Hey Guys,
Thank you for your patience with putting the study on pause. I will take some time tonight to go over the study with everyone, so hopefully that will clear up any confusion for those who really desire to be apart of "follower.".
Summary...
My heart is heavy today, and I simply can not get past the first beatitude. As I was studying this text I found out that the Sermon on the Mount was not a one-time message that Jesus taught. I often have read Matthew 5 and thought that the message Jesus was delivering had to be over 2 hours long...there just is a ton of info in Matthew 5! Well as it turns out, Jesus taught much longer than a couple of hours. My study said that the Sermon on the Mount was a compilation of teachings by Jesus that were crucial for His disciples to know. In other words, the Sermon on the Mount was the "win" for all disciples of Christ. It is thought that after Jesus picked His 12 disciples, He went off some where...Matthew 5:1...sat down and began to teach and to train them for their ministries. That really stands out to me, because I consider myself a disciple, a learner and follower of Jesus, so this chapter of Scripture is the framework on how to live for our awesome Savior!
And this is why...I know you are not really allowed to start a sentence with and but it is my blog and I'll do what ever I want with it...I have been stuck on Matthew 5:3...the first Beatitude. If what we are about to read in Matthew 5 is the manual on how to be a true "follower" of Christ, the first Beatitude needs to catch your eye as well.
"God blesses those who realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them."
Desperate is the word that I can not get off my mind and it will even be what I talk about some what tonight during fusion. You know what I mean when I say desperate...meaning are YOU desperate for God...yes or no? I think this was the first Beatitude not by chance or luck but because it is the most crucial. God blesses those who are poor in spirit or who realize their need for Him...does that describe you? Are you desperate for God, or are you some what into God meaning you just a need dose of God every now and then and you are fine. When was the last time you lied awake because you did not spend any time with Jesus that day and because of it you could not sleep at all! Are you desperate for Jesus, how badly do you need Him?
I am sitting here absolutely stuffed from a subway sub. As I was shoving the last bite of the 6 inch sub in my mouth I was full, and really did not want any more of the sub as I had another 6 inch left to go. In that moment it hit me, when was the last time I was so "stuffed" with God? When was the last time I really hungered and thirst for Him? Desperate...I am telling you it is the word that consumes my mind in this moment.
I don't know about you, but I would love to have the blessing of God on my life. And His word is promising I will be blessed when I realize my need for Him. So it is gut check time...are you desperate for Jesus? Do realize and understand how badly you need Him?
Lord Jesus I am so sorry i am who I am, a sinner. But I thank you for being who You are, a Savior! I want you badly in my life, I NEED you badly in my life. Help us to become better "followers" of You, and may it start right here with this first Beatitude, or this first teaching from You on how to live out our lives for You. I love You so much Lord, and I praise You for who You are! In Jesus Name...Amen.
Reflect...
Instead of questions, just take some time to reflect on your need for Jesus. really open up and be honest, do you need Jesus Christ in your life? Take some time to sit before Him and let Him point out some things to You, and ask him to make you and I desperate for Him! I'll be praying for all of you...
Come ready tonight to meet with Him tonight...
tom
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
"Follower." on pause...
Hey guys,
I am receiving a lot of questions from people about how to do this study. So I have decided to hold off until tomorrow. I will post the next blog tomorrow morning but I am going to take some time Wednesday night at fusion, to show everyone how to be "involved" with the study. For you guys who are actively in the study I am asking that you would continue to read Matthew 5. I am going to break this chapter down into a couple of different sections as there is a ton of stuff Jesus is talking about! Again I am sorry we have to pause the study, but too many people are confused about how to do the study. Anyway, look for the first part of Matthew 5 tomorrow, and I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow night!
thanks,
tom
I am receiving a lot of questions from people about how to do this study. So I have decided to hold off until tomorrow. I will post the next blog tomorrow morning but I am going to take some time Wednesday night at fusion, to show everyone how to be "involved" with the study. For you guys who are actively in the study I am asking that you would continue to read Matthew 5. I am going to break this chapter down into a couple of different sections as there is a ton of stuff Jesus is talking about! Again I am sorry we have to pause the study, but too many people are confused about how to do the study. Anyway, look for the first part of Matthew 5 tomorrow, and I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow night!
thanks,
tom
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Day 4, Matthew 4
Hey Guys,
Here we are already on day 4...Crazy! To me this is where the study is going to pick up. I mean it is important to know our Jesus and how He grew up and all that, but from here on out we are reading about His ministry! Lord Jesus please open our eyes to see and to learn more about You!
