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“Open my eyes”
Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Psalm 119:ב (Bet)
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
don’t let me stray from your mitzvot.
11 I treasure your word in my heart,
so that I won’t sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, Adonai!
Teach me your laws.
13 I proclaim with my mouth
all the rulings you have spoken.
14 I rejoice in the way of your instruction
more than in any kind of wealth.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
and keep my eyes on your ways.
16 I will find my delight in your regulations.
I will not forget your word.
ג (Gimel)
17 Deal generously with your servant;
then I will live and observe your word.
18 Open my eyes, so that I will see
wonders from your Torah.
-------
Reading the Bible is different from reading a bank statement, newspaper or Facebook page. To grow spiritually from Bible reading calls for us to open our heart as well as our mind to what God wants to say to us through the Bible. Today’s passage offers a lovely model of a prayer that can prepare us to “hear” God’s word on the pages of Scripture.
• “I have hidden your word in my heart,” the psalmist wrote. What does it take to move the word from the printed page (or the screen) into your heart? Here’s an easy way to start: choose a short Bible passage (e.g. John 3:16-17, Psalm 23, or maybe Psalm 119:11 from today’s reading) and commit it to memory this week.
• At the same time, remember this: “The Bible is more than just a big book of inspirational verses and some do’s and don’ts. It’s a story. And like any story, it requires proper context. The Bible we hold in our hands today has been translated across multiple languages and was originally written in a culture much different than ours. This is important to understand because without proper context you will ultimately read the Bible out of context.” * How can you grow in your ability to relate all the “pieces” of the Bible to the big story it tells? Two good options for learning the Bible’s big story are “Meet Your Bible” (Visit cor.org/leawood/grownight for more information) and Disciple 1 Bible Study (cor.org/leawood/disciple).
Prayer: Lord God, open my eyes so that like your faithful followers in all eras, I can examine the wonders of your Instruction! Amen.
* Tyler Speegle, “Five Signs You’re Reading the Bible All Wrong.” Relevant Magazine, web version
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Wendy Connelly
Wendy Connelly is wife to Mark, mom to two kids and a seminary student at Saint Paul School of Theology. She teaches classes at Resurrection Downtown and hosts an interfaith podcast, which you can subscribe to at TheLiftPodcast.org.
As a seminary student, I often approach the Bible as an academic pursuit. I enjoy reading the Bible with critical reflection, and appreciate the importance of thoughtful, informed study.
But there are times when I simply need a word of ancient-everlasting wisdom to wash over me and inform the direction, purpose and situations of my life. To step inside the rushing-wild current of the spiritual life, instead of being its distant and critical observer. There are moments when I open the sacred library in a prayerful posture, and I encounter the supernatural breath behind a word or phrase. I sometimes meet God in those worn, gilded pages, often in unexpected ways.
A few weeks ago, I opened my Bible to pray the Psalms, and a postcard fell out. It was from a hitch-hiking monk whom I had met last year named Joachim.
As I read the Psalms and then prayed, I offered up a prayer for Joachim’s order, The Little Brothers of the Lamb. Within hours of this prayer, my phone rang. It was Brother Joachim! The Little Brothers had companions visiting from France, Italy and Spain, and wondered if I’d give them a tour of the Resurrection Window.
So on July 24, seven of The Little Brothers visited my home for a lively lunch and cake (Joachim’s feast day), then paid a visit to Resurrection, standing before the window and breaking into harmonious song.
And in another spiritually orchestrated surprise, we encountered a Coptic Orthodox priest in the narthex, also visiting, and exchanged harrowing stories of Christians around the world being martyred for their faith. Then, standing in a circle that bound us all as the Body of Christ, we prayed the scriptures aloud: “Our Father, who art in heaven… thy kingdom, come.”
It’s possible that Joachim had already planned to call me that day. But it was an extraordinary coincidence that I had opened the Psalms that morning, discovered the postcard, and offered a prayer specifically for Joachim and his order. I find that scripture study and prayer set in motion a spiritual physics beneath life’s surface, where deep calls unto deep, echoing forth in ripples of serendipity.
