hebrews (week two)...

This past week, we spent more time in Chapters One and Two. We spoke about how Jesus is described as prophet, priest and King. We talked about how Jesus is superior to the angels. Jewish tradition held that the angels brought the Law to Moses from God, so the author, addressing Jewish believers who were tempted to turn away from their faith in Jesus due to persecution, goes on to lay out a case for Jesus' superiority by referencing various Old Testament passages that speak of Him.

Chapter Three and Four focus on the concept of God's rest. These verses hold some powerful ideas and concepts. Let's wrestle with this together as we ask God to grant us wisdom through His Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to us more clearly.

Here are some questions to think about:

What is God's rest and how do we enter into it both physically and spiritually?
What does the author of Hebrews mean by "the gospel"?

hebrews...

We cast lots to decide which book of the Bible to dive into in our gatherings and the lot fell to the book of Hebrews. This is a great book with lots of layers to uncover. Hopefully, this will be a place we can continue the conversation. We made it through chapter 4 or so, but we will probably be pondering those chapters more deeply as the weeks pass. Let the wrestling and discussion begin...

activate...

Last weekend, we talked at length about how we as followers of Jesus can live out our faith by giving back to those in need. Scripture is full of passages calling us to care for the poor, weak, widow, orphan and alien. We have struggled because we have talked about this a lot, but have not acted it out...yet. It's time to ACTIVATE! I loved Liza's post which pretty much sums up where we are. We discussed some ideas including participating in Adopt-a-Family and Family-to-Family. These are two initiatives that we will try to pursue this year. In addition, we have an opportunity to serve our neighbors in Quakertown this Sunday at the Halloween Parade at 2:00pm. We are trying to gather a group of people that can help us distribute hot chocolate or lemonade (depending on the weather) to the community as a practical way of displaying God's love.

religion vs. Jesus...

This past weekend, we spent some time discussing the difference between religion and Jesus. Jesus didn't die on the cross to start a new religion. The Latin root of the word religion can mean binding or to bind up. In the Jewish context, to bind means to forbid. Unfortunately, religion often focuses on rules, do's and don't's, and misses the point of freedom in Christ. Jesus confronted the Pharisees and religious leaders head on about their hypocrisy in not practicing what they taught and creating unnecessary hoops for followers to jump through to obtain righteousness. They seemed bent on climbing the ladder of righteousness through rules and regulations to elevate their status with God. Jesus demolishes their ladder and turns their thinking upside down and through grace welcomes all to the table. How can we as followers of Jesus demolish the ladders that modern religion creates?

they like Jesus but not Dan's hair...

We had the opportunity to watch a talk that Dan Kimball gave on this topic and although we were a bit distracted by the hair, Dan communicated some important information. He called us to be educated about the culture that we live in, step outside our Christian bubbles and redefine evangelism. How do we put this into practice, love people like Jesus, all the while not diluting or hiding the message of the Gospel?

following His lead...

This week, we walked through the first few verses of the book of Joshua and talked about what it means to follow God's vision for us. We discussed where we have been and where we are going. We talked about patiently following God's lead in His time and not rushing out ahead on our own. Our charge for this coming week is to prayerfully write down three words that describe The Village and bring them next week as we watch God craft His mission/vision statement for us.

come and join us...

We are kicking off the new fall season this Saturday.

reminder...

We will not be meeting formally as The Village this Saturday night for a gathering although many of us our spread out doing various things this weekend. May we spread the love, mercy, compassion and grace of Jesus Christ through our words, thoughts and actions this weekend. Looking forward to a new teaching series for the fall season and gathering as a group again starting on Saturday, September 8th...

hineni...

