The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow. Pray. Study. Guide "Upside Down 'The Real Thief that Comes in the Night'” from Sunday, 25 June 2017 through Saturday, 1 July 2017

The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States Grow. Pray. Study. Guide "Upside Down 'The Real Thief that Comes in the Night'” from Sunday, 25 June 2017 through Saturday, 1 July 2017
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Prayer Tip: "The Real Thief that Comes in the Night" for Sunday, 25 June 2017
Daily Scripture:
Luke 18:10 “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. 11 The Parush stood and prayed to himself, ‘O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! 12 I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . ’ 13 But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Matthew 20:1“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who went out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the workers on a wage of one denarius, [the standard daily wage,] he sent them off to his vineyard.
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Prayer Tip:

Joshua Clough
Joshua serves as one of the Congregational Care Pastors at Church of the Resurrection. He is a competitive runner, and because he grew up in Seattle, drinks a lot of coffee.
The parables help us see ourselves in the stories of others. Jesus tells a parable about a Pharisee and a Tax Collector who go to the temple to pray. The religiously astute Pharisee thanked God that he is not like other people and boasts his religious accomplishments like fasting. The tax collector, often viewed as corrupt and very much disliked, prayed, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
David, the King of Israel who wrote many of the Psalms, prayed, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love;” (Psalm 51:1). Throughout his prayers there is a posture of humility in approaching God through prayer. This is the humility Jesus seeks to teach us in our prayer life. How can your prayer life be shaped by a renewed sense of humility toward God, the one who created us and gave life to our universe? This week, take an inventory of your daily prayers; write down your thoughts as you ask the question, "Do I pray with humility?"
Lord,
Teach me humility, so that my confidence in your grace may be strengthened. Remind me to pray from a posture of awe and wonder for your incredible mercy. Through Jesus, you redeem and transform; do this in me, too.
Amen. [Joshua Clough, Congregational Care Pastor]
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Sunday, June 25, 2017 
"Upside Down 'The Real Thief that Comes in the Night,” 
Scripture: 
Luke 18:10 “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. 11 The Parush stood and prayed to himself, ‘O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! 12 I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . ’ 13 But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Matthew 20:1“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who went out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the workers on a wage of one denarius, [the standard daily wage,] he sent them off to his vineyard.
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"An upside-down picture of righteousness" 
Monday, 26 2017 
Luke 18:9 Also, to some who were relying on their own righteousness and looking down on everyone else, he told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. 11 The Parush stood and prayed to himself, ‘O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! 12 I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . ’ 13 But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”
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Most people thought tax collectors were among the last people you’d ever find in God’s Kingdom. Jesus story said there was more value in a tax collector’s humble faith (“struck his chest” was a gesture of sorrow) than in a Pharisee’s swollen spiritual ego. Luke said Jesus told this story “to certain people who had convinced themselves that they were righteous and who looked on everyone else with disgust.” The Pharisee didn’t trust in God’s mercy, because it never crossed his mind that he needed it! 
• Which character in this parable are you more often like: the Pharisee, looking down on others with disgust, or the tax collector, feeling a deep inner sense of need for grace? How can God’s love and grace help you maintain a healthy awareness of spiritual need, yet avoid contempt either for others or for yourself? 
• An “examen” is a prayer for the end of the day, a way to review the day through God’s eyes. Why not try it when this day ends? Review these questions with God: at what points today did I feel better than someone else? How did that affect the way I related to them? At what points today did I sense a deep need for God’s grace? Did I turn to God to seek the grace I needed? 
Prayer: O God, Hebrews 4:16 invited me to come before you “with confidence,” not because I’m good, but because you are. Help me live confident of your grace, but never arrogant about my goodness. Amen. 
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Melanie Hill
Melanie Hill is the Guest Connections Program Director at Resurrection.
Just last month my husband and I had the joy of getting to take a vacation together. It was long overdue and we were so excited to get to spend some quality time together having an adventure. Of course, we wanted to share our joy through Facebook of all the wonderful and interesting places we had visited. There were lots of cute couple selfies in front of old European buildings and beautiful landscapes. Pictures like the one below.

