Friday, September 30, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

Hope you are having a good week, and I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.  I've gotten some ideas about new studies that I'd like to get some feedback on.

 

The new unit for this week is  Unit 22, The Ministry of All God's People  

 

Focus Scripture for the Week:  

 

Ephesians 4:11-12

 

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

 

Today's Scriptures:  1 Thessalonians 1:2-10, Luke 24:44-53, John 12:20-36

 

Today's Discussion: 

 

--  quick couple of notes on these scriptures.  The scripture from John, while good, I'm not sure how it reflects on our topic for the week, other than it speaks to the committment and responsibility to follow Jesus.

 

-- the Luke scripture talks about the responsibility of witnessing as part of our church work.  In our other conversations and discussions, when we talked about the work of the church, I had, as I'm sure you all had, simply had thought about the work that goes on at the church -- teaching classes, singing in the choir, etc.  This scripture reminds us that the work of the church is bringing others to Christ -- to do, as in the words of our focus scripture, building up the body of Christ.

 

 

Question for Sunday:  

 

-- how much of what we have done and are doing has contributed to "building up the body of Christ?"

 

Today's prayer request:   Our Pleasant Hill church family

 

We need to remember our church family in our prayers, much like Paul says he remembers the church at Thessalonica in the scripture for today.  Just as the church at Thessalonica reached out to their area, so does our church reach out to the people and community of McCalla. 

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

Joey Harbarger

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

Hope you are having a good week, and I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday.

 

The new unit for this week is  Unit 22, The Ministry of All God's People  

 

Focus Scripture for the Week:  

 

Ephesians 4:11-12

 

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

 

Today's Scriptures:  Matthew 7:21-28

 

Today's Discussion: 

 

-- this scripture contains one of Jesus' better known proverbs -- the idea of building a house on sand vs. rock.  But it helps to remember the context in which Jesus is using that example to teach.

 

-- in general, Jesus is teaching about the difference between those who simply pretend to be Christian and those that actually live as a Christian.  In particular, in this example and for the purposes of this lesson, he talking about those who do Christian work in his name, but do it to fulfill their own agenda, not God's. 

 

-- the easiest target to imagine for this warning from Jesus are television evanglists, who we all perceive as using Jesus' name to further their own agenda and line their own pockets.  We shouldn't paint all of them with the same brush, but I have to say that they were the first to come to mind when reading this scripture.

 

-- the second half of the scripture today has a broader meaning than just the context of those doing work for the kingdom.  It is just a good bit of scripture for reminding us what our obiligation to Christ is -- obedience in doing God's will -- and a tremendous bit of encouragment about the rewards of following Jesus.  This scripture is often used as the basis for sermons that talk about how our faith in Jesus can help us through tough times -- that no matter how rough things get around us, our foundation -- our faith in Christ -- is there to sustain us and protect us.

 

-- but we should remember, Jesus didn't say that "those who believe in me" are like a wise man who . . .  --- he says "those who hear my words and puts them into practice" are like the wise man who builds on rock.  Just a reminder of what Jesus' expectation is -- that we are active in living out our faith, consistent with the direction that we get from him.

Question for Sunday:  

 

-- do you hear what Jesus is telling you, and are you putting them into practice?

 

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: 

 

Jerri Wesson

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

The new unit for this week is  Unit 22, The Ministry of All God's People  

 

Focus Scripture for the Week:  

 

Ephesians 4:11-12

 

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

 

Today's Scriptures:  1 Timothy 3:1-13

 

Today's Discussion: 

 

--  the scripture for today outlines Paul's requirements for being a leader in the church, and, not surprisingly, they are very similar to the ideas that Paul has for Christian living for every believer.  The primary difference in this case I believe is that Paul is saying that a church leader needs to be meeting his expectations for Christian living in order to be a leader, and needs to have met them over a period of time.

 

-- Paul recognizes in his requirements the great power of a living example in encouraging others in their Christian walk.  Even when we are not church leaders, our example of the Christian life that is being actively pursued can be great encouragment to other Christians and a compelling invitation to those who are still seeking something in their lives.  On the other hand, we all have recognized how damaging and discouraging it can be when a Christian leader doesn't met Paul's expectations, and they lose their way and fall into some kind of sinful behavior that is found out.

 

-- Paul's standards are not meant to be discouraging, and in one sense, they are not any higher than anything Paul has written about his expectations for the average Christian.  I think that Paul's writing simply indicates that leaders of the church should simply be further down the road in their Christian walk, that, as a result they have moved "closer to perfection".  I think that the takeaway for us is that any of us can be leaders in the church (if that is the gift we are given), as long as we are actively and successfully pursuing and living out our faith.

