Crosswalk Daily Study

It often feels like the ground is falling apart beneath our feet. This series is meant to regain the grounding of Christ beneath our feet. We will be doing six weeks in the books of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. These books deal with the end of time, the second coming of Jesus, and how to live as apocalyptic people. However, rather than being a proponent of creating fear in people so they might believe in God, Paul takes a different tack. Paul wants people to understand so they DON’T have to live in fear, rather than pushing them to more anxiety.

Lovewell,

Pastor Tim

Creating the Series // Tim Gillespie

Host: Bryant Rodriguez

Guest: Tim Gillespie

In this episode Bryant Rodriguez interviews Tim Gillespie on the making of the series guides, the intention, and what he hopes you walk away with.

It is a blessing to continue this journey toward Jesus together.

Want to get in touch with a pastor?

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]

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It is a blessing to continue this journey toward Jesus together.

Want to get in touch with a pastor?

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]

Text of the Day: The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name. (John 20:11-18)

Reflection Questions:

1 — Take ten minutes today to simply pray in gratitude for what Jesus has done for you. 

2 — Pray specifically for someone who might need a word of grace from Jesus.

3 — Join us for our Friday night program.

Want to get in touch with a pastor?

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]

Text of the Day: Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me. (John 20:26-29)

Reflection Questions:

1 — What messages do you need to hear again and again so they will embed themselves into your heart?

2 —What practice can you put in place to remind you of how good God really is?

3 —What does “not to grieve as others do who have no hope” mean? 

Want to get in touch with a pastor?

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]

Text of the Day: One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” (John 20:24-25)

Reflection Questions:

1 — What proof do you need to believe?

2 — Have you ever felt that following Jesus was an inevitability in your life, but you still wanted to wait for a bit?

3 — What keeps you from believing today?  

Want to get in touch with a pastor?

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]

Text of the Day: That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:19-23)

Reflection Questions:

1 — How does the change we see in these people that met Jesus that night affect your thoughts on Jesus? 

2 — How do you think you would have reacted to this occurrence? 

3 — What can you tell someone about why you believe in Jesus? 

Want to get in touch with a pastor?

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]

Text of the Day: Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message. (John 20:11-18)

Reflection Questions:

1 — As you study the story of the aftermath of the resurrection, is what comes to mind hard to understand or believe? 

2 — How would you explain the resurrection to someone who had never heard it before? How can you press upon them the incredible love that this exposes?

3 — Why, do you think, did it take the disciples a while to awaken to the fact that Jesus was risen? 

Want to get in touch with a pastor?

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]

Text of the Day: Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” Peter and the other disciple started out for the tomb. They were both running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He stooped and looked in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he didn’t go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed— for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. Then they went home. (John 20:1-10)

Reflection Questions:

1 — When did you realize what the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus really meant?

2 —When did you decide you wanted nothing more in life than to follow Jesus, whose sacrifice made your whole life possible?

3 — What would you say if someone asked you to follow Jesus as the center and circumference of your life? Would you be willing? How would that change how you live your life today?

Want to get in touch with a pastor?

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]

Here are some questions to go along with this week’s sermon:

1 — What can you do, as a person of faith, to give this sense of urgency for the resurrection to those you are studying with?

2 — Are you preparing those you are studying with for baptism, or for simply a great understanding of Jesus, both of which are amazing!

3 — What can the church do to help you prepare your people for baptism?

4 — What did the words of Jesus on the cross mean to them and to you today?

5 — The seven phrases that Jesus speaks from the cross are powerful, are evocative, and are transformational. Can you make a list of them from scripture? You will have to jump from gospel to gospel to get them all in!

6 — Why is the cross so important? What can you do to remember its importance in your faith journey?

7 — Do you spend much time thinking about the cross of Christ? How can you make it more central to your understanding of Jesus?

8 — Ask the person you are studying with what the cross might mean to them.

9 — Why is it important to see the role of women in the faith and life of Christ?

10— What can we do, as a community, to give you all the tools you need in order to make the decision for Christ?

11 —Who are you inviting to the Easter service at Crosswalk this year?

12— How does studying the cross give you a spiritual awakening? 

Crosswalk Redlands: [email protected] (Mike Rhynus)

Crosswalk Chattanooga: [email protected]