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Questions in this GPS marked with Ø are particularly recommended for group discussion. Group leaders may add other discussion questions, or substitute other questions for the marked ones, at their discretion.
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"Peter preached Jesus (not Caesar) as Lord of all"
Thursday, 28 September 2017
Acts 10:34 Then Kefa addressed them: “I now understand that God does not play favorites, 35 but that whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what people he belongs to.
36 “Here is the message that he sent to the sons of Isra’el announcing shalom through Yeshua the Messiah, who is Lord of everything. 37 You know what has been going on throughout Y’hudah, starting from the Galil after the immersion that Yochanan proclaimed; 38 how God anointed Yeshua from Natzeret with the Ruach HaKodesh and with power; how Yeshua went about doing good and healing all the people oppressed by the Adversary, because God was with him.
39 “As for us, we are witnesses of everything he did, both in the Judean countryside and in Yerushalayim. They did away with him by hanging him on a stake;[Acts 10:39 Deuteronomy 21:23] 40 but God raised him up on the third day and let him be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by witnesses God had previously chosen, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen again from the dead.
42 “Then he commanded us to proclaim and attest to the Jewish people that this man has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets bear witness to him, that everyone who puts his trust in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44 Kefa was still saying these things when the Ruach HaKodesh fell on all who were hearing the message. 45 All the believers from the Circumcision faction who had accompanied Kefa were amazed that the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh was also being poured out 46 on the Goyim, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Kefa’s response was, 47 “Is anyone prepared to prohibit these people from being immersed in water? After all, they have received the Ruach HaKodesh, just as we did.” 48 And he ordered that they be immersed in the name of Yeshua the Messiah. Then they asked Kefa to stay on with them for a few days.
-------
By this time, Roman emperors claimed to be divine, and used the title “Lord” to assert their supreme rulership. Peter’s claim that he was preaching “the good news through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all!” to an audience of Roman military personnel challenged the emperor’s supremacy. There could only be one “Lord” at a time. But pious Cornelius and his household were ready to accept that message.
• A note of surprise runs through this story—but not among the Romans. We can almost hear the wonder in Peter’s voice as he began: “I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another.” Then “the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” When has some aspect of God’s kingdom, big or small, astonished you and expanded your mental horizons?
• This successful evangelistic trip at first earned Peter some criticism (cf. Acts 11:1-3). God’s mission was to all people from the beginning (cf. Genesis 12:1-3), but over time many of God’s people had come to believe it was about them, not everyone. How ready are you to rejoice when you hear about great success for some congregation, ministry or denomination other than your own?
Prayer: Loving God, your dream for our world, and the reach of your kingdom, are so much bigger than even my biggest imagination. Keep me ready for surprises, and to respond to your surprises with joy. Amen.
-------
Chris Abel
Chris Abel is the Young Adults Pastor at Resurrection, and he describes himself as a "Pastor/Creative-type/Adventurer." A former atheist turned passionate follower of Christ, he completed his seminary education in Washington, DC. Before coming to Resurrection, Chris was a campus pastor near St. Louis, MO.I moved to St. Louis July 1st of 2014 to help a United Methodist Church launch a fourth location. On August 9th, just over a month into my experience there, a young black man named Michael Brown was shot to death by a police officer in a suburb of the city. He was unarmed. The black community was devastated, and so I prayed and asked what Jesus would have me do.
So on August 14, I drove up to Ferguson to participate in a peaceful protest.
Looking back, it's one of those moments I'll tell my kids and grandkids about someday. People gathered and marched peacefully and I was proud to show support for a heartbroken community.
When the march ended hours later, I stopped at a local gas station to grab a drink. As I walked toward the register, a young black woman caught my attention and asked “did you march”? I said, “yes!” to which she responded, “are you press?”
Press?
“No, I just wanted to support the community.”
To say she was surprised would be an understatement. And as I drove home, I realized that this young woman assumed that because I was white, I was only there to capture the media. She didn’t even consider that a white person would care enough to come support someone who looked like her.
And that breaks my heart.