We can approach the Bible with sound intellectual critique (good!), yet still remain at a surface level, distant from its power. But we can also sink into its depth with a prayerful posture and access the spiritual current beneath the surface of life, which manifests in everyday miracles.
-------
"Jesus lived the Bible’s eternal principles"
Thursday, 17 August 2017
Matthew 4:1-11
-------
Jesus was tempted to make choices that would have derailed his saving mission. In one case, the tempter tried to mislead Jesus by quoting a single Bible verse. But Jesus grasped the Bible’s overall message, met every temptation with a verse that embodied a deep Bible principle, and no doubt knew that the verse the tempter quoted was a poetic image, not a literal pledge. As we read the Bible, we may find things we question, and some historical puzzles. But like Jesus, we can prayerfully seek the principles that will guide our lives right.
• In verse 6, the tempter quoted from Psalm 91. Jesus didn’t just say, “From the Bible—must be right.” Scholar Scot McKnight wrote that at times we “read the Bible as a collection of… sanctified morsels of truth…. the blessings and promises of God in the Bible emerge from a real life’s story that also knows that we live in a broken world and some days are tough.” * What steps can help you discern the Bible’s core truths? How can it be spiritually (as well as physically) unsafe to take all Bible verses literally, as the tempter urged?
• Our culture tends to keep (and add to) the medieval idea of a horned devil in red tights. Do you think such a figure would have had any appeal for Jesus? Has temptation ever come to you, not as a big “devil” figure, but as a tiny inner whisper urging you to choose a path other than God’s? How can the Bible help you resist that whisper?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, guide me to read the Bible with discernment, as you did. Use it to guide me and armor me against temptations to veer from your path. Amen.
* Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008, pp. 46-47.
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-------
"The apostle Paul’s thoughtful quoting of the Bible"
Friday, 18 August 2017
Romans 15:1-13
-------
The apostle Paul urged Roman Christians to stay united despite their differing Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. How did choose the verses he quoted to them? He read the Bible as a sweeping story, not a set of free-standing verses of equal truth and weight. Though some Old Testament verses might sound as if God loved Jews more than Gentiles, Paul chose verses that said God wanted to reach all people, including Gentiles. He’d thought and prayed hard about the Bible, and traced the directional arc of God’s purpose, not just isolated verses.
• Pastor Hamilton wrote that as we read the Bible, we need something like “a kitchen colander or strainer, holding the important things while the less desirable are rinsed off.” He suggested that one of the best “strainers” is “What is the heart, character, and will of God that Jesus reveals?” So, he concluded, “It is Jesus who serves as the final Word by which other words of scripture are to be judged.” * In what ways can you see Paul using that “strainer” principle in his choice of verses to guide the Roman Christians?
• Paul was living out God’s great purpose, shown in Jesus, to extend love and grace to all people. On that basis, Paul bypassed places where the Bible sounded exclusionary. Have you ever known someone who rejected the Bible because of violent or sexist verses that don’t fit with Jesus' teachings? How can thoughtful Bible reading help you honor God’s inspiration while recognizing human and time-limited parts of Scripture?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, lead my heart beyond theories, abstractions and rigid systems. Meet me as I come to the Bible, and speak your life-giving word into my heart. Amen.
* Hamilton, Adam. Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today (pp. 176, 177). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
-------
-------
"Jesus: God’s final word"
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Hebrews 1:1-4, Luke 24:13-32
-------
A key guiding principle for Disciple 1 Bible study is, “The Word of God is Jesus Christ, and the words of the Bible tell us about that Word. Therefore, when we study the words of the Bible we always look behind, in, and through the words for God’s Word—Jesus Christ.” Luke said that was how Jesus himself explained the Bible to his followers. The letter to the Hebrews said God’s greatest revelation, God’s final word, was not a book, but a person: the person of Jesus: “The Son is the light of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s being.” That’s why only through the Son can we rightly understand the rest of God’s story the Bible unfolds.
