Big Idea: Grace requires you to declare your guilt.

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 43:1-34

I. You can’t avoid it.  1-14

Now the famine in the land was severe. When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.” But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ ” “Why have you caused me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?” They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?” Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our dependents. I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable! If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever. If we had not delayed, we could have come back twice by now.” Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds. Take twice as much silver with you. Return the silver that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man. May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”

 

II. There’s no detour around it. 15-25

The men took this gift, double the amount of silver, and Benjamin. They immediately went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to his steward, “Take the men to my house. Slaughter an animal and prepare it, for they will eat with me at noon.” The man did as Joseph had said and brought them to Joseph’s house. But the men were afraid because they were taken to Joseph’s house. They said, “We have been brought here because of the silver that was returned in our bags the first time. They intend to overpower us, seize us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys.” So they approached Joseph’s steward and spoke to him at the doorway of the house. They said, “My lord, we really did come down here the first time only to buy food. When we came to the place where we lodged for the night and opened our bags of grain, each one’s silver was at the top of his bag! It was the full amount of our silver, and we have brought it back with us. We have brought additional silver with us to buy food. We don’t know who put our silver in the bags.” Then the steward said, “May you be well. Don’t be afraid. Your God and the God of your father must have put treasure in your bags. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them. The steward brought the men into Joseph’s house, gave them water to wash their feet, and got feed for their donkeys. Since the men had heard that they were going to eat a meal there, they prepared their gift for Joseph’s arrival at noon.

 

III. Only through guilt can you get to grace. 26-34

When Joseph came home, they brought him the gift they had carried into the house, and they bowed to the ground before him. He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?” They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they knelt low and paid homage to him. When he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, he asked, “Is this your youngest brother that you told me about?” Then he said, “May God be gracious to you, my son.” Joseph hurried out because he was overcome with emotion for his brother, and he was about to weep. He went into an inner room and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.” They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is detestable to them. They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment. Portions were served to them from Joseph’s table, and Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than any of theirs. They drank and became drunk with Joseph.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need God’s grace for the first time today. 
• Become: I need God’s grace all over again today. 
• Be Sent: I will be an agent of grace this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Describe the last act of grace you received.  How did it make you feel?
2. Did you have to admit your guilt last week?
3. Why is grace often described as a gift?
4. Which is the stronger emotion- guilt or grace? Explain your answer. 
5. Do ongoing struggles hinder your ability to embrace God's grace fully?
6. Does God ever tire of offering his grace?  Explain your answer from Scripture. 
7. Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you feel free from grace this week. 

Big Idea: You can’t outrun guilt.  

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 42

I. We’re all guilty of something. 1-6

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you keep looking at each other? Listen,” he went on, “I have heard there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us so that we will live and not die.” So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. But Jacob did not send Joseph’s brother Benjamin with his brothers, for he thought, “Something might happen to him.” The sons of Israel were among those who came to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan. Joseph was in charge of the country; he sold grain to all its people. His brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.

II. Guilt will always catch up with you.   7-17

When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied. Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said to them, “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land.” “No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said. “We are all sons of one man. We are honest; your servants are not spies.” “No,” he said to them. “You have come to see the weakness of the land.” But they replied, “We, your servants, were twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan. The youngest is now with our father, and one is no longer living.” Then Joseph said to them, “I have spoken: ‘You are spies!’ This is how you will be tested: As surely as Pharaoh lives, you will not leave this place unless your youngest brother comes here. Send one from among you to get your brother. The rest of you will be imprisoned so that your words can be tested to see if they are true. If they are not, then as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!” So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

III. It’s a beast when guilt comes back around.    18-26

On the third day, Joseph said to them, “I fear God—do this and you will live. If you are honest, let one of you be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households. Bring your youngest brother to me so that your words can be confirmed; then you won’t die.” And they consented to this. Then they said to each other, “Obviously, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep distress when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this trouble has come to us.” But Reuben replied, “Didn’t I tell you not to harm the boy? But you wouldn’t listen. Now we must account for his blood!” They did not realize that Joseph understood them, since there was an interpreter between them. He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and had him bound before their eyes. Joseph then gave orders to fill their containers with grain, return each man’s silver to his sack, and give them provisions for their journey. This order was carried out. They loaded the grain on their donkeys and left there.

IV. There’s only one person who can take away your guilt.    27-38

At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver there at the top of his bag. He said to his brothers, “My silver has been returned! It’s here in my bag.” Their hearts sank. Trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What has God done to us?” When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them: “The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. But we told him, ‘We are honest and not spies. We were twelve brothers, sons of the same father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’ ” As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! When they and their father saw their bags of silver, they were afraid. Their father Jacob said to them, “It’s me that you make childless. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!” Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him to you.” But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to remove my guilt today. 
• Become: I will live guilt-free this week. 
• Be Sent: I will graciously help someone find freedom this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. What is your first response when someone claims you are guilty?
2. Should we point out other’s guilt?  Explain your answer.
3. Can you make the pain of guilt worse by trying to hide it?
4. How often do you remind God of your guilt?
5. Should we try to hide our guilt from the people that we love?
6. Did you live this week like you were free from the weight of guilt?  Explain your answer. 
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to remove the burden of guilt this week. 

Big Idea: No faith is too weak; no family is too wicked for God.

Matthew 1:1-3a

This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar).

In the Beginning: Judah

Genesis 38:1-30

I. Things go wrong from the start.   1-5

At that time Judah left his brothers and settled near an Adullamite named Hirah. There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite named Shua; he took her as a wife and slept with her. She conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Er. She conceived again, gave birth to a son, and named him Onan. She gave birth to another son and named him Shelah. It was at Chezib that she gave birth to him.

