Discerning God's Future: Shared Leadership Makes a Difference

Thursday, March 31, 2022

Prayer for Week 5

Today, O God of all days, give me an experience of your heart. Draw me deep into your very being, into the core of your love for me, others, and the world. Give me a glimpse of others the way you see others: loving them, forgiving them, and delighting in them. Help me to discern how I too might be a useful vessel of your love in the world. Amen.

 

Acts 6:1-7

Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. And the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to wait on tables. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” What they said pleased the whole community, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, together with Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

 

The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

 

Who is invited into leadership in the early church?

 

  

What are the results of this new ministry?

 

Discerning God's Future: Uniquely Gifted

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Prayer for Week 5

Today, O God of all days, give me an experience of your heart. Draw me deep into your very being, into the core of your love for me, others, and the world. Give me a glimpse of others the way you see others: loving them, forgiving them, and delighting in them. Help me to discern how I too might be a useful vessel of your love in the world. Amen.

I Corinthians 12:1-11

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore, I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

 

With what spiritual gifts and abilities do you believe God has equipped you?

  

What are some reasons God distributes gifts to different people?

 

With what spiritual gifts and abilities do you believe God has equipped our congregation?

 

Discerning God's Future: Christ's Ambassadors

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Prayer for Week 5

Today, O God of all days, give me an experience of your heart. Draw me deep into your very being, into the core of your love for me, others, and the world. Give me a glimpse of others the way you see others: loving them, forgiving them, and delighting in them. Help me to discern how I too might be a useful vessel of your love in the world. Amen.

  

II Corinthians 5:16-20

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

 

 When was a time when you have been sure that you are Christ’s ambassador?

 

  

To whom in our congregation’s wider community is God calling us to be an ambassador?

 

Discerning God's Future: Area of Concern or Ministry Opportunity?

Monday, March 28, 2022

Prayer for Week 5

Today, O God of all days, give me an experience of your heart. Draw me deep into your very being, into the core of your love for me, others, and the world. Give me a glimpse of others the way you see others: loving them, forgiving them, and delighting in them. Help me to discern how I too might be a useful vessel of your love in the world. Amen.

  

Acts 17:16-23

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

 

What was Paul doing in Athens while he waited?

 

What areas of our congregation's current context are you concerned or distressed about?

  

How might God be calling us to ministry in the areas you lifted up?

Discerning God's Future: Facing Something Big (seemingly impossible)

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Prayer for Week 5

Today, O God of all days, give me an experience of your heart. Draw me deep into your very being, into the core of your love for me, others, and the world. Give me a glimpse of others the way you see others: loving them, forgiving them, and delighting in them. Help me to discern how I too might be a useful vessel of your love in the world. Amen.

 

Acts 1:6-11

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

  

Describe a time when you had a hopeful expectation that God was about to do something big in your life.

 

 

When have you felt that you had a seemingly impossible task set before you and what are some ways you responded?

Discerning God's Future: Sent in Pairs

Saturday, March 26, 2022

Prayer for Week 4

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Luke 10:1-12

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

 

 What would be some challenges for you if you were one of the 70 Jesus called and sent?

 

  

Who, besides Jesus, would you want to be your partner in ministry if Jesus gave you that assignment today?

 

Discerning God's Future: Pruning for Fruitfulness

Friday, March 25, 2022

Prayer for Week 4

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

John 15:1-8

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” 

 

How does pruning enable a plant, such as grapes or tomatoes, bear more fruit that is abundant?

 

 

What must our congregation let go of in the past in order to move forward?

Discerning God's Future: Who's In?

Thursday, March 24, 2022

Prayer for Week 4

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Luke 14:15-24

          One of the dinner guests, on hearing this, said to him, “Blessed is anyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Then Jesus said to him,

“Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ But they all alike began to make excuses.

The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land, and I must go out and see it; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please accept my regrets.’ Another said, ‘I have just been married, and therefore I cannot come.’

So the slave returned and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’

And the slave said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ Then the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the roads and lanes, and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’”

 

 

Who all is included in the banquet?

 

 

 

What would it mean for you to choose to spend more time with those “outside” the church than those “inside” our congregation?

Discerning God's Future: God Provides Now & in the Future

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Prayer for Week 4

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Exodus 16:1-12

The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin…The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

          Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”

          Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

 

What are some things God did for the Israelites?

 

 

What do you think that would look like for our congregation today?

Discerning God's Future: What Feels Unfamiliar?

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Prayer for Week 4

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Exodus 16:1-12

The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin…The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

          Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”

          Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

 

What are some things that were new or different for the Israelites in the desert?

 

 

What are some things about our congregation’s current context and location that are “new or different” or feel unfamiliar?

Discerning God's Future: Make the Vision Plain

 Monday, March 21, 2022

Prayer for Week 4

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Habakkuk 2:1-3

I will stand at my watchpost, and station myself on the rampart; will keep watch to see what he will say to me, and what he will answer concerning my complaint. Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.

