Chapel Devotion Guide - First Semester

WESTMINSTER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 2

WHOLEHEARTED

This year we will use Psalm 86:11 as a springboard to becoming better disciples of Jesus. We will begin with what it means to be wholehearted.

What does it look like to embrace a wholehearted approach to life? In academics, arts, and athletics? In our finances, and our relationships? Even in our spiritual lives? Is it possible to give our whole hearts to each of these things and not become overwhelmed and divided? Doesn’t it seem like the time we invest to do one thing well (with our whole hearts) takes away from the time required by the other. There are only 24 hours in a day and because we’re limited, failure seems baked into our life experience.

My personal experience is that life often feels a little like whack-a-mole. No matter how hard I try, I can never quite anticipate everything that needs to get done or everyone who needs my time.

In practice, we tend to rely on our ability to “swing the hammer faster.” We all know we’re going to miss a few moles but that’s true for everybody. So, we do the best we can and think, “this is just the way it is, right? I’ll just get up earlier (whack), stay up later (whack), get a friend to help with the thing (whack, whack) so we can run across town to the other thing (Whack, whack, whack), I can do it,” we say in defiance of the stressful facts, “I just need to divide and conquer.” And we do, we all do, we just keep swinging the hammer and putting points on the board.

But our verse says, “give us an undivided heart…” when I think about this request in the face of the busy lives we run, it starts to feel a little idealistic, maybe even impossible.

I think many (if not all) of us live in this never-ending arcade game of anxiety over all that needs to get done. And, we know it. People are always telling us, don’t miss it, it goes by so fast. They’re always telling us to work hard

and stay focused and the rewards will come. “Divide and conquer,” we tell each other as we continue working to achieve everything clamoring for our limited time and energy: whack, whack, whack… Isn’t our verse suggesting there’s a better way? Maybe the rally-cry of ‘divide and conquer’ is not the right approach. Maybe, this year we can move a little closer to being wholehearted. What would that even look like?

Our verse for the next year, Psalm 86:11, says, “Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Don’t we want an undivided heart? To learn to be content with the life we have in all its stressful complexity. To find the moments of joy and peace in the traffic on the way to the thing. To truly see those around us and their unique personalities as they perform and play, run and dance and sing, and study, and work, and learn to walk and then learn to drive, and most importantly learn to trust God and live for Him. Life is a gift, and it’s not that long. How much more of it can we afford to waste on things that may not really matter in the end?

This year will be all about ‘how.’ Let’s let God teach us His ways and trust in His faithfulness. Perhaps the solution to all our striving isn’t to get better and more efficient at swinging the hammer, but to start playing a different game. He is able and willing to carry these burdens with us when we trust Him. Let’s learn to trust Him together. Let’s become wholehearted.

VERSE:

Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

PRAYER:

Jesus, I believe that you have a better way mapped out for us. I don’t always know what it is, I face obstacles and distractions that get in the way of my seeing it, and I struggle to trust you and those you’ve put around me, but I believe you have a way that I can/should go that is best. Help me to walk in your way and move toward being wholehearted. As we go through this year together, give us eyes to see and ears to hear your words. Give us courage to walk in your strength. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is your favorite game to play? What keeps you coming back to play it again and again?

2. What lesson(s) can/do you take away from your favorite game that you could apply (or maybe avoid) in your life?

3. In what ways do you feel “divided,” or don’t feel you are winning as a person?

4. What/who do you blame for the areas of your life that feel unsuccessful/divided.

5. Finish this thought, “I would be happy/fulfilled if I could just

Divided Heart

The Christian worldview includes this truth: our hearts are divided. Jeremiah 17:9-10 puts it uncomfortably direct:

9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

10 I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.

I don’t like this. I would prefer that Jeremiah says something more like, “Some people’s hearts are deceitful and beyond cure, but not yours, yours is pretty good. I mean, not perfect, of course, everyone makes mistakes, but you’re a pretty good person.” He doesn’t. He says, “the heart,” meaning the central defining nature of humanity, the core of who/what we are, is deceitful. Isn’t that a little harsh, Jeremiah?

Certainly, we can all find some examples of people who fit this description according to our assessment. Last year the show about Jeffrey Dahmer was released and for a month or so it seemed everyone was talking about it. People said lots of different things about it, but generally, everyone was saying, “yeah, that guy had a bad heart.” By implication, though, I think many of us were also saying, “I’m definitely better than that guy.” Maybe that’s why the show was popular for little while. We would like to think we’re basically decent people, and it’s hard to not feel decent about yourself when your comparison is someone like Jeffrey Dahmer.

We can look through history and easily find extreme examples of people who make us look good: murders, rapists, thieves, child-molesters, people guilty of genocide,

and warmongers. It’s easy to conclude that these people’s hearts are divided. But does it really get us off the hook and make Jeremiah’s description of our heart wrong simply because we can find examples of people who are worse than us?

Jesus says in Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”

Jesus and Jeremiah seem to be saying the same thing – our hearts are the problem. Yes, we have never murdered anyone, but there are a lot of ways of living destructively that can pass the test of ‘not murder’. ‘Not murder’ saves us from the very worst of it, but it is not a good foundation for a fulfilling and joy-filled life. ‘Not murder’ does not make us good.

Every single one of us has fallen prey to an overwhelming sense of hatred. Every one of us has acted in anger leading us to say and do things we regret. We may be innocent when measured against the standard of ‘not murder’ but what does that really achieve? Our hearts are still divided and in need of being made whole.

Recognizing the reality of the human heart condition and taking it one step further to accept our own personal heart condition is the beginning of accepting Jesus’ message.

VERSES:

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.

Matthew 5:21-22 You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 86:11 Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

PRAYER:

Jesus, your teaching in the gospel of Matthew is hard. We cannot live up to the standard of never hating someone or speaking badly about them. Our hearts are divided. Help us. Give us the gift of your presence, help us to hear the voice of the Spirit. Convict us of our sin and give us a heart of flesh that beats with the desire to know and love you. Mend our hearts with your love that we may serve and honor you. In your name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. 1) What kind of shows do you like to watch? Think about your favorite episode from that show, what problem is the main character trying to overcome?

2. In the way the show is written who is the good character and who is the bad character?

3. How do you know if a person is good?

4. Can you think of an example where a person you would have thought was “pretty good” turned out to have problems that affected others in a negative way?

5. In what ways are our hearts divided between wanting/doing good things and wanting/doing bad things?

WAYS

For God to teach us His ways we need to know where to look and how to orient our heart to receive His direction. This three -week series is about learning to trust God and His Word, and humbling ourselves to accept His ways over our own.

Commit God’s Way

Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Allow me to unpack the significance of this powerfully profound principle through the relatively simple experience of caring for hamsters.

Hamstee (my daughter’s first pet hamster) was a horrible pet. We cared for it diligently and did all we could to show it love, but it gave almost nothing back, excepting a lot of middle-of-the-night disturbances, horrible smells, and a few bite wounds. The commitment we made to caring for Hamstee felt like all burden and very little blessing. So, when my daughter came running into the kitchen in a panic and said, “Daddy, the hamster is dead,” I’m ashamed to admit that my first emotion was not grief. Still my daughter was very upset, so we committed to bury the hamster in the yard. Unfortunately, while digging the hole I broke one of the sprinkler lines! And this experience perfectly sums up what it was like owning and caring for Hamstee, even in its death it was a burden.