II. Wickedness runs in the family.   6-11

Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. Now Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, and the Lord put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and produce offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he released his semen on the ground so that he would not produce offspring for his brother. What he did was evil in the Lord’s sight, so he put him to death also. Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up.” For he thought, “He might die too, like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.

III. Don’t frolic with foreign faith.   12-18

After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers. Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep.” So she took off her widow’s clothes, veiled her face, covered herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that, though Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face. He went over to her and said, “Come, let me sleep with you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me for sleeping with me?” “I will send you a young goat from my flock,” he replied. But she said, “Only if you leave something with me until you send it.” “What should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she became pregnant by him.

IV. Why would God choose this family?   19-30

She got up and left, then removed her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on. When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get back the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her. He asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostitute who was beside the road at Enaim?” “There has been no cult prostitute here,” they answered. So the Adullamite returned to Judah, saying, “I couldn’t find her, and besides, the men of the place said, ‘There has been no cult prostitute here.’ ” Judah replied, “Let her keep the items for herself; otherwise we will become a laughingstock. After all, I did send this young goat, but you couldn’t find her.” About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law, Tamar, has been acting like a prostitute, and now she is pregnant.” “Bring her out,” Judah said, “and let her be burned to death!” As she was being brought out, she sent her father-in-law this message: “I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong.” And she added, “Examine them. Whose signet ring, cord, and staff are these?” Judah recognized them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not know her intimately again. When the time came for her to give birth, there were twins in her womb. As she was giving birth, one of them put out his hand, and the midwife took it and tied a scarlet thread around it, announcing, “This one came out first.” But then he pulled his hand back, out came his brother, and she said, “What a breakout you have made for yourself!” So he was named Perez. Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread tied to his hand, came out, and was named Zerah.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need Jesus to wash away my wickedness.
• Become: I need the Holy Spirit to make my faith stronger.
• Be Sent: I will not let my past prevent me from pushing back darkness.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Is it okay to learn about other faiths without damaging your own faith?
2. Has one bad decision led to a series of terrible consequences in your life?
3. Have you ever been ashamed of your weak faith?
4. Have you ever tried to help God by taking matters into your own hands?
5. When did you realize that your family didn’t deserve God’s grace?
6. Do you believe God couldn’t use you because of mistakes in your past?
7. Pray for the courage to push back darkness despite your mistakes and failures.

AMA: Don’t let the government overtake the gospel in your group.

Philippians 3:20

Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Is there room for politics in the church?

1 Timothy 2:1-4 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Psalm 33:12; Jeremiah 29:7; Acts: 5:29; Romans 13 2. Where’s the balance? Proverbs 21:1 A king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever he chooses.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 146:3;  Daniel 3:17; John 19:10-11

3. How far is too far? Exodus 20:1-4 Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Do not have other gods besides me. Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth.

Deuteronomy 11:13-21; Philippians 3:20; Matthew 6:24; Psalm 146:3

Next Steps:

• I need to settle my relationship with Jesus today.
• I want to start a relationship with others this week.
• I will not settle for shallow relationships in my group.

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

AMA: Building awesome bonds requires bearing awkward burdens.

John 1:16-17 

Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness, for the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

1. Sanctity of life.

Leviticus 18:21 “You are not to sacrifice any of your children in the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. Genesis 9:6; Exodus 21:12; 20:13; Psalms 139:13-16; Psalm 127:3-5; Jeremiah 1:4-5; John 8:7; Romans 12:19. 2. Sexual ethics. Leviticus 18:22 You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable.

Genesis 2:24–25; 19:1-11, Leviticus 18:22; 20:13, Romans 1:24–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 12-20; Galatians 5:13-26; 1 Timothy 1:8-11.

3. Social Justice. Matt 25:40 “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matt 25:40

Luke 10:37; 1 Corinthians 13; James 2:8

Next Steps:

• I need to settle my relationship with Jesus today.
• I want to start a relationship with others this week.
• I will not settle for shallow relationships in my group.

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

AMA: 3 boundaries for relationships in the church.

1. Across the block.

Galatians 6:2 Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ 2. Across the bridge. Amos 3:3 Can two walk together without agreeing to meet?

Come together:

1. The Sabbath- - Mark 2:27: Deuteronomy 5:13-15
2. Baptism- Matthew 3:13-17 and Mark 1:9-11; Matthew 28:19–20; Acts 2:41, 8:12; Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12
3. Communion- Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, Luke 22:19-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29
4. Drinking alcohol- - 1 corinthians 6:12, 8:13; John 2:10

3. Across the border. 1 John 4: 1-3 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.

The basics of our faith:

1. Son of God- God the Son
2. Virgin birth
3. Sinless lamb
4. Bodily resurrection (not a ghost) after a physical death
5. Salvation only through his sacrifice (not your works)
6. 
   

Next Steps

• I need to settle my relationship with Jesus today.
• I want to start a relationship with others this week.
• I will not settle for shallow relationships in my group.

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

Big Idea:  Enough spiders can tie down an elephant.

John 17:20-26

Enough spiders can tie down an elephant.

1. One Faith.

John 17:20-21 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.

2. One Family.

John 17: 22-23I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

3. One Forever.

John 17: 24-26 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, so that they will see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the world’s foundation. Righteous Father, the world has not known you. However, I have known you, and they have known that you sent me. I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known, so that the love you have loved me with may be in them and I may be in them.”

Next Steps:

• I want to become part of God’s family today.
• I want to connect with a life group this week.

Big Idea:  Jesus is praying for you today.

John 17:6-19

Jesus is praying for you today.

1. Jesus prays for your faithfulness.

John 17:6-8 “I have revealed your name to the people you gave me from the world. They were yours, you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, because I have given them the words you gave me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from you. They have believed that you sent me.

2. Jesus prays for your effectiveness.

John 17: 9-12“I pray for them. I am not praying for the world but for those you have given me, because they are yours. Everything I have is yours, and everything you have is mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your name that you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by your name that you have given me. I guarded them and not one of them is lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.

