The church of Christ on McDermott Road

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24

When we think of what it means to be “saved,” we often think about “forgiveness.” However, we have tried to emphasize this year that salvation is about so much more than forgiveness. When God saves us, he rescues us from danger and humiliation, restoring our dignity and honor. What God did for David, he more fully and completely did for Jesus, and will do for us. So, we continually say, “Great is the Lord!” because we love his salvation, the way he rescues and restores his royal subjects. (Scripture: Psalm 40:11-17)

We will examine Jesus' guidance to the disciples regarding the gift of The Spirit. For the disciple, a purposeful life is a Spirit-filled life. We will consider the role of The Spirit in our lives and ways this passage can serve as a guide for reflection on our discipleship. (Scripture: John 14:15-17)

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7-11

Religious people with wealth and power have often fallen into the trap of believing they could exploit the poor and vulnerable for their own profit, while keeping God happy through religious rituals. This was the situation during the days of Micah. The people of Israel were warned to repent and told that God was coming in judgment. However, there are also promises of deliverance through the coming Messiah. For those of us who have been rescued by the Messiah Micah announced, we ought to be even more committed to doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God. After all, we have seen God’s promises (and threats) be fulfilled. (Scripture: Micah 6:6-8)

Scripture: Titus 1:5-16

In the book of Ruth, we get to see justice and righteousness in the flesh. This is not a book of dry teachings about caring for widows, immigrants, and the poor in the abstract. This is the story of actual righteous people who leveraged their own wealth and well-being to do justice. Ruth acted with honor, doing justice for her mother-in-law, and Boaz did justice by caring for and redeeming Ruth and Naomi. His redemption mirrors, in several ways, what God had done for Israel, what Jesus has done for the church, and what we ought to do for our neighbors. (Scripture: Ruth 2:8-13)

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

The word “Deuteronomy” literally means, “Second Law.” The second generation after the Exodus from Egypt was about to enter into the Promised Land, but they needed to be reminded of the Law. They needed to be reminded who they were supposed to be and how they were supposed to live. They were reminded several times, “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt.” It had been 40 years since slavery. Some of the young adults were not even born when their parents left Egypt. However, every generation of Israel was supposed to think of themselves as former slaves, for whom justice had been done. This justice that was done for them was supposed to shape their sense of justice, how they treated others. Similarly, we must remember that we were slaves, and this should shape our sense of justice. (Scripture: Deuteronomy 15:12-15)