Committing to care for Buttercup (our current hamster), however, has been the picture of simplicity and joy. Somehow the little rodent makes cleaning out its filthy tunnels a joy. “We don’t want her to have to live in that squalor…she doesn’t know any better,” we think. We take her out and hold her all the time. She brings so much joy and pleasure to our family. And yet, while on a road trip she gave us quite the scare. The latch on her cage got loose and, in the night, she escaped into my brother-in-law’s house. We eventually found her (thank God) but not before emptying closets, barricading rooms, and worrying for 24 hours.

When my daughter wanted to have a pet, when she envisioned snuggling and playing with a sweet, adorable little fluffy hamster, she had no way of knowing the grief and inconvenience that committing to this responsibility was going to entail (no pun intended). She had many plans that did not include horrible smells, Band-Aids, lost sleep, grief, anger, fear, and a trip to Home Depot for plumbing equipment.

But this perfectly sums up what commitment always looks like; much of life is unforeseen. This is why we make commitments (or why we so easily break them). We signed up for the AP class because we know that doing well in it looks great for our college applications. We joined the team because we liked watching it and our friends were playing. We bought the car because we liked the way it sounded in the test drive. But there is always a hidden burden associated with every commitment we make. There are unforeseen challenges associated with every decision we make.

When we commit to God’s way, we do so with overflowing trust knowing that much of what will come our way is unknown and trusting that He knows and will give us the grace needed to face it. We cannot see the end of the story, ever. We only get to participate in the writing of the story as it unfolds today. So as much as we try to make plans to guard against negative outcomes, we can never anticipate being bitten by a feral rodent or waking up to the discovery that the cute rodent you love has escaped in the night.

There is a lot of wisdom available to us on how to make commitments and manage our time well, but none of that wisdom will help us know the future. That part we must trust to God.

So, should we keep the commitments we make? Yes, absolutely, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that is until unforeseen things that we could never have accounted for come up and we find ourselves stuck. But how do we know when it’s right to go back on a commitment we’ve made? I don’t know. In this question, and every other one we might ask about things that affect our futures, we can’t ultimately know the answers.

Our days will be filled with dozens of decisions stacking up incalculable effects and consequences from now until we shift into eternity. In other words, we either trust in our own limited wisdom to know the unknowable details of our futures and roll the dice, or we learn to trust God who already has a plan and purpose for us.

When Jesus found himself in a conversation with his disciples who were worried about where their lives were taking them, he said in response to their anxiety in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Our plans will cause us to make many commitments, to sign up for many classes, join many teams, and bring home many pets. We should do all these things with our whole hearts. This is the canvas on which our life’s story is written, but when we make these commitments, let’s commit God’s way. Let’s trust in God’s wisdom and plan for our life. Let’s trust in Jesus, so that no matter what we face, we can experience His pleasure as His plans prevail in our lives.

VERSES:

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 25:4-5 Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are my God my savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

PRAYER:

Jesus, so much of our future is unknown to us. The very best blessings we experience come with hidden burdens and challenges we could never have anticipated. Sometimes tragedy strikes and we find ourselves aimless and directionless. Give us the faith to trust you when we feel like we’ve got it all under control. Give us the courage and strength to humble ourselves and reach for you when our lives feel out of control. We trust that you are before all things and that in you all things hold together. Help us turn to you so that the veil that clouds our vision can be lifted. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Share about the best pet you’ve ever owned. Tell a story about the worst pet experience you’ve had.

2. Tell about a commitment you’ve made that you later regretted making? Did you stick with it or back out of it? What did you learn?

3. Describe one thing you hope to accomplish in your life this year, next year, five years from now?

4. What is one thing you can do today to contribute to that future vision for your life? What are some challenges you might face in accomplishing this vision?

5. How does God factor into your day-to-day decision-making process? What would need to change for you to trust Him a little more with your future?

Compete God’s Way

I read an article a few years ago that referenced a psychological study where participants were given random labels and then told to divide themselves according to the labels they received. The result was three groups of people. The focus of the study was how people responded to the new group and the researchers were surprised to see competition spring up in the resultant groups. The same tensions you would expect to find in entrenched politics, tribal warfare, and international disputes. The resulting groups, associated only by randomly generated and completely arbitrary labels, displayed intense loyalty to their group and fierce competition with the other groups in a matter of a few hours.

I was intrigued so I ran an experiment. We were taking a group of 100 volunteers on a tour and took two charter buses labeled bus A and bus B. I was the host on bus B. As we started, I stood up in the front of my bus and said something like this, “Hey everyone, my name is John Bishop, and before I say anything else, I just wanted to let you know that we’re bus B, the better bus, the Bishop bus…” I said a few other silly things, picking on my friend who was hosting bus A and then we commenced with the tour. By the time we had arrived at our first destination, 45 minutes later, the identity of bus B was so firmly entrenched that my bus B group started heckling bus A people on the sidewalk as we disembarked. Now, it was all in good fun, and we laughed about it. But the fact remains, there is something baked into us that drives us to competition.

I think competition, in general, is great. It drives us to achieve things we wouldn’t otherwise accomplish. It creates camaraderie and brings meaningful depth to our experiences with each other. But there are dark sides to competition that create very un-Christlike behaviors in us. Some of us, for example, commit to win at all costs and succumb to cheating, lying, and stealing to make it happen. Or in our relationships we compete in ways that damage intimacy and wound trust.

I don’t think we can get rid of competition; I think it’s in us and likely put there by God, but how do we compete in God’s way?

Perhaps it has more to do with what we’re competing for. In Hebrews 10:24-25 we read, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Can we spur each other on toward love and good deeds while putting on our helmets and pads and preparing for the game? I think so.

I think it requires us to dig deeper and figure out what really drives us. Competing simply to beat the other team may prove to be a shallow motivator. Try instead, competing at a peak level of fitness to maximize the gift you’ve been given and, in that honor God who gave it to you. The football season will eventually end, but honoring God for the blessings He’s given us will last for eternity.

Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The spirit of competition that rises in us when we face opposing teams, no matter how much of a rival they may be, is not put there as a tool to fight against them, but rather as a weapon to use against the enemy that is always trying to separate us not bring us together.

So, get out there and give it your all, but as you fight to win the small game happening between you and the other team on the field, do it in a way so as to also compete to win the bigger game that is happening in every arena of life, the one that points back to God and the kingdom life God has called us to live. Do what Jesus calls us to in Matthew 5:44 – “love you enemy and pray for those who persecute you.” Everything we do represents our God to everyone we interact with so give it everything you have, win and lose with grace, pray for your team and the opposing one, and represent Christ well.

We are not in this fight alone so let us throw off everything that hinders our progress that we might persevere in our race of faith (Hebrews 12:1-2 paraphrased).

VERSES:

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Matthew 5:43-48 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[i] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 37:24 Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.

PRAYER:

Jesus, we live in a world filled with dividing lines and often puts us at odds with others. People who think very differently from us and seem to want the opposite of what we want for our lives. These people may even make it their aim to make our lives more difficult in pursuit of their desires and yet you call us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. We don’t know how to do that without your help. Give us your help so that we might love all those around us even in the way we fight for justice and progress. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Describe the greatest highlight from your experiences playing sports. What makes that moment so memorable? Describe what it’s like to be part of a great team.

2. Give an example of when you “lost your cool” and regretted the way you acted in competition with another person or team.

