12/1 Advent Devotional - Ahab

Women in the lineage of Jesus

Rahab - Faith Hall of Famer in belief & action

 

Dive in and Read: Joshua 2:1-24; Matthew 1:5; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25

Opening prayer:  New every morning is your love, great God of light,

And all day long You are working for good in the world.

Stir up in us a desire to serve You, to live peacefully with our neighbors and to devote this day to Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ the LORD. Amen. 

 

Discover: Matthew lists five women in the lineage of

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11/24 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

11/24 Sermon Discussion Questions 

Sermon Recap:

In the conclusion to our Bridge Inspection series, Pastor Suzanne invited us to imagine what would happen if in a real bridge, major cracks were found but not repaired.Wisdom is found in hearing Jesus’ words and acting on them.  When we hear Jesus’ words and don’t act on them, Jesus calls that foolish and it can end in destruction.She explored reasons why people might avoid repairing their bridges, including the cost in time a...
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11/17 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

 11/17 Sermon Discussion Questions 

Sermon Recap:

Pastor Suzanne invited us to ask if we understand our unique calling to actively participate in building God’s kingdom.Using Exodus 35 and the instructions for building the tabernacle, she noted that God doesn’t force us to serve, but invites us to willingly offer our skills and resources.To build God’s kingdom, a huge variety of skills and resources and people are needed.Vocation is defined by Fredrick Beuchner as “The place...
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11/11 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

 11/11 Sermon Discussion Questions

Sermon Recap:

Pastor Tony compared a life lived for self with a bridge to nowhere.In contrast, he taught about the importance of investing one’s life in acts of compassion and service to others as Jesus did - caring for their whole person.Pastor Tony invited us to consider the feeding of the 4,000. “God, who in Jesus Christ revealed his compassion for human beings, turns to his followers—turns to us in the face of human need—and asks, “How ...
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11/03 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

11/03 Sermon Discussion Questions

Pastor Suzanne suggested the Holy Spirit offers Romans 12:9-21 as a gift - one that offers the possibility of anchoring us in even the fiercest of cultural or familial storms.  But to receive it, we’re going to have to live it.  Verse 9 is the umbrella verse that frames the whole section, calling Jesus followers to love without hypocrisy, which includes fleeing from evil and clinging to what is good. The rest of the passage defines practica...
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10/27 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

10/27 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

 

Recap:

Pastor Suzanne talked about the question “How well do I know my shadow self?”She discussed the reality that everyone is both made in the image of God and we all have sinful patterns that we are often unaware of. ““All of us develop ways of adjusting and staying safe in the midst of whatever danger is present in our environment; patterns that become normal for us.  Because these patterns are formed unconsciously while we are still yo...
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10/20 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

10/20 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

Recap:

Pastor Bep talked about the question, “Do I know how God formed me and wired me?”She talked about the importance of looking at ourselves holistically: our stories, our personalities, our passions, our talents, and our spiritual gifts. These, together, will give us a clue about how God might be calling us. Spiritual gifts may be expressed differently depending on whole picture of your personality and talents and life experiences. She ...
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10/13 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

10/13 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

Recap:

Pastor Suzanne talked about the story of Joseph in Genesis. She emphasized that in Joseph’s story we see parts of his story that were his own choices, other peoples’ choices, and God’s redemptive actions. In our own stories, we can find evidence of these as well. She reminded us that, though God does not cause painful situations, God can be redemptively at work through some of the harder situations in our lives. Taking time to reflec...
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10/6 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

10/6 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

Recap:

Pastor Sara talked about the question, “Do I trust God?” She shared an experience she had where it felt like God has broken her trust, and she had to figure out how to trust God’s love and presence instead of trusting in a specific outcome.She talked about 3 Bible stories:Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego refusing to bow to the idol in Babylon and saying, “Our God is able to deliver us from this… but even if he doesn’t, we will still not ...
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9/29 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

9/29 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

Recap:

Pastor Suzanne talked about the question, “Do I know how to have a conversation with God?” She argued that the kinds of conversations we feel comfortable having with God depend on the type of relationship we have with God and that these relationships are often based on three components: familiarity, authority, and trust.  (You can see the grid she used to illustrate this below). Moses, in the passage we read today, models a conversati...
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9/22 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

9/22 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

Recap:

Pastor Tony walked us through the whole Bible, highlighting the themes in the “Big Story” of God. He made the case that the main theme throughout scripture is that God wants to be with us. Tony walked us through the 5 main movements in scripture: CreationIsraelJesusThe ChurchNew CreationTony encouraged us to “just get started” in becoming more aware of God’s story.

 

Reflection Questions:

If someone asked me what the Bible was all about,...
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9/15 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

9/15 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

Recap:

Pastor Sara invited us to inspect our Bridge to God by looking at the question: “Do I know how to read and apply scripture?”She talked about the love that the Psalmist of Psalm 119 has for the word of God because it gives direction, hope, light, wisdom, and peace. She invited us to consider the following ways we could learn to love and understand the Bible better:Invest time into reading.Get tools to help you understand. Don’t just re...
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9/8 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

9/8 Sermon Discussion Questions

Recap:

Pastor Suzanne talked about the importance of literal bridge inspections in detecting problems and cracks early to keep bridges from collapsing.She then talked about the need to do regular, honest inspection of our lives: our walk with God, our knowledge and awareness of ourselves, and our relationships with others to see where there may be cracks that need to be repaired.The scripture passages we looked at told stories of two scenarios...
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9/1 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

9/1 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

Recap:

Pastor Sara wrapped up the sermon series on Deuteronomy, reminding us of themes we’ve seen throughout the book: following God’s directions leads to life, God’s care for the vulnerable, God put guardrails on power, God calls us to pass our faith along to coming generations, etc. Moses wraps up his sermon to the Israelites by calling them again to do the things God asked, and to love God, and promises that these things will lead to life ...
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8/25 Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions

8/25 Sermon Discussion Questions

 

Recap:

Pastor Suzanne talked about what the Bible means when it talks about valuing life. She spent time unpacking the Hebrew word for life “chayah.” This word has three different nuances to its meaning depending on its context: Protecting lifeNurturing lifeReviving lifeSuzanne argued that when we talk about pro-life policies around abortion, Christians are often known for emphasizing only the first of those three meanings. We need to get be...
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