On this particular day, we had set out to tour the English Gardens in Munich and stumbled upon a breathtaking waterfall nestled inside a scenic garden park. From the picture, you would think we were having a peaceful stroll and enjoying ourselves. In reality, we had been arguing for the last half hour about the best way to get to the garden and were really getting on each other’s nerves. Hence the second picture.

Anyone who has ever traveled with a spouse knows the reality of the second picture. 90% of our trip was wonderful and we enjoyed being together, but there were those moments where we weren’t each other’s favorite people. These aren’t usually the moments that we share on social media with others. We tend to keep those to ourselves. This can create a false reality, as though we have it all together when we clearly do not. It’s easy to scroll through our friend’s social media pages and start to compare our insides with others outsides, as Pastor Scott shared in his sermon this weekend.
I don’t think this is the fault of social media. I don’t think it was designed to connect us deeply with each other but rather to be a tool to keep in touch. There is a reason I don’t post all the most stressful and painful things I am going through on Facebook. I reserve those areas in my life for the people who are closest to me and who are doing life daily with me.
But the problem still remains. When we compare our lives to those around us we rob ourselves of truly embracing who we were meant to be and others of the joy of who they are. I can rejoice in someone else’s success without seeing it as my failure. I can be grateful for the gifts of a friend that I don’t have without downgrading the importance of my own. As Bob Goff writes, “We won’t be distracted by comparison if we are captivated by purpose.” My purpose is to be me, the best version of me I can be, but still just me. I can’t be you.
Comparison either leads us to elevate ourselves to a place that is not rightfully ours or to lower ourselves to a place that is untrue to our own gifts and talents. Both are dangerous and destructive. I tend to struggle most with the latter. When I start to compare myself to others I struggle to accept a compliment as the gift that it is. I second guess myself and others. I rob myself of the words of affirmation that I need to hear. I’m not sure how this plays out in your life but I know that we all struggle with it.
Today let us not compare ourselves to others but instead live fully into the life that we have been given. It’s hard to be discontented when we are focused on what we are grateful for. So maybe today starts with being grateful. Think of three things you are grateful for. Maybe write them down in the morning and revisit them in the evening. Be grateful for who you are. You are a gift, and you are enough.
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"The hazard of inflated expectations" 
Tuesday, 27 2017 
Matthew 20:1 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who went out at daybreak to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the workers on a wage of one denarius, [the standard daily wage,] he sent them off to his vineyard. 3 Then, on going out at about nine in the morning, he saw more men standing around in the market-square doing nothing, 4 and said to them, ‘You go to the vineyard too — I’ll pay you a fair wage.’ So they went. 5 At noon, and again around three in the afternoon, he did the same thing. 6 About an hour before sundown, he went out, found still others standing around, and asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day, doing nothing?” 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ ‘You too,’ he told them, ‘go to the vineyard.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and ending with the first.’ 9 The workers who came an hour before sunset each received a denarius, 10 so the workers who came first expected they would get more, but each of them also received just a denarius. 
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In Jesus’ day, agricultural field workers had even fewer rights than they do today. The owner in the story Jesus told was not typical. He hired extra workers near the end of the day, and overpaid them. The “all day” workers in the story watched those who’d only worked an hour receive the same amount that they had agreed to work for. (We can imagine their pro-rated mental calculations— “Maybe we’ll get 8 days’ wages!”) But they got a full day’s wages, too—exactly what they had agreed to. 
• Does the master’s way of paying the workers in this story feel unfair to you? “It was not unfair, of course. No one was underpaid; it was just that some received ‘unreasonable’ generosity. That is what the kingdom of heaven is like.” * In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul said Christ was treated as we deserved, and we are treated as he deserved. In what ways does that “unfair” exchange draw your heart toward Christ? 