3. Jesus prays for your joyfulness.

John 17: 13-16 Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in them. I have given them your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

4. Jesus prays for your holiness.

John 17: 17-19 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

Next Steps:

• I prayed for Jesus to touch my soul for the first time today.
• When life gets difficult, I will trust God’s truth this week.

Big Idea:  Only eternal glory is worth dying for.

John 17:1-5

Only eternal glory is worth dying for.

1. God always acts for his own glory.

John 17:1 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,

2. Only God's glory is eternal.

John 17: 2-3 …since you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ.

3. Courage to conquer.

John 17: 4-5 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with that glory I had with you before the world existed.

Next Steps:

• I have been living for my own glory.  Today, I exchange my glory for Jesus’s glory for the first time.
• I renounce my glory and live for Jesus’s glory only this week.

Big Idea:  Christus Victor is the only Latin you’ll ever need.

John 16:16-33

Christus Victor is the only Latin you’ll ever need.

1. Triumph over toils.

John 16:16-24 “In a little while, you will no longer see me; again in a little while, you will see me.” Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again a little while, you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They said, “What is this he is saying, ‘In a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.” Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.

2. Power in prayer.

John 16:25-28 "In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

3. Courage to conquer.

John 16: 29-33“His disciples said, “Look, now you’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Next Steps:

• I need Jesus to make me new for the first time today.
• I will face my toils with courage tomorrow.

Big Idea:  We have to be able to endure hardships.

John 16:1-15

We have to be able to endure hardships.

1. Stand your ground.

John 16:1-4“I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or me. But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you will remember I told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

2. Departure is needed for growth to happen.

John 16:5-7 "But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going? ’ Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.”

3. We have to be convinced about the truth through the Holy Spirit.

John 16: 8-11 “When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

4. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.

John 16: 12-15  “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.

Next Steps:

• I accept Jesus Christ as my LORD and Savior today for the first time.
• I will stand my ground with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Big Idea:  You can’t live entirely in 1 city and follow Jesus at the same time.

John 15:18-27

You can’t live entirely in 1 city and follow Jesus at the same time.

1. Love amid hatred.

John 15:18-19“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.

2. Safety amid hostility.

John 15: 20-25 Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don’t know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason.3. Help amid challenges.

3. Help amid challenges.

John 15: 26-27  “When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Next Steps:

• I need to experience the hope of the Gospel for the first time today.
• I need help hanging onto my faith today.

Big Idea:  Love alone is stronger than death.

John 15:9-17

Love alone is stronger than death.

1. Love unites eternally.

John 15:9-10As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

2. Love delights fully.

John 15: 11 I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.3. Love sacrifices willingly.

3. Love sacrifices willingly.

John 15: 12-17  This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. “This is what I command you: Love one another.”

Next Steps:

• I need Jesus’s sacrifice to set me free from sin today.
• I will love sacrificially this week.

Big Idea: The crushing weight of God’s will.

In the Beginning: Joseph

Genesis 37:1-36

I. Joseph’s pride and dad’s joy burned his brothers.   1-5

Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan. These are the family records of Jacob. At seventeen years of age, Joseph tended sheep with his brothers. The young man was working with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought a bad report about them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons because Joseph was a son born to him in his old age, and he made a long-sleeved robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not bring themselves to speak peaceably to him. Then Joseph had a dream. When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

II. Your dreams and God’s dreams might be wildly different.   6-11

He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the field. Suddenly my sheaf stood up, and your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” “Are you really going to reign over us?” his brothers asked him. “Are you really going to rule us?” So they hated him even more because of his dream and what he had said. Then he had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun, moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” He told his father and brothers, and his father rebuked him. “What kind of dream is this that you have had?” he said. “Am I and your mother and your brothers really going to come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

III. If evil worked the first time, does that prove it will work again?   12-20

His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers, you know, are pasturing the flocks at Shechem. Get ready. I’m sending you to them.” “I’m ready,” Joseph replied. Then Israel said to him, “Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are doing, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the Hebron Valley, and he went to Shechem. A man found him there, wandering in the field, and asked him, “What are you looking for?” “I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph said. “Can you tell me where they are pasturing their flocks?” “They’ve moved on from here,” the man said. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, “Oh, look, here comes that dream expert! So now, come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!”

IV. The dreamer tumbles down the rabbit hole.   21-36

When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.” Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from them and return him to his father. When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off Joseph’s robe, the long-sleeved robe that he had on. Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty, without water. They sat down to eat a meal, and when they looked up, there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come on, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and his brothers agreed. When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy is gone! What am I going to do?” So they took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a male goat, and dipped the robe in its blood. They sent the long-sleeved robe to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it. Is it your son’s robe or not?” His father recognized it. “It is my son’s robe,” he said. “A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has been torn to pieces!” Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days. All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him. Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guards.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need to start a relationship with Jesus today.
• Become: I will turn to Jesus when the world turns against me.
• Be Sent: I will speak up when I face evil this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Have you ever had a dream from God?
2. Have you ever had your dreams crushed by circumstances out of your control? If so, explain.
3. Was there a time when your family turned against you?
4. How closely do your will and God’s will align?
5. Have you ever been criticized for sharing the truth?
6. When was the last time you tried to stop something evil from happening?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you surrender to God’s will this week.

Big Idea:  Only the seed never planted cannot grow.

John 15:1-8

Only the seed never planted cannot grow.

1. A farmer’s sweat is the best fertilizer.

John 15:1-4 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.

2. Hope breaks up the hardest fields.

John 15: 5-8  I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

How to prepare for FRUIT:

1. Faithfully present the gospel
2. Rely totally on the Holy Spirit
3. Understand the soil
4. Imitate Christ’s love for the lost
5. Trust God with the results

Next Steps:

• I need to be born again today.
• I will plant 1 seed this week.

