Plan to stay after class tomorrow night for our family pot-luck fellowship.  Bring your favorite covered dish and enjoy dinner with friends!

Life Group Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:
Our study Saturday night finished Luke chapter 3 and started chapter 4. Luke passed over eighteen years of silent history in order to move his readers from the conception, birth, and boyhood of John and Jesus to the baptism which symbolized the start Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is now taking center stage.

After Luke details the baptism, he describes how Jesus was tempted by Satan. We learned that Jesus countered each attempt by quoting or referring to scripture. That made me ask myself if I had to quote scripture to combat temptation, how well would I do? Ouch.

Our challenge this week focuses on practical steps for defeating temptation.

Step 1 -Realize it’s not a sin to be tempted

Jesus was tempted beyond anything we could endure yet never sinned. How does His example give you hope?

Step 2 -Believe that you can resist all temptation

(1 Corinthians 10:13) is a powerful promise. When you are tempted do you look for your way of escape or just give in?

Step 3 -Understand your temptations are not unique to you

Is it comforting to know that others have endured the same temptations? Why or why not? How does it help to share honestly about our temptations with a group of your peers?

Step 4 -Practice biblical exhortation to defeat temptation

How much Scripture can you recite? What key verses are good for resisting temptation?

Step 5 -Deal with temptation positively not negatively

How much confidence do you have in your future? Do you tend to live in defeat or victory? How can you develop a more positive outlook even when facing temptations?


Be Intentional.

Travis

Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends:

We studied the first half of Luke chapter 3 this week which was John fulfilling his role of pointing people to the coming Savior of the world.

John’s message was for the people to repent, turn to God for forgiveness, and be baptized to show repentance. He did not hold back. He was not worried that he would hurt someone’s feelings. He was not concerned with what the crowd thought of him. But he acted with love and urgency.

We learned Saturday evening that biblical repentance has to include 1) a godly sorrow, 2) a change of mind/attitude, and 3) a change in actions. My challenge to you this week is to repent to God and then to your spouse.

Ask God the Spirit to identify a sin that you need to repent. Share this with your spouse and tell your spouse how this sin has affected your marriage.

Be Intentional.
Travis

Life Group Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends,


The application challenge from our study Saturday evening is focused on your spiritual journey. In chapter 2, Luke takes great care to show how Mary and Joseph continue to grow in their understanding of who they had in Jesus. They believed in God the Son, they treasured everything they heard and learned, but they could not really understand everything He was. Even though Mary and Joseph did not fully understand God’s plan, they never stopped growing and trying to understand.

My challenge to you this week is to use a date night or a family night this week to discuss ways you can never stop growing and trying to understand your savior.

In class we talked about how we are proud of our kids and how Mary and Joseph were proud of Jesus. As you work through this challenge, ask yourself what makes your heavenly daddy proud? Is it your passion to build a relationship with Him? Or the amount of time you spend talking with Him? Or maybe it is the way you biblically model your life to your family and community.

Be intentional.
Travis

“Sin Revealed” Devotional

Adapted from: http://www.kidssundayschool.com/

Best Use: Family Devotional


Ingredients Needed: 
Bible 
Clear drinking glass
Can of dark colored cola
Several plastic buttons
Spoon


Nutritional Value: Even when we try to hide our sins, or pretend they never happened, they have a way of showing up. Instead of trying to hide them, God wants us to confess our sins and He will forgive us.


Serve It Up:
1. Explain during Jesus' ministry, he was tested many times by the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They wanted to trap Jesus into breaking Jewish law. In our story today, the Pharisees tried to get Jesus to disobey the law for punishing someone caught in sin. They knew Jesus was compassionate and went from town to town forgiving people of their sin. But would Jesus punish someone for sinning according to the law?


2. Read John 8:1-11. Use these questions to discuss the passage with your child(ren).
-Did the lady come to Jesus on her own? (no) Why do you think that was? (Discuss possibilities.)
-What was the lawful punishment supposed to be for this lady's sin? (To be stoned to death.)
-Could the woman escape the punishment for her sin on her own? (No.)
-What did Jesus do after the Pharisees made their accusations? (He wrote something on the ground) 
-Jesus said "Whoever is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at the woman. Why didn't anyone throw a stone at the woman? (No one was without sin.) -What did Jesus tell the woman after everyone had left? (To go and leave her life of sin.)