Summary...
The story of Jesus being tempted should encourage all of our heart's. The Bible says that Jesus was led by the Spirit out to be tempted. I love how the Bible never shies away from the fact and even goes out of its way to remind us how human Jesus really was. I feel like verse 2 was simply to connect to the human heart...no food for 40 days...that makes me hungry just thinking about it. I can't even go 40 minutes without food! Again, the Bible giving us the opportunity to connect with our Jesus over human needs...this time it is hunger that connects us to Christ.
What a blueprint Jesus laid out for us to follow when facing temptation. I assume you, like me, face temptation in your own life. Even our Jesus, our King, Lord and Savior faced temptation but did you notice how Jesus faught against the devil? Did you notice how sly the devil was in trying to tempt Jesus? Knowing Jesus is hungry, the enemy tries to tempt Jesus with food. Satan tries to misuse the Word of God. The enemy is slick and we must be ready to fight against him the way Christ did...so how did Jesus fight and win against satan? He did it through the Word! How crucial is it to know God and His Word! Every time the enemy came at Jesus, our Lord fired back with the undeniable truth of the Word! Do you know the truth? Are you ready to fight against temptation the way Christ did? We must know the Word to be ready to stand against the attack from the evil one.
In this chapter, we see Jesus pick out His first disciples...Andrew, Simon or Peter, James and John. Now remember the difference between a disciple and an apostle. A disciple is a learner, one who follows and is simply learning from the One they follow. An apostle is a messenger. Later on, the 12 would go from being followers to messengers of the news about Jesus. Here in Matthew 4 we read about Jesus and His first round picks.
All four of these guys were fisherman, and it cracks me up every time I read this to think about Jesus simply calling out to the them and saying come follow Me! I will make you fishers of men. The Bible tells us these four guys drop their nets...I love that. They stopped what they were doing to follow Christ. How often do you and I tell God we will follow in a second after we finish up some other things first. 'Don't worry Lord, I will follow you after I take care of some other important stuff first'...these guys said count us in Jesus! Everything stopped for Christ. Can you say that for your own life? These guys were willing to leave it all behind and pursue Jesus. Is that a picture of you and your relationship with our Lord?
The last part of the chapter tells us that it doesn't take long in His ministry for Jesus to become famous. The word was spreading fast about this man Christ who could heal the lame and the sick. People began to come from all over to get a look at this man Jesus to see what He was about! Notice what His message was to the people as He would preach...it might ring a bell...check out verse 17. John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ to be heard. Jesus then came in. He began preaching and things began to happen!
Questions...
Here we are already on day 4...Crazy! To me this is where the study is going to pick up. I mean it is important to know our Jesus and how He grew up and all that, but from here on out we are reading about His ministry! Lord Jesus please open our eyes to see and to learn more about You!
Summary...
The story of Jesus being tempted should encourage all of our heart's. The Bible says that Jesus was led by the Spirit out to be tempted. I love how the Bible never shies away from the fact and even goes out of its way to remind us how human Jesus really was. I feel like verse 2 was simply to connect to the human heart...no food for 40 days...that makes me hungry just thinking about it. I can't even go 40 minutes without food! Again, the Bible giving us the opportunity to connect with our Jesus over human needs...this time it is hunger that connects us to Christ.
What a blueprint Jesus laid out for us to follow when facing temptation. I assume you, like me, face temptation in your own life. Even our Jesus, our King, Lord and Savior faced temptation but did you notice how Jesus faught against the devil? Did you notice how sly the devil was in trying to tempt Jesus? Knowing Jesus is hungry, the enemy tries to tempt Jesus with food. Satan tries to misuse the Word of God. The enemy is slick and we must be ready to fight against him the way Christ did...so how did Jesus fight and win against satan? He did it through the Word! How crucial is it to know God and His Word! Every time the enemy came at Jesus, our Lord fired back with the undeniable truth of the Word! Do you know the truth? Are you ready to fight against temptation the way Christ did? We must know the Word to be ready to stand against the attack from the evil one.
In this chapter, we see Jesus pick out His first disciples...Andrew, Simon or Peter, James and John. Now remember the difference between a disciple and an apostle. A disciple is a learner, one who follows and is simply learning from the One they follow. An apostle is a messenger. Later on, the 12 would go from being followers to messengers of the news about Jesus. Here in Matthew 4 we read about Jesus and His first round picks.
