Posts with the tag “matthew”

The following is a guide to help facilitate discussion between you and the person you’re studying with, or with your Connect Group. Feel free to add, subtract, or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.LITURGIES: Prayer, Fasting, Solitude, Silence, Statio/Stand StillOPENING QUESTION(S)When you pray, what do you picture or imagine? Do. you imagine a ...  Read More

StatioMatthew 11:28-30Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."“Hurry up!” Doesn’t just reading that statement stress you out? It seems like rushing ...  Read More

FastingMatthew 6:16-18"And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. A...  Read More

INTRODUCTIONThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion between you and the person you’re studying with, or with your Connect Group. Feel free to add, subtract, or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.LITURGIES: Confession & Forgiveness, Process and Patience, Bold Forgiveness, Forgiveness and ResurrectionOPENING QUESTION(S)What…HEAD & H...  Read More

Confession and ForgivenessMatthew 6:9-14Pray like this:Our Father in heaven,   may your name be kept holy.May your Kingdom come soon.May your will be done on earth,   as it is in heaven.Give us today the food we need,and forgive us our sins,   as we have forgiven those who sin against us.And don’t let us yield to temptation,   but rescue us from the evil one.“If you forgive those who sin against y...  Read More

He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” Matthew 26:42Jesus is now becoming more centered and moving to different religious coping strategies. Rather than pleading for God to miraculously take away the coming suffering, he moves to what psychologists of religion have termed collaborative religi...  Read More

Sleep is a big deal for our health across multiple body systems. “Adverse outcomes of insufficient sleep and/or sleep disorders are weight gain and obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, accidents and injuries, stress, pain, neurocognitive dysfunction, psychiatric symptoms, and mortality” (Grandner, 2017, p. 1). That list is worth re-reading and saying, “I need to be kind to myself and get adequate and regular sleep, or go to a sleep medicine clinic if that is not happening despite my best efforts.”  Read More

John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My  disciples, if you love one another.” There is something genuinely wonderful  about capping our rebuild with the umbrella  of love. What is more important than hearing  that the Creator of heaven and earth is head  over heels in love with us? It gives me more  patience with my faith when I realize God’s  devotion and risky commitment to us.  Bu...  Read More

Matthew 10:40  “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes Me…” Caryl Lynn and I always wanted children.  So over eight years, we had three and our lives filled with joy. We were young, and there were diapers and onesies, Playmobil® sets and  Legos, tea parties and trampolines. We loved  our time together at summer camp, Ocean City,  and Christmas at Grandma and Grampy’s. There  were always lights on at our...  Read More

Proverbs 27:17 “Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen  the minds of one another.” We’ve identified significant rebuilding  blocks as we sifted through our thinking  of the past. First, there’s Jesus. Every block  we handle, every idea considered, if it has  anything to do with God, it has Jesus in it. In the  New Testament, sure. In the Old Testament?  Surprisingly, yes. In nature, our frien...  Read More

Hosea 11:8 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can  I let you go, O Israel?” There are two cups highlighted in the New  Testament. The second one is called “the  cup of God’s wrath.” You’ll remember we read  about it in Revelation 14 yesterday. Appalling.  Are we seriously tasked with telling people  about this? Are we supposed to wander around  warning the public that God is getting really  an...  Read More

Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” There are many things I treasure about having grown up in the Seventh-day Adventist faith community. There are a few I don’t. I’ve always found it irritating that groups like ours begin to feel closed over time. No one intends it. But slowly, fluidly, we develop a culture that feels less than welcoming.  Read More

On Tuesday morning, Jesus and his disciples returned to Jerusalem. They passed the withered fig tree on their way, and Jesus spoke to his companions about the importance of faith.Back at the Temple, religious leaders were upset at Jesus for establishing himself as a spiritual authority. They organized an ambush with the intent to place him under arrest. But Jesus evaded their traps and pronounced ...  Read More

Matthew 2540 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’Oh man! I want you to go back and read this whole chapter. If you only have time to do this today and not read what I have written, then DO IT! Nothing I can say will be more important than what Jesus has said in these verses, so read those firs...  Read More

Matthew 19:2121 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”Do you have anyone in your life who is kind of an aesthetic? Someone who just doesn’t seem that interested in material things. Someone who doesn’t need that new cell phone, they couldn't really care about getting a ...  Read More

Matthew 4:18-2018 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.What a great story of transformation. It is also a ...  Read More