Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Good Morning!

As additional information, here is a link to the Purpose Driven life book page at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0310205719/qid=1128511013/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8761174-3207203?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Gives you some additional perspective about the book, and a way to look through some pages.

If you haven't been able to look at some other books, look at Monday's note on the web for a similar link.

Website is at leapclass.blogspot.com.

The new unit for this week is Unit 23, Sanctifying Grace

Focus Scripture for the Week:

1 Thessalonians 5:23

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely.

Today's Scriptures: Exekiel 20:8-13

Today's Discussion:

-- going back to the Old Testament today.

-- with this scripture, how do we connect it to our topic? I think it is the idea of rebellion. In the passage, God is talking about how the people of Israel had rebelled against his laws and commandments, and how God reacted and punished them for that.

-- in the context of our lesson for this week, we have talked about how our desire to move towards perfection is an outgrowth of our faith in Christ, and it should be something that we aspire to in reaction to our salvation. But I think that -- in my own mind at least -- we get the feeling that putting forth that effort is optional. Living a holy life isn't God's suggested response for us; it is the expected response.

-- this may be way overreading on my part, but, looking at the scriptures we've read to date on this topic, I would say that our takeaway is that not aspiring to live a sanctified life is a form of rebellion against God. God provides the grace for us to make that happen, and he outlines the path for us, but it is up to us to act on that grace, and to follow that path.

Question for Sunday:

-- how have you rebelled against God -- either consciously or unconsciously?

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:

Carl McKinney

Have a great day.

Jay