Big Idea:  No amount of force can make peace inside you.

John 14:18-31

No amount of force can make peace inside you.

1. Peace comes from being let into a new family.

John 14:18-21 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live too. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, you are in me, and I am in you. The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

2. Peace comes from being loved by the father.

John 14: 22-24  Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it you’re going to reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.

3. Peace is learned through the Spirit.

John 14: 25-26  “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.

4. Peace is left by Jesus.

John 14: 27-31 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful. You have heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe. I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming. He has no power over me. On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me. “Get up; let’s leave this place.

Next Steps

• I accept God’s terms for peace for the first time today.
• I need the Holy Spirit to give me peace again today.

Big Idea:  Jesus gives His disciples assurance He will never leave them alone.

John 14:12-17

Jesus gives His disciples assurance He will never leave them alone.

1. Jesus answers their fears.

John 14:12-13 "Truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. And he will do even greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

2. He commands them to put their faith in action.

John 14: 14-15  “If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commands.”

3. I will send you help.

John 14: 16-17  “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn't see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.”

Next Steps

• I will seek God when I’m overcome with fear
• I need assurance through the Holy Spirit.
• I will put my faith in action.

Big Idea:  It doesn’t matter how often you stumble when you’re following the way home.

John 14:1-11

It doesn’t matter how often you stumble when you’re following the way home.

1. Don’t let fear cause you to lose the way.

John 14:1-7 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.” “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

2. Don’t let doubt cause you to miss the truth.

John 14: 8-11  “Lord,” said Philip, “show us the Father, and that’s enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time and you do not know me, Philip? The one who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who lives in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

Next Steps

• I need Jesus to give me life for the first time today.
• I need a few friends to help me stay on the right path this week.

Big Idea:  Soli Deo Gloria

John 13:31-38

Soli Deo Gloria

1. Letting his glory shine.

John 13:31-32 When he had left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

2. Led by his glory.

John 13: 33  Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so now I tell you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

3. Loving for his glory.

John 13: 34-35 “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

4. Living for his glory.

John 13: 36-38 “Lord,” Simon Peter said to him, “where are you going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow later.” “Lord,” Peter asked, “why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus replied, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly I tell you, a rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.

Next Steps

• I’ve lived for my glory.  I need God to change my heart for the first time today.
• I will put God’s glory above my glory this week.

Big Idea:  Body armor can’t stop the wound of a friend.

John 13:21-30

 Body armor can’t stop the wound of a friend.

1. Love and ‘trouble’ go together.

John 13:21-25 When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in his spirit and testified, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples started looking at one another—uncertain which one he was speaking about. One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining close beside Jesus. Simon Peter motioned to him to find out who it was he was talking about. So he leaned back against Jesus and asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

2. Only a friend can stab you in the back.

John 13: 26-27  Jesus replied, “He’s the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” When he had dipped the bread, he gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son. After Judas ate the piece of bread, Satan entered him. So Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.”

3. Lonely nights are the darkest.

John 13: 28-30 None of those reclining at the table knew why he said this to him. Since Judas kept the money-bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give something to the poor. After receiving the piece of bread, he immediately left. And it was night.

Next Steps

• I need Jesus to forgive my betrayal today.
• I need a small group of friends to walk through life with me.
• Despite my past hurt, I will keep my heart open this week.

Big Idea: Humility is the bedrock of humanity!

John 13:12-20

Humility is the bedrock of humanity!

1. Be the first to serve.

John 13:12-17 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you. “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

2. Be ready to sacrifice for others.

John 13: 18-19 “I’m not speaking about all of you; I know those I have chosen. But the Scripture must be fulfilled: The one who eats my bread has raised his heel against me. I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am he.

3. Remember who sent you.

John 13: 20  Truly I tell you, whoever receives anyone I send receives me, and the one who receives me receives him who sent me.”

Next Steps

• Today, I come to Jesus like a humble child for the first time.
• I will find an opportunity to serve someone this week.

Big Idea: Mom’s love can turn finger painting into a fine work of art.

1 Samuel 1: 1 - 28

Mom’s love can turn finger painting into a fine work of art.

1. Mom is passionate.

Samuel 1: 1-8 There was a man from Ramathaim-zophim in the hill country of Ephraim. His name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless. This man would go up from his town every year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of Armies at Shiloh, where Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were the Lord’s priests. Whenever Elkanah offered a sacrifice, he always gave portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to each of her sons and daughters. But he gave a double portion to Hannah, for he loved her even though the Lord had kept her from conceiving. Her rival would taunt her severely just to provoke her, because the Lord had kept Hannah from conceiving. Year after year, when she went up to the Lord’s house, her rival taunted her in this way. Hannah would weep and would not eat. “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband, Elkanah, would ask. “Why won’t you eat? Why are you troubled? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

2. Mom prays.

John 13: 9-16  On one occasion, Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh. The priest Eli was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Armies, if you will take notice of your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.” While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her mouth. Hannah was praying silently, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!” “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven’t had any wine or beer; I’ve been pouring out my heart before the Lord. Don’t think of me as a wicked woman; I’ve been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment.”

3. Mom is present.

John 13: 17-22  Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request you’ve made of him.” “May your servant find favor with you,” she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer looked despondent. The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to worship before the Lord. Afterward, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, “I requested him from the Lord.” When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice and his vow offering to the Lord, Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the Lord’s presence and to stay there permanently.”

4. Mom keeps her promises.

John 13: 23-28 Her husband, Elkanah, replied, “Do what you think is best, and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the Lord confirm your word.” So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him. When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull, half a bushel of flour, and a clay jar of wine. Though the boy was still young, she took him to..."

Next Step:

I will make Hannah’s vow tomorrow.

Big Idea: You are God’s family treasure.

