October 20, 2019 at 4:18 pm · naltadonna · Comments Off on Be the Change: Week 1

Be the Change: Week 1

Sometimes we wonder if one person can actually make a difference in the world. Sometimes we become so overwhelmed by all that is wrong with the world that we doubt that we can make a positive impact as just one person. This Sunday we began a two-week series called “Be the Change,” a series where we are asking the question “Can one person actually make a difference?” Through this series, we hope to embrace and live out the quote “Be the change you want to see in the world.” To change the world, we have to change ourselves first.

Daniel was a prophet who lived during an era when the Jews were living under the Persian rule. Daniel was a Jew with a strong faith in God, and he served the Persian king by interpreting dreams and signs. But when a law was passed forbidding people to worship any god other than King Darius or else they would be thrown into a pit of lions, Daniel was put into a difficult position- to save his life and dishonor God or to risk his life and honor God. Daniel chose to pray to God by an open window in his home just like he always did. His disobedience to the Persian law lands him in a pit of lions; however, God ensured that the lions would not touch Daniel and his life was spared. This miracle moved King Darius to belief in God, and he abolished the law about worshipping King Darius and replaced it with a call for everyone to follow the God of Daniel.

Daniel was just one person going against the Persian law and government. His action to stand up for his faith combined with God’s power led to monumental change in the land. King Darius along with many others in the empire began to follow God. Daniel dared to be the change he desired to see in the world. The same can hold true for us too. When we commit to “being the change” and that combines with the mighty power of God, we can create positive change in our world. Positive change does not always have to be something big and drastic, it can start small. Positive change often starts with just one- one prayer in front of an open window, one act of civil disobedience against an injustice, one child to sponsor, one $20 bill you give, one commitment to listen to understand. Will you dare to be a Daniel in our world?

Scripture Readings:
Monday- Daniel 6:1-9
Tuesday- Daniel 6:10-22
Wednesday- Daniel 6:23-28
Thursday- Daniel 3:1-18
Friday- Daniel 3:19-30

Questions to Consider and Discuss:
1. What are your thoughts on the quote “Be the change you want to see in the world”? Do you like the quote? Why or why not?
2. How is God inviting you to “be the change” in your own spheres of influence?

October 6, 2019 at 9:15 am · naltadonna · Comments Off on Set in Stone: Week 5

Set in Stone: Week 5

This Sunday we wrapped up our sermon series on the Ten Commandments called Set in Stone by looking at the last four commandments.

“Do not kill.” Exodus 20:13 All humans are made in the image of God, which means that when we harm another person, we harm the image of God. All life matters to God. This commandment was given in a tribal society, where people feared for their lives as different tribes conquered each other. Some of us may wonder how this command relates to us today. However, we aren’t as different from the ancient Israelites as we would like to think. Our society is filled with violence. This commandment invites us to consider how we might change the church to be the sort of place that produces and supports nonviolent people. Jesus expanded this commandment to include that if you hate or resent another, you have killed in your heart.

“Do not steal.” Exodus 20:15 Stealing is taking something that is not ours without the owner’s permission. If you have ever been stolen from, you know the fear, anger, and feeling of being violated that theft causes. Stealing harms people and hurts the community. This command protects people’s property, but it also was given to protect the poor. In the Promised Land, everyone was given a parcel of land. There was no reason to steal because the community took care of each other and everyone had enough.

“Do not testify falsely against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16 This commandment extends further than the courtroom to include lying in any form. Gossip and rumors can be forms of bearing false witness. This commandment speaks to the power of our words. Our words have the power to be weapons of destruction or the building blocks of community. God is a God of Truth, and as followers of Christ, we are called to be a people of truth and honesty.

“Do not covet.” Exodus 20:17 To covet is to crave and strongly desire anything that belongs to someone else. We could covet another’s possessions or even covet someone else’s personality traits. You perhaps have heard it said that comparison is the thief of joy. Comparison and coveting are closely linked. Coveting is the thief of joy too. It can lead to jealousy and resentment, and it can be quite harmful for ourselves and our relationships with others.

All four of these commandments can be summed up in this way: Love your neighbor as yourself. When we love our neighbors, we start to see them as God sees them- as beloved and worthy children of God.

Scripture Readings:

• Monday- Exodus 20:13-17
• Tuesday- Genesis 4:1-16
• Wednesday- Matthew 5:21-26
• Thursday- James 3:1-12
• Friday- Psalm 19:1-14

Questions to Consider and Discuss:

1. How does is disobeying these commandments cause harm to one’s neighbor? Community? Self?
2. Which one of these commandments do you struggle with following the most?
3. How is God inviting you to love your neighbor this week through these commandments?

September 29, 2019 at 9:37 pm · naltadonna · Comments Off on Set in Stone: Week 4

Set in Stone: Week 4

This week we continued in our sermon series Set in Stone on the Ten Commandments. Often these commandments can be seen as rigid, burdensome rules, but during this series we have been looking at these commandments through a fresh lens to discover how they are lined in grace and guidelines that lead to full life. Today we talked about two commandments that relate to our families: honor your parents and do not commit adultery.