 

Question for Sunday:  

 

-- easy question -- can you note a time where the church lost standing because of a leader who, in Paul's words, fell into disgrace?   What did you hear from those who weren't believers in those cases?  Did they use the stumble of that leader to justify their own unbelief?

 

Today's prayer request:   Saundra Aaron

 

Saundra is Valerie's brother's mother-in-law, and she is getting treatment for breast cancer, which was very recently discovered.  She needs our prayers as does the rest of her family. 

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

Jay Waters

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

Just fyi, I've added a link to the Appalachia Service Project web site on the blog.  Just a reminder that the blog has all of our back emails, along with links to the Pleasant Hill web site and the United Methodist Church web site features such as book and movie reviews.  Blog is at http://leapclass.blogspot.com.

 

Also, still wanting to hear any feedback on suggestions for a possible next study -- we have four weeks left in this book.

 

The new unit for this week is  Unit 22, The Ministry of All God's People  

 

Focus Scriptures for the Week:  

 

Ephesians 4:11-12

 

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

 

Today's Scriptures:  Matthew 12:46-50

 

Today's Discussion: 

 

-- the scripture today is brief bit from Jesus, making the point that we have a spiritual family that we belong to -- in his case, those who shared the responsibility of doing God's will.  We have a similar relationship with our church and our class.  We hear the term used all the time about "brothers and sisters in Christ" to refer to our fellow believers, but we don't always feel or expect that level of spiritual kinship.

 

-- the first four readings from Wesley this week speak to the power that can be gained from our spiritual family.  In the first couple, he talks about the Methodists, both from the standpoint of asking them not to leave the church of England (which Methodism grew out of, and had conflicts with) and encouraging them with the power of staying part of a larger group that could do good works.  In the next couple, he talks about the opposite side -- congregations and groups that had gone cold because they had ceased to gather together to share and support each other.

 

-- practically speaking, being a Christian is a task that requires being with other Christians, to share, to encourage and to worship together.  While all of the Christian denominations are organized to bring Christians together in worship and study in one way or the other, the Methodist Church has a particular emphasis on the power of small groups to grow the faith of individuals.  And this isn't just an old fashioned idea.  The fastest growing and most contemporary church in America today -- Saddleback Church where Rick Warren preaches (he of Purpose Driven Life fame) is specifically about small groups.  It's growth is all about small groups where people can share and be encouraged.  If that is something that modern American Christians want from their churches, the Methodist Church tradition makes us particularly suited to be ready to address those needs.

 

Question for Sunday:  

 

-- how can our small group be more vibrant and active and vital?

 

Today's prayer request:   Our soldiers in Iraq

 

This is something that has definitely gotten pushed off our front page, but we still have a significant number of soldiers in harm's way in Iraq who we need to remember.

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

Andrew Peebles

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay

Monday, September 26, 2005

Good Morning! 

 

Hope you all had a good weekend.

 

The new unit for this week is  Unit 22, The Ministry of All God's People  

 

Focus Scriptures for the Week:  

 

Ephesians 4:11-12

 

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

 

Today's Scriptures:  1 Corinthians 1:1-9

 

Today's Discussion: 

 

-- the scripture for today doesn't give us much instruction, but note that we usually dismiss completely the introductory comments to Paul's letters.  But there are a couple of things that we should note about this section.

 

-- first, we should note how Paul lives out the idea of always giving thanks to God.  Even in his letter, before he gets down to business, he is giving praise and thanksgiving to God.  Just as we open all of our church meetings with prayer, Paul does more or less the same thing in the opening lines of this letter.

 

-- second, note that Paul was writing to correct some of the actions and beliefs of the Corinthian church.  But note that before he gets to that, he starts on a positive note.  Paul, as someone who was supervising or responsible for the church in Corinth, took a positive approach to correct their behavior and beliefs.  He doesn't sugar coat his comments later on, but he establishes an air of love in the beginning to be the backdrop for his other comments.

 

Question for Sunday:  

 

-- how do you approach correct others -- whether they are your children or those who work for you?

 

Today's prayer request:    Our bosses and others in authority at our work place.

 

Since today is Monday, let's start it off well by remembering our employers and supervisors -- that they manage with respect and ethics and fairness.  Let us also pray that we as supervisors do the same.

 

Today's class member prayer: 

 

Melissa Herring

 

Have a great day.

 

Jay