Day 2, Matthew 2

Hello fellow bloggers!
I am so sorry that I am sending this out late today! Unfortunately I have not recovered from Wednesday night and still am sick...so please pray that I would get better. Normally I will post each study the night before you guys will do it. That way the study is ready for you to do it first thing in the morning if that's what you desire.

Summary...
I must say I learned some cool stuff today about Christ's life that I never knew before. Matthew tells us that Jesus was born in a town called Bethlehem, which was a very small town south of Jerusalem. The author, Matthew, tells us that right from the start of Christ's life there are people who already don't like Him. Matthew is the only one who tells us about this jealous King named Herod. This story is not listed in any of the other gospels...Mark, Luke or John. Herod is the one who dislikes Jesus, and wants to get rid of Him. Did you catch Herod's sneaky little plan involving the wise men? Herod was afraid that Jesus would turn out to be a King, he was afraid that Jesus would steal his throne...so he tries to use the wise men to find the location of our precious baby Jesus, so he can kill Him! To me what stands out is for His entire life, Jesus always had people looking to kill Him. I mean here He is a baby, and someone is after Him, looking to kill Him. He has not said a word yet, or performed a miracle...but people are already threatened by our Jesus!

The other thing we read that stood out to me was the gifts the wise men brought to baby Jesus. Do you remember what those gifts were? Gold, frankincense, and myrrh were the gifts these wise men brought to Jesus. I have to admit I have often looked at these gifts and thought our little Lord, baby Jesus got ripped off by these wise men! I mean where are the little tonka dump trucks, or hot wheels set. What about lego's, or a bike or even clothes...something that baby Jesus could use instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

As I dug deeper in my study I found that these gifts had a much deeper meaning. Back in those times gold symbolized royalty, and if you ever wanted to meet with a King you would have to bring them a gift. Of coarse there was only one acceptable gift for a King and that was gold. We now often refer to Jesus as a King or Ruler. Jesus is known as the King of the Jews, and so a very appropriate gift to our baby Jesus or to our King was gold. Frankincense was a proper gift to give to a priest. It was used by the priests and burned in the temple during times of worship. We now know our Jesus as our "High Priest" and we read things like Colossians 1:22 that tells us we have been brought back to God through Christ, our High Priest! Myrrh was a gift to someone that was to die. It was used to embalm or preserve the bodies of the dead. What was Jesus whole purpose to come and to walk on this earth but to die for you and for me!

The gifts that the wise men brought have way more of a symbolic meaning than I ever knew. These gifts really symbolize who we now know our Jesus to be...our King, our High Priest, and our Savior who gave His life up for us!

Questions...

• What town was Jesus born in?
• Who was the King who wanted to kill Jesus and what ever happened to Him?
• What stands out to you most about the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus on the night He was born?
• We read in Matthew 2:10-12, about the time the wise men had with Jesus...the Bible says these men worshipped Jesus and that they were joyful when they found where He was. Take a moment to picture this scene between Mary, Joseph, the 3 wise men and of coarse baby Jesus! Can you feel the joy of the wise men? Can you feel the faith of the wise men? They believed this baby was to become their King, Priest and Savior!!! Is Jesus all 3 of those for you...King over your life? Your High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16) who has enabled you to have a relationship with God Almighty? And the Savior of your life, the One who offered up Himself for you...is this your picture of Jesus?

I pray that it is...I too am praying for all of you! I'll talk to ya tomorrow!!

tom

Day 1, Matthew 1

Hello Fusion Peeps!

Well are you guys ready for this...I know I am! Before we dive into Matthew Chapter 1, here's a little reminder for how this is going to work. Each day you, on your own, will read a chapter from Matthew. You will then come here to the blog and read the "post" for the day. I will have a brief summary of the chapter and then have some questions for you to answer. Answer those questions on your own in a journal of some sorts. Then each day you must post a comment, not to be cool, but to be involved! My heart is that this would really feel like a Bible study and that we would all be reading each other's comments and feedback to help further our relationship with Christ and with one another!

