MARCH 22
10:15 I Facebook Live
UTTERLY AMAZED
Well friends, we’re all one week into the national emergency due to the COVID-19 virus. How y’all doing? I’m sure the answers are all over the board. And our answers say much about us — things like where we work, what personality type we have, where we gather our information. But most importantly, this is a great time to find out what we truly value. Testing has a way of making some things clear to us that we can’t see when life is easy, when nothing is asked of us. And what is testing but a time of being asked for things? Let’s dig in this week and see how Jesus handles this, and what it has to teach us, and let’s see why his answers let the crowds utterly amazed.
July 3rd, 2022
10:15am I Facebook Live & Zoom
Watch last week's message here
Title
Let's Pretend
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Introduction
Let’s pretend for a moment, shall we? Let’s pretend that life comes with a simple set of rules, rules that allow you to clearly move through it based on how well you follow the rules. Do good things and good things will happen. Fulfill the required obligations and nothing more will be asked of you. Stay in your lane and everyone else will stay in theirs. Try hard, keep your nose clean and don’t deviate and things will all work out. Nice and neat. Simple, yes, but true? Not so much. Whatever else you want to say about Jesus, you have to admit he doesn’t play games, especially not this one. Let’s dig in this week and see what we can find.
Grace and peace y’all,
John Ray and the teaching team
The Big Idea:
Following Jesus means loving people, and that gets messy quick.
Take Away:
We’ve often said at Grace Church that the Kingdom of God is people and things as they should be. Moving towards that necessarily involves a reordering of our relationships with ourselves, others and things. This is what following Jesus invites us to do.
How does this fit with "Belong, Become, Believe"?
At Grace Church “belonging” is the essential first step in encountering the Good News of the Gospel. This is why hospitality is essential to our ethos and practice. This is one of the primary ways we come to demonstrate who we are becoming. This practice also forms and informs our beliefs.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion:
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What things have you personally given up to follow Jesus?
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What things have you been given in return?
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When you see what the obedience of Jesus costs him, how does that affect your own decision to follow him?
What's Next?
Our friends from Circles NWA will be sharing more from Mark 10 and about their work here in our community.
Resources:
July 10th, 2022
10:15am I Facebook Live & Zoom
Watch last week's message here
Title
Circles NWA
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Question of the Week:
Is it wrong to want to be great?
Introduction:
This week we’re hearing from our friends at Circles NWA. Circles NWA is a community-driven program that works to increase upward mobility for individuals and families in poverty in Northwest Arkansas. Their work fits well with our text for the week and serves as a practical example for much of what Jesus teaches us about “greatness”. Remember we are meeting earlier (9:30am) and outside (bring a chair or blanket to sit in the shade).
Grace and peace y’all,
John Ray and the teaching team
Pray:
Mark 10:42 “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions use their authority over them. 43 But it is not this way among you. Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Pray this: “Jesus, let your words and your actions form in me a genuine desire to serve as you served. Amen”
What's Next?
We dig into the Greatest Commandment.
Resources:
Information on Circles here
July 24th, 2022
9:30am I Facebook Live & Zoom
Watch last week's message here
Title
Stay Alert
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Question of the Week:
What is the most important thing you will do this week?
Introduction:
I remember when we first brought Ladybird, a big fluffy Great Pyrenees mix, into our home. She immediately took to our girls and wanted to be wherever they were. She would often come and lay all of her 100 pound plus self on your feet wherever you were sitting. She was calm, affectionate and just a great dog. But for many years after we got her, whenever an adult man she didn’t recognize would enter the house, her demeanor would change. She would assume a very shy and distanced position, often peeing just a little as a show of submission. It was obvious that before she found her way into our home, she had some very negative interactions with men that conditioned her to expect rough treatment. This took years for her to overcome. It didn’t matter that the new people she reacted to this way were often approaching her to show affection, she expected something different.
I think many of us are conditioned similarly when it comes to reading certain passages in the Bible like the one we have this week. We have adopted a mental posture that expects rebuke, criticism and punishment. But what if that isn't what the passage intended to communicate at all? What if something else was intended to be said?
Let’s dig in this week and see what we can find.
Grace and peace y’all,
John Ray and the teaching team
Pray: ”Abba, what am I to pay attention to today? What is it I need to see and understand to better be ready for what you hold in the future, where you are at work right now?”
Big Idea: Jesus’ encouragement to be ready is a natural expression of his love for us.
Take Away:
Jesus’ instructions can feel like a rebuke or criticism, depending on how we’ve been conditioned to read them. But we need to discipline ourselves to consider all Jesus teaches in light of God’s character and nature as revealed in the person of Jesus.
How does this fit with Belong, Become, Believe?
At Grace we practice hospitality, the invitation to belong, in part because of Jesus’ command to “be alert”. Welcoming and forming deep, healthy relationships with others helps keep us alert to the needs and perspectives of others. In doing so, we learn from them in ways that provide opportunities for us to wisely discern. This practice helps form us more and more into who we are to become. These practices are both reflective of what we believe and inform our beliefs.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
How have you heard this passage taught in the past? When you read the words now, how do you receive them? How does reading them as part of all of chapter 13 inform your understanding and response? What do you take away from this?
What's Next?
We kick off our annual “Discovering Grace” series, revisiting our story and digging into who we are and why we do things the way we do.
Resources:
July 31st, 2022
9:30am I Facebook Live & Zoom
Watch last week's message here
Title
Discovering Grace: Belong
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Question of the Week:
Where have you found a deep sense of belonging? What is a word(s) you would use to describe belonging?