3. What do you think is the best way to get motivated to perform well in a competition?

4. Describe a situation you’ve experienced where you’ve honored God with a gift you’ve been given.

5. Do you agree or disagree that you can compete at the highest level without making the opposing team the enemy?

Create God’s Way

Every human being is creative. The Bible teaches us that we are made in the image of God. He is the creator of the universe. All things, from the most intricate details of subatomic particles to the vast expanse of space and the mechanism of time, came from the mind and mouth of God. So, when He made us in His image, he gave us a similar kind of creative power. The important difference being that He can create from nothing, whereas we can create with what he’s created. God made a tree by speaking and it came into existence. We can make a tree by planting a seed. We can also use the wood that comes from a tree to make a table. We can also say the word “tree” creates the idea of a tree in someone else’s mind. This, our use of language, is the purest form of our God-reflecting creative power. We can create ideas through written and spoken words. In other words, we, too, create with our minds and mouths.

When we speak, we pass air over our vocal cords, tongue and lips in a way that manipulates it to create sounds. These sounds create meaning. The person standing nearby receives those manipulated air particles through tiny vibrating hairs and bones in their ear and interpreting those vibrations through chemical signals in their neurons, creates mental pictures in their mind. So, I can think of an idea and then use air to create a similar idea in your mind.

You don’t even need to be in the same room as me to understand what I’m thinking about because I can use marks on a page or screen to represent the words I would say if you were. Through the written and spoken word I can create in your mind what was in my own.

Let’s experiment, “Elephant.” Did you see a large grey or brown animal with a long snake-like nose and huge flappy ears? Crazy, right?!

We don’t really think about this process being creative because it’s not artistic, necessarily, but this ability is uniquely

human. We are made in the image of God and He has given us the ability to take what he’s made and create with it even through the spoken and written word. This is extremely powerful and can be used for great good and great evil.

So, what do we do with this power? How do we create God’s way? What are we building with our hands or what kind of images are being formed in the minds of all those we interact with? Am I creating in a way that produces life, and freedom from the bondage of sin, or am I creating in opposition to the voice of God? Put more simply, do I use my voice to bless others or curse them? Do my posts affirm or tear down? Is my speech seasoned with grace and blessing or riddled with anger and contempt? Can I freely build others up with kindness and affirmation or do I feel the need to make others smaller to bolster my ego? The power of life and death is in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21) and with every word we speak we create one or the other.

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.”

Similarly, Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all of your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

If we’re going to create God’s way, we need to commit to the process of allowing our minds to be changed by God’s word. When the images formed in our minds/hearts begin to reflect the voice of God rather than the sound of the world, then what comes out of our mouth, and what flows from our pen, pencil and paint brush will create life. Then we will create God’s way.

VERSES:

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 37:3-4 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

PRAYER:

Jesus, you have given us a great gift in how you have designed us to be able to communicate. Teach us through your Spirit to speak the words you would say and think the thoughts you would think that we might build your kingdom through the words we speak. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Give examples of words you use that older people don’t really get?

2. Describe how it feels to interact with people who are speaking a language you are not fluent in.

3. Talk about a time when you have been misunderstood or misunderstood someone because of language barrier. What do you do to try and get your point across?

4. How important is it, would you say, to be able to communicate with other people?

5. If someone who had never met you received a transcript of everything you wrote or said yesterday, what kind of conclusions would they come to about who you are as a person?

WESTMINSTER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 16

WHY LORD?

YHWH is the ancient name of God that has been imbued through history and tradition with reverence and awe. As our LORD, God has ultimate sway over us. So, when we face the big questions of life we can trust that His ways are right, even when we don’t fully understand or even accept them.

Why LORD?

In Psalm 86:11 it says, “Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” You may not have ever noticed but in this verse and in many other places in the Bible where we read the word “LORD” it is printed in all caps. There is actually a very important theological reason why the decision is made to do this. Here is a brief explanation:

The Hebrew people had such a high view of God that over time they developed traditions and rules for how to write and speak His name. The name of God in Hebrew is transliterated to English as, “Yahweh.” With respect to the tradition of honoring the name of God, however, the Hebrew people would have left out the vowels, so Yahweh becomes, YHWH, rendering the name of God unpronounceable. Their thought was something like, “If you can’t say it, you can’t misuse it.”

So, in our verse when we see the word “LORD” in all capital letters, what we have in the original language is the unpronounceable name of God YHWH. So, what does this mean for us, in other words, Why LORD; WHY|YHWH?

The first commandment given to Moses was this, “You shall have no other God’s before me.” God was saying then and is still saying now that the beginning of our relationship with him is when we place Him in a preeminent position of influence and authority in our lives. In this arrangement, nothing and no one else determines our steps more than God. He becomes LORD in our lives, and we do what He says. This is not an easy arrangement to accept.

I think our skepticism is justified. We all have many examples of a person in a position of authority who abuses their position. How many articles have you read about decisions made by governments (ours or others’) that resulted in unnecessary suffering by the subjects of that government. What authority have you ever interacted with who had perfect access to all the facts of any situation and was never subject to fallibility? In a world whose authority figures regularly act in ways that justify our mistrust, how could it be that God will be any different?

This is exactly what our verse is challenging us to consider, “Teach me your ways, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness.” This verse is challenging us to consider God’s ways and allow the experience of his faithfulness to change our minds about Him. Psalm 86:11 is inviting us into an experience of God as our LORD that is very different from any other lord we’ve ever dealt with.

Before Heather and I had kids, we adopted a dog that had been abused. For the first month of having the dog in our home it was so skittish it wouldn’t willingly come anywhere near us. I spent hours working with the dog trying to establish trust. I would put his leash on and then call him over. At first, he wouldn’t come so I would have to drag him over to me. I would give him a treat and pet him, lavishing him with love. Over the course of weeks, he slowly began to understand that I was different than his previous master and stopped resisting when I pulled him toward me using the leash. Then, he seemed to accept that I was safe and would eventually come when I called him even without a leash. After a long while, he seemed to accept me as a good master and would come to me when I got home on its own. It took a long time for this dog to learn to rely on my faithfulness as his owner but in doing so it gained access to love and affection it would have otherwise never known.

There is no question that God is the highest authority in the universe. Consider Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

He is a good father and a loving master. Let’s wholeheartedly embrace the process of relying on His faithfulness, accepting Him as LORD of our lives and learning to trust his ways that we main gain access to His love and affection in ways we could otherwise never know.

VERSES:

Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other God’s before me Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 96:1-4 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.

PRAYER:

Jesus, we confess that you are God and your authority reigns supreme in the universe. It is difficult for us, because of how many times we’ve experienced or caused disappointment, and hurt through the abuse of authority for us to trust you as LORD, teach us your ways, that we may rely on your faithfulness. Show us with eyes that actually perceive, the truth of your goodness and love toward us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Talk about a time you’ve had to earn the trust of a pet? What are some of the things you had to do to gain its trust?

2. What are some amazing advantages your pet gets to enjoy being in your home that it would never have access to if it were living in the wild?

3. What does it mean to be a good pet owner?

4. How is the fact that we invite animals into our homes a good analogy for the relationship God chooses to have with us?

5. In what ways have you trusted God and experienced His faithfulness as LORD in your life? In what ways do you still live without regard for God’s authority in your life?