• Scholar N. T. Wright said, “The Jewish law told a story which came to its climax in [Jesus]. It pointed to the ideal for human life, and to God’s provision of sacrifice for human sin, not so that people could boast of how successfully they’d accomplished it all, but to point to the Messiah, the truly human being (see John 19:5), the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Jesus’ charge against his contemporaries [in John 5:39-40] is thus that they have been looking at the right book but reading it the wrong way.” * How can you study the Bible, not just as a cerebral task (though it calls for all your mental firepower), but to come into Jesus’ presence and learn from him? In what ways does making him the standard of all truth cast a clearer light on many of the Bible’s difficult parts? How have you learned to look “behind, in and through” the Bible’s words for Jesus?
Prayer: Loving Jesus, I don’t just want to read the right book; I want to read it the right way. Help me know how to look behind, in and through the Bible’s words for you, my Savior and Lord. Amen.
* N. T. Wright, John for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1–10. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p. 69.
Family Activity: To fully live into God’s wisdom and grace, it is important that we know Scripture. Create a stack of Scriptures for your home. Gather and distribute colored index cards and pens or pencils along with a Bible to each family member. Ask each person to choose 3-4 favorite Bible verses and write them on his or her index cards along with his or her name. Collect the cards and keep them on the dining table. Before each meal, select a card, read the passage and pray for the person who chose it. Place that card on the bottom of the stack. If you have young family members, invite them to draw pictures describing the verses or to help other family members. Keep adding to your family’s stack throughout the year and see how many verses you can memorize!
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-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Amy Harris and family on the death of her husband Heath Harris, 8/7
• Delmar Ferguson and family on the death of his son Steven Ferguson, 8/6
• Rhonda Scofield and family on the death of her brother Steven Ferguson, 8/6
• Brenda Sanders and family on the death of her father James Earl Mills, 8/4
• Marian Smith and family on the death of her husband Charles W. “Chuck” Smith, 8/1
• Allison Ewing and family on the death of her father Charles W. “Chuck” Smith, 8/1
• Shanda Clayton and family on the death of her mother Dolly Southgate, 7/31
• Jane Millard and family on the death of her son Thad Stewart Millard, 7/24
• Stacie Wells and family on the death of her mother Janice Remele, 7/23
• Caroline Wells and family on the death of her grandmother, Janice Remele, 7/23
“Open my eyes”
Wednesday, 16 August 2017
Psalm 119:ב (Bet)
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
don’t let me stray from your mitzvot.
11 I treasure your word in my heart,
so that I won’t sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, Adonai!
Teach me your laws.
13 I proclaim with my mouth
all the rulings you have spoken.
14 I rejoice in the way of your instruction
more than in any kind of wealth.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
and keep my eyes on your ways.
16 I will find my delight in your regulations.
I will not forget your word.
ג (Gimel)
17 Deal generously with your servant;
then I will live and observe your word.
18 Open my eyes, so that I will see
wonders from your Torah.
-------
Reading the Bible is different from reading a bank statement, newspaper or Facebook page. To grow spiritually from Bible reading calls for us to open our heart as well as our mind to what God wants to say to us through the Bible. Today’s passage offers a lovely model of a prayer that can prepare us to “hear” God’s word on the pages of Scripture.
• “I have hidden your word in my heart,” the psalmist wrote. What does it take to move the word from the printed page (or the screen) into your heart? Here’s an easy way to start: choose a short Bible passage (e.g. John 3:16-17, Psalm 23, or maybe Psalm 119:11 from today’s reading) and commit it to memory this week.
• At the same time, remember this: “The Bible is more than just a big book of inspirational verses and some do’s and don’ts. It’s a story. And like any story, it requires proper context. The Bible we hold in our hands today has been translated across multiple languages and was originally written in a culture much different than ours. This is important to understand because without proper context you will ultimately read the Bible out of context.” * How can you grow in your ability to relate all the “pieces” of the Bible to the big story it tells? Two good options for learning the Bible’s big story are “Meet Your Bible” (Visit cor.org/leawood/grownight for more information) and Disciple 1 Bible Study (cor.org/leawood/disciple).
Prayer: Lord God, open my eyes so that like your faithful followers in all eras, I can examine the wonders of your Instruction! Amen.