John 13:1-11

You are God’s family treasure.

1. Accepted completely.

John 13:1 Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

2. Held securely.

John 13: 2-3  Now when it was time for supper, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, to betray him. Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, that he had come from God, and that he was going back to God.

3. Purified effortlessly.

John 13: 4-11  So he got up from supper, laid aside his outer clothing, took a towel, and tied it around himself. Next, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I’m doing you don’t realize now, but afterward you will understand.” “You will never wash my feet,” Peter said. Jesus replied, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” “One who has bathed,” Jesus told him, “doesn’t need to wash anything except his feet, but he is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you.” For he knew who would betray him. This is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

Next Steps

• I need to be adopted into Jesus’s family today.
• I will stop trying to earn God’s love this week.

Big Idea: Even Jesus can’t make closed eyes see.

John 12:37-50

Even Jesus can’t make closed eyes see

1. You’re blind when you chose to ignore.

John 12:37-40 Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.

2. You’re blind when you look in the wrong direction.

John 12:41-43  Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than praise from God.

3. You’re blind when you can’t look past the surface.

John 12:44-50  Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”.

Next Steps

• I need Jesus to open my eyes for the first time today.
• I will look at my life through the eyes of faith this week.

Big Idea: Jesus always delivers on his promises even when we don’t deserve it.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 36:1-43

I. You will be fruitful and multiply.   1-8

These are the family records of Esau (that is, Edom). Esau took his wives from the Canaanite women: Adah daughter of Elon the Hethite, Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon the Hivite, and Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth. Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau, Basemath bore Reuel, and Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were Esau’s sons, who were born to him in the land of Canaan. Esau took his wives, sons, daughters, and all the people of his household, as well as his herds, all his livestock, and all the property he had acquired in Canaan; he went to a land away from his brother Jacob. For their possessions were too many for them to live together, and because of their herds, the land where they stayed could not support them. So Esau (that is, Edom) lived in the mountains of Seir.

II. You will father many nations.   9-19

These are the family records of Esau, father of the Edomites in the mountains of Seir. These are the names of Esau’s sons: Eliphaz son of Esau’s wife Adah, and Reuel son of Esau’s wife Basemath. The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. Timna, a concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz, bore Amalek to Eliphaz. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Adah. These are Reuel’s sons: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah and granddaughter of Zibeon: She bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah to Edom. These are the chiefs among Esau’s sons: the sons of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz, chief Korah, chief Gatam, and chief Amalek. These are the chiefs descended from Eliphaz in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Adah. These are the sons of Reuel, Esau’s son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, and chief Mizzah. These are the chiefs descended from Reuel in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Basemath. These are the sons of Esau’s wife Oholibamah: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, and chief Korah. These are the chiefs descended from Esau’s wife Oholibamah daughter of Anah. These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

III. Seir, who?   20-30

These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs among the Horites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom. The sons of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Timna was Lotan’s sister. These are Shobal’s sons: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. These are Zibeon’s sons: Aiah and Anah. This was the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness while he was pasturing the donkeys of his father Zibeon. These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah daughter of Anah. These are Dishon’s sons: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. These are Ezer’s sons: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. These are Dishan’s sons: Uz and Aran. These are the chiefs among the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah, chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan. These are the chiefs among the Horites, clan by clan, in the land of Seir.

IV. Kings (and chiefs) will come from you.   31-43

These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the Israelites: Bela son of Beor reigned in Edom; the name of his city was Dinhabah. When Bela died, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his place. When Jobab died, Husham from the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. When Husham died, Hadad son of Bedad reigned in his place. He defeated Midian in the field of Moab; the name of his city was Avith. When Hadad died, Samlah from Masrekah reigned in his place. When Samlah died, Shaul from Rehoboth on the Euphrates River reigned in his place. When Shaul died, Baal-hanan son of Achbor reigned in his place. When Baal-hanan son of Achbor died, Hadar reigned in his place. His city was Pau, and his wife’s name was Mehetabel daughter of Matred daughter of Me-zahab. These are the names of Esau’s chiefs, according to their families and their localities, by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth, chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are Edom’s chiefs, according to their settlements in the land they possessed. Esau was father of the Edomites.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want to become part of God’s family today.
• Become: I will trust God’s promises this week.
• Be Sent: I will push back darkness this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. How can family history help shape your identity?
2. What family heritage would you like to pass on to the next generation?
3. What family story or tradition most shapes your values?
4. How can understanding family history strengthen family bonds?
5. Is your family history tied to the land where you live? Explain.
6. How can your family help shape the future of your community?
7. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you inspire the next generation this week.

Big Idea: God reset your clock to 00:00 on Easter morning!

John 12:20-36

God reset your clock to 00:00 on Easter morning!

1. Your Identity was reset!.

John 12:20-26 Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

2. Your history was reset!

John 12:27-33  “Now my soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus responded, “This voice came, not for me, but for you. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die.

3. Your future was reset!

John 12:34-36  Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.

Next Steps

• I need Jesus to give my soul life today.
• I need hope that’s stronger than my problems this week.
• I need to let go of a past mistake today.

Big Idea: Who sits at the top of your pyramid of power?

John 12:12-19

Who sits at the top of your pyramid of power?

1. The Roman government.

John 12:12-13 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!”z.

2. The rightful King.

John 12:14-16  Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written: Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt. His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

3. The religious leaders.

John 12:17-19  Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify. This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign. Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

Next Steps

• I need King Jesus to claim my soul for his kingdom today.
• I will lay my heart before at his feet again today.

Big Idea: Light must fight the darkness.

John 12: 9-11

Light must fight the darkness.

Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.

1. Don’t look for controversy.

Romans 12:8 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone..

2. Don’t run from controversy.

1 Corinthians 1:22-23  For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

Next Steps

• I will invite someone to our Easter service this week.
• I need Jesus to give my dead heart new life today.

