Do You Want To Be Healed?

Sorry this is a little late, this is our passage for the week: John 5:1-14

¹Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. ²Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda^a]">[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.^b]">[b] ⁵One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

⁷"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

⁸Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." ⁹At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, ¹⁰and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat."

¹¹But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' "

¹²So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"

¹³The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."

So sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I was not a Christian. If I didn't believe in God. If I didn't try to follow what the Bible said. And I think, that I would cause myself a world of pain. I think that I'd make choices that would feel rockin at the time and end up crushing my heart later. But then I think, I totally do that now. There are so many times were I set myself up for hurt now. We all do that... I know I'm not the only one. When I read this passage, I often want to be like "Jesus, you are crazy! Obviously he would want to be healed" but then aren't we the crazy ones? I strive to maintain control of my life all the time and I totally screw it up. I would much rather strive to follow Jesus, the God who declares that he has my best in mind. Do I want to be healed? Absolutely. And shoot, I mess up all the time. But I want to have faith. I strive to have faith to give up my control. It's totally a process. All I can think of is Matthew 16:24-25

²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life^a]">[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

I want to find life. And I think, no I know, that I have to choose to pursue that life.

So this week, I only have one question: Do you want to be healed?

And I, a Watchman

So this week I have posted a poem that one of my best friends wrote. It was based off three passages of scripture so I’ve posted those too. It just really resonated with me and I hope that it touches your heart too.

 

And I, a Watchman

 

And I, a watchman, cannot sleep,

Yet my waking is in vain.

So my soul waits on the Lord,

As my eyes wait for dawn to break.

 

In the night, my will is broken.

 

"No rest for the weary" my only thought,

And yet You offer sleep.

 

I wait for morning. Wait.

I wait in mourning.

 

Hear me God. Have mercy.

My soul waits, uncertain, and my strength fades.

My will breaks in time with my composure.

And I, a watchman, am afraid.

 

My soul waits for morning. Wait.

My soul waits in mourning.

 

Oh, that I could sleep.

 

Have mercy, my God, on your daughter.

I, ever a watchman, fear your rest,

And still, you beckon "sleep."

 

Will you build and guard as I dream?

Will you protect as I lay down my wakeful defense?

And Lord, can I trust your unfailing love?

 

My soul is ever waiting.

My eyes are quickly fading.

At last, I break

And I, a watchman, sleep

 

I sleep.

Until my soul meets the morning, I sleep

And though my soul still knows mourning, I sleep.

 

You offer rest.

And I, your beloved watchman, sleep.

 

Your love, oh Lord, is unfailing.

Your love, my Lord, is strong.

 

Inspired by

 

Matthew 11:28

 

28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

 

PSALM 1308

 

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; 2 O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. 3 If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. 7 O Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

PSALM 127

 

1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. 2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.3 Sons are heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Prayer.

So I keep saying that I’m praying for you and I realize that we never talked about prayer. I thought now might be a good time to talk about how Jesus said to pray. Lets ‘unpack’ the Lords Prayer. Therefore our passage for the week is:

 

Matthew 6:9-13

 

 9"This, then, is how you should pray:" 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11Give us today our daily bread. 12Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

 

Questions:

 

-Have you heard the Lord’s Prayer? What do you think of it?

-What are the smaller prayers do you see within this prayer?

-“Our father, in Heaven” might be hard for some people to pray. Why?

-Saying “Hallowed be your name” means asking that God’s name will be set apart in your life and in the lives of others. What does that look like in your life?

-Praying “Your kingdom come” means that you are asking Jesus to walk into your world and occupy every corner of your life. Why is this difficult to genuinely pray?

-Many people think that God does not care about our personal lives and requests. Yet the words “Give us this day our daily bread” appears in this prayer. Do you find it significant that this is part of the template for prayer we are given? Why or why not.

-“Give us this day our daily bread” is not prayed until half way through the prayer. Why do you think that is?

-Jesus tells us to ask for forgiveness for our own sins but also to pray to forgive those who have sinned against us. Why is this in our template for prayer?

-Jesus says we should ask God to “deliver us from the evil one.” Do you believe that there is and evil one and that he is capable of creating havoc in our world today?

-How has working through the Lord’s Prayer changed your perception of it? 

I am praying for you all. And I hope to hear from you soon. :)

Check out this video too... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=301S7NgAkLs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Flyons%2Ekayla%3Fref%3Dts&feature=player_embedded

Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions??

So there is something that we like about the attitude of tolerance. A phrase like ‘absolute moral standard’ sounds very extreme and irrelevant especially in our culture until we look and see that moral freedom is taken away everyday across the world and even in our own country. An ‘absolute moral standard’ means that certain things are right and wrong, not just for one person, but also for everyone, all the time. From a logical standpoint, if there is no universal moral standard, then tragic and horrific events would have to be deemed justified. Like the holocaust, slavery, human sex trafficking. But, WHAT?? We know those things are wrong. But then, is there an ‘absolute moral standard’? This begs the question then, IF I BELIEVE IN GOD, HOW SHOULD THAT AFFECT MY MORALS?

Here is our passage for this week:

Matthew 25:31-46

 31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. 44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Questions:

 

-How does Jesus describe the actions of those who follow (the sheep)?

-Let’s put those sheep into modern times, what do you suppose he was involved in?

-How does Jesus describe the actions of those who were not genuine followers (the goats)?

-The ‘least of these’ is mentioned a lot in this passage. Who are ‘the least of these’?

-Does Jesus’ teaching match up with what you would have thought the moral stand is supposed to be for a person who believes in Jesus?

-Moral behavior is completely related to how we treat people.  How does that impact the way you live? 

A Purpose and A Name

Hey All, 

This is our passage for the week:

Matthew 25:14-30 

¹⁴"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.¹⁹"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.' ²¹"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' ²²"The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.' ²³"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' ²⁴"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' ²⁶"His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ²⁸" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.²⁹For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Questions to think about: 

-What basis was used in distributing talents (aka. sums of money) to these servants? Does the system seem fair? 

-What could 'talents' represent today? 

-What talents have you been given? Do you believe that God has given them to you? If yes, then do you think it is fair that God will settle accounts with you one day? 

-Why does God entrust us with talents? 

-How is the Master's response to the servants like or unlike to what you would have pictured God's response to be? Was the master too hard on the last servant? 

-Is it your responsibility to develop your talents, or God's? 

-What is the correlation between this story that Jesus told, and your life? In terms of the talents and gifts that you have been given and what you are doing with them? 

I want to challenge you (and myself obviously) with the fact that we have all been given talents and gifts in our lives. There are things that we can be so passionate about that we desire to learn about an pursue. In developing these things there are two struggles. First, not thinking that God has given us anything that is special and second, that we don't owe it to God to explain how we have used those talents. Consider this: Mother Teresa said "We have all been given a name at birth, and that name will stay with us until our death. But that does not mean that God does not have another name for you that He wants you to live into. God told us that, ¹⁵ "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! ¹⁶ See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hand." (Isaiah 49:15-16) 

God promises that he will never forget you. He has a name for you. The  challenge is to trust these promises and to learn what those talents are and how we can use them well. 

Answer questions like-

What are you passionate about? 

What injustices make me angry? 

What activities give me great energy and joy? 

Who do I really admire and why? 

God has created you to be uniquely you. Use those talents! :) I am praying for you all. As usual I will be looking forward to responses. I am here to answer questions as usual. I would love to hear your responses!!