Take a moment before you go any further to ask Christ to teach you more about Him over the next 28 days so that you will be a better "follower" of Him!

Summary...
The chapter starts off with the record of ancestors of Jesus. The names are tough to read, aren't they? What is so important about all these names and why did Matthew go out of his way to start his book off with them? The Jews were told their Messiah or Savior would come through the line of Abraham and King David...so Matthew traces Jesus back all the way not just to King David but all the way to Abraham to prove Christ is the Messiah!

We then read about the story of Jesus' birth and how it came to be. What always stands out to me in this story is how Mary was a virgin, yet was pregnant with baby Jesus! Think about today, if someone in your school got pregnant how difficult would their life become? I can't imagine what was running through Mary's mind, but she trusted God! She trusted His plan, even though it seemed crazy. Also, you have to think the same for Joseph--this whole thing had to be difficult. In fact we read that Joseph even thought of breaking off his engagement with Mary because she was pregnant, and he didn't want to deal with every thing that came along with that!

Question...

• In your life...do you trust God?
• Has He asked you to do something before that seemed crazy and if so what was it?
• If you were Mary or Joseph what would be some things running through your mind during all of this?
• Imagine Jesus as a baby...take time to really think about that. Our Lord, our King, a little infant! Doing things that babies do...cry, poop, pee, sleep! I want us to get a picture of our Lord, and this is where our study begins. Take time to think about Jesus as a baby, and pray that over the next 27 days He would teach us more and more about Him! I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!

tom

John 15...Last Day!!!

Man, I am so stoked to start this journey as a community through the book of Matthew together! I don't know about you, but I love my Jesus and I need more of Him in my life.

Just take a moment to pray that to Him...Jesus, I need and want more of You in my life.

The name of this study is "follower." Why? Because I believe now more than ever that in order to follow Christ, which we are called to do, we MUST know Christ! We have to know what He's about, what He stood for, and what He was passionate about. Tomorrow we will start on that journey of looking and studying His life through Matthew's perspective.

Take the time to pray right now and just tell Jesus to reveal who He is to you. Tell Him you want to know Him more. Put yourself before Him declaring you're teachable.

Also, take time to pray for our community or ministry, fusion. Ask God to grow us closer together as we study the life of our Savior.

Lord, may our hearts be united as each of us study to become a better follower of Yours. Help us to do what You made us to do...to produce lasting fruit for Your glory! John 15:8,16...check it out! This is the reason we live!

Ya'll have a great night! See ya tomorrow...

tom

John15...2 Days and Counting!

Hello fellow bloggers!
I am sitting here with Ryan Pantaleo...he says hello or "morning"! Anyway as Ryan and I just finished reading John 15 to one another what stood out to me was Christ talking about the world's hatred. Jesus talks about this hatred from verse 18 -25, but what really stood out to me was Jesus' guarantee that the world will hate you. He doesn't say the world might hate you, He says the world will hate you at some point. Why?

Why will the world hate us? What did I do wrong? Maybe some of the questions running through your mind as you read Christ's words in John 15. Jesus says, in verse 19, that the world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. Who do you belong to...Christ or the world?

This reminds me of a few years back when I had a couple of roommates, and they would constantly want to go down town and get..."wasted" and meet girls and do all kinds of worldly things. When they would invite me and I would say no, it would cause some bitter feelings and even sometimes arguments between us. Christ tells us that those who choose the narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14) will be hated by those who choose the wide road!

It's kind of like being with a big group of friends and one of the friends is not involved in any of the discussions, they are not talking to anyone, they are with you guys but as you all walk in a group they lag 10 feet behind. You ask that person what's wrong and they say nothing...I am fine. Now I have been on both sides of this situation before and i know that when you are with the group of friends it bothers you that the one friend isn't talking to anyone. So as a result you and the rest of the friends don't have as good of time because the one person is not involved in everything that everyone else is involved in. So when you choose to do the things people do in the world they will love you, but when you choose to follow Christ and not do the things of the world at times people will hate you for it...even people you consider to be your friends.