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

There are a handful of questions that everyone will wrestle with and seek to answer. And one of the most palpable of those questions centers on our need to understand the existence of evil. Having been at Westminster for only two years I have already had this conversation with many students. For example, questions like, “Why are some people so mean?” or when put as an accusation, “can you believe that she would do that?!” are just a rephrasing of the question, why do bad things happen?

This is a very difficult question. It is difficult because we all face difficult things; painful personal tragedies that flood us with uncertainty and grief. This article is not intended as a guide for those who are struggling with personal tragedy, that requires care and empathy, instead, this article hopes to assist those who are struggling with their belief in God in response to their experience of evil.

One of the consequences of the pain we experience is we sometimes doubt the goodness or even the existence of God. I get it, I’ve often struggled with my own doubts about God. I’ve learned that I can’t necessarily reason my way into a closer relationship with God, but I can reason myself out of my doubts about his existence or character.

For example, here is a way to reframe the problem of evil:

Anselm of Canterbury, in 1078 AD, put forth this idea, “God is that above which nothing greater can be thought.” In other words, God must be all powerful. A god who is not all powerful would be subject to whoever is. Said another way, if He is not in charge, then whoever is, must be God.

Now, let’s think about our behavior. If God is all powerful, then why aren’t we cowering in fear over the things we do that we know to be wrong? Or, more directly, why doesn’t he put a stop to the problems we cause? We often do things we know to be wrong, and nothing ever happens. How can this be if God is all powerful? It’s possible because God must also be good. If God were all powerful but not perfectly good, then we would be in mortal danger anytime we violated his wishes. Since we regularly behave in ways

we know to be wrong and are not immediately confronted with the wrath of God, this shows that God, the most powerful being in the universe, acts with patience and forbearance toward us. i.e. He is good. His Goodness puts a check on His justice and vengeance – Thank God!

But unfortunately, His goodness has a side effect of creating a gap; a gap between what we ought to do and actually do. This gap is bad. If I ought to treat others with love and respect, but instead allow my anger to create friction, this is bad. God’s goodness and patience with me gives me an opportunity to grow and improve, but that does not erase the consequences of my choices and actions. In this small way I can see that God’s power and goodness can coexist with the existence of the evil I cause and experience.

So, what do we do about this? First, if, as a student at Westminster, you’re struggling with your faith or with painful circumstances in your life please talk with someone you trust about it. Also, allow God’s goodness to do its work in your life that you may minimize the bad that you cause and contribute to the solution of the pain and suffering we all experience. James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” And similarly, Romans 5:3-5 says, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

When we approach the issue of ‘bad things’ with whole hearts submitted to God’s ways, what we get is healing for our broken hearts as our struggle converts to hope. And, armed with hope, we become ambassadors of Christ in a world that is hurting.

VERSES:

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Romans 5:3-5 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

PRAYER:

Jesus, we know that in this life we will face trouble and sometimes face doubts about your goodness or involvement in our lives. Please give us the courage to both face the difficult things that come our way and to trust that you are still faithful even when we cannot perceive your goodness. We love and trust you, and it is in your name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What do you think about the quote from Anselm of Canterbury, “God is that above which nothing greater can be thought.”?

2. What doubts have you experienced in your relationship with God in connection with the difficult things you’ve faced?

3. James, in James 1:2-4, and Paul, in Romans 5:3-5, both talk about the good that comes from facing struggles head on. What do you think about this idea?

4. Talk about a bad thing you’ve faced that ultimately resulted in some positive outcome.

5. What do you feel is the greater threat to our health and well-being, the difficult things we face or the way we choose to deal with the difficult things we face?

Why don’t you just save everyone?

Imagine you are walking down the street of an unfamiliar city trying to find the bus station and finally you decide to ask someone passing by for directions. They say, “take the next left and the bus station will be on your right, two blocks down.” So, you take the next left and walk two blocks down and there’s the bus station on your right. This is a very unremarkable story. You are not going to tell this story at dinner the next time you invite friends over.

But let’s reimagine the scenario. You ask the passerby, and they give the exact same directions but at the next intersection you turn right and then after you go two blocks there is no bus station. Of course not! You didn’t follow the directions, even if you didn’t mean to.

Maybe, for example, you always get lost, and you’re known to be bad with directions and this is just part of what you deal with all the time. Maybe you were distracted that day by some terrible news you’d just received. Maybe this was your first time in this city, and you were overwhelmed. Maybe the streets were very crowded, and you got caught up by a crowd and were forced to go that way. Regardless of how/why it happened, this will likely be a story you tell later. How you tell it will depend heavily on how it unfolded. But, likely, no matter how you tell it, you will not focus on the passerby or his directions, you will focus on you and your application or misapplication of the directions he provided.

One more scenario, you ask the passerby for directions, and they say, “take the next left and the bus station will be on your right two blocks down.” You follow the directions perfectly turning left and going two blocks down and there is no bus station. At first, you assume you misunderstood and keep walking. You go three blocks, four blocks, and still no bus station. You get all the way down to eight blocks and realize some mistake has been made and turn around.

“Maybe the passerby meant it would be on the left not the right” you think. You’re beginning to feel a little anxious. Finally, after an hour of searching you accept that you’re lost. Most of us in this situation would conclude that the passerby gave us bad directions and when we tell the story later it will center on that annoying passerby who led us astray.

When we ask a question like, “Why doesn’t God save everyone?” I think we are wrestling with something like the scenarios above. Has God given us good directions that we aren’t following? Or is God an untrustworthy guide? This is a complicated question because there are as many possible answers to it as there are people who ask it. We are all wandering through life in search of direction. None of us knows the future. None of us is free of challenges and issues. We are all familiar with the feeling of getting and being lost.

There is one more scenario we should consider. Perhaps we don’t want to find the bus station! Perhaps the directions are clear, and we know where to go, but we prefer being lost to the responsibility and perceived inconvenience of continuing the journey.

I believe God is a good guide and is proactively working to rescue us from our lost state. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And we discover in Romans 10:13 that, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I bet if we turn left at the next intersection and go down two blocks the bus station will be right where it’s supposed to be. God’s can be trusted especially when we consider that He did not even spare his own son in His efforts to help us find our way (Romans 8:32-34). What’s left for us is to follow.

VERSES:

John 14:6 Jesus Said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.”

Romans 10:13 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 8:32-34 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 91:1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

PRAYER:

Jesus, for those who do not yet know you and are still lost, would you reveal yourself as the way. Help them to know you fully and bring them from the dark to the light. For those of us who do know you, give us wisdom to know how to better follow your ways that we might know to peace that surpasses understanding; that we might be found in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Talk about a time that you got completely lost.

2. Tell about a time that you’ve been given poor directions. How did you feel about the person who gave you the directions?

3. Talk about a time you had to find a place but didn’t have cell service or your phone had died? Or talk about a time you were in a new place and didn’t know how to find your way around.

4. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.” Discuss the ways that Jesus went that are different from the ways the world tends to go.

5. Why do we sometimes choose to remain hidden rather than following Christ’ ways?

24 WESTMINSTER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

FEAR OF GOD

Over these five weeks we will be dealing with the reality of God as our creator. He knew us from before the world began, He orchestrated our lives and made us how we are. He also made a way of salvation for us through Jesus and has given us His Spirit. We don’t fear God like we might fear a dangerous person, we are struck to the core of our being with awe because His power is unmatched and His goodness is unfaltering.