All four of these guys were fisherman, and it cracks me up every time I read this to think about Jesus simply calling out to the them and saying come follow Me! I will make you fishers of men. The Bible tells us these four guys drop their nets...I love that. They stopped what they were doing to follow Christ. How often do you and I tell God we will follow in a second after we finish up some other things first. 'Don't worry Lord, I will follow you after I take care of some other important stuff first'...these guys said count us in Jesus! Everything stopped for Christ. Can you say that for your own life? These guys were willing to leave it all behind and pursue Jesus. Is that a picture of you and your relationship with our Lord?
The last part of the chapter tells us that it doesn't take long in His ministry for Jesus to become famous. The word was spreading fast about this man Christ who could heal the lame and the sick. People began to come from all over to get a look at this man Jesus to see what He was about! Notice what His message was to the people as He would preach...it might ring a bell...check out verse 17. John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ to be heard. Jesus then came in. He began preaching and things began to happen!
Questions...
- When was the last time you were tempted to do wrong?
- How do you try and fight temptation now?
- Who were the first four disciples Jesus called?
- What was their job or occupation?
- Imagine what someone would write back in those days, if they had a newspaper, about this man Jesus and His healing power. What do think would be some things listed in the article about this mystery man Jesus Christ?
Lord Jesus, continue to open our eyes so we can see You and what You were about. We love You and need You badly. Bless my friends who are studying and learning more about You I Pray...In Jesus' Name, Amen!
tom
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Day 3, Matthew 3
Hey guys,
Man it has been awesome to read your insights into the study! I am stoked to see Jesus moving and revealing Himself to each of us in new ways...Praise God! I would ask you to pray for those whose post or comment you're reading. Again like we would if we were meeting in a small group at the church, we would take time to pray for one another. Please do the same as you read others and their comment on the day's study!
Summary...
Matthew 3 talks a lot about John the Baptist, and even though we are studying Jesus, I think there are some key things about John that we need to know! John was hardcore for God! The Bible tells us that he was out in the wilderness, not in the city streets...out in the wilderness preaching to any who would listen. Matthew tells us of John's purpose and he uses Isaiah 40:3 to do it. John was to simply prepare the way for the Lord. His job was to say...don't look at me, it is Him you want to look at and be about! Don't miss this guy Jesus, He is the One. John's job was always to point toward Jesus. The other cool thing about John was his message. Repent...turn from your sins. Does that message sound familiar? Do you think we will hear Jesus preaching that as well? John was so sold out for God that he would preach on whatever God asked him to preach on. Even if it was to the religious leaders, or even to the king, John was willing to be obedient even to the point of death...EXTREME FAITH!! My favorite verse from this reading, that also hits me hard is Matthew 3:8. Lord please help me live this out!!
We finally get to Jesus and what He is up to in verse 13. Now my question to you is in verse 13 Jesus was about 30 years old. When we left off yesterday Jesus was a child. What was going on in our Savior's life for 30 years? What was He doing? What was He learning? What was going on with Jesus during this time?
I have often wondered about this, and while we are not exactly sure of what He did everyday of His life during this time, more than likely He was handling the little things. He was being a good Son and Brother. He was waiting for His time that had not yet come. In my study, what stood out to me was that Jesus, ruler of it all, would say, 'It's simply not My time yet.' I mean He is the Ruler, He is the King...not His time yet? Jesus in this moment displayed for me EXTREME OBEDIENCE to His Father...God Almighty! Jesus took care of the little things even though He knew He was to save the world from its sin! Too many times in my life, I am not willing to do the little things. I want to jump right into the big things...mission trips, preaching and leading worship, instead of doing the the little things...being a good son and brother and simply helping others as I develop my relationship with God. But Jesus shows us the importance of the little things. I mean if I desire to be a better follower of Christ, than I must embrace the little things and not just the big things from God!
Jesus being baptized always seemed weird as well to me. When you are baptized you are saying to the world, "I am turning from sin and turning to God!". But Jesus had no sin. So why get baptized? And Jesus answers that in verse 15, but also Jesus did it for the Jews. Jewish people almost had this stuck-up mentality that they were the "chosen" people, descendants of Abraham, and they really didn't need to get baptized. Jesus comes in and simply declares His need for God, He declares His love for God. Jesus was a Jew, and yet he declares His ultimate need for God Almighty! What a beautiful moment that was..."As the heavens open up and God almighty declares...This is my Son!" And like that wasn't good enough...He says, "Whom I am well pleased with!" God says you better keep your eyes on this Guy, my precious Son. This marks the start of Christ's ministry on earth! It is now His time to begin doing His thing!!