And then I think of Jesus, who was part of a race-based religion who reached across the aisle to people from different cultures, heritage, and race. We don’t talk about it a lot, but that was one of the biggest struggles for the early church—a racial divide.
And Peter was right in the middle of it.
“When the believers in Jerusalem heard about this, instead of rejoicing, “[They] criticized him. They accused him, ‘You went into the home of the uncircumcised and ate with them!’" (Acts 11:3)
His response?
“Peter said, ‘I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another.’” (Acts 10:34)
Another way to say this? “Gentile lives matter, too.”
Daniel Castelo, Religion Professor at Seattle Pacific University, writes, "This inclusion of the Gentiles is controversial not only from the Jews’ perspective but also from the Gentiles’: Paul believes that all nations and all peoples are bound now to this God who for some time was thought to be the exclusive deity of Israel.”
Race and religion were controversial for the early Christians. There were struggles. People had to take a stand (or knee). There were arguments. But what the Christian church aimed to do was to find equality for all people in Christ. They were called to tear down walls and find unity in their differences!
And it wasn’t happening naturally.
Peter was used by God to help people think differently about others. And it was messy. And challenging. And not everyone liked it.
You might not want to think about race. You might just want to watch football. But the truth is, there are inequalities in our world and a bunch of people, who simply because of their skin color, feel unsafe and uncared for. And to them, God’s message is and will always be “you matter and you are loved.”
The challenge is… God uses US to share that message.
He used Peter to change minds.
And He may need to use you to change minds, too.
-------
"Paul challenged Peter’s surrender to peer pressure"
Friday, 29 September 2017
Galatians 2:6 Moreover, those who were the acknowledged leaders — what they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by outward appearances — these leaders added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the Uncircumcised, just as Kefa had been for the Circumcised; 8 since the One working in Kefa to make him an emissary to the Circumcised had worked in me to make me an emissary to the Gentiles. 9 So, having perceived what grace had been given to me, Ya‘akov, Kefa and Yochanan, the acknowledged pillars of the community, extended to me and Bar-Nabba the right hand of fellowship; so that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the Circumcised. 10 Their only request was that we should remember the poor — which very thing I have spared no pains to do.
11 Furthermore, when Kefa came to Antioch, I opposed him publicly, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12 For prior to the arrival of certain people from [the community headed by] Ya‘akov, he had been eating with the Gentile believers; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he was afraid of the faction who favored circumcising Gentile believers. 13 And the other Jewish believers became hypocrites along with him, so that even Bar-Nabba was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not walking a straight path, keeping in line with the truth of the Good News, I said to Kefa, right in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Goy and not like a Jew, why are you forcing the Goyim to live like Jews? 15 We are Jews by birth, not so-called ‘Goyishe sinners’; 16 even so, we have come to realize that a person is not declared righteous by God on the ground of his legalistic observance of Torah commands, but through the Messiah Yeshua’s trusting faithfulness. Therefore, we too have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua and become faithful to him, in order that we might be declared righteous on the ground of the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness and not on the ground of our legalistic observance of Torah commands. For on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, no one will be declared righteous.[Galatians 2:16 Psalm 143:2]
-------
Peter never became a superhuman figure. He was not immune to peer pressure. The episode about which Paul wrote in this letter likely happened after Peter met Cornelius. Yet, under pressure from more conservative Jewish Christians, he pulled back from eating with Gentile Christians. That deeply upset Paul. All Christians were Christians due to Christ’s grace; there was no room for treating any Christian as a second-class citizen in Christ’s kingdom.
• Paul wrote that Peter “began to back out and separate himself, because he was afraid of the people who promoted circumcision.” Peter was willing to hurt Gentile believers to avoid censure from the stricter Jerusalem believers. Have you ever faced disapproval from some Christians because you wished to support and befriend other, different Christians? Did you have more courage than Peter, or not? Would you today?
Ø Paul believed Jesus had given him a life mission to lead Gentiles to faith in Jesus. If “first class” Jewish Christians avoided “second-class” Gentile Christians, then Gentiles weren’t really welcome in God’s family at all. Paul said that couldn’t be right because “no one will be made righteous by the works of the Law,” by externals. Which good behaviors are you or other Christians you know tempted to trust in? What helps you avoid rank ordering other Christians from “excellent” to “not so good”?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, “righteous” people criticized you a lot. You loved them, but you never let them force you to shut out people they thought unworthy. Give me that kind of warm-hearted determination, too. Amen.
