Texts for Sunday, July 8:
2 Kings 5:1-14
Psalm 30
Psalm 30 is one of my favorites, especially this line: weeping may last for a night, but rejoicing comes with the morning.
Both texts deal with a person being taken from despair to joy. They both speak of God stepping into a life and fixing that which was broken. Both deal with despair and hope. And both make clear Who it is that we can rely on for help in trouble.
Some questions to ponder:
1) Where have you seen this in your life? Have you experienced miraculous physical healing? Have you been lifted from the pit, from mourning to joy?
2) Besides being healed, what lessons did Naaman learn from his experience? Was there more to this story than flesh being made clean?
3) What is the important lesson for us to learn from these texts? There are a lot at play - power, glory, miracles, doubt, God's sovereignty. How do these texts speak to you today?
4) If you had to summarize the lesson of these texts in one sentence, what would it be?
Showing posts with label lectionary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lectionary. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
The Great Sermon Experiment, Week 2
Text 1: Galatians 2:15-21
Gospel: Luke 7:36-8:3
The Galatians passage is one of the most famous in the Bible, especially the clincher: "I have been crucified in Christ, and I no longer live. . ."
The connection between the two, I think, is the idea of simple faith - there is no need to worry about the law, about being self-righteous, about earning God's favor. We already have it. So Paul's great statement of "the son of God who loved me" connects with the sinful woman embracing the love of Jesus. Paul's comments about the Law are lived out in the Pharisee Jesus is talking with. The call of the two is to live the life of faithful acceptance that Jesus loves us. End of story.
Some questions to ponder:
1) How do these texts impact you? What emotional response do you have when reading them?
2) What do you see as the central meaning of Luke's story? What is Jesus trying to accomplish with the Pharisee? What is Luke trying to get us to understand?
3) Paul's message here is a wonderful summary of the Gospel. How would you explain his meaning to a friend? co-worker? neighbor? child?
4) Have these texts had any special meaning in your life so far? How have they been a part of your story?
5) Can you think of any good illustrations that open up these texts? Any songs, films, stories you know that speak to the same issues here?
Gospel: Luke 7:36-8:3
The Galatians passage is one of the most famous in the Bible, especially the clincher: "I have been crucified in Christ, and I no longer live. . ."
The connection between the two, I think, is the idea of simple faith - there is no need to worry about the law, about being self-righteous, about earning God's favor. We already have it. So Paul's great statement of "the son of God who loved me" connects with the sinful woman embracing the love of Jesus. Paul's comments about the Law are lived out in the Pharisee Jesus is talking with. The call of the two is to live the life of faithful acceptance that Jesus loves us. End of story.
Some questions to ponder:
1) How do these texts impact you? What emotional response do you have when reading them?
2) What do you see as the central meaning of Luke's story? What is Jesus trying to accomplish with the Pharisee? What is Luke trying to get us to understand?
3) Paul's message here is a wonderful summary of the Gospel. How would you explain his meaning to a friend? co-worker? neighbor? child?
4) Have these texts had any special meaning in your life so far? How have they been a part of your story?
5) Can you think of any good illustrations that open up these texts? Any songs, films, stories you know that speak to the same issues here?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)