Summer Study - July 6

Saturday, July 6, 2019 

Faith and Works

Greetings Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Ever since I gave my heart to Christ in the spring of 1982, I have lived in confidence that my faith in Christ has set me free. Most of us know Martin Luther’s famous quote, “We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves in never alone.” In our study today, James talks about that faith that sets us free, but also, he talks about what accompanies that faith, good works. As we study today my prayer is that we will learn to understand the gift of God and our call to actively participate in God’s wonderful gift.    

Read: James 2:14-26

Questions to Consider:

1.     We want to make sure, from the beginning, that we understand that we are not saved by our works, yet James boldly declares that faith is revealed in our works. How does James describe that kind of faith that we are called to have?

2.    How has your faith been evidenced in your actions to others? How are you living out your faith today that shows God’s grace flowing through your life?

Activity for the Day: Tomorrow is Sunday.  Are you looking for a way to grow in your faith or grow in the way you serve?  Check out our weekly newsletter for opportunities to grow in both areas.    

Blessings, 

Jim 

Summer Study - July 5

Friday, July 5, 2019 

No Favorites

Greetings Lake Deaton Family. I hope you had a joyful and safe Independence Day Celebration! If everything is going as planned, I will be on the road helping move our daughter to Fort Collins, Colorado when you are reading this today. Please keep us in your prayers.

I love the book of James, because James does not shy away from addressing the hard subjects. Today we are going to examine one of those hard subjects as we dig into one of the intricacies of what it means to love others. As you prepare to read the passage and watch the video, I encourage you to take a moment and pray that the Holy Spirit would give you an open heart to hear the challenge of James from this passage and to apply it to your life.

Read: James 2:1-13

Questions to Consider:

1.     James calls us to treat everyone equally in this passage, in fact he goes so far as to say that we cannot claim to have faith if we treat some people better than others. Why do you think James is so passionate about this topic? 

2.    In your experience, have the churches that you have been a part of been welcoming of all people? In your own life, do you find that you are a welcoming person to all people? If your answer is anything but yes, what do you think you can do to make changes in your life?

3.     

Activity for the Day: Have you ever been guilty of thinking you are better than someone?  One of Wesley’s 21 Questions asks: Do I thank God that I am not like others?  Consider these questions and write about them in your journal.  

Blessings, 

Summer Study - July 4

Thursday, July 4, 2019 

Quick to Hear, Slow to Speak

Happy 4^thof July!!!

It is hard to be quick to hear and to be slow to speak.  Before you read the text for the day and watch my video please take some time to watchthisTEDx talk by Celeste Headlee about 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation.  There are some great points in this talk about listening and speaking.

Read: James 1:19-27

Questions to Consider:

1.     What aha moments did you have watching the TEDx talk? 

2.    How do you move from just listening to what God says to doing what God says?  What changes do you need to make in your life?  

Activity for the Day: Write these words on an index card:  “Every person should be quick to hear, show to speak, slow to anger.”  Tape this card to a mirror where you will see it every day.  Read it every time you look into the mirror and remember to not be like the man or woman who looks in the mirror but quickly forgets what he or she looks like.  Make these words part of your life.  

Blessings, 

Kristyne 

Summer Study - July 3

Wednesday, July 3, 2019 

Tests

Hi All,

What a privilege I have to share with you in the study of James, Ruth, and Colossians, three unlikely books of the Bible to be lumped together… so I am excited to see what the Holy Spirit has in store for us. In today’s reading, James (the brother of our Lord Jesus and leader of the early church), reminds us all that in our lives we will experience trials and temptations. Anyone experiencing difficulty or a temptation today? I face those every single day. The difference between temptations and trials is that temptations flow out of the desires of my heart, usually self-centered desires. Trials and difficulties are things that come to us because we live in a world that has fallen short of the glory of God or because of choices from others around us, which really are out of our control. The thing I have to keep in mind is that according to vs. 18, I am always a “prized possession” to my Lord and savior, which means God is with me always: leading, guiding, walking with me in the midst of those experiences. I hope today’s reading will fill your heart with comfort and peace.