After much inspiration from Ed Dobson's teaching at Mars Hill last weekend, Mike taught this week from the story of the Akedah, or the binding of Isaac. Abraham's last and final test comes when God asks him to sacrifice "your son, your favored one, the one whom you love, Isaac." You can sense the tension building. Abraham's response three times in this story (to God, Isaac, and the angel of the Lord) is "hineni" or "Here I am (indicates readiness, attentiveness, receptivity and responsiveness to instructions)". This is such an amazing story and it shows us the depth of Abraham's faith (which was credited to him as righteousness) and the love of God in providing a substitute on Isaac's behalf. We are grateful for the ultimate substitute of Jesus on our behalf. Spend some time this week thinking about how God is calling you in your life and try to respond in your heart by saying "hineni".

If you want to dig deeper, check out Genesis 22, Romans 4 and Hebrews 11.

gathering this week...

Unfortunately we will not be meeting on Saturday this week, August 4th. We will resume our regular gatherings the following week, August 11th. As another reminder, we will not be meeting on Labor Day weekend, but will resume our regular gatherings on September 8th as we begin a new fall teaching series. Come and join us...

Please contact Mike with any questions by sending an email to
mrlehr@gmail.com

practicing the presence of the kingdom...

This past Saturday, we finished up our series on the kingdom. We discussed how Jesus radically ushered in a new kind of kingdom, one that most if not all were not expecting. We spoke about the gift of the Spirit and how Jesus reigns inside each of his followers through his Spirit. We talked about how we catch glimpses of the kingdom, yet are still moving toward the full revelation of the kingdom when Jesus returns. And with that in mind, we talked about how we live this out now instead of simply using our salvation as "fire insurance." We also spoke about the transition that happens in the book of Acts after Jesus' resurrection and return to the Father. All through Jesus' ministry, he and his disciples were preaching that the kingdom of heaven is near. Following Jesus ascension, his disciples preached the good news of Jesus. Something changed dramatically. Jesus showed us the beginning of the kingdom in our midst and he has chosen us to carry it out until his return. May we spread the kingdom boldly by our actions, words and lives.

revisioning life in the kingdom...

Last night, we discussed why we can be blinded to the kingdom and God's work in our and other's lives. We discussed how repenting means stopping what you are doing and turning and doing the complete opposite. We talked about how we are called to humble ourselves and repent before God so He can grant us His heart and His vision. As we talked about the parable of the sower last night, think this week about where you seem to fit in that parable. Allow the Holy Spirit to convict you and inventory your life, so that God can continue His transforming work in each of you through Jesus. Use this blog to share your questions, thoughts and reflections throughout the week...

discovering the kingdom...

We began the first of a three-week teaching series on the kingdom tonight. We discussed what the kingdom is and the history of it in scripture. We discussed the start of Jesus' ministry and what it meant when he preached, "repent, the kingdom of heaven is near."

As we go through our daily routines this week, let's be aware of the people we speak to and the things we see and do that give us the sense that the kingdom of heaven is near. Let's also be aware of those things that make us feel that it is distant.

Think about this verse this week, "the kingdom is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy he went and sold all he had and bought that field."

the Kingdom...

This Saturday, we will begin a new three-week teaching series on the Kingdom. We will explore the origins of the concept of the Kingdom, how God establishes it, what Jesus has to say about it, and how we can enter into it. We highly recommend reading Rick McKinley's book, This Beautiful Mess. It is an excellent book from which we drew much inspiration and insight for our series.

Check it out at http://www.rickmckinley.net/books.php

this week's gathering...

We will be travelling to The Well this Saturday evening in lieu of our usual gathering to check out the art show they are sponsoring where Liza has her work displayed.

Follow the link for directions and information about the show...

http://www.thewellpa.com/arts/arts/art-fashion-justice-really-amazing-night/

rich

This week we watched the Rich nooma teaching by Rob Bell and we discussed what it means to be rich, whether or not we consider ourselves to be rich and how we can use our resources to bless others. This fit in nicely with our discussion over the past few weeks about living missionally. Please be in prayer about how we can live this out in our community. Please use this post to share your thoughts, responses and ideas.