Big Idea: The heart of worship is a worshipping heart.

John 12: 1-8

The heart of worship is a worshipping heart.

1. Worship requires total sacrifice to the Father.

John 12: 1-3 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

2. Your heart must be joined with Jesus.

John 12: 4-6  But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

3. Your actions must align with the Holy Spirit.

John 12: 7-8 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Next Steps

• I need the Holy Spirit to give me a heart of worship today.
• I will worship Jesus with everything I have this week.

Big Idea: You can’t run fast when tied to a dead faith.

John 11:45-57

You can’t run fast when tied to a dead faith.

1. Don't put religion before Jesus.

John 11: 45-48 Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

2. Don’t put respect before Jesus.

John 11: 49-54  One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God. So from that day on they plotted to kill him. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.

3. Don’t put ritual before Jesus.

John 11: 55-57 Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover. They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? He won’t come to the festival, will he?” The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.

Next Steps

• I need Jesus to change my dead soul today.
• I will run hard after Jesus this week.

Big Idea: Suffering teaches us 1 powerful lesson about King Jesus!

John 11:21-44

Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”

1. Jesus comes near in suffering.

John 11:28-37 Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to cry there. As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died!” When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked. “Lord,” they told him, “come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?”

2.  Jesus cares about your suffering.

John 11:38-42 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. “Remove the stone,” Jesus said. Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so that they may believe you sent me.”

3.   Jesus doesn’t waste your suffering.

John 11:43-44 After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

Next Steps

• I am suffering right now. Help me connect with a Life Group.
• I need Jesus to save me from sin today.
• I will hold on to Jesus during my most difficult days.
  

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

This ministry is supported by your generous donations. To donate, click here.

Big Idea: The resurrection and eternal life are represented in Jesus Christ.

John 11: 1-21

The resurrection and eternal life are represented in Jesus Christ.

1. Delay doesn’t mean denial.

John 11: 1-6 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

2. Courage under fire.

John 11: 7-15 Then after that, he said to the disciples, "Let's go to Judea again." "Rabbi," the disciples told him, "just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you're going there again?" "Aren't there twelve hours in a day?" Jesus answered. "If anyone walks during the day, he doesn't stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.'' He said this, and then he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm on my way to wake him up." Then the disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well." Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. So Jesus then told them plainly, "Lazarus has died. I'm glad for you that I wasn't there so that you may believe. But let's go to him."

3. If only…

John 11: 16-21 Then Thomas (called "Twin") said to his fellow disciples, "Let's go too so that we may die with him." When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem (less than two miles away). Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.

Next Steps

- I need strength while I wait for a response from God.

- I need the Holy Spirit to comfort me in my storm.

- I will trust God more this week.

Big Idea: Ignoring the warning signs could be a sign of war.

John 10: 31-42

Ignoring the warning signs could be a sign of war.

1. Don’t shoot the messenger.

John 10:31-33 Again the Jews picked up rocks to stone him. Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these works are you stoning me?” “We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” the Jews answered, “but for blasphemy, because you—being a man—make yourself God.”

2. Don’t miss the obvious.

John 10:34-39  Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, I said, you are gods? If he called those to whom the word of God came ‘gods’—and the Scripture cannot be broken—do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God? If I am not doing my Father’s works, don’t believe me. But if I am doing them and you don’t believe me, believe the works. This way you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.” Then they were trying again to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

3. Don’t waste time on religious people.

John 10:40-42 So he departed again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.

Next Steps

• I surrender to Jesus for the first time today.
• I need Jesus’s Spirit to win the war within my heart this week.

Big Idea: Jesus paints with permanent ink.

John 10: 22- 30

Jesus paints with permanent ink.

1. God’s sheep are safe in Christ.
2. God’s sheep are secure in Christ.
3. God’s sheep are strong in Christ.
4. God’s sheep are sure in Christ.
5. God’s sheep are sealed in Christ.

Next Steps

• I need to be adopted into God’s family today.
• I will not worry about the future.
• I will live tomorrow through Christ’s strength.

Big Idea: Jesus is the good Shepherd.

John 10: 1 - 21

Jesus is the good Shepherd.

1. Learn the voice of the Good Shepherd.

John 10:1-6 "Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don't know the voice of strangers."  Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

2. The Good Shepherd protects His Sheep.

John 10:7-13 Jesus said again, "Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn't care about the sheep.

3. A Good Shepherd knows his sheep.

John 10:14-18 "I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."

3. Don’t be tone-deaf sheep.

John 19-21 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, "He has a demon and he's crazy. Why do you listen to him?" Others were saying, "These aren't the words of someone who is demon-possessed. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

Next Steps

• I need to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd.
• I am tone-deaf and need prayer to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd.
• I acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd and will follow Him alone.

Big Idea: The Rebirth of a Nation.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 35:16-29 CSB

I. What’s in a name?   16-20

They set out from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult. During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, "Don't be afraid, for you have another son." With her last breath-for she was dying-she named him Ben-oni (son of my sorrow), but his father called him Benjamin (son of my right hand). So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Jacob set up a marker on her grave; it is the marker at Rachel's grave still today.

II. A blessed and dysfunctional family.   21-26

Israel set out again and pitched his tent beyond the Tower of Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard about it. Jacob had twelve sons: Leah's sons were Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Rachel's sons were Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Rachel's slave Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Leah's slave Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

III. Celebration of life.   27-29

Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived 180 years. He took his last breath and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I need a rebirth of the Holy Spirit to change my heart.
• Become: Today I will not let strife and contention separate me from the things of Christ.
• Be Sent: I want a renewed interest in experiencing God this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Do you think a rebirth is needed in our world today? If so, how do you think it should be done?
2. How does God’s affirmation of renaming Jacob to Israel reflect God’s faithfulness to Abraham’s descendants?
3. How does Jacob’s situation challenge us to balance obedience to God with managing complex family relationships and personal challenges?
4. How does God’s command to Jacob to build altars inspire us to create space for worship in our lives?
5. How do you handle the emotions of joy and sorrow, as Jacob did upon the birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel?
6. How can we lean on God's faithfulness in times of personal and family trials?
7. Pray for a spiritual regeneration of the body of Christ in a chaotic world.

