Discipleship | DNA | Luke 14:25-33
Come, follow me.” Maybe the most iconic words in the Gospels and repeated many times by Jesus, including here. Discipleship into Christ is the whole purpose of the church and we had better understand exactly what it means and entails if we are to live as Christians. Jesus says it involves a whole renunciation of the self and our attachments as the center of our lives. It isn’t that those things and other people are valuable, just that Jesus must be more supreme than anything else. And far from “demoting” the value of everything else, we can actually love everything else more truly when our loves are rightly ordered.
Generosity | DNA | 2 Corinthians 8:8-15, 9:6-12
Being the church should be synonymous with generosity. Whether an individual or a collective group like a body of believers, we recognize generosity when we see it but in this passage, Paul seeks to re-start a call to generosity that has been waylaid by distrust and perhaps other reasons. In doing so, he lays out a biblical vision for not only the benefits of generosity for ourselves and others but shows us how it is the Gospel alone that generates the desire and drive to be generous. When the church lives into this calling, we and the world experience more kingdom abundance and life!
The Word | DNA | Psalm 119
“This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.” It’s what we say after each Scripture reading and we do it because we believe God’s word is a treasure worth celebrating. One of CCE’s commitments is to preach and teach God’s word faithfully. We believe it has authority in our lives because God is the designer of life and knows what we need. And, as the psalmist says, we can “delight” in it because when we grow in learning something that is good, delight naturally happens and because “delight” is another way to describe a healthy relationship. Ultimately, God’s word is more than instruction but is the very voice of a loving God towards His bride, the church, longing to be with us. And the best news of all is Jesus is the Living Word that transforms us by changing our hearts, the very thing the Psalmist says they long for.
The Gospel | DNA | Luke 9:21-27
This Sunday we start our “DNA" series. DNA are the fundamental building blocks of life. Our DNA ultimately expresses us into the world. The DNA of our faith does the same thing…or at least it should. In the series opener, we’ll unpack “Gospel,” the fundamental of our fundamentals. In this passage, Jesus tells us that the Gospel doesn’t just save us (through His mission to die for us and raise us up with him, v. 31) but cause us to truly live (through walking as disciples, 34-37). Later in the series, as we explore children’s ministry, generosity, worship and so much more—in each instance, the building blocks are the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Song of Remembrance | Singing the Psalms | Psalm 40
King David is in the Pit. It’s a place of stress, fear and anxiety. In the place, David chooses not to rely upon his own strength to get him out but his memory of God’s past faithfulness, coupled with the power of prayer in humility. Our great task is to remember the way of the Lord and how He has provided for us in the past, trusting He will do the same in the present. If we don’t, we’ll place our functional trust in something or someone else and never escape our pits. But what we know that even David didn’t know was the perfect obedience (v. 8) of Jesus who lived in perfect trust and makes it possible to know the Father, our place of trust.
Song of Confidence | Singing the Psalms | Psalm 23
Psalm 23 may be the best known passage in all of Scripture and is a main stay at funerals but familiarity may breed contempt. Why exactly is this Psalm so well loved? It’s because in the midst of hardship, David shows us what both comfort and confidence can look like. Neither are in our circumstances nor possessions in this world but are found in God alone. He is the shepherd who protects, provides and guides. But we have an even greater confidence than David because we have the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for the sheep (John 10.11). Because of Christ, we can live without fear despite the world around us.
True Rest | Matthew 11:25-30
Jesus calls all who are tired and burdened to come to him and find rest. He assumes we are yoked to something looking for soul rest but instead is weighing us down leaving us restless. He challenges us to instead be yoked to him and allow him to bear our burdens with us. His yoke is fitting and his burden is light. He tells us we can learn from him because his heart is gentle and lowly.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. In what ways has the last year left you burdened and restless?
2. Where do you feel that you are not connected with Jesus?
3. How would you have described the depths of Jesus’ heart before this passage?
4. What’s your plan to get soul rest this summer?