Hey yall here are the texts for this week’s discussion:

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John 1:6-8

6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

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John 1:19-28

19Now this was John’s testimony when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.[a]”

21They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”

22Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’ “[b]

24Now some Pharisees who had been sent 25questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26″I baptize with[c] water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

28This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Footnotes:

1. John 1:20 Or Messiah. “The Christ” (Greek) and “the Messiah” (Hebrew) both mean “the Anointed One”; also in verse 25.
2. John 1:23 Isaiah 40:3
3. John 1:26 Or in; also in verses 31 and 33

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to share a love of mine and this year’s Christmas mission opportunity for Th3 Waters.

As many of you know I went last year to Guatemala and did ministry work with prisoners and a small local school in the poorest neighborhood ghetto in Guatemala City called La Limonada. Every year Tita (the lady who runs the schools) and her teachers give out shoes to the students as Christmas gifts each year that will have to last them for the entire year until they can give another pair each year next Christmas. I would love for each Gathering to see if they can give a little money towards the purchase of shoes.  Each pair of shoes costs around $15. And I think they still need to provide shoes for around a hundred kids. If you would like you all can make your donations online at the link I will provide here in this email and on Th3 Harbor, or you can give it to Florence UMC and I can make the donation through the church. What ever your gathering decides is best.

I know that last thing you need is another person asking for money for support to help, and the world bombards each of us with these kinds of opportunities around Christmas time, but even if each gathering gives $15, we can all know that a few children will be able to have shoes for this year! Thank you all for your amazing prayers for these children, their families, Tita, Monica, and the teachers! Your love that flows from Christ is beautiful! Follow the link below to be able to give right now:

We are starting a new Discussion series this week titled, Advent & Christmas ‘08, not original, but it is still a good one! here is the overview and then the text for this week:

Overview:
Week 1: Mark 13:24-37 Pardon Me, What Time is It?
Week 2: Mark 1:1-8 “Ring, Ring”…It’s For You.
Week 3: John 1:6-8, 19-28 You Got The Wrong Guy.
Week 4: Luke 2:1-14  Favor and Peace!
Week 5: Matthew 25:31-46 “You Need?” Nope, Its “They Need!”
Week 6: John 1:10-18 Knowing Without Sight!

“But why dwell on the commonplace rubbish which the starving were driven to feed upon, giver that what I have to recount is an act unparalleled in the history of either the Greeks or the barbarians, and as horrible to relate as it is incredible to hear?” –Josephus

Here is the text for this week:

Mark 13:24-37

24″But in those days, following that distress,

” ‘the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light;

25the stars will fall from the sky,

and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[a]
26″At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
28″Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30I tell you the truth, this generation[b] will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32″No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Be on guard! Be alert[c]! You do not know when that time will come. 34It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35″Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”
Footnotes:
1. Mark 13:25 Isaiah 13:10; 34:4

2. Mark 13:30 Or race

3. Mark 13:33 Some manuscripts alert and pray

Jacob the Luchador!!!!!

Here is the text for this week. (BTW, I understand if this moves to next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday)

Genesis 32

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.

28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, [e] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, [f] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, [g] and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

Footnotes:

e. Genesis 32:28 Israel means he struggles with God .
f. Genesis 32:30 Peniel means face of God .
g. Genesis 32:31 Hebrew Penuel , a variant of Peniel
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Everyone have a wonderful Holiday week! May you all be able to find thanks giving to God, each other, and all those around you!

(Don’t forget the following week is to be a party to invite all thoes you have been blessing during the week.. so get to planning those Christmas parties!

Hey everyone here is the discussion text for this week:

Honey….uh I mean Sis.

Genesis 26

1 Now there was a famine in the land—besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring ^[a] all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

8 When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

10 Then Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

11 So Abimelech gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who molests this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.

19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, ^[b] because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. ^[c] 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, ^[d] saying, “Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 26:4 Or seed
2. Genesis 26:20 Esek means dispute .
3. Genesis 26:21 Sitnah means opposition .
4. Genesis 26:22 Rehoboth means room .

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enjoy the discussion this week!

Hey everyone:

OK, I have been horrible about posting on this blog in the last series, but I will be bringing it back up now.. so here is our new short discussion series (3 weeks long) before we jump into Advent (i.e. Christmas season). Hope you enjoy:

Series Overview:

We all read in the New and Old Testament about people telling everyone who God is by saying that God is the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”… well, in these three weeks we hope to get to know these guys a little more.

Week 1: Genesis 17 Name Change and a Whole Lot of Cutting
Week 2:  Genesis 26:1-25 Honey….uh I mean Sis.
Week 3: Genesis 32:22-32 Jacob the Luchador!

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And now here is the discussion text for you this week:

Genesis 17

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty [a] ; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram [b] ; your name will be Abraham, [c] for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. [d] I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.

23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. 27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 17:1 Hebrew El-Shaddai
2. Genesis 17:5 Abram means exalted father .
3. Genesis 17:5 Abraham means father of many .
4. Genesis 17:19 Isaac means he laughs .

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Have a great week and let the discussions begin!

Hey everyone:

Here is the discusssion for this week…and welcome to the first week of this series, “God’s Politics” Here is a little disclaimer for this series:

Politics for some reason brings out the best and worst in us. And sadly some people are more passionate about politics than they are their faith. But, it is important to attempt to think higher than just the presidential political race that we find ourselves in currently. The purpose of this series hopes to inform all of our decisions in all the areas of our lives and that includes our choice of voting, but the high goal of this series is to challenge every person in the gathering to compare how Christ and Christians should understand how he interacted and lived in a political empire with a Caesar, and then to challenge us to see how we are to live and interact in a political democracy with a president, but all the while knowing that Christians have chosen to ultimately pledge all of who they are to a King and a Kingdom that is above any government found in this world.

Please refrain from any discussion about political parties, presidential, or vice presidential candidates.

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OK here is the text:

Matthew 22:15-22

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might trap him into saying the wrong thing. They sent their followers to him with the Herodians.
‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we know that you are truthful and that you teach God’s way truthfully. You don’t care what anyone thinks about you, because you don’t try to flatter people or favor them. So tell us what you think. Is it lawful to pay tribute to Caesar, or not?’
Jesus knew their evil intentions.
‘Why are you trying to trick me, you hypocrites?’ he said.
‘Show me the tribute coin.’ They brought him a dinar.
‘This…image,’ said Jesus, ‘and this…inscription. Who do they belong to?’
‘Caesar,’ they said.
‘Well then,’ said Jesus, ‘you’d better give Caesar what belongs to Caesar! And away– give God what belongs to God!’
When they heard that they were astonished. They left him and went away.

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Have fun, and remember you can dissect a topic as much as you like in the discussion, but you may not cut on any one person in the gathering.

Hey everyone here is the discussion for this week:

1 Samuel 8:1-21

1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead [a] us, such as all the other nations have.”

6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”

10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle [b] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Everyone go back to his town.”

Footnotes:

1. 1 Samuel 8:5 Traditionally judge ; also in verses 6 and 20
2. 1 Samuel 8:16 Septuagint; Hebrew young men

Churchless Christianity: A Move of God?

There’s another “move of God” that’s sweeping the nations. Have you noticed? Very few of those I’ve spoken with actually have. There are others who don’t necessarily view it as being a literal “movement” because it’s not quite as defined as they like. Not to mention those who don’t particularly approve of God “moving” in this direction. But as one British minister said to me several years ago, addressing all the controversies revolving around every new thing God has done since Genesis, “There’s never been a tidy move of God.”

Never.

Read the rest of the article here! 

Well after reading the article,what do yall think?