• In another place, Jesus used the forces of nature almost as a parable to describe God’s generosity: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). In what ways have you experienced God’s grace, his lavish generosity? What aspect of God’s generosity most encourages and amazes you? 
Prayer: Lord Jesus, if I’m a recent arrival in your kingdom, thank you for welcoming me generously. And if I’m one who’s been here longer, help me to celebrate your generosity and seek to share it with others. Amen. 
* R. T. France, article “Matthew” in New Bible Commentary, 21st Century Edition. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994, p. 930.
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Randy Greene
Randy Greene is a part of the Communications team at the Church of the Resurrection. He helps develop and maintain the church's family of websites. He is also a student at Central Baptist Theological Seminary and loves to write stories about faith for his blog.When I read this parable of vineyard workers who labored for various lengths of time but were all paid the same at the end of the day, I usually place myself into the story as one of the people who has worked all day. I wonder, though, what it would look like for me to place myself into the story as one of the other characters.
The Gospel of Matthew was written primarily to a Jewish audience, encouraging them to embrace the person of Jesus as the Messiah - the Christ - they’d been promised. Reading this parable through the lens of a first-century Jew may reorient my own place in the story. When this gospel was written, Paul and other church leaders were advocating for the inclusion of Gentiles (non-Jews) into the Hebrew faith tradition, which had been the exclusive birthright of Jews for centuries. It seems likely that, by recording this parable, Matthew was making the case that Jews should embrace the inclusion of Gentile people into the Kingdom of God.
Re-reading the parable in that context, it seems like I am the laborer who only worked a few hours at the end of the day. And yet, though my labor has been short, Jesus offers me the same grace he gives those who have labored for millennia.
If I’m honest, there is a temptation for me to accept this gift with pride, celebrating that I didn’t have to work as long as others. But I think that’s the beauty of these parables: they can be seen from many different angles, and every time they are turned, they reveal new truths about our lives and our relationship with God and humanity. From this new angle today, I am learning to remember that...
As a recipient of God’s inclusive, unreasonable grace, I am continually grateful and humbled to be welcomed into this family of faith.
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"The wrong people asked, 'Why me?'”
Wednesday, 28 June 2017 
Matthew 20:11 On receiving their wages, they began grumbling to the farmer, 12 ‘These latecomers have worked only one hour, while we have borne the brunt of the day’s work in the hot sun, yet you have put them on an equal footing with us!’ 13 But he answered one of them, ‘Look, friend, I’m not being unfair with you. Didn’t you agree to work today for a denarius? 14 Now take your pay and go! I choose to give the last worker as much as I’m giving you. 15 Haven’t I the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 Thus the last ones will be first and the first last.”
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Jesus heard lots of grumbling during his earthly ministry. The religious leaders seemed to deeply resent him offering salvation to tax collectors and sinners who hadn’t worked “the whole day in the hot sun.” The landowner’s questions were God’s questions: “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you resentful because I’m generous?” The fact was “this landowner has not wronged the complaining workers by showing extra benevolence to others… Grace is not fair; it is generous.” * 
• Salvation, eternal life with God, is a gift greater than we could possibly earn in a lifetime. Yet at times we (like the older brother we studied last week—cf. Luke 15:25-32) are tempted to think “service time” should give us extra privileges, or rank us above “newbies.” How long have you served God? Do you generously accept newcomers to God’s Kingdom, as Jesus did (cf. Luke 23:32-33, 39-43)? 
• Many psychologists, as well as preachers, have observed that we humans tend to ask “Why me?” about bad things that happen to us, but not about good things. Like the “all day” workers in Jesus’ story (“they thought they would receive more”), if anything we tend to think we deserve better. When have you found yourself inflating your expectations because of what you’ve seen someone else receive? What helps you counteract this natural tendency? 
Prayer: Lord Jesus, shape me and grow me into a person who has the same generous attitude toward others that you have toward me. 
Amen. 
* HarperCollins Christian Publishing. NIV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, eBook: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture (Kindle Locations 220453-220454). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. 
