A place for random thoughts from the life of a follower of Jesus.

Friday, October 30, 2009

October 29 - Session Five

For Here:
Take a look at Jesus' teaching on the greatest commandment. Then consider the questions that follow.
Matthew 22:34-40
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment int he law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments."

For discussion/reflection:
1. Why was Jesus asked about the most important commandment?
2. How do these two commandments summarize the law?
3. Have you ever lived under 'law'?
4. How is Jesus' teaching different from following the law?

To Go:
Take some time this week to read the following verses and consider what they tell us about loving God and each other. You can look them up at www.biblegateway.com.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7
Romans 13:8-10
Leviticus 19:18
Colossians 3:17, 23-24

We're always happy to hear from you! Feel free to post comments or questions.
Be blessed,
David

Monday, October 26, 2009

The Order on the Side

I encountered this article today on the web. It's a good illustration of what God is calling us to be. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/sep/19/health/chi-0920-sun-nightcook
Bettye Tucker has a great ministry in the hospital where she works.
Pay particular attention to the last few paragraphs.
I think as followers of Jesus that this is what we should be like in our areas of work.
Be blessed!
David

Friday, October 23, 2009

October 22 - Session Four

Welcome! We’re glad you have taken the time to join us for conversation, fun and food. We want to get to know God better, and desire to do that in relationship with one another.

In this session, we want to look at what being a follower of Jesus means, and discuss it together.
For Here:
Take a look together at one instance where Jesus called one of His disciples. The verses are included below for your convenience, but you are welcome to read them in your own Bible as well. After reading the verses together, consider the questions that follow. The object is to get everyone thinking, not necessarily to provide one right answer.
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Matthew 9:9-13 (NLT)
Jesus Calls Matthew
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. 11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?”
12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.” 13 Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

For discussion/reflection:

What do you think Jesus meant when He said to Matthew, “follow me and be my disciple”?
Why did the Pharisees respond the way they did?
Have you ever found yourself in the position of the Pharisees?
In light of Jesus’ words and actions recorded by Matthew, who should followers of Jesus spend their time with?





To Go:
Take some time this week to read the following verses and consider what they tell us about being a disciple in light of what we learned together from Matthew’s experience. Use the table of contents in your Bible to help you find the references, if necessary. You can also look them up at http://www.biblegateway.com/.

I Samuel 16:6-7

Micah 6:6-8

Hosea 6:6

James 1:19-27


Keep tuned in for updates, and notes from weeks you cannot attend.

We’re always happy to hear from you!
Leave comments (click on “­_ comments” at the bottom of the posting), or send me an email: dporter@pickeringpentecostal.com.

We're glad to be growing along with you as we follow Jesus!
Blessings,
David

Thursday, October 15, 2009

October 15 - Session Three

For our third session, we want to look at the spiritual search, and discuss it together.

For Here:
Take a look at one aspect of what the Bible says about spirituality. The verses are included below for your convenience, but you are welcome to read them in your own Bible as well. After reading the verses together, consider the questions that follow. The object is to get everyone thinking, not to provide one right answer.
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Isaiah 55
1-5 "Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money—everything's free! Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.I'm making a lasting covenant commitment with you, the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love. I set him up as a witness to the nations, made him a prince and leader of the nations, And now I'm doing it to you: You'll summon nations you've never heard of, and nations who've never heard of you will come running to you Because of me, your God, because The Holy of Israel has honored you."
6-7Seek God while he's here to be found, pray to him while he's close at hand.Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking.Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.
8-11"I don't think the way you think. The way you work isn't the way I work." God's Decree. "For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think.Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don't go back until they've watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed. They'll do the work I sent them to do, they'll complete the assignment I gave them.
12-13"So you'll go out in joy, you'll be led into a whole and complete life.The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song.All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause.No more thistles, but giant sequoias, no more thornbushes, but stately pines—Monuments to me, to God, living and lasting evidence of God."

For discussion/reflection:
What do you think is being said about spirituality here?
Where are you in your spiritual search?
How do you respond to what God says in Isaiah 55?
Any other questions you want to discuss?