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"Peter’s testimony: a key to fully accepting Gentiles"
Saturday, 30 September 2017
Acts 15:1 But some men came down from Y’hudah to Antioch and began teaching the brothers, “You can’t be saved unless you undergo b’rit-milah in the manner prescribed by Moshe.” 2 This brought them into no small measure of discord and dispute with Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba. So the congregation assigned Sha’ul, Bar-Nabba and some of themselves to go and put this sh’eilah before the emissaries and the elders up in Yerushalayim., 5 But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the P’rushim; and they stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe.”
6 The emissaries and the elders met to look into this matter. 7 After lengthy debate, Kefa got up and said to them, “Brothers, you yourselves know that a good while back, God chose me from among you to be the one by whose mouth the Goyim should hear the message of the Good News and come to trust. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore them witness by giving the Ruach HaKodesh to them, just as he did to us; 9 that is, he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their heart by trust. 10 So why are you putting God to the test now by placing a yoke on the neck of the talmidim which neither our fathers nor we have had the strength to bear? 11 No, it is through the love and kindness of the Lord Yeshua that we trust and are delivered — and it’s the same with them.”
-------
Was circumcision required for Gentile men to be truly Christian? That issue kept causing conflict in the early Christian community. When church leaders met in Jerusalem, Peter was a strong voice. He drew on his experience of preaching to Romans to point out that God “made no distinction between us and them.” His testimony was a major factor in the decision James made to welcome Gentiles without heavy behavioral requirements (cf. Acts 15:13-14). This was Peter’s last appearance in the historical narrative in Acts. Christian tradition says he eventually died as martyr for Christ. In a letter he wrote, we find the spirit in which he ministered, and probably faced the end of his life (cf. 1 Peter 5:6-11).
• The big issue at the Jerusalem Council is not a big issue among Christians today. (No one demands enforcing circumcision as a condition of being a Christian!) As we face our issues, we can learn from the fact that the Council chose to respect the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s activity, and not the concrete demand that all Christians follow Genesis 17:10-14. And we can learn from the example of Peter, Paul and “believers from among the Pharisees” who met at the Jerusalem Council. They disagreed about circumcision, but agreed on more central truths. They were all committed to following Jesus, and to trusting him as their Savior. What can you learn from Peter’s deep trust in Jesus’ grace, and his determination to share it with anyone who would listen to him?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that, like Peter, I get to stretch my soul in the spacious atmosphere of your grace. Thank you for the widely varied family of which that makes me a part. Amen.
Family Activity: No one is perfect, but we can all use our God-given gifts and abilities to serve those within and outside of the home. Use construction paper and crayons to draw pictures of your home, your neighborhood and the world. On the pictures, write or draw the gifts of each person in the places where they might be best put to work. Also, write or draw about ways each person’s gifts can be used to serve others in those places. Display your family’s pictures as reminder to serve and care for those who are in your home, neighborhood and world. Thank God for giving these gifts to you and pray that despite your imperfections, God will use you and your family to share His love with the world.
-------
-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Joy Hilliard Donoho and family on the death of her dear friend Neil Parrett, 9/18
•Angela Nelson and family on the death of her mother Erma Milton, 9/17
•Crystal Sixbury and family on the death of her father William Ray “Bill” Trueblood, 9/17
•Randy Wood and family on the death of his father John Wood, 9/17
•Doug and Dee Dickey and family on the death of their sister-in-law Ann Forest Dickey, 9/13
•Steve and Donna Leeder and family on the death of their daughter Laura Leeder Uriell, 9/12
•Katie Finkle and family on the death of her father Rex M. Whitton, Jr., 9/6
•Samantha Birdsong and Adam Hotujac and family on the death of their infant son Jaxton Hotujac, 8/25
• Marienne Brown and family on the death of her mother Jeanne Galamba, 8/7
-------
"Peter preached Jesus (not Caesar) as Lord of all"
Thursday, 28 September 2017
Acts 10:34 Then Kefa addressed them: “I now understand that God does not play favorites, 35 but that whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what people he belongs to.
