Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Luke 15:8-10

⁸ “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins^[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Reflection

In this second parable Jesus reiterates his point that there is great rejoicing in finding the lost coin. This again is an argument for why Jesus welcomes the lost in spite of the judgment of the Pharisees. How do you think that we can sometimes be like the Pharisees and be leery of welcoming and eating with sinners? 

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Luke 15:3-7

³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open

country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Reflection

Our scripture today is the first of three parables Jesus tells in this section. There are a couple of things we need to note about this story. First, this story would have been quite common to the people listening to Jesus with one hundred sheep being a normal size group.  Second is that the “open country” would have been a safe place to leave the sheep. Finally, they would not have been left unattended. But the primary concern of this parable is the rejoicing in the rescue of the sheep who was probably lost, lonely, and according to verse 5 hurt needing the shepherd to carry them. Have you ever been rescued by God, our shepherd in this way? How do we show this kind of love to those in our community who are lost?   

Monday, November 3, 2014

Luke 15:1-2

¹Now the tax collectors and sinners were all

gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.

Reflection

Today we have the context out of which Jesus tells three parables about the lost. This scene is terribly important to the context of the three parables. There are a group of

Pharisees who are gossiping about how terrible Jesus is to not only welcome sinners but to eat with them as well. How do we as followers of Christ continue this ministry to welcome and eat with those who are lost? What does this look like in your life?

Weekly Theme November 2 through 8

Grace not Legalism

 “But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

-Luke 15:32

 The trouble is that many of us have trouble with rules. What is so strange is that many times we forget this trouble when we come to church. When we realize our sinfulness we cry for grace but when we see sin in the world we react with rules and judgment. As a church we are in the business of sharing the grace of Jesus Christ and not an ascription to a set of rules and behaviors. Now, that is not to say that we as Christians do not strive with God’s help to better ourselves in discipleship, but we need to stop sticking to our hard and fast rules that make us look judgmental and  keep us from being able to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

The central piece of this discussion is that there is a difference between accountability and legalism. The atmosphere of each of us pushing each other on toward Christ is accountability. Legalism is the idea that there is a perfect way to live and that if we just follow the right rules we will always be in the right. By promoting accountability filled with God’s grace we are truly living out in faith what it means to be the church. Simply living according to the rules does not make us a Christian. In fact it leads us to do some very unchristian things.  You see when we live by a strict set of rules we look differently at the world. We see the ways our brothers and sisters do not live up to our standards. And all this does is drive them further and further from the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see the biggest element to share the gospel of Jesus Christ is trust and when any Christian betrays that trust through judgment, legalism, and hypocrisy the church as a whole pays the price. We are people of grace and this is how God through Jesus Christ has called us to live out our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Because of an error there will be no online Journal this week. Check back Sunday November 2nd to see more.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Galatians 5:22-25

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Reflection

Our scripture today reminds us that the Holy Spirit

bears fruit in our lives. When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives ,we will bear fruit that bears witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ. In what ways is the Holy Spirit producing fruit in your life?

Friday, October 24, 2014

2 Thessalonians 2:13

¹³ But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

Reflection

Our scripture today shows us that the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. Sanctification is a fancy word meaning that the Holy Spirit makes us more and more like Christ. How do you feel the Holy Spirit has made you more like Christ, and what is an area of your life that the Holy Spirit needs to transform?