Designer Genes

Our verse, Psalm 86:11 says, “11 Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” What does it mean to fear God? He is most certainly very powerful, and having a healthy fear of His power is not necessarily bad. The Scripture teaches us, after all, that the fear of God is the being of wisdom. But I don’t think that’s primarily what our verse is leading us to.

The meaning of the word fear in this context might be better captured with words like, awestruck, humbled, captivated, mesmerized, and overcome. The immense power of God is softened a bit by His perfect Goodness. Let’s consider, for example, what we learn about God’s wisdom and foreknowledge through a passage like Psalm 139:13-16, “For you created my inmost being you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

In part, we fear God because He is our maker! We are not unfamiliar with giving honor and deference to creators. For example, we stand ready to pay a premium for designer jeans. A talented, and/or famous person, creates a cool pair of pants and we place value on the pants and the designer.

Now consider for a second that God has designed you! A living, breathing human being. He’s planned your unique characteristics, personality and even takes a leading role in how your story unfolds. God is weaving together designer Genes and has been since he swept some dust together and breathed life into it to form Adam, the first man.

There is an unspeakable power and intelligence at work in the creative hand of God as He knits us together, not just individually, and biologically, but also socially and historically. He is weaving the tapestry of human history and picked this exact moment for your unique thread to enhance the color and image of our time…WOW!

This is awe-inspiring! It should induce a sense of wonder not just in the designer but also in what He made. You are designed! Perhaps this thought could incentivize you to learn more of His ways and know His purpose for you.

VERSES:

Psalm 139:13-16 For you created my inmost being you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 139:13-16 For you created my inmost being you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

PRAYER:

God, we are guilty of forgetting how vast and powerful you are. Your patience and longsuffering, your grace and mercy and your redemptive purpose have buffered us against the realization of your overwhelming power. Thank you for the reminder of your greatness. We worship you in Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Have you ever gone out of your way to get a particular article of clothing or pair of shoes or something? What made it so special? Did it live up to your expectations?

2. What are some unique characteristics about you as a person? What are the ways that you are unique and different?

3. What are some things you tend to struggle with where others seem to easily succeed? What are some things that you tend to easily succeed at that others tend to struggle?

4. Discuss a few ways you can care for and invest in the body/ life God has given you.

5. If we believe that the words in Psalm 139:13-16 are true, why would that lead us to “fear” God?

Clothed in Humility

Over this series as we discuss the aspect of our verse that would lead us to fear God’s name, we should consider how this kind of fear feels like honor and deference. It is the combination of God’s power and goodness that inspires us to honor Him and trust His ways in our lives. He is in charge and has not left us to our own devices in navigating our lives. So, as Peter suggests, we can clothe ourselves in humility toward one another.

One of the first things we want to know before arriving in a new place is, “What should I wear?” Of course, we mean, what clothes should I put on, but we also mean, how should I present myself? We want to know if we should present ourselves as relaxed and easy-going, or professional? We think, “should I stand out or blend in? will I need to be comfortable, or can I risk more style at the expense of comfort?” We cannot escape the reality that how we present ourselves to others affects how they perceive and receive us.

There is wisdom in considering the context as we prepare to present ourselves in any given setting. On the flip side, how we present ourselves often implies something about our intentions and/or expectations toward them. If I overdress, for example, it may reveal that I expected the environment to be much more formal than it was.

So, when we consider what Peter is saying in 1 Peter 5:5b-6 his meaning should be self-evident. He says, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

Trusting that God will “lift us up in due time” will create a humble posture in us towards those around us. From this posture we can see how submitting to those in authority, for example, comes more easily as we trust that their authority has been given to them by God.

When our parents, who do not always make the best decisions or fully understand our context, make a decision that we may not agree with or understand, we can trust that God has chosen them for that role in our lives. It doesn’t mean that we don’t set healthy boundaries and speak truthfully about tensions that arise, it just means we will do these things with humility. Similarly, with our teachers, coaches, bosses, government officials, law-enforcement officers, etc.… These people are not acting entirely of their own will, they have been granted authority by God and will be held accountable for how they steward it. We can trust God and humble ourselves under their authority knowing that we’re not unrepresented in our claims.

There is also a place for humbling ourselves before our equals, or those who may be subordinated to us. We might listen more than we speak, offering compassion and empathy where warranted, opening our hands and homes, and practicing hospitality. Doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility valuing others above ourselves, as Paul says in Philippians 2:3.

When we do not value and honor God, when we do not ‘fear His name’ we risk diminishing His status in our lives and exposing ourselves unnecessarily to fear of man. God is in charge, and He’s not nervous. He’s got this, and we can trust Him.

VERSES:

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

1 Peter 5:5b-6 All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 34:9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing.

PRAYER:

God, your wisdom is above our wisdom and your strength is above our strength. You know all things and your will extends to every facet of our lives. Help us honor your power and authority over our lives. Give us the courage to clothe ourselves in humility and trust that you’ve got us covered. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Talk about a time you’ve arrived at a party or event, and you were not dressed appropriately.

2. Do you agree or disagree that how you dress and present yourself to others is an important consideration.

3. What do you think about the idea of intentionally “putting on humility” before you go into the world on any given day?

4. Who, if anyone, has the right to have authority in your life. Discuss the things that someone with authority should be able to do and should not be able to in your life.

5. What are your responsibilities to those you may have power over?

Jesus Costume

Perfection is perhaps the greatest illusion, and the most damaging lie that the enemy is currently using to dissuade and discourage a generation of people. Whether it is in wasting time and resource attempting to keep up with latest trends in fashion or finance, or in trying to edit and post the perfect dance routine, we seem to be nearly consumed with a desire to present ourselves as having it all together. I think we’re trying to be perfect. Are we losing the beauty of our uniqueness and perhaps some joy in the process?

Our Christianity is not immune from this challenge. I think sometimes we prefer to put on a Jesus costume, rather than be lost in Christ himself. Wouldn’t it be the greatest tragedy for authentic Christians, for the church, if Satan succeeded at building his empire, on the backs of religious people who claimed Jesus as their Lord.

I should clarify this is not a criticism of the church or of any church in particular, instead, it’s an attempt to shine a bright light on the methodology of the enemy of our faith because it’s happened before. Jesus said, for example, “not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’ will be saved” and had some choice words for the religious elites of his time who, paid special attention to the dress code of their religious position and yet heaped burdens on people that they were not willing to carry. He concluded by calling them whitewashed tombs. Ouch!!

I think it is important for all of us to keep our head on a swivel and pay attention to 1 Peter 5:8 which makes it clear “our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” We know from Genesis, that the devil did not outright lie. Had he done so, we might have seen through his deception, instead, he subtly twisted the truth. In another place in the Scripture, he masquerades as a messenger of the light. And what is this deception all aiming at? To leave believers content with an appearance of Godliness without commensurate power! The deception is trying to convince us to put on a Jesus costume without knowing Him.

In John 5:39-40 we find words of Jesus that deal a death blow to religious posturing and perfectionism when he says to a group of pharisees, “39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” I want, like Paul in Philippians 3:10, “to know Christ and the power of His resurrection,” and to that end, despite my many failures, I write, serve, and work.

VERSES:

John 5:39-40 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Philippians 3:10-11 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Matthew 23:1-7 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

Matthew 23:5 Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 119:29-31 Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me and teach me your law. 30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. 31 I hold fast to your statutes, Lord; do not let me be put to shame.