36 “Here is the message that he sent to the sons of Isra’el announcing shalom through Yeshua the Messiah, who is Lord of everything. 37 You know what has been going on throughout Y’hudah, starting from the Galil after the immersion that Yochanan proclaimed; 38 how God anointed Yeshua from Natzeret with the Ruach HaKodesh and with power; how Yeshua went about doing good and healing all the people oppressed by the Adversary, because God was with him.
39 “As for us, we are witnesses of everything he did, both in the Judean countryside and in Yerushalayim. They did away with him by hanging him on a stake;[Acts 10:39 Deuteronomy 21:23] 40 but God raised him up on the third day and let him be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by witnesses God had previously chosen, that is, by us, who ate and drank with him after he had risen again from the dead.
42 “Then he commanded us to proclaim and attest to the Jewish people that this man has been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets bear witness to him, that everyone who puts his trust in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44 Kefa was still saying these things when the Ruach HaKodesh fell on all who were hearing the message. 45 All the believers from the Circumcision faction who had accompanied Kefa were amazed that the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh was also being poured out 46 on the Goyim, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Kefa’s response was, 47 “Is anyone prepared to prohibit these people from being immersed in water? After all, they have received the Ruach HaKodesh, just as we did.” 48 And he ordered that they be immersed in the name of Yeshua the Messiah. Then they asked Kefa to stay on with them for a few days.
-------
By this time, Roman emperors claimed to be divine, and used the title “Lord” to assert their supreme rulership. Peter’s claim that he was preaching “the good news through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all!” to an audience of Roman military personnel challenged the emperor’s supremacy. There could only be one “Lord” at a time. But pious Cornelius and his household were ready to accept that message.
• A note of surprise runs through this story—but not among the Romans. We can almost hear the wonder in Peter’s voice as he began: “I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another.” Then “the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.” When has some aspect of God’s kingdom, big or small, astonished you and expanded your mental horizons?
• This successful evangelistic trip at first earned Peter some criticism (cf. Acts 11:1-3). God’s mission was to all people from the beginning (cf. Genesis 12:1-3), but over time many of God’s people had come to believe it was about them, not everyone. How ready are you to rejoice when you hear about great success for some congregation, ministry or denomination other than your own?
Prayer: Loving God, your dream for our world, and the reach of your kingdom, are so much bigger than even my biggest imagination. Keep me ready for surprises, and to respond to your surprises with joy. Amen.
-------
Chris AbelChris Abel is the Young Adults Pastor at Resurrection, and he describes himself as a "Pastor/Creative-type/Adventurer." A former atheist turned passionate follower of Christ, he completed his seminary education in Washington, DC. Before coming to Resurrection, Chris was a campus pastor near St. Louis, MO.I moved to St. Louis July 1st of 2014 to help a United Methodist Church launch a fourth location. On August 9th, just over a month into my experience there, a young black man named Michael Brown was shot to death by a police officer in a suburb of the city. He was unarmed. The black community was devastated, and so I prayed and asked what Jesus would have me do.
So on August 14, I drove up to Ferguson to participate in a peaceful protest.
Looking back, it's one of those moments I'll tell my kids and grandkids about someday. People gathered and marched peacefully and I was proud to show support for a heartbroken community.
When the march ended hours later, I stopped at a local gas station to grab a drink. As I walked toward the register, a young black woman caught my attention and asked “did you march”? I said, “yes!” to which she responded, “are you press?”
Press?
“No, I just wanted to support the community.”
To say she was surprised would be an understatement. And as I drove home, I realized that this young woman assumed that because I was white, I was only there to capture the media. She didn’t even consider that a white person would care enough to come support someone who looked like her.
And that breaks my heart.
And then I think of Jesus, who was part of a race-based religion who reached across the aisle to people from different cultures, heritage, and race. We don’t talk about it a lot, but that was one of the biggest struggles for the early church—a racial divide.
And Peter was right in the middle of it.