*Jesus not only wanted to bring the woman who was accused of adultery to repentance, by showing her his mercy, but the prosecutors also, by reminding them of their own sins.

3. Ask: Have you ever felt that after doing something wrong, if you just keep it a secret no one will ever find out? Do you know that no matter how hard we try to keep our sins a secret they have a way of becoming known? Let me show you what I mean.  (Pour the soda into the glass) This glass represents you, and this soda, well it represents a place where we hide our bad secrets, maybe deep inside our heart where we do not want anybody to know. Now these buttons here represent sin. (Point to buttons.) This button is that time you lied to someone, this button is that time you did not want to share with your friend, and this button represents that television show your parents told you not to watch, but you did anyway. I am going to drop these sins into this glass of soda, and they will be hidden from our sight, just like hiding our sins. (Drop all buttons into the cola.) 
Can you see them? They are hidden. Even though we can’t see them, God can. There is no hiding sin from God, because He is all knowing. And guess what, we can only keep our sins a secret for a little while; eventually sin has a way of coming to the surface. Look, there they are. Sin cannot be hidden forever. Therefore, instead of trying to hide sin, we need to try our best to do what is right. When we do fail, we know that we can ask Jesus to forgive us, and he will. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1John 1:9) He will clean us of our sins, just like this. (Remove buttons from the soda.)


4. Explain that your family is going to take time to do what 1 John 1:9 says. Remind them that because of sin, we are separated from God. In fact, the Bible says that the wages, or payment, for our sin is death. But just as Jesus showed the woman in our story mercy and told her to leave her life of sin; God shows us mercy for our sins when we confess them, instead of trying to hide them like the buttons in the soda. He also wants us to repent (change our ways) too. To follow God’s Word, tell them that each person in your family will find their own space in the house to do as God has instructed. They will have about 5 minutes to talk to God and confess any sin(s) that they have tried to hide or haven’t asked for forgiveness of. Reiterate that the story that was read reminds us that everyone is a sinner. No one is perfect, so we all have sins that we need to talk to God about. Sin is anything that goes against God's Will, even the little things we do that may not seem too big or bad. Little lies, a little cheating, pretending not to hear your parents call you, it is all sin. Sin can be a thought, an action, or even not doing something you know you should do. Dismiss everyone to find their own spot. Once everyone is settled, set a timer to begin your individual confession time.


5. Gather the family back together. Have child look up and read Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" NIV. Challenge each family member to outdo the others in saying the memory verse and reference in a creative way. Example: Dad will say the verse while hopping on one foot. Mom will respond by saying the verse while clapping after each word. Then it’s the kids turn to be creative. Continue until everyone has had two or three turns to say the verse. There really is no winner, but the kids will have a lot of fun, and they will unknowingly memorize the verse.

6. Close in prayer thanking God for sending Jesus, our free gift, to take the punishment for our sins. Ask that He help each family member remember to confess their sins and repent as soon as they make a wrong choice in life. Thank Him for His mercy and the grace He gives us every day.   

Weekly Challenge

Life Group Family & Friends,

We are only 3 weeks into our study of Luke and it is already fascinating. He is the only New Testament writer that was not a Jew and he never met Jesus. But theologians consider this book as the most beautiful description of God the Father's promise and God the Son's salvation act.

As we studied John's birth and the birth of Jesus this week, it brought us back to the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation. Our response to God fulfilling his promises should include wonder, joy, praise, hope, peace, and love.

My challenge to you this week is to spend the remaining 6 days of this week meditating on the 6 responses listed above. Take one a day and make that your conversation with your Heavenly Daddy.

If you enjoy reading historical fiction, you will want to read Luke's Story. It is part of the Jesus Chronicles series. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Lukes-Story/Tim-LaHaye/e/9781616821838 This BN link has the hardcover for $5 and nook version for $13.

Be Intentional.

Travis