PRAYER:

Jesus, you did not die that we might lose ourselves in self-righteous, hypocritical religion, you died that we might have life and have it to the full. Will you help us become better followers? To become people who walk with you and represent you well in more and more contexts and crowds. You are worthy of our complete devotion, convict us of the areas where have settled for so much less. In your name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Do you feel pressure to be perfect? What do you do to manage this tension?

2. Have you ever presented yourself as something that you’re not, maybe online, or to your parents or something?

3. What is your view of people who are clearly hypocritical in their faith? Are you such a person?

4. When you hear the phrase Jesus costume, what is immediately formed in your imagination?

5. What is one step you can take and would be willing to take to move closer to authenticity in your life?

Holy Ghost

The spiritual realm is real.

What does this mean? What is the spiritual realm? Does it have substance? Remember in Ghostbuster’s when they used their lightning bolt guns to shoot the ghosts and slime splattered everywhere, is it like that? Or is it more like the astral realm of Dr. Strange who pops out of an alternate dimension to instruct Dr. Palmer in how to operate on his heart?

It’s Halloween this week and many people who wouldn’t normally ever think about the spiritual realm will find themselves confronted with it everywhere they turn, even if it is only in costume form.

But it is more important to consider than just explaining whether we should or shouldn’t dress up for Halloween. Consider, for example, that when Jesus was walking on the Earth, he healed a man born blind. With thousands of years of observation, study, and scientific advancement, with digital 3-D modeling, VR tech and Artificial intelligence and now a new mRNA writing tool we still do not have the capacity to restore sight to a man born blind. But Jesus did!

HOW?! He spoke a word and the damaged or unformed cells of the man’s eyes changed, and the man could see. Some power Jesus tapped into affected the physical realm so profoundly that we are still talking about it. He walked on water. He spoke to the wind and the waves, and they obeyed. He multiplied bread, we can’t even keep bread from getting moldy. These things happened in physical time and space, and they happened because a man named Jesus told them to.

I have found God to be a God of clarity and not confusion. His infinite wisdom foresaw every event of human history and made provision for its return to a right relationship with Him before he even created the first of us. In other words, if the spiritual realm is real then when the Bible tells us in

Acts 15:8 that, “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.” Then we should assume that a real transaction has occurred, and the Spirit was given. These are not just poetic words describing some nice idea. But what does it mean that God gives us the Holy Spirit?

Physicists have tried to explain away every observable phenomenon with a deeper and deeper study into the subatomic level. And yet, regardless of how small we break down particles into their component parts we are not able to escape the presence of the unexplainable. We have unlocked so many secrets about the physical world, we can even manipulate sand into curved glass to make corrective lenses for people with poor vision to see better, but we can’t heal a man born blind.

So, who is the Holy Spirit, or as the old country preacher might call him, the Holy Ghost? He is the Spirit of God, who brought the universe into existence and sustains it’s spinning through time and space with his being. When we place our faith in Christ, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit of God and are reconnected through Him to the image-bearing part of us that is spiritual.

The spiritual realm is real, and regardless of what form it might take in our physical experiences, we are connected to God through His Spirit. And when we pray, he hears us from the spiritual realm. And according to His will, He acts to affect our physical reality.

John 14:26 says, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Wow!

VERSES:

Acts 15:8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.

John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 51:10-13 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

PRAYER:

Holy Spirit of God, we do not, maybe cannot understand the complexities of who you are and how you exist and function, but we see the evidence of your existence all around us. Thank you for serving as wisdom, comfort, and guide in our lives as we seek to love and Honor God with our whole heart. Guide us into all wisdom and power as we seek to advance the Kingdom of God on earth. In Jesus name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Do you celebrate Halloween, why or why not?

2. Have you ever felt physically affected or threatened by something that turned out not to be real?

3. Have you ever tapped into a “power” or “zone” that did not have any physical explanation?

4. What are your thoughts on the spiritual realm?

5. Who is the Holy Spirit and what is your relationship to Him? How does He, or doesn’t He, factor into your relationship with God?

THANK GOD

Gratitude does not happen by accident it must be practiced and trained. To be a wholehearted disciple of Jesus means we recognize all His blessings and provisions. We can worship Him and give Him thanks because He is faithful.

Gratitude Practice

In 2005 Heather and I moved to Charlotte, NC to start Elevation Church. We moved into a small starter house that fit our family’s needs at that time, and yet, I quickly became dissatisfied with it for superficial reasons.

One dumb example was I didn’t like the living room. I felt it was too long and narrow. The fact is, the living room was awkwardly shaped but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was my perspective. I was suffering from a lack of gratitude and my discontentment over inconsequential things was stealing my joy.

Then in 2009 I went on a trip to Uganda, Africa and toured through the country observing Samaritan’s Purses food distribution, orphan care, church ministries and Christmas Child operations. We also visited schools and churches and even spent half a day in the hut of a man who was dying from HIV. At one point on that trip, I was in Moroto witnessing a group of women worshipping in their local church, a structure that would not have passed for a crude barn in the United States, and yet, they were overflowing with joy such as I had not seen, enhanced even more so by the contrast of their destitute circumstances. They had nothing by way of material possession but nevertheless were overflowing with gratitude and appreciation!

That night I read in Matthew 5, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” I was struck to the core with conviction by Jesus’ simple words. ‘Poor in spirit,’ as I was learning from these unperturbably grateful women, is not a state of circumstances, but a state of spiritual reality. It, in fact, cannot come from fulfilling any earthly desire, but comes instead to the person who recognizes that before God we are all poor. He gives us breath, strength, and health. He arranges opportunities and holds back calamities; he works all things together in a way that puts us exactly where He intends for us to be with all we need in the moment He calls

us to act. We are profoundly blessed, regardless of the shape and size of the living room of our house. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - 16 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I can still remember driving through my neighborhood and pulling into my driveway after returning home flooded with conviction over my lack of gratitude. Seeing my house against the backdrop of the mud shack these women had worshipped in left me with no choice but to adjust my view and look honestly at the life I’d been blessed with.

Gratitude is not an emotion or a verbal announcement, it is a practice. We must constantly remember that our whole life rests in the hand of a God who chooses to bless us whether we have a lot or a little.

Over the next couple weeks, I would encourage you to begin a list of everything you have to be grateful for. Some things might be major like the air we breathe and food we eat, and other things might be minor like a funny comment from a friend who made you laugh. Fill a notebook with everything you have to be grateful for and thank God for each one! Become poor in spirit and inherit the Kingdom!

Let us wholeheartedly align with the words of the psalmist in Psalm 103:1-4, “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.” He is worthy of our gratitude!

VERSES:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 103:1-4 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 103:1-4 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 2 Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— 3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

PRAYER:

God, thank you for all the ways you have blessed us. Whether it is the air we breathe, the beautiful place we get to live, our resources and friends and family who care for us and about us, even the beauty of flowers and sunny days, you are so good to us. Thank you! Form in us a keener awareness of just how much you have blessed us that we may recognize our complete and utter dependence on you and be filled with gratitude and joy. In Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Describe a moment you’ve experienced recently where you felt overcome with joy.

2. What do you feel is required for you to experience joy?

3. Talk about a time you were disappointed by the outcome of something only to look back later and feel grateful for how it all worked out?