Read: James 1:9-18

Questions to Consider:

1.     Consider what is an area that you have been vulnerable to temptation in your past, then consider how God always offers a window for you to walk away from that temptation.

2.    Can you remember a time when you experienced testing and because of your patient endurance, you received an unexpected outcome?

Activity for the Day: Today is Wednesday, at the end of the day, before you go to sleep, reflect for a few minutes on your day. Did you experience any testing or trial that is ongoing? How is God giving you the ability to have patience and endurance? Did you experience any temptations? Did you have victory or did you fall into sin? Ask for forgiveness if it developed into sin (i.e. anger at the person who cut in line in front of you…), think of what you could do next time (i.e. breath deeply, count to ten, focus on a verse of the Bible or in prayer).   

Have a blessed day!

Loida 

Summer Study - July 2

Tuesday, July 2, 2019 

Patience 

Friends, 

Welcome to our first real day of our study!  I hope that you have your Bible and journal ready to go. Before you start your reading please check out this pageon the Bible Project website.  I suggest reading the information on the page but I highly recommend making sure you watch the video!  It will give you some great background to get started.  

Read: James 1:1-8(click on the link or use your own Bible) 

Questions to Consider:

1.     Can you think of a time when you have struggled and that struggle has developed your faith and made it stronger?   

2.    Verse 5 talks about asking for wisdom.  When you pray, what things do you ask for?  Have you ever just asked for wisdom and left it at that?  What do you think would happen if you started to pray for Gods wisdom in your life?  

Activity for the Day: Start a Summer Study Journal 

Blessings, 

Kristyne

Summer Study - July 1

July 1, 2019

Welcome to our Summer Study of James, Ruth and Colossians!  

Our goal for this study is for you to develop a daily habit of reading and interacting with the Bible.  We also hope that you participle in the daily activities.  These activities help you put what you read into action.  

As a reminder, each day you will receive an email from Pastor Jim, myself or our special guest writer.  Each email will include a reading assignment, a video to watch, some questions for you to consider and the daily activity.  If you ever have any questions during the study or do not receive your daily email, please email me at kyoung@ncumcfl.com.  If for some reason one day you do not receive you email please visit my blog at this linkor our Facebook page at this link.  

If you do not have a Bible yet, today is the day to go and get one. 

·     If you are new to reading the Bible I would encourage that you read from the NLT (New Living Translation).  If you have been reading the Bible for a while I suggest that you read from the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version).  

·     You might want to use a Study Bible.  I enjoy usingThe HarperCollins Study Bible(NRSV), the New Interpreter’s Study Bible(NRSV) or Life Application Study Bible(NLT)

Besides a Bible please get a journal.  Some days we will direct you in specific ways to use the journal, but please feel free to use the journal each day.  

Blessings, 

Kristyne

Dive In - Own Worst Enemy

Own Worst Enemy 

1 King 19:1-15a NLT

Elijah Flees to Sinai

19 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. ² So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”

³ Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. ⁴ Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”

⁵ Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” ⁶ He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.

⁷ Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”

⁸ So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. ⁹ There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

The Lord Speaks to Elijah

But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁰ Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

¹¹ “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. ¹³ When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴ He replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came.

Questions: 

1. Have you ever had a time in your life when you have felt like you have had to "run away"?  I have had this type of time often in my life.  When I was in seminary, every once and a while I would start to think about what I was doing, that I had given up my dream job of teaching first grade, that I was attempting to learn Greek and Hebrew, that I was really in over my head,  I would start to self-doubt and I would start to get itching to run and I would get into a real state of panic and I would just have to say to myself…STOP IT.  
2. What type of of support system do you currently have around you to keep you from running when times are hard?  
3. Have you ever felt like God has been silent or like a "gentle whisper" in your life?  How do you work to stay tuned into God in these silent or "gentle whisper" times?