Big Idea: Disciple = Discipline

Matthew 6: 16-18

Disciple = Discipline

1. When you fast.

Matthew 6: 16-18 “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so that their fasting is obvious to people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting isn’t obvious to others but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

2. Prayer with fasting.

Acts 13: 2-3 As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.

3. When the stomach corrects the heart.

Isaiah 58: 3-7 “Why have we fasted, but you have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but you haven’t noticed!” “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers. You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high. Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?

Next Steps

• I need to become a disciple of Christ for the first time.
• I will join in the 21-day church fast.

Big Idea: Covering your eyes doesn’t make the truth go away.

John 9: 35-41

1. I once was blind, but now I see!

John 9:35-38 Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, and when he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” “Who is he, Sir, that I may believe in him?” he asked. Jesus answered, “You have seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped him.

2. Is spiritual blindness God’s fault?

John 8:39-41 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things and asked him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?” “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Next Steps:

• I need God to open my eyes for the first time today.
• I need Jesus to help me see my need for Jesus again today.

Big Idea: Glasses can't fix chosen blindness.

John 9: 1-34

1. (Not) All sickness is the result of sin!

John 9:1-12 As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After he said these things he spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing. His neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit begging?” Some said, “He’s the one.” Others were saying, “No, but he looks like him.” He kept saying, “I’m the one.” So they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.” “Where is he?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he said.

2. I refuse to live in a world where everything can be explained.

John 8:12-23 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees. The day that Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes was a Sabbath. Then the Pharisees asked him again how he received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” he told them. “I washed and I can see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he doesn’t keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a sinful man perform such signs?” And there was a division among them. Again they asked the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?” “He’s a prophet,” he said. The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight. They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him as the Messiah, he would be banned from the synagogue. This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”

3. We’re all blind to our blindness.

John 9: 24-34 So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." He answered, "Whether or not he's a sinner. I don't know"I was blind and now I can see!"Then they asked him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" "I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?” They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’s disciples. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don’t know where he’s from.” “This is an amazing thing!” the man told them. “You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does his will, he listens to him. Throughout history no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind. If  this man were not from God, he wouldn't be able to do anything..."

Next Steps

• I’ve been blinded by sin. Today, I turn to Jesus for the first time.
• I need Jesus to open my eyes to his work around me this week.

Big Idea: Titles don’t matter, only your name lasts.

John 8:48-59

1. This name can defeat Thanos.

John 8:48-51 The Jews responded to him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you’re a Samaritan and have a demon?” “I do not have a demon,” Jesus answered. “On the contrary, I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and judges. Truly I tell you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

2. Ignore the critics when they call you names.

John 8:52-53 Then the Jews said, “Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham who died? And the prophets died. Who do you claim to be?”

3. Act in the Father’s name.

John 8:54-56 “If I glorify myself,” Jesus answered, “my glory is nothing. My Father—about whom you say, ‘He is our God’—he is the one who glorifies me. You do not know him, but I know him. If I were to say I don’t know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

4. Call him God the Son.

John 8:57-59 The Jews replied, “You aren’t fifty years old yet, and you’ve seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.

Next Steps

• I need to be called ‘God’s child’ for the first time today.
• I will find an opportunity to make the name of Jesus famous this week.
• I will only allow my Father to shape my identity.

Big Idea: It’s better to lie on a bed of hard truth, than soft lies.

John 8:30-47

1. Truth is the key that unlocks all prison doors.

John 8:30-33 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”

2. Truth is a mirror, not a window, for the human soul.

John 8:34-38 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. I speak what I have seen in the presence of the Father; so then, you do what you have heard from your father.”

3. Truth hurts, but lies kill.

John 8:39-47 “Our father is Abraham,” they replied. “If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus told them, “you would do what Abraham did. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You’re doing what your father does.” “We weren’t born of sexual immorality,” they said. “We have one Father—God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Who among you can convict me of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? The one who is from God listens to God’s words. This is why you don’t listen, because you are not from God.”

Next Steps

• I need Jesus to set me free for the first time.
• I need the Holy Spirit to remind me of my identity with God.
• I will pursue God’s truth in every circumstance this week.

No force on earth can stop a focused church.

Ephesians 4:11-16

Ephesians 4:11-13 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

1. Our past

2. Our present

3. Our future

Next Steps

• I will focus my life on the Great Commission.

You can hold on through anything when you hold on to hope.

John 8:21-29

1. Hope is  more powerful than your problems.

John 8: 21-22  Then he said to them again, “I’m going away; you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I’m going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said again, “He won’t kill himself, will he, since he says, ‘Where I’m going, you cannot come’?”

2. Hope is bigger than your battles.

John 8:23-24  “You are from below,” he told them, “I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”

3. Hope is louder than life’s lies.

John 8:25-29  “Who are you?” they questioned. “Exactly what I’ve been telling you from the very beginning,” Jesus told them. “I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the one who sent me is true, and what I have heard from him—these things I tell the world.” They did not know he was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own. But just as the Father taught me, I say these things. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what pleases him.”

Next Steps

• I will listen to King Jesus rather than the lies about me this week.
• I have lost hope lately.  Pray for me.
• I need Jesus to save me from my sin for the first time.
  

Jesus = Joy = Jesus

1. Joy pushes back darkness.

John 8:12
Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

2. Joy helps you see clearly.  

John 8: 13-18

So the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not valid.” “Even if I testify about myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is true, because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going. You judge by human standards. I judge no one. And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am the one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.”