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Jon Wakefield
Jonathan is an intern for the Adult Discipleship team at Resurrection Leawood for the summer of 2017. He will be a Junior at John Brown University this coming school year, and as an interesting fact, he had already visited 6 of the 7 continents of the world by the time he was 18 years old.My first “real” job in high school was as a cook at Sonic. I still remember the day I got hired, and being told I would be earning $7.75 an hour. I thought that was a fair amount, as it was over minimum wage. By the end of my time there, about a year and a half, I was earning $9.00 an hour. But whereas I had increased my pay only slightly, I had found out that one of my co-workers, also a cook, was earning $9.00 an hour starting salary, and he’d only been there for a month with no experience coming into the job. In this instance, I felt much like the workers in Matthew 20:11. I grumbled against my boss, asking why it was that this man was earning the same as me when he had worked for such a short amount of time.
I will never forget what she said next: “You work 20-30 hours a week. Your co-worker comes in, works his 40 hours, and then picks up extra shifts after that. He may be new, but I chose to pay him the same because he works twice as much as you.” I felt shame after that for thinking this co-worker of mine was undeserving of the same pay. How could I have known he worked 60 hours a week? It still irked me that my manager was paying him the same wages, but just as Jesus called out the workers in the parable, I was called out on my ingratitude by my manager.
This leads me into Matthew 20:13-14, in which Jesus notes what the landowner says, “Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you.” So why did Jesus use this parable? Why is it so incredibly shocking that the landowner would pay the man who worked an hour the same as those who worked all day? Reading this over the weekend, it dawned on me that even in our society, we would still react the same as the laborers. There are times we find ourselves feeling like the laborers who worked all day, and we groan and grumble over someone working a tenth of that and getting paid the same as us. But we may at times find ourselves being that person who worked only an hour. Regardless of which side we may find ourselves, it is nonetheless a gift of compassion from the employer. I will forever be humbled by the respect my manager showed that co-worker, and hope to one day emulate Christ and return the favor.
Craig Keener, a New Testament scholar, notes in one of his commentaries that Jewish teachers of this time used this same story but in a profoundly different way. To them, Israel, who had worked hard, would receive the higher wages compared to the Gentiles, who had labored little. Jesus cared not for the riches of this world--He cared only for His creation and its redemption. His parable of the laborers and landowner should inspire us to treat others likewise, to not just be the best we are, but to be more like Him.
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"Praising a resourceful embezzler? Really?" 
Thursday, 29 June 2017 
Luke 16:1 Speaking to the talmidim, Yeshua said: “There was a wealthy man who employed a general manager. Charges were brought to him that his manager was squandering his resources. 2 So he summoned him and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in your accounts, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 “‘What am I to do?’ said the manager to himself. ‘My boss is firing me, I’m not strong enough to dig ditches, and I’m ashamed to go begging. 4 Aha! I know what I’ll do — something that will make people welcome me into their homes after I’ve lost my job here!’
5 “So, after making appointments with each of his employer’s debtors, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my boss?’ 6 ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. ‘Take your note back,’ he told him. ‘Now, quickly! Sit down and write one for four hundred!’ 7 To the next he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Take your note back and write one for eight hundred.’
8 “And the employer of this dishonest manager applauded him for acting so shrewdly! For the worldly have more sekhel than those who have received the light — in dealing with their own kind of people!
9 “Now what I say to you is this: use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it gives out, you may be welcomed into the eternal home. 10 Someone who is trustworthy in a small matter is also trustworthy in large ones, and someone who is dishonest in a small matter is also dishonest in large ones. 11 So if you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who is going to trust you with the real thing? 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what ought to belong to you? 13 No servant can be slave to two masters, for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money.”
Luke 14:33 “So every one of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has cannot be my talmid.
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A wasteful steward faced dismissal. Given time for a final report, the steward instead “cooked the books” more, earning himself favor while costing his master more money. Jesus said, “The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted cleverly.” Did Jesus endorse cheating? No (don’t forget it’s a parable). The swindler won the master’s (grudging) admiration because he went after his chosen values with all his energy. Jesus asked: if even a swindler can do that, shouldn’t my followers put equal thought and energy into living out the kingdom’s values? 
