />Bonhoeffer:<br /><br /><em>“This is a pious but godless ambition, for beneath it lurks the notion that it is possible for us to step into Christ’s shoes and suffer as he did and kill the old Adam. We are then presuming to undertake that bitter work of eternal redemption which Christ himself wrought for us. The motive for asceticism was more limited – to equip us for better service and deeper humility.”</em><br /><br />If I do certain things with the intention of showing my humility, haven’t I totally defeated their intended purpose?Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02873691191354031574noreply@blogger.com0