“When the believers in Jerusalem heard about this, instead of rejoicing, “[They] criticized him. They accused him, ‘You went into the home of the uncircumcised and ate with them!’" (Acts 11:3)
His response?
“Peter said, ‘I really am learning that God doesn’t show partiality to one group of people over another.’” (Acts 10:34)
Another way to say this? “Gentile lives matter, too.”
Daniel Castelo, Religion Professor at Seattle Pacific University, writes, "This inclusion of the Gentiles is controversial not only from the Jews’ perspective but also from the Gentiles’: Paul believes that all nations and all peoples are bound now to this God who for some time was thought to be the exclusive deity of Israel.”
Race and religion were controversial for the early Christians. There were struggles. People had to take a stand (or knee). There were arguments. But what the Christian church aimed to do was to find equality for all people in Christ. They were called to tear down walls and find unity in their differences!
And it wasn’t happening naturally.
Peter was used by God to help people think differently about others. And it was messy. And challenging. And not everyone liked it.
You might not want to think about race. You might just want to watch football. But the truth is, there are inequalities in our world and a bunch of people, who simply because of their skin color, feel unsafe and uncared for. And to them, God’s message is and will always be “you matter and you are loved.”
The challenge is… God uses US to share that message.
He used Peter to change minds.
And He may need to use you to change minds, too.
-------
"Paul challenged Peter’s surrender to peer pressure"
Friday, 29 September 2017
Galatians 2:6 Moreover, those who were the acknowledged leaders — what they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by outward appearances — these leaders added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the Good News for the Uncircumcised, just as Kefa had been for the Circumcised; 8 since the One working in Kefa to make him an emissary to the Circumcised had worked in me to make me an emissary to the Gentiles. 9 So, having perceived what grace had been given to me, Ya‘akov, Kefa and Yochanan, the acknowledged pillars of the community, extended to me and Bar-Nabba the right hand of fellowship; so that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the Circumcised. 10 Their only request was that we should remember the poor — which very thing I have spared no pains to do.
11 Furthermore, when Kefa came to Antioch, I opposed him publicly, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12 For prior to the arrival of certain people from [the community headed by] Ya‘akov, he had been eating with the Gentile believers; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he was afraid of the faction who favored circumcising Gentile believers. 13 And the other Jewish believers became hypocrites along with him, so that even Bar-Nabba was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not walking a straight path, keeping in line with the truth of the Good News, I said to Kefa, right in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Goy and not like a Jew, why are you forcing the Goyim to live like Jews? 15 We are Jews by birth, not so-called ‘Goyishe sinners’; 16 even so, we have come to realize that a person is not declared righteous by God on the ground of his legalistic observance of Torah commands, but through the Messiah Yeshua’s trusting faithfulness. Therefore, we too have put our trust in Messiah Yeshua and become faithful to him, in order that we might be declared righteous on the ground of the Messiah’s trusting faithfulness and not on the ground of our legalistic observance of Torah commands. For on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, no one will be declared righteous.[Galatians 2:16 Psalm 143:2]
-------
Peter never became a superhuman figure. He was not immune to peer pressure. The episode about which Paul wrote in this letter likely happened after Peter met Cornelius. Yet, under pressure from more conservative Jewish Christians, he pulled back from eating with Gentile Christians. That deeply upset Paul. All Christians were Christians due to Christ’s grace; there was no room for treating any Christian as a second-class citizen in Christ’s kingdom.
• Paul wrote that Peter “began to back out and separate himself, because he was afraid of the people who promoted circumcision.” Peter was willing to hurt Gentile believers to avoid censure from the stricter Jerusalem believers. Have you ever faced disapproval from some Christians because you wished to support and befriend other, different Christians? Did you have more courage than Peter, or not? Would you today?
Ø Paul believed Jesus had given him a life mission to lead Gentiles to faith in Jesus. If “first class” Jewish Christians avoided “second-class” Gentile Christians, then Gentiles weren’t really welcome in God’s family at all. Paul said that couldn’t be right because “no one will be made righteous by the works of the Law,” by externals. Which good behaviors are you or other Christians you know tempted to trust in? What helps you avoid rank ordering other Christians from “excellent” to “not so good”?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, “righteous” people criticized you a lot. You loved them, but you never let them force you to shut out people they thought unworthy. Give me that kind of warm-hearted determination, too. Amen.
