Weekly Challenge

Psalm 1:1-3 tells that those who delight in and meditate on God's law are blessed.  How often do you meditate on God's Word?  How often do you find yourself delighting in God's Law?


The Challenge:
Spend time this week meditating on God's Word.  If you find being delighted doesn't come easily, spend time in prayer asking God for His delight.  Here are some verses to consider:
James 1:25
Galatians 5:14
Roman 3:27
Romans 13:8-10


In Him,
Aaron

The Weekly Challenge

I am highly disappointed that Google is having issues and I am unable to upload the "Mawwage" scene from "Princess Bride."


I am not however disappointed in the great conversation we had in class last night.  We took a close look at the Creation process in Genesis 1 and 2 and took a dive into how deliberate God was in His creation of marriage and the family.  We talked about how marriage and family is an essential part of our faith because it is a physical picture of the Trinity, God's relationship to us, Jesus' relationship to us and our relationship with fellow believers.


Therefore, Satan took no time at all attacking the first married couple and subsequently their children.  And he relentlessly attacks marriages and the family today.  We discussed that these attacks essentially involve 2 key ingredients:  Satan's lies and our pride/selfishness.


The Challenge:
What are the lies you struggle with? 
Ask God to reveal those lies and the truth to combat them. 
Study the Word to hide the Truth in your heart.
Ask God to give you and your spouse the courage to be completely naked and exposed to one another.
Stand strong and fight for your marriage and the marriage of others.


In Him,
Aaron

The Weekly Challenge

A New Command:
The command is simple to say, but not so simple to live out.  Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you."  Jesus went so far as to command us to "love your enemies" and "pray for those who persecute you."  He went on to teach that in doing this we are acting like our Father in heaven who reached out to us and offered us grace even while we were still enemies to Him.

My daughter drew the picture to the left.  I found myself immediately trying to correct her regarding the missing "r" rather than being amazed by the fact that a 7 year old intently sat through a class for 40 year old married couples and walked away having learned about "grace."  I shook my head and looked at her and said, "never mind, keep it like this, it is beautiful."  Each one of us is like this picture, beautifully flawed, so how will we respond to each other?

The Challenge:
Spend time reflecting on 1 John 4:7-21.
Determine who the enemies are in your life and pray for them.
Contemplate what you are taught about them and yourself during those prayers.

Other Scriptures for study:
Matthew 5:43-48
John 13:34-35
1 Peter 4:8

In Him,
Aaron

Weekly Challenge - Pray for Campers

In class we spent time listing everyone we could think of from our Life Group who is attending Trek camp this week.  We came up with the names of 2 adults who are leading, 1 teen who is leading, and 14 kids who are campers.

The Challenge:
Spend time in prayer this week for these people.

Pray that the leaders would be energized.
Pray that they would be filled with extreme spiritual power.
Pray that love would overflow from them to the kids who so desperately need it.

Pray that the kids would receive Divine guidance and direction.
Pray they would move towards owning their faith.
Pray they would find community and develop God-honoring relationships.
Pray they would know their value in Jesus.
Pray that God would ignite a passion in them for Him.
Pray their relationship with Jesus would deepen.

In Him,
Aaron

Weekly Challenge -Last lesson on Thessalonians

Life Group Community:

We have finished the Spring study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians.  22 weeks of lessons.

The final lesson covered a lot of topics and we had a good discussion time in LG.  The main topics included:

Paul worked so he would not be a burden to the church community and to be an example to the new believers.

Some believers were not working because of confusion about the end times they could not work, they were taking advantage of the generosity of the community of believers, or they were lazy.
Paul told them to listen to his teaching and to follow his example.  If you don’t work, you don’t eat. 
Paul then told all the believers to never tire of doing what is right.

But how should we react to believers who do not obey biblical instructions?  Paul said we need to address the issue, act in brotherly love, do not associate with him, with the end goal of restoration.  The purpose of this discipline is not final rejection, but only correction.  This example shows us how to deal with a public, deliberate, persistent disobedience to truthful instruction. 

 

This type of confrontation is not always easy, fun, or painless, but it is biblical.  My challenge to you this week is to pray for the church body to claim the truth of God, be convicted of sin, remove the sin, and be restored.

 

Be intentional.
Travis

 

 

Weekly Challenge -2 Thess 2:13-17

Life Group,

Great participation and discussion on Saturday.  Thank you for the input on 2 Thessalonians 2: 13-17.

In our passage of study, Paul was telling the young Thessalonian church (and us) to stand firm, know the word/truth, and hold tight to sound teaching. 

So we looked up seven passages of Paul’s teaching to see how we can stand firm, know the truth, and hold tight to sound teaching.  Here is a list of some of the truths:

Love rules, above all, trust Jesus, love comes from the heart, be humble, live in the Spirit not the law, know where you get the power, be in step, do good, do what is right even when it is tough, don’t give up, all decisions have consequences, be changed, act different, encourage, have a pleasing attitude, meditate on THRPPGEW, pursue righteousness, stay strong, be steadfast, be on guard, stand firm in the faith, be strong, be courageous, and do everything in love.

Wow.  That is sound teaching.  My challenge this week is to read through this list every morning.  Allow it to be your truth, the teaching you can hold on to, the reason why you can stand firm.

Be intentional.

Travis

Weekly Challenge -2 Thessalonians 2:6-12

Life Group Community:

In our passage and discussion this week, Paul was reminding the young Thessalonian church (and us) to be patient, live with hope, and trust in God. 

There is evil and wickedness in the world and there will be a future climax of lawlessness which will follow the removal of the restrainer.  However, it is still in God's control.  If fact, the evil and wickedness will be removed by the breath of God when it is time. 

This knowledge should give the church hope.  The challenge for the week is to focus on living with hope.  To accomplish this challenge, you need to know the source of hope.  Use this prescription for patience and hope found in Isaiah 41:10 to meet the challenge for the week.

Prescription for Patience and Hope (Isaiah 41:10)
Sunday	“Do not be afraid”
Monday	“I am with you”
Tuesday	“Do not be dismayed”
Wednesday	“I am your God”
Thursday	“I will strengthen you”
Friday	“I will help you”
Saturday	“I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”

Be intentional.

Travis