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Journey Guide April Journey Guide – April 1 Leviticus 4; Psalms 1-2; Proverbs 19; Colossians 2 Looking Up A Prayer for doing life Together Father we come to you this morning with Resurrection Sunday close. We rejoice this morning in the fact that Jesus is alive!! We know that we also were raised with Him through faith in Your powerful working that brought Him back from the dead (Colossians 2:12). We want to worship at His feet. We do not want to be like the wicked kings of the earth who shake their hands in your face in total rebellion (Psalm 2:1-2). We come and ‘kiss the Son’ and ‘take refuge in Him.’ Jesus, you are the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. The Lord put all of our transgressions on You. You were the without blemish and yet you took every blemish of our soul (Leviticus 4:27-31). Now, O Lord, may our lives be lived for Your glory. Fill us with this good news and may the weight of it never leave our hearts. Rather, may we be undergirded by a proper fear of you all our days, knowing that the ‘fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied” (Proverbs 19:23) In the name of the Risen Jesus we pray, Amen! Pressing In Help us to Live the Life of Jesus! Extend the Gospel Help Us to Walk the Way of Jesus! Journey Guide – April 2 Leviticus 5; Psalm 3-4; Proverbs 20; Colossians 3 Looking Up Spring is here and the outside beckons us! What a great time to tuck some nugget of the word away in our hearts so that we might steal away for a moment to meditate upon it and gain nourishment for our souls. The first part of Colossians 3:16 is, therefore, worthy of our memorization today, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” What does this mean? Here is what one N.T. scholar says about this verse: “[It means that the word of Christ] is to fill our memories, occupy our horizons, constitute our priorities. We are to reflect on it, as we turn it over in our minds and learn how it applies in every area of our lives, that, far from occupying a little religious corner of our experience, it will dwell in us richly.” (D.A. Carson) Well said. May the word fill your memory and occupy your horizons today as you stroll through the park or even as you drive to the job! Pressing In 1) The second part of Colossians 3:16 has a lot of “One another” behavior talked about. Read this in your group and discuss what elements are present from the rhythm of your meetings. What elements are lacking? If you are not in a group that is currently meeting, think about how you would want that group to function with these principles in mind. Reaching Out 1) Pray for three friends far from God and invite them to our Good Friday service tonight at 6pm. Journey Guide – April 3, Leviticus 6; Psalm 5-6; Proverbs 21; Colossians 4 Looking Up In running a race, it is always good to have a good kick, a good ending. It really doesn’t matter how a person starts a race. What is important is how a person finishes the race. This can be applied to our spiritual lives as well. Already in Colossians Paul has told us that faithfulness to the end is essential in the Christian life. He told the Colossians, “you, who once were alienated…[Christ] has now reconciled…IF indeed you continue in the faith.” (2:21-23) The fact that we stay the course to the end is proof that our faith is genuine. There are many who start the race and never finish. Jesus had His Judas and even Paul has some with him who make a good show initially but who fall away before the race is over. Such is the case of one of Paul’s traveling companions, Demas. In Colossians 4:14 Paul tells the church that this man greets them. If this man is greeting them by the pen of Paul it means that he is in step with what Paul stands for, it means he is a professing follower of Christ. If this were all we knew about this man this meditation would be pointless. Sadly, however, the New Testament tells us that this same Demas later fell in love with the world and deserted both Paul and the Christian faith he once stood for. (See 2 Timothy 4:10) What should we glean from this? We should first of all realize that not all who make professions of faith are genuinely converted. It is the one who endures to the end that will, in Jesus’ words, be saved (Mark 13:13). So, does this mean we should go around doubting other’s salvation? No, not unless they give evidence to the fact that they have indeed abandoned the faith. Even Paul did not know that Demas was a phony until his love for the world was manifested. It means we should constantly hold our brothers and sisters accountable to stay close to Jesus (they should also do the same for us). It means we must never think so highly of ourselves that we forget that the Vine holds us up and not the other way around. It means we must constantly have our eyes on Jesus from start to finish of this race called life. Look to Him today! Pressing In 1) What else do you know about the other traveling companions of Paul? Do any other names catch your attention? What about Mark? Why is it significant that he is mentioned by Paul? What are the implications of this mention? Reaching Out 1) Invite a family out to our Easter Egg hunt at the city park today from 9-11am. Journey Guide – April 4, Leviticus 7; Psalms 7-8; Proverbs 22; 1 Thessalonians 1 Looking Up Proverbs do not have footnotes. A footnote is a note of explanation that alerts a reader to some additional information that might help clarify what has just been read. The book of Proverbs doesn’t offer these, and therefore we need to be aware of some basic “Proverbs rules” when reading this book. Perhaps the most helpful of these rules is that the Proverbs tell us in generalities how God has wired the universe to work. It does not offer to us the exceptions to these general rules. The book gives us principles to help us conform to God’s ways. It does not give us a “tit-for-tat” set of statements that apply universally in every situation. Proverbs 22:6 is perhaps the most famous example of what I am talking about. This verse says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” This means that when children go wrong very often one can find issues in their upbringing that played a part in their wayward life. Very often some, if not much blame can be laid at the door of the parents of rebellious children for the conduct of those children. Some rebellious children, however, came from great, Godly stock. What are we to do in these situations? What we are to do is not to treat this as a promise that fails some of the time. What we are to do is to treat this like…. well, like a Proverb. It is a general principle of how God has structured life. This is the norm. It is not universal, but it is the default. This is typically how families work. With a proper understanding of this verse how do you think those families that you know of with rebellious children should look at the situation? Exchange the Gospel 1) Ask if there are any ‘rebellious’ children represented in your group and spend some time in prayer for them. Extend the Gospel 1) Pray for those whom you know are ‘wayward’. Invite them to our service today and pray that the Resurrected Christ would bring them back into fellowship!.
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