Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

Hope everyone is doing well.  My cable is out this morning, so I don't know when this email will get out today. 

 

Don't forget that you can find all of the back issues of the daily email on the web at www.leapclass.blogspot.com.  

 

The new unit for this week is Unit  18 - Salvation by Faith

 

Focus Scripture for the Week:   Psalms 51:12 

 

 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit 

 

Today's Scriptures:       Luke 2:22-35  

 

Today's Discussion:   

 

-- this passage is one of many that knocks down one of the requirements that some thought had to be met for salvation -- early on, many Jews thought that the Messiah was just for them.  That subject is addressed in the song by Simeon, as he notes in verse 32 that Jesus was to be "a light of revelation for the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."

 

-- while this was a point of contention for the early church (were the Gentiles able to be saved), that is no longer a point for us -- we fully understand that Jesus came for all, that salvation is offered to all, and in other parts of the New Testament there are scriptures that expansively note that salvation is for Gentile and Jew, free or slave, rich or poor.

 

-- the main thing that this passage gets at, in the light of our scripture, is this idea that Christ came for all.  It is hard for us to understand what a bold statement that was for the early church, but the Jews of Jesus' time held Gentiles in contempt, and tried to limit their contact with them in everyway possible.  For them to be faced with the idea that the Gentiles were equally eligible for the salvation promised by God was a hard thing for them to accept.

 

-- while the Jew/Gentile squabble is something that is not part of our day, we do have a similar trouble sometimes in getting our arms around the idea that salvation is freely available to all.   In one of Wesley's writings for this week, he talked about having trouble with the idea of a deathbed confession -- the idea that someone could be saved at that last point in their lives.  The churches that he preached in had trouble with the idea that salvation was about faith alone, not faith and works, and asked him not to preach in their churches anymore.  These are just examples of how often we try to restrict who can be saved, and we just need to get to the point of accepting the fact that when God says it is available to all, he means all.

 

Question for Sunday:   

 

-- are you comfortable with the idea that God's salvation is freely available to all, based on faith? 

 

Today's prayer request:    The people of  Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama   

 

Still need to remember these folks who are in the middle of a major catastrophe, with a lot of loss of life.

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

 Danny Walker 

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay