Friday, October 14, 2005

Good Morning!

Hope to see everyone on Sunday.

The new unit for this week is Unit 24, The Way Methodists Live

Focus Scripture for the Week:

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, 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?

Today's Scriptures: James 1:2-18, 1 John 3:11-24, 1 Peter 5:1-11

Today's Discussion:

-- these three passages from these three short letters provide guidance on how to live as a Christian, particularly how to perservere when you run into trouble for living as a Christian.

-- the one verse that really jumped up and grabbed me from this group was from 1 John 3:18: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." I think that we all are familiar with the commands to love others and to love one another. This passage adds some weight and responsibility to those well-known instructions. We tend to think that our fulfillment of our charge to love others is covered by the fact that we try not to get mad at others, or that we have a pleasant attitude towards others. I think what James is saying here is directly addressing that attitude, saying that love is far more than that.

-- the last passage from Wesley in our book is a long one that outlines his vision of how Methodists should live and conduct themselves, and there was one that caught my eye in particular. He encouraged Methodists to do business with each other -- to prefer them when you were hiring, to buy from each other, and otherwise help each other in business. It is a very practical example of the idea of community, and a reminder that we are in one, and that we should help each other, because the world is not going to help us. Maybe we need to do something for Pleasant Hill -

- a business directory or some such -- that outlines what businesses our members are in, so that builds the idea that

we are a community, and the idea that we should and can have relationships beyond Sunday morning.

Question for Sunday:

-- how do you take to the idea that you should prefer members of your church when doing business. Does it put you off because it is bringing business into the world of the spiritual, or does it broaden your idea of what it means to be a member of the church?

Today's prayer request: Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims

Need to continue to remember this people, whose lives will remain in flux for the forseeable future. Need to pray for them to have peace, for comfort, and for them to get all of the assistance that they need to restore their lives

Today's class member prayer:

Brad Douglas

Have a great day.

Jay