Commandment #5: Honor your parents. The word “honor” in Hebrew means “heaviness.” In English, it means something like “carries a lot of weight.” To honor is to treat with great importance and with respect. We often think of this commandment in terms of calling young children to obey their parents. However, this commandment was given to adults, calling them to take care of their aging parents. The commandment contains a promise of living a long life if we obey it. It is not necessarily a guarantee for long life, but taking care of our parents sets an example for children to take care of us when we are older. The marker of a vital society is how we treat the most vulnerable. Honoring our parents can be difficult to define, but we know it when we see it. We can honor them by obeying their house rules, by taking care of them when they grow older, by spending time with them, by making one of their signature recipes, and/or by telling them “thank you” or “I love you.” Honoring our parents is a way we can honor God.

Commandment #7: Do not commit adultery. There comes a point in many of our lives, where we stand in front of the person we love the most and say the words: “In the name of God, I take you to be my husband/wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish until death do us part.” Adultery happens when we break the marriage covenant and are unfaithful to our spouse. Fidelity is often not encouraged in our society. We see that in our media- from tv shows to movies to books. People throughout scripture struggled with obeying this commandment too. Adultery breaks a covenant not only with our spouse but also with God. Jesus talks about adultery in terms of internal motives. Jesus said that if a married person looks at someone who isn’t their spouse with lustful thoughts, he/she commits adultery in the heart. Adultery causes harm in a marriage, it negatively affects children, and can disrupts one’s family and community. The positive view of this commandment is to be faithful in marriage. Marriage is a gift from God- it is a gift to be loved and to love another. We honor God through honoring our marriage covenant.

Love is a choice. It is a conscious decision to love and serve one another above yourself. We invite you to choose love this week and to honor your parents and your marriage covenant.

Scripture Readings:
Monday- Exodus 20:1-2, 12-14
Tuesday- Ephesians 6:1-4
Wednesday- Matthew 21:28-32
Thursday- Matthew 5:27-32
Friday- Psalm 71:1-24

Questions to Consider and Discuss:
1. How can you honor your parents more fully?
2. If you are married, we invite you to consider- What is one way you can honor your spouse this week?

September 22, 2019 at 8:30 am · naltadonna · Comments Off on Set in Stone: Week 3

Set in Stone: Week 3

We live in a culture where busy is expected, exhaustion is a status symbol, and productivity is an indicator of our self-worth. We often view rest as a means to an end, with the “end” being going back to the grind of more work. Yet when we are on the edge of burn out, when we are not our best selves because of our exhaustion, and when our happiness wanes from the long days, we know there has to be a more sustainable way to live. This week we looked at the fourth commandment of the Ten Commandments in our series Set in Stone that helps us embrace a better way to live. This commandment states, “Remember the Sabbath day, and treat it as holy.”

Until God delivered them, the Israelites were living as slaves in Egypt, working seven days a week with back-breaking labor. For a people who never got a day off, this commandment of God must have been so freeing for them. For the Israelites, the Sabbath was not just a command, it was and is a gift. In Exodus 20, God reminds us of the story of creation. In six days, God created the whole earth, and on the seventh day, God rested. We rest because God rested. The rest was not a means to an end, the rest was the culmination. The rest was just as important as the productivity. The first thing God declared “holy” was Sabbath. If we can get this commandment right, we can recapture the sense of the holy. According to Exodus 20, Sabbath is intended to be a holy and set-apart day, a day without work, and a day to the Lord.

To keep Sabbath, we must remember four “R’s”: 1) Remember. This is a day to remember God and how God is active in our lives through Christ. It is a day to give thanks for rest, celebration, and play. It is a day to remember that God set apart a day to rest and enjoy the world without distraction. 2) Rest. It is a day for us to recharge and rest. If we think we do not need rest, we are essentially saying we are more indispensable than God. 3) Reflect. It is a day to experience life with wonder and awe. Sabbath helps us discover where we are going and whether or not it’s where we want to end up. 4) Rejoice, Sabbath was given for pleasure and joy. We are meant to enjoy the gifts of creation, gifts such as good food, time with friends and family, naps, and long walks outside. God delights when we are at rest and enjoying life. In his book How to be Here, Rob Bell writes, “Sabbath is when you spend a day remembering that efficiency and production are not God’s highest goals for your life. Joy is.” We encourage you to take some time this week (hopefully a whole day!) for Sabbath to rest, be renewed, and remember God.

Scripture Readings:

• Monday- Exodus 20:8-11
• Tuesday- Genesis 1:31-2:3
• Wednesday- Psalm 92:1-8
• Thursday- Isaiah 56:1-8
• Friday- Matthew 11:28-12:14

Questions to Consider:

1. How can God’s gift of Sabbath help you experience the fullness of life?
2. What three things renew you?

September 8, 2019 at 11:04 pm · naltadonna · Comments Off on Set in Stone: Week 1

Set in Stone: Week 1

When you think of the Ten Commandments, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of one of the Ten Commandments movies, like the one starring Charles Heston. Perhaps you think of a general list of “Thou shall nots.” Or perhaps you think of the controversies of displaying the Ten Commandments in government buildings and public schools. When we think about the Ten Commandments, many of us aren’t particularly enthused or passionate about them. This Sunday we began a new sermon series on the Ten Commandments called Set in Stone, where we hope to shed some new perspective on these commands to see them not as burdensome, rigid rules but more as guidelines to experience freedom and point us to the way life is supposed to be. We hope to write the commandments on our heart as our moral compass.