4. Pick an area in your life that is causing you stress, and, if you feel comfortable, share how it could be much worse.

5. From that exercise, how has the hand of God protected you?

With Our Whole Hearts

I’m sure you’ve been in a situation where you thought the worst had happened only to be relieved that you’d been mistaken. Maybe you’d been working for multiple hours on an important assignment only to hit the wrong key on the keyboard and in a flash all your hard work has disappeared. For that moment you fear the worst, everything you’ve worked hard to produce is gone.

Then noticing the little bar under the word icon at the bottom of the screen, you click on it and discover that what you thought was lost had just been minimized. You open the document back up, breathe a heavy, grateful sigh of relief and immediately save the document while saying, “Thank God!”

This is a special kind of gratitude! The profound hope we cling to in the time that elapses between our fears and our eventual discovery of the outcome will give way to a flood of gratitude once our fears are dislodged and realized to be false.

Maybe you’ve experienced this feeling in a situation that was much more serious than an assignment you thought you’d lost. Perhaps you and your family were sitting in a waiting room at a local hospital waiting for the attending surgeon to come back and give a report. Maybe you came around the corner to find your new car was not parked where you thought you’d left it. Or someone you loved promised to show up at a certain time and in the delay, you worried they might disappoint you again.

We are vulnerable. We put on strength and confidence, and we harden ourselves against the worst case as often and as effectively as we know how but, despite our best efforts, we are not impenetrable. Situations like these reveal our vulnerabilities and when we’re in them, we must cling to hope.

When after the wait the surgeon gives us a good report, or the car is found, or an acceptable excuse is made we can finally sigh and say, “Thank God!”

Isaiah 40:31 speaks directly to this hope, the kind of hope we cling to in the face of our great vulnerability when it says, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.”

When we place our hope in circumstances and outcomes, we get to experience the great sense of relief and gratitude only when the situation resolves itself in the direction we’d hoped for. But what do we do when our great vulnerability is placed on display and the outcome is not what we hoped for? We place our hope in the Lord.

We give our whole hearts to God and with the psalmist we, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

VERSES:

Isaiah 40:31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.

Psalm 107:1-3 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 107:1-3 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

PRAYER:

Jesus, you have finished the work or reversing the damage created through sin. Because you have defeated death we can trust in eternal life. Because you have redeemed work, we can do all things in the name of God and produce without fear of wasting our time and energy. You are and will always be faithful and we thank you with our whole hearts. In your name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Talk about a time you have been in a situation like those described in this article.

2. How would you describe the feeling of relief and gratitude you experienced in that situation.

3. Share about a time you have been in a situation like that, and the outcome did not go your way?

4. What evidence can you find in your life that would help you trust that God is good and that He loves you separate from the outcomes of the circumstances you may be or have faced?

5. How would you describe wholehearted gratitude?

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WESTMINSTER CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 40

BORN FOR THIS

Finding our purpose in God is a big part of becoming a wholehearted follower of Jesus. He made us with a set of strengths and weaknesses and put us in a context. We honor Him by discovering ourselves and submitting our gifts for use in His kingdom. This is what Jesus modelled for us. In the second half of this series we will look into the prophesies fulfilled in Christ’s birth and the work completed in His death. Jesus came for a purpose and He fulfilled it exactly according to God’s plan.

Divine Design

Many of us struggle to know what our purpose is. Maybe we even struggle to believe that we even have a purpose. It makes sense, we must fight against many competing ideas and expectations that people have for us. We have passions and interest that often run in different directions and are therefore competing for our limited time and resources. How do we choose between a passion for reading and a passion for fitness, for example, if those happen to both be pursuits of interest for us.

It is not an easy task to decide what our purpose is, or more appropriately, what our core purposes must be; there are likely multiple purposes we will pursue and fulfill in our rich lifetimes. In this article we will hope to accomplish two things: first, let’s decide that we are made on purpose by a God who has a specific idea of our role in this life and, secondly, that our purpose is discoverable; that we can, and should, take the time necessary to discern the things which compel us into the slipstream of God’s work in the world and embrace it wholeheartedly.

Consider for example that many people through the years have endeavored to create personality profiling tools to help people develop self-awareness. The reason these tools can be created comes back to two facts, general similarities that exist between groups of people and the absolute uniqueness of any individual. The way that one person can easily perform a task where another has failed, or the way one person interacts with people compared with another are often different and can approach extremes. One person may be aggressive and driven, while another is passive and laid back. One is seemingly wired to understand mathematics and concrete facts while another is drawn intrinsically to art and abstract thought. Consider Exodus 31:1-6 where God points to Bezalel who is, “filled with the Spirit of God… to make artistic designs.” He likely developed his skill over time, but the scripture makes it clear that it was the Spirit of God that gifted him.

So, how do we discover our own uniqueness? And then, how do we accurately apply our divine design? Maybe this analogy will help: Consider that you receive a package in the mail containing a machine you do not recognize. As you study it you find a power cord and on/off button. You plug it in, and it beeps and whirls until, after a few minutes, a digital voice says, “Temperature, 73 degrees, barometric pressure 29.92, inches of mercury etc.…” Obviously, this machine must have something to do with the weather. You now have some sense of its purpose by paying attention to how it functions. You would never consider trying to toast bread with this machine, it is not designed for that kind of function.

Obviously, humans are not weather machines, but by way of an analogy I think it may be helpful to think like this. I believe with reflection, and humility we can come to understand the purpose(s) for which we have been created and eventually land on work that aligns with and fulfills it. It honors and glorifies God when we discover our divine design and apply it to His purposes.

Ask someone who has known you for a while, perhaps your parents or an aunt/uncle, to tell you stories about what you were like as a baby/toddler. Don’t judge yourself, instead, listen to their descriptions objectively and try to discover patterns. Ask others who have known you for less time and find the places where their experience aligns with that of people who have known you for much longer. Eliminate the extremes, or the critical or cutting comments and piece together some patterns. Pretend your life is a package and you are a machine and the patterns that emerge from these stories are evidence of your divine design.

And then take what you learn and do what Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians 10:31 “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

VERSES:

Exodus 31:1-6 See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. 6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you.

Ephesians 4:11-12 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 8:3-8 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea,

PRAYER:

God, we know that you have made us in your image and that we are fearfully and wonderfully made according to your wisdom and purpose. Thank you for the gifts you’ve given us. Give us wisdom to unlock your divine design in our own lives and the humility to use what we discover to serve and honor you. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is a category of something you have always loved doing? Being active, talking with people, doing challenging puzzles etc.

2. What are some things that when you have had to do them you find you are not as good at them as others.

3. Is there a story that is told about you regularly by people who know you well? What positive attributes does that story contain to help you understand the kind of person you are?

4. Do you have interests or passions that at times capture your imagination? Have you ever “lost track of time” while pursuing them?

5. Use your imagination and describe how God might intend to use the things that interest you to serve Him and His purpose in the world.

Born to Worship

Some people gathered around Jesus with the intent to trap him. They wanted to catch Him saying something they could use in their smear campaign against Him, and asked, “What is the greatest commandment?”

This is an interesting question. The Bible tells us that the person who came up with the question was “an expert in the law.” In other words, he had a lot of experience in matters of the law. As an expert, he would have been asked similar questions by others. I think he asked Jesus this question because his experience had led him to conclude that there was no good answer, life is too complicated and multifaceted to correctly instruct a person on what step they should prioritize. Clearly, he hoped to catch Jesus in the trap he had fallen in on countless occasions.