* Tyler Speegle, “Five Signs You’re Reading the Bible All Wrong.” Relevant Magazine, web version
-------
Wendy ConnellyWendy Connelly is wife to Mark, mom to two kids and a seminary student at Saint Paul School of Theology. She teaches classes at Resurrection Downtown and hosts an interfaith podcast, which you can subscribe to at TheLiftPodcast.org.
As a seminary student, I often approach the Bible as an academic pursuit. I enjoy reading the Bible with critical reflection, and appreciate the importance of thoughtful, informed study.
But there are times when I simply need a word of ancient-everlasting wisdom to wash over me and inform the direction, purpose and situations of my life. To step inside the rushing-wild current of the spiritual life, instead of being its distant and critical observer. There are moments when I open the sacred library in a prayerful posture, and I encounter the supernatural breath behind a word or phrase. I sometimes meet God in those worn, gilded pages, often in unexpected ways.
A few weeks ago, I opened my Bible to pray the Psalms, and a postcard fell out. It was from a hitch-hiking monk whom I had met last year named Joachim.
As I read the Psalms and then prayed, I offered up a prayer for Joachim’s order, The Little Brothers of the Lamb. Within hours of this prayer, my phone rang. It was Brother Joachim! The Little Brothers had companions visiting from France, Italy and Spain, and wondered if I’d give them a tour of the Resurrection Window.
So on July 24, seven of The Little Brothers visited my home for a lively lunch and cake (Joachim’s feast day), then paid a visit to Resurrection, standing before the window and breaking into harmonious song.
It’s possible that Joachim had already planned to call me that day. But it was an extraordinary coincidence that I had opened the Psalms that morning, discovered the postcard, and offered a prayer specifically for Joachim and his order. I find that scripture study and prayer set in motion a spiritual physics beneath life’s surface, where deep calls unto deep, echoing forth in ripples of serendipity.
We can approach the Bible with sound intellectual critique (good!), yet still remain at a surface level, distant from its power. But we can also sink into its depth with a prayerful posture and access the spiritual current beneath the surface of life, which manifests in everyday miracles.
-------
"Jesus lived the Bible’s eternal principles"
Thursday, 17 August 2017
Matthew 4:1-11
-------
Jesus was tempted to make choices that would have derailed his saving mission. In one case, the tempter tried to mislead Jesus by quoting a single Bible verse. But Jesus grasped the Bible’s overall message, met every temptation with a verse that embodied a deep Bible principle, and no doubt knew that the verse the tempter quoted was a poetic image, not a literal pledge. As we read the Bible, we may find things we question, and some historical puzzles. But like Jesus, we can prayerfully seek the principles that will guide our lives right.
• In verse 6, the tempter quoted from Psalm 91. Jesus didn’t just say, “From the Bible—must be right.” Scholar Scot McKnight wrote that at times we “read the Bible as a collection of… sanctified morsels of truth…. the blessings and promises of God in the Bible emerge from a real life’s story that also knows that we live in a broken world and some days are tough.” * What steps can help you discern the Bible’s core truths? How can it be spiritually (as well as physically) unsafe to take all Bible verses literally, as the tempter urged?
• Our culture tends to keep (and add to) the medieval idea of a horned devil in red tights. Do you think such a figure would have had any appeal for Jesus? Has temptation ever come to you, not as a big “devil” figure, but as a tiny inner whisper urging you to choose a path other than God’s? How can the Bible help you resist that whisper?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, guide me to read the Bible with discernment, as you did. Use it to guide me and armor me against temptations to veer from your path. Amen.
* Scot McKnight, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008, pp. 46-47.
-------
-------
"The apostle Paul’s thoughtful quoting of the Bible"
Friday, 18 August 2017
Romans 15:1-13
-------
The apostle Paul urged Roman Christians to stay united despite their differing Jewish and Gentile backgrounds. How did choose the verses he quoted to them? He read the Bible as a sweeping story, not a set of free-standing verses of equal truth and weight. Though some Old Testament verses might sound as if God loved Jews more than Gentiles, Paul chose verses that said God wanted to reach all people, including Gentiles. He’d thought and prayed hard about the Bible, and traced the directional arc of God’s purpose, not just isolated verses.
