Weekly Challenge -1 Thessalonians

Life Group,
These young/new believers were expectantly "Waiting" for the return of Jesus, but they were not passive.  Their actions were making a difference all across Greece.  That is such a great story.  Just imagine people asking them why they are doing these things?, why they have hope?, why they are acting different?
The new believers from Thessalonica could not open their bibles to give answers.  They could not draw out the Roman Road to salvation.  They could not use church answers and use words like exegetical, theological, and pedagogical.

But they could say something like "I don't know much, but I do know that when I heard Paul talk about this hope, I felt it was true and decided to follow it.  Now I have joy and peace because I have a new hope.  So I have decided to pass it along to other people"

So what is your story?  What do you tell others about how your life was changed or why you are a part of a community of believers?
My challenge to you this week is to make this a discussion during a family dinner. 

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge -HOPE

Life Group Community:

We had a great start to our new study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians.  Aaron and I are both excited about the opportunity to teach through these 2 letters. 
During LG, we spent a lot of time on Saturday reviewing the introduction to the new church in Thessalonica and the purpose, places, people, and dates. 

Our study would make a great movie. We have a story of HOPE which includes Jewish/Christian converts, Greek converts, mobs, Jason hiding people, Paul and Silas having to escape out of town, Timothy meeting with the new believers and reporting to Paul, and locations such as Thessalonica, Corinth, Lystra, and Philippi.

We have the same hope as these new followers of God the Son.  We get to live with hope (anticipation, expectation, and confidence) and be linked by community.

The challenge for the week is to read 1 Thessalonians again, but think about the hope the new followers have even through the trials, confusion, persecution, being made fun of, taken to jail, and losing contact with their leader.

Think about this quote from Martin Luther King, Jr (and possibly others before him):

I may not be the man I want to be;

I may not be the man I ought to be;
I may not be the man I could be;
I may not be the man I one day will be;
but praise God, I’m not the man I once was . . .
and that makes all the difference.
 

Be intentional this week.

 

Travis

Weekly Challenge -Rahab

Life Group Family & Friends:

 

We are in a 5 week study of Hope through the 5 women listed in the genealogy of Jesus.  This week was the Hope through Rahab.  But why would Matthew list a lying prostitute in the genealogy of God the Son?  There are several fascinating answers, but we focused in on Hope.  We have Hope that God can use us despite of our past or present sin.  We do not have to be held down by guilt and lies. As Henry Blackaby said in The Man God Uses, “God doesn’t take you just the way you are.  He takes you in spite of the way we are.”

 

The next time you feel like God can’t use You, consider this list that is accredited to John Thomas Oakes;

 

Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
John the Baptist ate bugs
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer...
AND Lazarus was dead!

My challenge to you this week is to meditate on this question:  What stands in the way of you letting God use you?  The quick and correct answer is ME.  But ask God the Spirit to reveal to you how.  Identify the lies that you need to quit believing.  Let go of the guilt you are holding on to.  Ask God for forgiveness of the sin you are trying to hide.

Be Intentional.

Travis