Of course, he significantly underestimated the supreme intelligence of Jesus. His response, recorded in Matthew 22:37-40, is brilliant, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Many of us want to feel satisfied that our life matters in some important way. As a student you’re trying to filter through myriad considerations to choose your future direction well. You are considering the things you’re good at or not good at, the expectations of those who know and love you, the barriers that stand in your way, the opinions of others and/ or the trends of culture, the financial viability of this or that pursuit, the prestige, accessibility, cost, benefits, timing, etc. of one choice over another. All in a noble attempt to piece together a direction for your life that will matter in some important way. If you’re older, you’re likely asking all the same things with the additional burden of evaluating past regrets and accomplishments. If we could know with certainty, amid all this scrutiny, that one step is the most important one to take, wouldn’t we cherish this knowledge.

For example, if before you sat down to write 23 college essays, or sell a portion of your business, you could know for sure that you were supposed to do one thing over another, wouldn’t that be very helpful information?

There is nothing wrong with desiring to live a life that matters. And the natural consequence of attempting to build a meaningful life will be to ask questions, like, “What is the best thing for me to do next?” In essence, this is what the pharisee asked Jesus, and I think Jesus used this attack to provide essential wisdom to us when He responded, “Worship God and love people.”

If we center our lives on Jesus’ answer, we will find the meaning we’re looking for.

Maybe you’re asking, “Should I be a doctor? A lawyer? An entrepreneur? An online influencer? A professional athlete?” Jesus’ response is, “Worship God and love people.” Maybe you’re asking, “Should I buy a new house? Start the new career? Tap into my retirement account? Spend money on this or that?” Jesus’ response is, “Worship God and love people.”

Our central purpose will never be in what we accomplish, but in giving all that we do over in worshipping God and loving His people. In other words, we were born to worship.

In this spirit Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

VERSES:

Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 145 I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. 2 Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.

PRAYER:

God, you are worthy of our greatest worship. You have created us with a divine design and given us time on this planet to pursue meaningful relationships and work. We are so grateful for the ways you have blessed us and desire to know more and more each day how to love you and those around us more. We love you in Jesus’ name, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What do you want to do when you get out of school? What motivates you toward this goal?

2. When you think about “the best life” what are some of the things that need to be included?

3. Who is the most successful person you know of? Who is the most joyful, content, at peace person you know of?

4. What does it mean to worship something? What do you think Paul means to offer our bodies as living sacrifices?

5. When Jesus said the greatest commandments are to Worship God and Love people how should that affect the decisions, we make with respect to how we spend our time, energy, and resources?

The Virgin Birth

One of the central miracles in Scripture is that of the virgin birth of Jesus. The story is recounted in Matthew chapter one and is often read at Christmas. But the significance of this miracle may be lost in the frequency with which we hear about it. The fact is God’s involvement in human history through this one historic event has profound implications, the most significant of which is the fulfilment of a 700-year-old prophesy.

Imagine you’re standing in the endzone of a football field and there is an empty bucket balanced on the top of the uprights on the other end of the field. You claim that you are going to throw the ball into the can without knocking it over. Your friends standing around object, “You can barely fit the ball into the bucket when you’re holding it, and that’s a 360-foot throw without accounting for how high you’d have to throw it…No,” they would say, “it’s impossible.”

So, if you stretch your hand back and throw the ball sending it an impressive 40 yards until it bounces and rolls to stop around the 30-yard line everyone would laugh at you and that would be the end of the story.

In Isaiah 7:14 we read, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.”

If that were it, Isaiah writes out this impossible prophecy, flexes a little and then…it never happens, no one is shocked. To call an impossible shot and then not make it is what’s expected.

The fact that Mary was a virgin and still gave birth is physically impossible, the fact that Isaiah called it 700 years before it happened is miraculous. This is not an event we can simply gloss over in conjunction with tinsel, silver bells, and wreaths. It is not a cute story tucked into a nice holiday season, it is fact that defies the laws of nature and reveals the miracle working hand of God.

So, what do we make of this situation? I think we make of it what God intended when He said the baby would be called Immanuel, “God with us.” For certainly, this kind of miracle could not happen without God’s intervention.

Millions of people watch Dude Perfect videos because they love to see the impossible and those are just trial and error shots with some trick videography and hype. God literally defied the laws of nature and called it so we can know that Jesus is His son. This one miracle, taken all by itself, shows us that Jesus was not just a man, this miracle proves He was Immanuel, God with us!

VERSES:

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel.

Matthew 1:21-25 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave Him the name Jesus.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 132:11 The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath he will not revoke: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne.”

PRAYER:

Jesus, thank you for giving us such a profound sign to point to as evidence of your divine nature. You have left us a picture of your power and grace that reveals how much you love us. We love you! In your name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is your favorite Dude Perfect video? Who is your favorite character on Dude Perfect?

2. Does it make Dude Perfect videos less amazing/entertaining to know that they use trick videography and dumb luck to create the appearance of miraculous shots?

3. Have you ever been in a situation where someone called an “impossible” shot and then made it, what was that situation like?

4. If God said through Isaiah that the Messiah was going to be born to a virgin, and then it never happened, do you think we would be talking about it?

5. God said they were to call the Messiah, Immanuel, meaning God with us, what do you think is important about the fact that God chose this title for Jesus?

Born for This

This time of year, we are supposed to be talking about Jesus’ miraculous birth. But as we wrap up the first half of our school year talking about wholehearted, we need to pause and think about the purpose of Jesus’ birth. In other words, what is Christmas pointing to?

Last week we talked about the prophesy from Isaiah that pointed to the virgin birth of Christ. This week we need to consider the prophesy of Isaiah that points to the death of Jesus. In Isaiah 53:1-6 we read a stirring passage of Scripture that foretells of the purpose of God through Jesus. It says, “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

We are often consumed with the question of our own purpose in life. When we face difficult things, we can sometimes get caught up wondering why we must face it, we want to know what it means. If we can ever know the purpose of a struggle it makes enduring the struggle much easier.

Isaiah 53:1-6 makes it very clear that Jesus was born to go to the cross. That His purpose in embracing humanity was to live a sinless life and die in our place to make a way for us to have a right relationship with God.

John describes it perfectly in chapter three of his gospel with these well-known words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

When the people who stood around the cross, hurling insults at him and telling him to come down off the cross and save himself, Mary, and any others who had faith to see, would have known, despite their terrible horror and grief, that Jesus was “born for this.”

Nothing of Jesus’ story was by accident, it was all guided and directed by the providential hand of God according to His perfect purpose. Jesus was born on Christmas that He might die on Easter so that we could know Him, the one true God, and be reunited with Him in eternity.

VERSES:

Isaiah 53:1-6 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely, he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

PSALM CONNECTION:

Psalm 62:1-2 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress; I will never be shaken.

PRAYER:

Jesus, as we take a moment to celebrate your miraculous birth this Christmas season, we want to thank you for coming to earth. Thank you for leaving the paradise of heaven to join us in our suffering that we could have a Lord who knows our pain. Thank you for dying on the cross and defeating death that we might have eternal life through you. We love you, in your name we pray, amen.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

2. What is the ultimate purpose of celebrating Christmas?

3. Where do you normally go to church for Christmas service?

4. Have you ever been to a Christmas service where they performed the passion play (the story of How Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins)?

5. What does it mean to place your faith is Jesus?