To Go:
Take some time this week to read the following verses and consider what they tell us about prayer, especially in light of what we read together in Isaiah 55. Use the table of contents in your Bible to help you find the references, if necessary. You can also look them up at www.biblegateway.com.

Psalm 42 (read this in The Message)

Matthew 5:1-10

John 4:7-14


We’re always happy to hear from you!
Leave comments on the blog (click on “­_ comments” at the bottom of the posting).

Blessings,
David

Friday, October 09, 2009

October 8 - Session Two

In this session, we want to look at Jesus` teaching on prayer, and discuss it together.

For Here:
Take a look at what Jesus had to say about prayer. The verses are included below for your convenience, but you are welcome to read them in your own Bible as well. After reading the verses together, consider the questions that follow. The object is to get everyone thinking, not to provide one right answer.


Luke 11:1-13 (The Message)
1 One day he was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, "Master, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." 2-4So he said, "When you pray, say, Father, Reveal who you are. Set the world right. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil."
5-6Then he said, "Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don't have a thing on hand.'
7"The friend answers from his bed, 'Don't bother me. The door's locked; my children are all down for the night; I can't get up to give you anything.'
8"But let me tell you, even if he won't get up because he's a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbours, he'll finally get up and get you whatever you need.
9"Here's what I'm saying: Ask and you'll get; Seek and you'll find; Knock and the door will open.
10-13"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing—you're at least decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him?"
For discussion/reflection:

Why do you think Jesus talked about prayer here?
What does His teaching tell us about prayer?
What does His teaching tell us about God?
How does prayer factor into your life (if it does)?


To Go:
Take some time this week to read the following verses and consider what they tell us about prayer, especially in light of what we saw in Jesus’ teaching in Luke 11. Use the table of contents in your Bible to help you find the references, if necessary. You can also look them up at http://www.biblegateway.com/.

Matthew 6:5-18

Hebrews 11:1-6

Philippians 4:4-7



We’re always happy to hear from you!
Leave comments on the blog (click on “­_ comments” at the bottom of the posting).
Blessings,
David

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Welcome: Our First Session

October 1, 2009
We began a small group experience this evening. The following is what we looked at together. I will post the material from our sessions, so that if you need to miss one, you can catch up on things here!
Please feel free to leave comments in the comments section at the bottom of each posting. Just click where it says "_ Comments".

To begin our sessions together, let’s consider God’s nature and character towards us, and our understanding and experience of God.

For here:
Take a look at some stories that Jesus told. They are included below for your convenience, but you are welcome to read them in your own Bible as well. After reading the stories together, consider the questions that follow. The object is to get everyone thinking, not to provide one right answer.

Luke 15 (The Message)

The Story of the Lost Sheep

1-3By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered this story.
4-7"Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn't you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, 'Celebrate with me! I've found my lost sheep!' Count on it—there's more joy in heaven over one sinner's rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.
The Story of the Lost Coin
8-10"Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: 'Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God."
The Story of the Lost Son
11-12Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, 'Father, I want right now what's coming to me.'
12-16"So the father divided the property between them. It wasn't long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any.
17-20"That brought him to his senses. He said, 'All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I'm going back to my father. I'll say to him, Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.' He got right up and went home to his father.
20-21"When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: 'Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again.'
22-24"But the father wasn't listening. He was calling to the servants, 'Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We're going to feast! We're going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!' And they began to have a wonderful time.
25-27"All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, 'Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.'
28-30"The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, 'Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!'
31-32"His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'"

After reading Jesus' stories, consider the following questions:
Why do you think Jesus told these stories?
What do these stories tell us about God?
What has been your experience or understanding of God?
How does reading and discussing these stories affect your idea of God?


To go:

Take some time this week to read the following verses and consider what they tell us about God as seeker, especially in light of what we discovered in Jesus’ stories in Luke 15. Use the table of contents in your Bible to help you find the references, if necessary. You can also look them up at http://www.biblegateway.com/.
Genesis 3:8
Leviticus 26:12
Ezekiel 34:11-12

I look forward to hearing from you!
Blessings,
David