“Now all the tax-gatherers and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2
We are all born sinners and commit sins every day. (Ask yourself, “Was I angry today? Did somebody treat me badly? Did I speed down the street?” ) It’s a level playing field in life-we all need forgiveness from God. As believers, we know the biblical command to love others, yet we translate this “love” command to a puny “nice”. We say “thank you” & smile at people. But, is this what Jesus meant? Just simply good manners ? Many times, we can be nice in the flesh but we can’t truly love without asking God for His power! He calls us to know people. We CAN be a people of initiation, the people who choose love over comfort, the people who realize Jesus died for our sins, too. I love the fact that Jesus rarely hung out with the religious or the “cool”. He seems to give sweet attention to the untidy and the needy. 2,000 years later, He calls us to do the same! #Luke15:1-2 #LoveOutward #InitiateWithTheWorld
Amos Bible Study!
Many of us at Grace Bible Church have loved going deep into our Amos bible study! Many of us have studied much of the Bible but had never stepped into Amos. Why study this book? Amos is sandwiched into a section of Scripture called the “Minor Prophets”. Maybe it’s just me, but I think I avoided this book because it seemed so very “minor”. Can there be anything new to learn here?
YES! The 9 chapters of Amos portray a typical society in human history that had become consumed with its own importance and eventual abandonment of God’s preeminence. Throughout this book, God used Amos to call our attention to the PRIDE of Israel, the IDOLATRY of Israel, the SOCIETAL EVILS of Israel, and the impending JUDGEMENT on Israel. Amos is sent from Judah to Israel to point out the people’s sin and to point up to God’s constant mercy. God shows Himself in this book in fascinating ways. How?
- He is a LION who roars in response to His people’s disobedience.
- He is the divine JUDGE who will call to account His people’s idolatry and subsequent oppression of their fellow men.
- He is the CREATOR who sits above the vaulted sky and orchestrates the symphony of time.
- Finally, He is who He always is–the patient spurned FATHER who asks His people to return to Him because He loves them completely!
This book is so very timely for us.
Whether ancient Israel or Rome or America, the SOCIETAL CYCLE OF IDOLATRY AND OPPRESSION always follows a typical pattern: a society blessed with physical prosperity is often disregards God which leads to neglecting other people. We are forever ignoring what Jesus called the greatest commandments, “to LOVE GOD AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” His judgment is consistently executed on disobedient civilizations. If we are to learn from the book of Amos, we must ask ourselves some questions: How much of the world’s values do we weave into our Christian faith, not realizing we’ve compromised the exclusivity of God and become idolatrous? How much of our society’s love of luxury has wounded fellow human beings made in His image? Finally, how do we get out of this cycle?
SEEK THE LORD. The most glorious and hopeful section of this book centers in Amos chapter 5 where three different times, God offers Israel a divine escape hatch and opportunity for cultural restoration. He offers FULL PARDON, FULL HEALING, and FULL BLESSING if they will seek Him and Him only. He is the Ever Patient One.
The book of Amos will challenge, convict, and renew our hearts. He will enable us to see our culture more clearly & guide us to responding appropriately to His loving leadership. We will see age-old patterns of human (and God’s) history dropped into these 9 chapters and boldly shared by the prophet Amos. Not bad for a “minor” prophet. 🙂
You ready for the challenge?
Download this FREE study at www.grace-bible.org!
Tristie Fisher, Abby Perry, Carolyn Jones, Buck Anderson
Watering Whole-the woman FROM the well!
“So the woman left her waterpot and went into the city.” John 4:28
This verse is in there very middle of this chapter. We nearly always overlook the power of this moment as Jesus and the “woman at the well” meet and talk. We all know she had 5 (6?) husbands, we know she was a despised Samaritan and we know that she was… well, a woman. She is the complete OPPOSITE of the other characters in this text.
The disciples were men, from strict religious communities and (seemingly) tried to follow a morality derived from the law. She is a doomed and hopeless woman reduced to shame. True to form, Jesus initiates conversation with her and takes time to teach her truth. He shows her value. Fast forward through her “come to Jesus” (pun intended!) moment in verse 28. She believes she has found Messiah ! Jesus’ claim to be “Living Water” (v. 10) has changed everything and the water that springs from Him cannot compare to the stagnant liquid from her old waterpot. The dull waterpot fulfilled her physical need yet it couldn’t change the reality of her anguished soul. Her first drink of faith in Christ takes her from thirsty to satiated and from defeated to drenched!
Naturally, she had to put that waterpot down to rush back to the city and tell others about this Man! These are the Bible passages we tend to overlook because we just can’t relate to the primary character. Or can we? Where do we remain thirsty and defeated in our lives? Are we willing to humble ourselves and receive true refreshment from His presence? Do we have a symbolic “waterpot” that just need to be left? This woman was completely changed and became the primary source of the gospel to her city! Maybe we should change her name from the “woman at the well” to the woman from the well.” Jesus wants to be the same for us!