-------
-------
"Peter’s testimony: a key to fully accepting Gentiles"
Saturday, 30 September 2017
Acts 15:1 But some men came down from Y’hudah to Antioch and began teaching the brothers, “You can’t be saved unless you undergo b’rit-milah in the manner prescribed by Moshe.” 2 This brought them into no small measure of discord and dispute with Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba. So the congregation assigned Sha’ul, Bar-Nabba and some of themselves to go and put this sh’eilah before the emissaries and the elders up in Yerushalayim., 5 But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the P’rushim; and they stood up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe.”
6 The emissaries and the elders met to look into this matter. 7 After lengthy debate, Kefa got up and said to them, “Brothers, you yourselves know that a good while back, God chose me from among you to be the one by whose mouth the Goyim should hear the message of the Good News and come to trust. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore them witness by giving the Ruach HaKodesh to them, just as he did to us; 9 that is, he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their heart by trust. 10 So why are you putting God to the test now by placing a yoke on the neck of the talmidim which neither our fathers nor we have had the strength to bear? 11 No, it is through the love and kindness of the Lord Yeshua that we trust and are delivered — and it’s the same with them.”
-------
Was circumcision required for Gentile men to be truly Christian? That issue kept causing conflict in the early Christian community. When church leaders met in Jerusalem, Peter was a strong voice. He drew on his experience of preaching to Romans to point out that God “made no distinction between us and them.” His testimony was a major factor in the decision James made to welcome Gentiles without heavy behavioral requirements (cf. Acts 15:13-14). This was Peter’s last appearance in the historical narrative in Acts. Christian tradition says he eventually died as martyr for Christ. In a letter he wrote, we find the spirit in which he ministered, and probably faced the end of his life (cf. 1 Peter 5:6-11).
• The big issue at the Jerusalem Council is not a big issue among Christians today. (No one demands enforcing circumcision as a condition of being a Christian!) As we face our issues, we can learn from the fact that the Council chose to respect the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s activity, and not the concrete demand that all Christians follow Genesis 17:10-14. And we can learn from the example of Peter, Paul and “believers from among the Pharisees” who met at the Jerusalem Council. They disagreed about circumcision, but agreed on more central truths. They were all committed to following Jesus, and to trusting him as their Savior. What can you learn from Peter’s deep trust in Jesus’ grace, and his determination to share it with anyone who would listen to him?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you that, like Peter, I get to stretch my soul in the spacious atmosphere of your grace. Thank you for the widely varied family of which that makes me a part. Amen.
Family Activity: No one is perfect, but we can all use our God-given gifts and abilities to serve those within and outside of the home. Use construction paper and crayons to draw pictures of your home, your neighborhood and the world. On the pictures, write or draw the gifts of each person in the places where they might be best put to work. Also, write or draw about ways each person’s gifts can be used to serve others in those places. Display your family’s pictures as reminder to serve and care for those who are in your home, neighborhood and world. Thank God for giving these gifts to you and pray that despite your imperfections, God will use you and your family to share His love with the world.
-------
-------
Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Joy Hilliard Donoho and family on the death of her dear friend Neil Parrett, 9/18
•Angela Nelson and family on the death of her mother Erma Milton, 9/17
•Crystal Sixbury and family on the death of her father William Ray “Bill” Trueblood, 9/17
•Randy Wood and family on the death of his father John Wood, 9/17
•Doug and Dee Dickey and family on the death of their sister-in-law Ann Forest Dickey, 9/13
•Steve and Donna Leeder and family on the death of their daughter Laura Leeder Uriell, 9/12
•Katie Finkle and family on the death of her father Rex M. Whitton, Jr., 9/6
•Samantha Birdsong and Adam Hotujac and family on the death of their infant son Jaxton Hotujac, 8/25
• Marienne Brown and family on the death of her mother Jeanne Galamba, 8/7
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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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©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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