|
MONDAY
September 29
Look
up and read
I Samuel
18:1-4
Do you remember what a
covenant is? Last Monday we defined a covenant as a binding
agreement between two parties or individuals to promise to do something. Is
there anyone you know well enough that you would covenant with? As you get
to know others and others get to know you in your small group I want to
challenge you to covenant together to be obedient to God’s Word and to be
real in your group. Here in I Samuel 18 David and Jonathan take up covenant
with one other to be honest and truthful in love. Over time this happened
because they had grown in their relationship and built trust in one another
by following through with what they covenanted. Who will you build trust
in? God desires that you trust Him with your whole life. Spend some time
in prayer today for you and your small group and ask God to give you and
everyone else the ability to put ALL trust in Him and each other.
Make a covenant before God and your group to be honest and real as you share
life together over this next school year.
|
|
TUESDAY
September 30
Look
up and read
Matthew 18:10, 14
Have you ever been
separated from a group of people you were either hanging out with or
traveling with? It’s not a good feeling to be the one lost or to loose
someone. A beach is a rather large place to be lost or to loose someone. I
have a friend who was at the beach with his wife and 3 children and after a
short time of being there he noticed that one of his children was missing.
He didn’t panic at first but as time passed and still no sign of his
daughter he began to go into “panic overdrive”. He didn’t stop looking for
her, asking people along the beach if they’d seen a little girl in a pink
bathing suit with dark hair until…FINALLY he found her. She had wandered
about half a mile down the beach headed towards the boardwalk. He was
relieved that he had found his lost daughter. In so many ways we’re lost
too. God seeks after his “lost sheep” and will stop at nothing to go
after them until they are safe and sound! He doesn’t want us to be lost
anymore. As you spend more time in your small groups getting to know each
other hopefully you’ll “find” the awesome plan that God has for you
together. Pray today and ask God to help you “find” your way and
pray also for those in your small group that they too would be “found”.
|
|
WEDNESDAY
October 1
Look
up and read
Luke
6:37-42
How do you expect
others to treat you? How do you treat others? Sometimes we feel it’s
easier to point out the little pieces of trash in others than deal with
our own pile-O-junk. It would make no sense for me to tell someone how
to live their lives if I myself wasn’t living for Christ. Have you ever
closed your eyes and then led someone else around with their eyes closed
too? It makes no sense to lead someone if we can’t truly see our way. God
wants us to make sure we’re right with him and are seeking Him before we go
to our brother and sister to point out things in their lives and try and
lead them. Let’s take our pile-O-junk to God so that we will be able to see
more clearly the path He has for us and to have the opportunity to lead and
encourage others to do the same. Meditate over these verses and ask God
to remove the junk from your life to focus on Him more. Pray also for
others in your small group that they too would let God remove their trash
from their life. Seek to be accountable with one another in small group.
|
|
THURSDAY
October
2
Look
up and read
Luke
10:29b-37
Someone once observed
that if you look outside at the houses in your neighborhood you usually
don’t see anyone outside. Where are they? Why don’t people spend time with
their neighbors? Who is our neighbor? According to the verses in
Luke 10 our neighbor is someone in need. Do you have needs? Does
anyone around you have needs? So that pretty much sums up that anyone you
come in contact with is your neighbor. The people in your small group are
your neighbors. God wants us to let Him know our needs because he cares for
us. He also wants us to let others know of our needs because He uses people
to provide for our needs. Helping others and meeting their needs is one way
to show and express God’s love. Each week in your small group you have the
opportunity to help your neighbor. Spend time in prayer today and share
your needs with God and be willing to let your small group in on what
your needs are too. You’ll be surprised to see how God provides.
|
|
FRIDAY
October
3
Look
up and read
John 4:4-10
What school are you
rivals with? Why do we even have rivals? Are there people we just don’t
associate with for silly reasons? Most times rivalry happens between 2
schools in sports. There are few times when it’s good but 99.9999% time
rivalry only separates and causes bad feelings that shouldn’t exist. We go
about our lives and when we come across someone we’re rivals with we don’t
even make eye contact only mutter harsh words under our breath. Jesus came
in contact with a Samaritan woman that considered herself a “rival” when she
found out he was a Jew. But he didn’t see it that way. He only saw her
heart and that he needed to share God’s plan for her and befriend her (get
to know her). He spent time and asked many questions to learn more about
who she was and what her life was all about. He did this so he could better
relate to her as he shared. It’s time we looked past who we are supposedly
“rivals” with and took the time to get to know others. In your small groups
you can encourage each other to get past the “rival” mentality and share
Christ’s love. Pray today and ask God to help you see people’s hearts and
not the façade (made up things).
|
|
SATURDAY
October
4
Look
up and read
Luke
19:5-10
Have you ever met someone who appears hopeless? Maybe they've struggled
their entire life with addiction or turned away from God and His Son Jesus?
Have you ever met someone who seems far beyond the reach of God's loving
arms and the world seems to have given up on them? I have a dear friend
like this. He feels like his life is hopeless...like he'll never
"straighten out" or "make anything of himself." Worse yet; many other
people in his life also feel that he's got no chance. There's another man we
all know who also struggled with this. His name was Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus
was a man who most saw as a cheat and a thief (not worthy). Yet Jesus
didn’t see it that way. He saw what encouraging a little hope could do in
his life. After spending the day with Jesus Zacchaeus gave over to God his
life and his wealth and made amends with people that he cheated and helped
the poor. God always holds out hope for his children. In my life, I
pray that I will also be a friend who will live in hope. Live in hope that
I can be a better follower of Christ each day and live in hope that those
around me can also find God's loving grace. There is no one who is beyond
our Father's loving arms. Who do you see that needs hope? It might
be someone in your small group. Meditate over these verses and ask God
to give you the strength and knowledge to share God’s hope with someone.
Pray also for those in your small group that they would be able to do the
same.
|
|
See you at Sunday
School, Worship and Youth Fellowship this Sunday!
Bible references provided by
www.biblegateway.com
|
