Week 8 a summary of skills/traits
Week 8
Hi all,
We’ve been studying scriptures and they can be a bit cryptic at times. Let’s face it parables aren’t always the easiest things to interpret. So I thought this week we ought to look at some practical things we need to do to be disciples.
1) As you read thru any of the Gospels, you notice that Jesus, the Christ
went to church, VERY regularly. In those times the church is where you learned
about God and Torah (The Bible for us). There weren’t that many written
documents. It was before the printing press. Nowadays we have easy access
to learn about God and to hear/read the Bible. I have over 6 Bibles myself.
And to make life easier, you can always go to www.biblegateway.com and find
a scripture in over 10 different English versions and many foreign languages.
(examples see Luke 4:16, 33, 38, 6:6, 13:10)
2) Jesus prayed. He goes to the desert for 40 days and nights and prays.
Jesus was praying when He was transfigured. There are too many references
to mention all of them here. It was so important, that the disciples asked
to be taught how to pray – thus we have “the Lord’s Prayer”
as a result. (examples see Luke 6:12, 9:18, 28, 10:1, 11:1)
3) Love God as God loves you then you will find Joy, peace and Hope in God
and God’s unconditional love. (examples Luke 10:25-28, 11:5-13, 12:22-32)
4) Jesus sent His disciples out to share with others about God’s unconditional
love and forgiveness (in other words, no more sacrifices would be needed
to atone for sin). Is this evangelism, maybe, but I think of it as going
forth and sharing that which brings peace to my life. You see that which
makes us happy; that which makes our eyes sparkle as we talk about it; that
is what we are to share with those around us. (example 9:1-6, 10:1-24, 11:33-36,
12:8-12)
I know there are other things we should be doing, but I don’t want to overwhelm you all in one night. Look these over. See if you agree with my summary. Watch it, I am trying to get you to at least read and think (study) a bit of the account of Christ – ie the Bible.
Here is a quick summary to help you get a glance of what I am talking about:
1) Seek to learn about the Bible – how?
a. Read the Bible
b. Study the Bible (individually and in groups)
c. Listen to the Bible read
d. Listen to others interpretations (ie go to church and hear a sermon)
2) Pray
3) Love
4) Share
More next week.
Alyce