Have you ever been hated on because you decided to follow Jesus?
What do you belong to...the world or Jesus Christ?
How do you go about loving others like Christ calls us to do without following the ways of the world...drugs, drinking, sex, porn, fighting(over dumb things), yelling at your parents. gossiping...how do you do that?

Lord Jesus please use this little online study to draw us closer to You and closer to one another helping us to become better followers of You! Please bless my friends within fusion and help them to stand up for You no matter what the cost! Pl,ease continue to reveal Yourself to us as we study Your word! I love You lord, thanks for all You do for me!

tom

John 15...3 Days and Counting!

What up Crew...

It really encouraged my heart this morning at church to hear some of you share your excitement for "follower" to begin! I am stoked as well, and am believing He has some good stuff in store for us as a community.

In verse 12, of John 15 Jesus commands us to love each other as He has loved us. He goes on to explain how He loved us...by laying His life down for us! Now as Christians this is why we live our life the way we live it...because Jesus gave His life for us! But I think sometimes we miss read this verse and think the way we love each other is by dying for someone and unless you die you have never really loved...therefore what Jesus is talking about is impossible and not worth attempting on our end!

However Jesus was talking about something much deeper and very possible...for those who are for real about following Him! To love another person is to lay aside what you want for the sake of somebody else! When you as a young person lay down your plans, schedule, time and agenda for somebody else to serve them you begin to really love them. Jesus encourages us to esteem others before our self. To place an other's needs in front of your own.

We know we are called to love others, but so many of us refuse to follow Christ's lead in our life. Just think of this...Christ is the King and Ruler of it all, but gave it all up and died a horrific death because He loved us. He endured punishment that He did not deserve. He had things screamed at Him that were untrue...but it didn't matter because all He could think about was you! Let us love others as Christ has first loved us, laying aside our self and putting others in front of us!

When was the last time you served someone...without them asking!
Take the time today to serve someone in any way possible...and don't forget to be in prayer for the things listed in the 1st blog!

peace!!

tom

John 15...T-Minus 4 Days and Counting...

hello crew!
This weekend has been crazy already! Just moved into my new place and I am trying to get settled in! As I read John 15 again today what sticks out is Jesus talking about joy. We need joy in our lives don't we? Jesus goes on and on about remaining in Him only to say, in verse 11, "I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy.Yes, your joy would overflow!"

Right now in your life, are you "overflowing" with joy? People notice those who are filled with joy...do people notice you? Do you stand out to others because you are all about our Jesus and because of it your exploding with joy?

What about the opposite of joy? Jesus talks about those who are apart from Him wither up. He says those who are disconnected from Him are useless...right now do you feel useless? Is your life counting for something? Jesus gives us the choice...a "joy" filled life or a withered useless life. Which life do you want?

I am praying for all you guys...please do the same for me!

Don't forget to be in prayer for our study...I'll see some of you tomorrow at worship!

tom

John 15...6 days and counting!

What up fusion faithful!
Man I am stoked to dive in deeper with you all in looking at the life of our Jesus! For those of you tracking with me in this journey, i have asked that you read John 15 everyday until the study begins(6 days and counting!!). John 15, the whole chapter, is Jesus talking to us. So as you read it again and again this week, read it as if Jesus were talking directly to you. Tonight as I read it over I was reminded of how crucial it is to remain in my Jesus.

Jesus says in verse 5, apart from Me you can do nothing! Do you believe that to be true in your own life? That you will not be successful unless you stay connected with Christ. It is a thought we struggle to believe in our hearts isn't it. I know I like to think I can handle anything on my own, and this verse really challenges me...apart from Me tom...you can do nothing!

Some things to reflect on...

• How do we remain in His love?(verse 10)
• In verse 2 Jesus says that the Gardener, or His Father...God, cuts off any branch that isn't producing fruit or that is killing the person's life. As we get set to start our study boldly ask God to prune your life and to cut any "branch" off that isn't producing good fruit!
• And don't forget to be praying for the 4 things I listed on the 1st "blog".

I am praying for all you guys...I'll talk to ya tomorrow!

tom