• Pastor Bruce Larson wrote, “This rogue bought friends with money. Jesus is suggesting we act with the same kind of foresight and use our money for that which is lasting.” * What are some ways you can pursue things that will truly last? What would it look like for you, as Jesus’ follower, to seek to live out Jesus’ values every day with as much ingenuity and vigor as the servant gave to assuring his financial security after his firing? 
• One writer suggested that this parable could inspire stagnant ministries to think original thoughts, make new friends across old barriers, and throw caution to the winds. Where do ministries and organizations that you are a part of need creativity and a focus on ultimate goals? How can you be a force to bring the servant’s shrewdness to bear on kingdom causes you care about? 
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your story was puzzling, but it makes me think. I want to be serious about your kingdom, and stay open to new approaches to accomplish your work. Amen. 
* Bruce Larson, The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 26: Luke. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc. 1983, p. 242. 
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Janelle Gregory
Janelle Gregory serves on the Resurrection staff as a Human Resources Specialist. Janelle finds that her heart is constantly wrestling with the truth that she needs a Savior, and the times when she's at her very best are when she's just too tired to put up a fight.
In high school, Nick was so much of a party animal, that he could have easily been put in a zoo. Parties were his life. Unless Nick was there, the event was just a social gathering. Nick brought the party (and copious amounts of alcohol) with him wherever he went. He was fun and funny. People were attracted to him, and as a result, to his partying behavior.
When Nick wasn’t hungover, he did just enough school work to get by. If he hadn’t charmed his teachers, he probably wouldn’t have graduated. It was a shame really. There was so much potential, and it was all being wasted.
And then – Jesus.
When Nick was introduced to Jesus after high school, his life took on a new meaning. He became more interested in seeking Christ than in getting drunk and partying. He had a new faith and a new purpose. What he didn’t have was a new personality. He was just as goofy and charismatic as ever, and people still wanted to be around him. But rather than falling back into partying, Nick spent the rest of his college career as a key volunteer in the youth ministry at his local church. He used his magnetism to reach students and help them grow in their faith.
When God considers how people will bring about the kingdom of God here on earth, he isn’t limited by a defined list of “Christian traits.” Just like Nick, we are all given gifts and parts of our personality which are, in and of themselves, neither good nor bad. We have options as to how they will be used and for what purposes. For the kingdom of God to have the greatest impact, we need to be open and aware of all of the strengths we have to offer. Perhaps you have gifts that previously brought destruction to your life. Can those be used for good? Are you taking advantage of all that God has given you? Everything we have - the good, the bad, and the ugly – when given over to God, can all be used to bring hope, healing, and restoration to a world in desperate need of it.
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"Choose your master" 
Friday, 30 June 2017 
Matthew 6:19 “Do not store up for yourselves wealth here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and burglars break in and steal. 20 Instead, store up for yourselves wealth in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and burglars do not break in or steal. 21 For where your wealth is, there your heart will be also.
24 No one can be slave to two masters; for he will either hate the first and love the second, or scorn the second and be loyal to the first. You can’t be a slave to both God and money.
25 “Therefore, I tell you, don’t worry about your life — what you will eat or drink; or about your body — what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are? 27 Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, 29 yet I tell you that not even Shlomo in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. 30 If this is how God clothes grass in the field — which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven — won’t he much more clothe you? What little trust you have!
31 “So don’t be anxious, asking, ‘What will we eat?,’ ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘How will we be clothed?’ 32 For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. 33 But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Don’t worry about tomorrow — tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough tsuris already!
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Jesus said that making the pursuit of wealth the center, the guiding standard, of your life inevitably conflicts with loyalty to God. He stated the common-sense principle (which we often forget) that “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Then he pointedly added, “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Treasure in heaven, treasure by God’s standards, is the most precious item we can “collect.” 