 

For a vision to be legible to a runner, it must be concise.

What concise vision might God have for our congregation?

 

 

  

A “vision”’ consists of a picture of the future, an appealing or compelling sketch of something not yet come into being.

What picture of our congregation’s future is God sketching?

Discerning God's Future: Are We Devoted?

 

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Prayer for Week 4

O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

 

  

What are some things to which the early church was devoted?

  

 

What are some things to which God is calling our congregation to be devoted?

Discerning God's Future: God is our "Still Point"

 

Saturday, March 19, 2022

Prayer for Week 3

Eternal God,

in the reading of the Scripture, may your Word be heard;

in the meditations of our hearts, may your Word be known;

and in the faithfulness of our lives, may your Word be shown. Amen.

 

 

Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God!

I am exalted among the nations,

I am exalted in the earth.”

 

 

In times of uncertainty, what is your “still point”?

 

  

What do you cling to for direction?

 

  

What would it be like to imagine God as the “still point” for our congregation’s journey into the future?

 

Discerning God's Future: Made New at Home with God

 

Friday, March 18, 2022

Prayer for Week 3

Eternal God,

in the reading of the Scripture, may your Word be heard;

in the meditations of our hearts, may your Word be known;

and in the faithfulness of our lives, may your Word be shown. Amen.

  

Revelation 21:1-5

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

 “See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”

 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

 

 

What do you imagine dwelling with God or as another translation says, “being at home with God” is like?

 

 

What things in your life need to be “made new” by God?

 

Discerning God's Future: Cast the Net

 

Thursday, March 17, 2022

 

Prayer for Week 3

Eternal God,

in the reading of the Scripture, may your Word be heard;

in the meditations of our hearts, may your Word be known;

and in the faithfulness of our lives, may your Word be shown. Amen.

John 21:4-6

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.

 

For what is our congregation “fishing”?

Where is Jesus telling our congregation to “cast the net”?

 

What would it be like for our congregation to “catch so many fish”?

Discerning God's Future: Responding to Others

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Prayer for Week 3

Eternal God,

in the reading of the Scripture, may your Word be heard;

in the meditations of our hearts, may your Word be known;

and in the faithfulness of our lives, may your Word be shown. Amen.

 

John 4:7-15

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

 

Who do you identify with most in the story? the woman? Jesus? an unnamed bystander?

 

 

If the woman in the story came to our congregation, how might our congregation respond to her?

 

Discerning God's Future: Risk for the Gospel

 

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Prayer for Week 3

Eternal God,

in the reading of the Scripture, may your Word be heard;

in the meditations of our hearts, may your Word be known;

and in the faithfulness of our lives, may your Word be shown. Amen.

 

Acts 2:14-21, 37-41

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

          ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

          Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added.

 

What did Peter risk when he spoke to the crowd?

  

What risks is God calling you to take for the Gospel?

  

What are some ways you believe God is challenging our congregation to risk?

Discerning God's Future: Welcoming Strangers

 

Monday, March 14, 2022

Prayer for Week 3

Eternal God, in the reading of the Scripture, may your Word be heard;

in the meditations of our hearts, may your Word be known;

and in the faithfulness of our lives, may your Word be shown. Amen.

 

Luke 24:13-31

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus… While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?”

          They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?”

          They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.”

          Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

          As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him…

 

 

The disciples welcomed a “stranger” and discovered the Risen Lord in the midst. Make a list of times when Jesus has shown up for you in unexpected ways.

 

 

What are some ways that our congregation can welcome “strangers” in our midst?

Discerning God's Future: Comfort in the Face of Fear

 

Sunday, March 13, 2022

Prayer for Week 3

Eternal God,

in the reading of the Scripture, may your Word be heard;

in the meditations of our hearts, may your Word be known;

and in the faithfulness of our lives, may your Word be shown. Amen.

 

Isaiah 41:10

do not fear, for I am with you,

    do not be afraid, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

    I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

 

In what ways is God’s presence with us a comfort in the face of fear?

 

 

What is one thing our congregation needs God’s help with at this time?

 

Discerning God's Future: Being Sent People

Saturday, March 12, 2022

 

Prayer for Week 2

Lord God, you declare that your kingdom is among us. Open our eyes to see it, our ears to hear it, our hearts to hold it, our hands to serve it. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

 

 

What do you think Jesus means by “As the Father has sent me, so I send you”?

 

  

The disciples met behind locked doors out of fear.

What are some barriers that keep our congregation from being “sent people”?

 

 

 

How might our congregation look or act differently if we focused on being “sent people”?

 

Discerning God's Future: Why are you a Christian?

Friday, March 11, 2022

Prayer for Week 2

Lord God, you declare that your kingdom is among us. Open our eyes to see it, our ears to hear it, our hearts to hold it, our hands to serve it. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Matthew 16:13-17

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.

 

 Who is Jesus to you?

 

 

What are some reasons you are a Christian?

 

 

In what ways would your life be different if Jesus were not a part of your life, family, job?