Video EBlast for Sunday, June 24, 2018

Back To The Basics: The Power of Prayer

Exodus 17:8-13

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on the sermon using the following Scripture and questions as a way to begin a conversation.  

Read Exodus 17:8-16

Ex. 17:8    While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. ⁹ Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”

Ex. 17:10    So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. ¹² Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. ¹³ As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.

Ex. 17:14    After the victory, the LORD instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the LORD is my banner”). ¹⁶ He said, “They have raised their fist against the LORD’s throne, so now the LORD will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.”

When people read this passage today, sometimes they struggle with the fact that God would call the Israelites to go out and defeat the Amalekites. Most scholars recommend that we have to look at a people within the context of their time and place and that we cannot take our sensibilities and place them on this other people. We also have to remember that God has worked with each generation of people within its own context. 

• As you read the passage what sticks out to you in how Moses responded to God? 
• What are some real world struggles today that correspond with this story of the refugees that we see in the the Sinai Peninsula? Often people struggle with the welcome of Refugees, yet here we find the refugees are the people of God.  What do you make of that?
• Read Job 31:32 and Matthew 25:35. What do these passages say to you about welcoming the stranger?
• How did Moses intercede for the people? What was the significance of Aaron and Hur being present with him on the hill?
• How can you intercede for the people of your life today?
• Finish your time studying by coming up with some ways that your group can grown in your communal prayer.

As you meet this week, we encourage you to also take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question:  Am I proud? (Pages 57-61 in The Wesley Challenge)

Video EBlast for Sunday, June 17, 2018

Back to the Basics: Justification

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on the sermon using the following Scripture and questions as a way to begin a conversation.  

Read Galatians 2:15-21

Gal. 2:15    “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. ¹⁶ Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

Gal. 2:17    But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. ¹⁹ For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. ²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

To begin to apply this passage to our present-day lives we have to first understand that Paul is writing this letter to first-century Jewish Christians. The people of Galatia were steeped in the doctrines and practices of their Jewish upbringing. While they are not at all like most of us, 21st century Christians, we can relate to their struggle to break with the beliefs and foundations of their early faith. As you reread the passage above and as you work through the questions that follow, ask yourselves what you carry into your current place of life from your formation as a Christian or your formation of life.

• In verse 17 Paul gets to the heart of the struggle for these Jewish Christians––can they leave behind their dependence on the Law to live into the fullness of salvation through Jesus Christ alone? Think about and share some of the things from your past that you have interpreted as fundamental to your salvation. Do these things keep you from fully committing to the Lordship of Christ? Do you feel guilty/worried that you might leave behind some things that you have interpreted as fundamental? 

• Paul contends in verse 16 that our salvation comes not from the Law (or you can add anything that you may have inserted from the last question) but from faith in Jesus Christ alone. What does it mean for you to fully accept the idea of faith through nothing other than the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone? What do you have to give up to fully live into this reality?

• Scot McKnight, an authority on the New Testament, asks the following questions from this passage, “We need to examine if we are letting the gospel of God’s grace have its full implications in our life. Are we shunting off the gospel racially? Are we preventing other racial groups from enjoying God’s grace? Are we discriminating against other cultures or other social groups? Are we building walls between the sexes? Or are we allowing the full message of the gospel to have its complete force?” At the heart of McKnight’s questions is the call to not force my foundations of faith on any other people. Take some time to react to his questions and discuss them in your group. 

• Ultimately Paul is calling the Galatian Christians to a life of full surrender to Christ (literally he tells them that his life has been “crucified with Christ”) and he is telling them that this is what it takes to be saved. How can we fully surrender our lives to Christ today? What does it mean for you to be “crucified with Christ”? How can we encourage each other to live at this level of faith?

As you meet this week, we encourage you to also take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question:  Do I thank God that I am not like others? (Pages 95-98 in The Wesley Challenge)

Video EBlast for Sunday, June 3, 2018

"...and one in ministry to all the world..."

Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Acts 1:6-8

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”

He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

This is going to be a great weekend, as we finish this series that started with Bishop Carter three weeks ago. Today's video is a special preview that comes from ZOE. It reflects some of what we will be sharing this Sunday.  Don't miss out on the fun!!

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on the sermon using the following Scripture and questions as a way to begin a conversation.  

Read Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:6-8 (above)

- When you read the Matthew 28 passage how many separate commands can you find? Are these commands or facets of commands that you missed before?

- What promise(s), if any, does Jesus make to his disciples in these verses?

- How do Jesus' commands and promises relate to one another?

- What do these commands and promises mean for you today?

As you read Acts 1:6-8 you see Jesus expand the call of Matthew as he tells the Disciples that they will be witness' to Jesus in four places.

- Where are the disciples going to be witness'?

- Pull up a map on your computer/IPad or Phone of Isreal at the time of Jesus and find these places on the map. What do you see about the four places?

- What would be our Jeruselem, Judea, Samaria, and end of the earth here in Central Florida?

As you meet this week, we encourage you to also take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question:  Do I pray about the money I spend? (Pages 45-48 in The Wesley Challenge)