• Pastor Hamilton wrote that as we read the Bible, we need something like “a kitchen colander or strainer, holding the important things while the less desirable are rinsed off.” He suggested that one of the best “strainers” is “What is the heart, character, and will of God that Jesus reveals?” So, he concluded, “It is Jesus who serves as the final Word by which other words of scripture are to be judged.” * In what ways can you see Paul using that “strainer” principle in his choice of verses to guide the Roman Christians?
• Paul was living out God’s great purpose, shown in Jesus, to extend love and grace to all people. On that basis, Paul bypassed places where the Bible sounded exclusionary. Have you ever known someone who rejected the Bible because of violent or sexist verses that don’t fit with Jesus' teachings? How can thoughtful Bible reading help you honor God’s inspiration while recognizing human and time-limited parts of Scripture?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, lead my heart beyond theories, abstractions and rigid systems. Meet me as I come to the Bible, and speak your life-giving word into my heart. Amen.
* Hamilton, Adam. Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today (pp. 176, 177). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
-------
-------
"Jesus: God’s final word"
Saturday, 19 August 2017
Hebrews 1:1-4, Luke 24:13-32
-------
A key guiding principle for Disciple 1 Bible study is, “The Word of God is Jesus Christ, and the words of the Bible tell us about that Word. Therefore, when we study the words of the Bible we always look behind, in, and through the words for God’s Word—Jesus Christ.” Luke said that was how Jesus himself explained the Bible to his followers. The letter to the Hebrews said God’s greatest revelation, God’s final word, was not a book, but a person: the person of Jesus: “The Son is the light of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s being.” That’s why only through the Son can we rightly understand the rest of God’s story the Bible unfolds.
• Scholar N. T. Wright said, “The Jewish law told a story which came to its climax in [Jesus]. It pointed to the ideal for human life, and to God’s provision of sacrifice for human sin, not so that people could boast of how successfully they’d accomplished it all, but to point to the Messiah, the truly human being (see John 19:5), the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. Jesus’ charge against his contemporaries [in John 5:39-40] is thus that they have been looking at the right book but reading it the wrong way.” * How can you study the Bible, not just as a cerebral task (though it calls for all your mental firepower), but to come into Jesus’ presence and learn from him? In what ways does making him the standard of all truth cast a clearer light on many of the Bible’s difficult parts? How have you learned to look “behind, in and through” the Bible’s words for Jesus?
Prayer: Loving Jesus, I don’t just want to read the right book; I want to read it the right way. Help me know how to look behind, in and through the Bible’s words for you, my Savior and Lord. Amen.
* N. T. Wright, John for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1–10. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p. 69.
Family Activity: To fully live into God’s wisdom and grace, it is important that we know Scripture. Create a stack of Scriptures for your home. Gather and distribute colored index cards and pens or pencils along with a Bible to each family member. Ask each person to choose 3-4 favorite Bible verses and write them on his or her index cards along with his or her name. Collect the cards and keep them on the dining table. Before each meal, select a card, read the passage and pray for the person who chose it. Place that card on the bottom of the stack. If you have young family members, invite them to draw pictures describing the verses or to help other family members. Keep adding to your family’s stack throughout the year and see how many verses you can memorize!
-------
-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Amy Harris and family on the death of her husband Heath Harris, 8/7
• Delmar Ferguson and family on the death of his son Steven Ferguson, 8/6
• Rhonda Scofield and family on the death of her brother Steven Ferguson, 8/6
• Brenda Sanders and family on the death of her father James Earl Mills, 8/4
• Marian Smith and family on the death of her husband Charles W. “Chuck” Smith, 8/1
• Allison Ewing and family on the death of her father Charles W. “Chuck” Smith, 8/1
• Shanda Clayton and family on the death of her mother Dolly Southgate, 7/31
• Jane Millard and family on the death of her son Thad Stewart Millard, 7/24
• Stacie Wells and family on the death of her mother Janice Remele, 7/23
• Caroline Wells and family on the death of her grandmother, Janice Remele, 7/23
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Or download this week's printable GPS.
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©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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Or download this week's printable GPS.
-------
©2017 Church of the Resurrection. All Rights Reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
-------
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