This Sunday we talked about a part of the Ten Commandments that is perhaps the most important part, yet a section we rarely read. Exodus 20:1-2 is known in most Christian denominations as the preamble to the Ten Commandments. The verses state, “Then God spoke all these words: ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” While it is known as the preamble in most Christian denominations, it is the first commandment for our Jewish brothers and sisters. This announcement helped the Jews and us remember who God is and how God acts on our behalf.

The Ten Commandments were not given in a vacuum as a general list of rules, they must be read in the context of Genesis and Exodus. At the beginning of Exodus, the Israelites were living as slaves in Egypt. They cried out to God for rescue, and God empowered Moses to lead them out of captivity and into freedom. At the outset of the Ten Commandments, God wanted to remind the Israelites of the depths of God’s mercy and grace. They weren’t some “just because” laws, they were principles to bring stability and moral purpose to the Israelites. The law helped give them a unique national identity and were an extension of God’s liberation. They were commands given by a God who loved Israel and wanted them to be a light for the world. They were a guide to show them how life was intended to be.

The same God who rescued the Israelites from captivity rescues us from captivity. Some of us are rescued from being a slave to fear, works righteousness, addiction, or toxic relationships. It’s from a place of rescue and deliverance that God gives us the Ten Commandments. These commandments are meant to be principles to live by, as a grateful response to the God who brought us out of slavery. We receive these commands in a context of grace, where grace always comes before the law. How do we respond to God’s grace? We serve God by writing the commandments on our heart and living them out each day.

Scripture Readings:

• Monday- Exodus 20:1-2
• Tuesday- Exodus 3:1-22
• Wednesday- Exodus 7:1-13
• Thursday- Exodus 13:17-14:31
• Friday- Exodus 15:1-19

Questions to Consider and Discuss:

1. From what bondage has God rescued you?
2. Does Exodus 20:1-2 change your perspective on the Ten Commandments as a whole? Why or why not?

March 12, 2019 at 4:37 pm · naltadonna · Comments Off on Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of the Lenten season. This Sunday we began a Lenten series called “Listening at the Cross,” in which we will spend the next 7 weeks at the foot of the cross, leaning in close to hear what Jesus says. Oftentimes in the Protestant Church, we can have a hard time making the cross real; however, there could be no Easter Sunday without a Good Friday, no resurrection without a death- which is why we are spending this Lenten season at the cross. Each week of this series we will deep dive into each of the seven last words (or rather, statements) of Jesus at the cross. This week we began with what is believed to be the first of the last seven words of Jesus: Father, forgive, them, for they know not what they do.

In Luke 23, we find Jesus beaten, bloodied, and barely able to walk. When they get to Golgotha, the Roman soldiers nail Jesus’ hands and feet to a cross. When people were crucified, they ultimately died by asphyxiation, where they wouldn’t be able to get enough oxygen to breathe. Jesus was in horrific physical pain but also emotional agony too, as the crowds, leaders, and soldiers sneered against him. Yet in the midst of such great suffering, he strains his breath to offer a simple prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus asked God to forgive people who undermined his ministry, called for his crucifixion, and killed him. This is quite an unexpected prayer, and it would have been shocking to anyone who overhead it. Jesus wanted us to overhear this prayer. It would have been easier and less painful to pray silently, but he wanted us to see him offering compassion towards the people who wronged him.

Jesus offers this prayer not only for the people by the cross that day, but for all of us who have ever wronged God. Jesus’ compassion and mercy extends to all. As Jesus prays this prayer from the cross, we discover no deed is unforgiveable, no person unredeemable. The part of this statement “for they know not what they do” implies that Jesus knows these people, their hearts, and their pains. It is an invitation for us to take a step back when we are wronged to consider another person’s story and have compassion on them. I have come to believe that each person who does something we consider offensive and egregious does so out of great suffering and pain of their own.

Forgiveness is hard, but forgiveness is necessary. If we cannot forgive others, it closes us off from the grace we need. Forgiveness enables us to experience true freedom in Christ. The power of forgiveness comes from the truth that it did hurt and matter, yet I still chose to forgive. Rather than being gripped by a grudge, Jesus invites us to find freedom through forgiveness.

Scripture Readings:
Monday- Luke 23:26-35
Tuesday- Matthew 18:21-35
Wednesday- Matthew 6:7-15
Thursday- Isaiah 1:10-20
Friday- Psalm 51:1-19

Questions to Consider and Discuss:
1. Jesus prayed the prayer “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” over you too. What does that mean to you?
2. Are you holding a grudge against someone who has wronged you right now? If so, do you think you could overcome the wrong done to you by praying the prayer “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”?