3. Joy warms your heart. 

John 8:19-20

Then they asked him, “Where is your Father?” “You know neither me nor my Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” He spoke these words by the treasury, while teaching in the temple. But no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

Next Steps:I need Jesus to change my cold heart today.
I will choose joy this week.
I will bring joy to the world this week.

Big Idea: Grace is God’s free and priceless gift.

John 7:53-8:11

1. We all desperately need God’s grace gift. John 7:53   [Then each one went to his house.

2. Grace gives you a second chance. John 8:1-6  But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he went to the temple again, and all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They asked this to trap him, in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.
3. Grace provides the power to change. John 8:6-11  Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]

Next Steps

• I need God’s grace to change my soul today.
• I have been trying to earn God’s grace lately.

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

This ministry is supported by your generous donations. To donate, click here.

A failure to plan is a plan to fail.

1. How will we serve?

1 Thessalonians 3:11  Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.

2. What will we do?

1 Thessalonians 3:12  And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we do for you..

3. Who will we be?

1 Thessalonians 3:13  May he make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen.

Next Steps

1. I need Jesus to accept me into his church.
2. I will pray for my church daily.
3. I will put the Great Commission first in my life.

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

This ministry is supported by your generous donations. To donate, click here.

Big Idea: Only God Almighty can renew families.

In the Beginning: Jacob

Genesis 35:1-15

I. Fathers, lead family repentance.   1-3

God said to Jacob, “Get up! Go to Bethel and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” So Jacob said to his family and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your clothes. We must get up and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to the God who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me everywhere I have gone.”

II. Fathers, usher in family worship.   4-7

Then they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and their earrings, and Jacob hid them under the oak near Shechem. When they set out, a terror from God came over the cities around them, and they did not pursue Jacob’s sons. So Jacob and all who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. Jacob built an altar there and called the place El-bethel because it was there that God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.

III. Fathers, set your family’s path.   8-15

Deborah, the one who had nursed and raised Rebekah, died and was buried under the oak south of Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bacuth. God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan-aram, and he blessed him. God said to him, “Your name is Jacob; you will no longer be named Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel. God also said to him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed an assembly of nations, will come from you, and kings will descend from you. I will give to you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. And I will give the land to your future descendants.” Then God withdrew from him at the place where he had spoken to him. Jacob set up a marker at the place where he had spoken to him—a stone marker. He poured a drink offering on it and poured oil on it. Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Bethel.

Next Steps: 

• Believe: I want to become part of God’s family today. 
• Become: Today, I surrender my lesser gods to God Almighty.
• Be Sent: I will demonstrate that God is my Father this week.

Group Discussion Questions: 

1. Did your family have regular home worship?
2. Was your view of God shaped by your father?
3. Is God Almighty confronting areas of your life right now?
4. Has God shown you his might recently?
5. Did your father impact your life’s course?  If so, explain.
6. Do you know a father who is struggling to lead his family?
7. Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead fathers and families this week.

Big Idea: Your thirst for more ______ can only be satisfied in Jesus.

1. The Holy Spirit satisfies. John 7:37-39  On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
2. He convinces about King Jesus. John 7:40-44  When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from David’s offspring and from the town of Bethlehem, where David lived?” So the crowd was divided because of him. Some of them wanted to seize him, but no one laid hands on him.
3. He sets the rules. John 7:45-52  Then the servants came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?” The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this!” Then the Pharisees responded to them, “Are you fooled too? Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.” Nicodemus—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?” “You aren’t from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

This ministry is supported by your generous donations. To donate, click here.

Big Idea: "Living Free" means no critics allowed in 2 Cities.

1. Believe they can tell God what to do John 7: 10-13  After his brothers had gone up to the festival, then he also went up, not openly but secretly. The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” And there was a lot of murmuring about him among the crowds. Some were saying, “He’s a good man.” Others were saying, “No, on the contrary, he’s deceiving the people.” Still, nobody was talking publicly about him for fear of the Jews.
2. Believe they’re smarter than you John 7: 14-19  When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How is this man so learned, since he hasn’t been trained?” Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t mine but is from the one who sent me. If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
3. Believe they know your heart John 7:20-24   “You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who is trying to kill you?” “I performed one work, and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. “This is why Moses has given you circumcision—not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers—and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”
4. Believe you should follow their rules John 7: 25-31  Some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Yet, look, he’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to him. Can it be true that the authorities know he is the Messiah? But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where he is from.” As he was teaching in the temple, Jesus cried out, “You know me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on my own, but the one who sent me is true. You don’t know him; I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.” Then they tried to seize him. Yet no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. However, many from the crowd believed in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he won’t perform more signs than this man has done, will he?”

5. Believe they can change you

John 7: 32-36 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things about him, and so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent servants to arrest him. Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time. Then I’m going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” Then the Jews said to one another, “Where does he intend to go that we won’t find him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Jewish people dispersed among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, does he? What is this remark he made: ‘You will look for me, and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come’?”

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

This ministry is supported by your generous donations. To donate, click here.

1. Too close John 7:1-5   After this, Jesus traveled in Galilee, since he did not want to travel in Judea because the Jews were trying to kill him. The Jewish Festival of Shelters was near. So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples can see your works that you are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” (For not even his brothers believed in him.)
2. Too far John 7: 6-9  Jesus told them, “My time has not yet arrived, but your time is always at hand. The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me because I testify about it—that its works are evil. Go up to the festival yourselves. I’m not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” After he had said these things, he stayed in Galilee.
Obstacles to faith:

1. Not popular
2. Didn’t get your wish
3. Not for your glory
4. Might be painful
5. Delayed reward

Don't miss our news and announcements! Get our weekly emails by entering your email address HERE

More at 2citieschurch.com

This ministry is supported by your generous donations. To donate, click here.