• Conduct a simple life audit. Review your calendar and your checkbook. Based on the time, energy and resources reflected there, what “master(s)” would you say you are serving? Can you see your loyalties shifting as you choose to invest in heavenly treasure? What kinds of changes could you make to give you greater freedom to fully serve God as Lord of your life? 
• Jesus knew our hearts. Pastor Rick Warren wrote, “Money has the greatest potential to replace God in your life… When Jesus is your Master, money serves you, but if money is your master, you become its slave. Wealth is certainly not a sin, but failing to use it for God’s glory is.” * Have you ever faced the temptation to serve God on Sunday, but to serve money the rest of the week? What steps have helped you to break money’s power to rule your life? 
Prayer: Lord Jesus, calling you “Lord” isn’t just a nice, polite title. It means that you rule over my life and my priorities. Give me the courage and devotion to truly mean it when I call you “Lord.” Amen. 
* Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002, p. 267.
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Darren Lippe
Darren Lippe helps facilitate Journey 101 “Loving God” classes, guides a 7th-grade Sunday school class, is a member of a small group and a men’s group, and serves on the curriculum team.
As I considered today’s passage I “chatted” with a very different kind of financial advisor:
DL: So, Mr. Jhet, how did you get started?
Mr. Jhet: Please call me Bud. I started INGOT FINANCIAL because I felt the investment advice I was receiving wasn’t necessarily the best. It’s a little awkward, when discussing your portfolio options, your advisor says, “Let’s see what the ol’ ‘Magic 8-Ball’ has to say.”
DL: That would be disconcerting. So, what is your investment philosophy?
Bud Jhet: I have 3 main tenets when it comes to investing:

• Avoid investments that can be destroyed by moths. 
• Avoid investments that can be destroyed by rust
• Avoid investments that can be stolen by thieves

DL: Um, so what does that leave?
Bud Jhet: The point of this philosophy isn’t that we don’t invest; rather we should recognize that all of our earthly investments are temporary. It would be like paying to remodel an apartment that is on a month-to-month lease – it shouldn’t be (& won’t be) your only legacy. We should dedicate our time & energy on Godly pursuits that will indeed last for eternity.
DL: It’s like my old Scoutmaster would say about his job, “I like my job & it makes me a living, but it’s up to me to make my living worthwhile.”
Bud Jhet: Exactly. We know money can buy us a beautiful house, but it can’t purchase a home. Sure it can buy us a fancy watch, but it can’t give us any more time. And maybe it can supply us with medical care, but it can’t buy us good health.
DL: So, do you take all of your financial guidance from the Bible?
Bud Jhet: Well, as my preacher, Rev. Enue, says the Bible can give us some great counsel. After all, Noah was able to float his stock while everyone else was in liquidation, Peter & Andrew, both fishermen, had a large net income, & Pharaoh’s daughter went to the bank one time & came back with a great prophet - so, not too shabby.
DL: Um, okay. Before we wrap up how did you come up with the name INGOT?
Bud Jhet: INGOT has a double meaning: Ingot can refer to block of gold or silver. But for us, it is a reminder of our motto: IN GOd we Trust.
DL: Great. Would you like to get some lunch?
Bud Jhet: Let me check: “Reply hazy. Try again later.”
DL: (Quizzical look)
Bud Jhet: Well, the Magic 8-Ball isn’t totally without value.
Editor: For our younger readers, the Magic 8-Ball was a fortune-telling game ball that you would turn over to find various responses to your questions ranging from “Yes, Definitely” to “Cannot predict now” to “Don’t Count on it.” This provided minutes of entertainment for the whole family.
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"Not liberated by silver or gold." 
