Come and See!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (8/28/11)

Announcements:
1. Don't forget about the last week of Undie Sunday.

2. Also, the Food Pantry at the Methodist Church is still low. You can either drop donoations by the Methodist Church or bring them to our church and we will take them over.


Scripture:
1 Kings 19:1-15  1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.  2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow."  3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.  4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers."  5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat."  6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.  7 And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you."  8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.  9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  10 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."  11 And he said, "Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake.  12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.  13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  14 He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away."  15 And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.

Questions for Reflection:
  1. What was one of the loneliest moments you can remember?
  2. What did Elijah pray when he had fled to a lonely place? (19:3-5)
  3. To what extent do you think Elijah was justified in being discouraged by his circumstances?
  4. Why did God reveal Himself to Elijah when the prophet was discouraged?
  5. What strikes you as unusual about God’s question to Elijah in the cave?
  6. In what settings have you felt that you were the only believer?
  7. What important lesson did Elijah learn about how God chooses to speak to people?
  8. In what discouraging circumstances can you remind yourself that God is in control?
  9. What habit could you cultivate to make you more ready to respond to God’s call at a moment’s notice?

Friday, August 19, 2011

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (8/21/11)

Announcements
  1. Please keep the family of Katheryn Kothmann in your prayers she went home to be with her Lord this morning.
  2. The Food Pantry is again very low on groceries.  If you can help with canned goods, peanut butter, etc., it will be a big help.  You can drop items off at the Methodist Church during business hours. If you want to bring them by our office, I will be happy to deliver them for you.
  3. If you brought items for VBS please pick them up in the fellowship hall.
  4. You are invited to join in a Prayer Walk around the Junction school campus on Sunday evening, August 21, 7:30 PM in front of the High school. The purpose is to pray for the school campus, teachers, administrators, staff and students at the start of the new school year.
  5. August 21 and 28 are designated as Undie Sundays please bring new socks and underwear sizes 3T through Child Large for us to give to Head Start and Junction Elementary
Scripture
Romans 12:1-13 (ESV) 
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [3] For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. [4] For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, [5] so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. [6] Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; [7] if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; [8] the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. [9] Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. [10] Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. [11] Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. [12] Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. [13] Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Questions for Reflection
1.    What influences have significantly shaped your life?
2.    How is the Christian to be different from unbelieving people? (12:2)
3.    What did Paul use the human body to illustrate? (12:4-5)
4.    What makes Christians different from one another? (12:4-6)
5.    In what way are all Christians alike? (12:4-6)
6.    To what worldly life-styles or values do we typically conform?
7.    What are the patterns of the world that tempt us to conform?
8.    How can a Christian renew his or her mind?
9.    How can the gifts God bestows on Christians help others in the church or community?

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Food Pantry

The Food Pantry is again very low on groceries.  If you can help with canned goods, peanut butter, etc., it will be a big help.  You can drop items off at the Methodist Church during business hours. If you want to bring them by our office, I will be happy to deliver them for you.

Jim & Laurie Barker

Friday, August 12, 2011

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (8/14/11)

Announcements:
1.    If you brought items for VBS please pick them up in the fellowship hall.
2.    You are invited to join in a Prayer Walk around the Junction school campus on Sunday evening, August 21, 7:30 PM in front of the High school. The purpose is to pray for the school, teachers, administrators, staff and students at the start of the new school year.
3.    August 21 and 28 are designated as Undie Sundays please bring new socks and underwear sizes 3T through Child Large for us to give to Head Start and Junction Elementary

Scripture
1 Cor. 13:1-13 (ESV) 
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. [4] Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. [8] Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [9] For we know in part and we prophesy in part, [10] but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. [11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. [12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. [13] So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Questions for Reflection
1.    What to you is an unmistakable demonstration of love?
2.    Who is the most loving person you know? Why do you think so?
3.    What do we gain if we don’t have love? (13:3)
4.    What qualities does love have? (13:4-8)
5.    How do adults and children act and reason differently? (13:11)
6.    How will our knowledge of God change when we see Christ? (13:12)
7.    Why do you think Paul wrote about love to the Corinthians?
8.    Why might it be easy to use a spiritual gift without love?
9.    How can a person demonstrate love?
10. What expectations do you have, knowing you will see Jesus face to face one day?

Monday, August 1, 2011

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (7/31/11)

Announcements:
Sunday, we will be having a special evening worship service starting at 7pm down on the river at Curt and Jennifer Kneese’s house. There are several folks that will be baptized that evening. We will also have a reaffirmation of baptism liturgy for anyone who is already baptized and would like to reaffirm their commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. All are invited, please bring a lawn chair. We will have refreshments afterward, please bring a snack to share. There will be golf carts available to drive anyone needing assistance down to the island where we will gather.  If you have questions or need directions, please call the church office.

A national day of prayer called "The Response: a call to prayer for a nation in crisis" is scheduled to be held on August 6, 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas from 10 am to 5 pm. A prayer vigil will take place Friday, August 5, 2011, at the Pavilion in the city park from 6-8 p.m.

Scripture:
Philip. 3:1-11 (ESV) 
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. [2] Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. [3] For we are the real circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— [4] though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: [5] circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; [6] as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness, under the law blameless. [7] But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— [10] that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Questions for Reflection:
If you were to update your resume today, what recent accomplishment would you want to include?
What do you feel are your most valuable skills and gifts?
What autobiographical facts did Paul give? (3:4-6)
In what sense was Paul not boasting, even though he was calling attention to his accomplishments? (3:7-9)
Why did Paul view his former accomplishments as “rubbish”? (3:8)
What was Paul’s status in Christ? (3:9)
What sorts of things tend to draw you away from Christ?
What do you usually boast about?
Why do we tend to base our worth as Christians on our performance?
Why should our identity and confidence be in the Lord?