Questions...
Man it has been awesome to read your insights into the study! I am stoked to see Jesus moving and revealing Himself to each of us in new ways...Praise God! I would ask you to pray for those whose post or comment you're reading. Again like we would if we were meeting in a small group at the church, we would take time to pray for one another. Please do the same as you read others and their comment on the day's study!
Summary...
Matthew 3 talks a lot about John the Baptist, and even though we are studying Jesus, I think there are some key things about John that we need to know! John was hardcore for God! The Bible tells us that he was out in the wilderness, not in the city streets...out in the wilderness preaching to any who would listen. Matthew tells us of John's purpose and he uses Isaiah 40:3 to do it. John was to simply prepare the way for the Lord. His job was to say...don't look at me, it is Him you want to look at and be about! Don't miss this guy Jesus, He is the One. John's job was always to point toward Jesus. The other cool thing about John was his message. Repent...turn from your sins. Does that message sound familiar? Do you think we will hear Jesus preaching that as well? John was so sold out for God that he would preach on whatever God asked him to preach on. Even if it was to the religious leaders, or even to the king, John was willing to be obedient even to the point of death...EXTREME FAITH!! My favorite verse from this reading, that also hits me hard is Matthew 3:8. Lord please help me live this out!!
We finally get to Jesus and what He is up to in verse 13. Now my question to you is in verse 13 Jesus was about 30 years old. When we left off yesterday Jesus was a child. What was going on in our Savior's life for 30 years? What was He doing? What was He learning? What was going on with Jesus during this time?
I have often wondered about this, and while we are not exactly sure of what He did everyday of His life during this time, more than likely He was handling the little things. He was being a good Son and Brother. He was waiting for His time that had not yet come. In my study, what stood out to me was that Jesus, ruler of it all, would say, 'It's simply not My time yet.' I mean He is the Ruler, He is the King...not His time yet? Jesus in this moment displayed for me EXTREME OBEDIENCE to His Father...God Almighty! Jesus took care of the little things even though He knew He was to save the world from its sin! Too many times in my life, I am not willing to do the little things. I want to jump right into the big things...mission trips, preaching and leading worship, instead of doing the the little things...being a good son and brother and simply helping others as I develop my relationship with God. But Jesus shows us the importance of the little things. I mean if I desire to be a better follower of Christ, than I must embrace the little things and not just the big things from God!
Jesus being baptized always seemed weird as well to me. When you are baptized you are saying to the world, "I am turning from sin and turning to God!". But Jesus had no sin. So why get baptized? And Jesus answers that in verse 15, but also Jesus did it for the Jews. Jewish people almost had this stuck-up mentality that they were the "chosen" people, descendants of Abraham, and they really didn't need to get baptized. Jesus comes in and simply declares His need for God, He declares His love for God. Jesus was a Jew, and yet he declares His ultimate need for God Almighty! What a beautiful moment that was..."As the heavens open up and God almighty declares...This is my Son!" And like that wasn't good enough...He says, "Whom I am well pleased with!" God says you better keep your eyes on this Guy, my precious Son. This marks the start of Christ's ministry on earth! It is now His time to begin doing His thing!!
Questions...
- What was the relationship like between Jesus' mom and John the Baptist's mom...look at Luke 1. Were Jesus and John the Baptist around the same age?
- As you picture John the Baptist out in the woods preaching this intense message, what are some of the response's you think he got?
- Has Jesus being baptized ever stuck out to you? Do you understand why He did indeed get baptized?
- How well do you do the little things in life compared to the big things. I mean i think a lot of us would jump in a plane tomorrow to go save as many children that were dying from hunger that we could, but most of us are not willing to take even 5 minutes to pray for them. God is into the little things, are you?
- Picture this scene of Jesus coming out of the water, and the heavens parting, and the voice of the One True God saying...This is My Son, and I am well Pleased with Him! What are some things that would be running through your head as you heard the voice of God in that precious moment?
Lord, please bless us as we study more about You and Your Son whom we desperately want to be more like! Draw us closer to You and to one another I pray...
In Jesus Name, Amen!
tom
Friday, June 6, 2008
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...
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
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
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...
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
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
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
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
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