Saturday, 1 July 2017
1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, get your minds ready for work, keep yourselves under control, and fix your hopes fully on the gift you will receive when Yeshua the Messiah is revealed. 14 As people who obey God, do not let yourselves be shaped by the evil desires you used to have when you were still ignorant. 15 On the contrary, following the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in your entire way of life; 16 since the Tanakh says,
“You are to be holy because I am holy.”[1 Peter 1:16 Leviticus 11:44, 45; 19:2; 20:7]
17 Also, if you are addressing as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s actions, you should live out your temporary stay on earth in fear. 18 You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; 19 on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot., Acts 3:1 One afternoon at three o’clock, the hour of minchah prayers, as Kefa and Yochanan were going up to the Temple, 2 a man crippled since birth was being carried in. Every day people used to put him at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, so that he could beg from those going into the Temple court. 3 When he saw Kefa and Yochanan about to enter, he asked them for some money. 4 But they stared straight at him; and Kefa said, “Look at us!” 5 The crippled man fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Kefa said, “I don’t have silver, and I don’t have gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of the Messiah, Yeshua of Natzeret, walk!” 7 And taking hold of him by his right hand, Kefa pulled him up. Instantly his feet and ankles became strong; 8 so that he sprang up, stood a moment, and began walking. Then he entered the Temple court with them, walking and leaping and praising God! 9 Everyone saw him walking and praising God. 10 They recognized him as the same man who had formerly sat begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were utterly amazed and confounded at what had happened to him.
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The letter we call 1 Peter seemed to particularly address new converts to the Christian faith. Peter addressed how our redemption did (“the precious blood of Christ”) and didn’t (“perishable things like silver or gold”) come about. It wasn’t just theory for Peter. Acts 3 reported the vivid story of how the Holy Spirit worked through Peter and John to offer Jesus’ healing to a disabled man who started out hoping for nothing more than a few coins in his beggar’s bowl. 
• Peter and John showed no interest in profiting from the man they healed. (Later a man named Simon tried to buy the apostles’ power, and they sternly rebuked him—cf. Acts 8:9-22). In what ways are today’s assumptions about the connection between money and healing helpful to human well-being? In what ways, if any, do you believe they are damaging? How did Peter, in his letter, explicitly reject any idea that we might be able to redeem ourselves? In whose character and actions did Peter instead firmly ground our confidence of redemption? God did not redeem us to leave our lives unaltered. In what part(s) of your life is God calling you to live differently? How will you respond? 
Prayer: Lord Jesus, wherever your followers went, people’s lives got better. I want to follow you as they did, open to let your power flow through me to better the lives of others. Amen. 
Family Activity: Adults, gather several pennies and hide them throughout your home. Place a bowl in the center of the room. Ask your children to hunt for the pennies. (Pennies can be a choking hazard, so very young children should be supervised.) Let each child place the pennies he or she collected in the bowl. Ask, “If this was all the money our family had, what would you do with it?” Read aloud [Luke 18:9-14; Luke 18:9 Also, to some who were relying on their own righteousness and looking down on everyone else, he told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Parush and the other a tax-collector. 11 The Parushstood and prayed to himself, ‘O God! I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, immoral, or like this tax-collector! 12 I fast twice a week, I pay tithes on my entire income, . . . ’ 13 But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God! Have mercy on me, sinner that I am!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home right with God rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”]. Ask, “What is more important—God or money? Why do you think Jesus wants us to share? How does God want us to feel when we give?” Decide where you will give the pennies. Pray for the people who will receive them and thank God for your blessings.

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Steve Langhofer
Steve is a Congregational Care Pastor at Resurrection Leawood.
Acts 3:1-10: “I don’t have any money to give you,” Peter said. “But I’ve got something better!”
It is not uncommon for people to ask for something we cannot give. They may want money. They may want something we’re not able to do. They may want answers to questions we can’ t answer.
But we can each give them something better. We can give them what Jesus has given us. At our baptism, He poured it into us through His Spirit…"love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control," for starters. (Galatians 5:22-23)
He’s given us grace. We can bless them with that grace. He’s given us a measure of faith. We can model for them what it is to trust (Romans 12:3). He made certain we would all have valuable gifts to give.
It has been said God will never hold us accountable for not being someone else--only for being ourselves. That’s who God made us to be. We give to people out of what God has given us, and that is far better than what they originally thought they needed!
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