The Cycle of Life as seen through the Book ofJudges

It is amazing how cyclical our lives are...from the daily rising and setting of the sun, to the tides, to the school year, to sleeping each night, we repeat a lot of cycles. Today the lesson was spirited and full of lots of great discussion as we looked at the repeated cycle of rebellion and redemption that the Israelites went through as they settled into the Promised Land. I asked a lot of questions of the fifteen students in attendance (the blueprint of our conversation can be seen here), and they had great insight into problems the Israelites may have faced and the overall human condition. The Book of Judges has a lot to teach us today about the way we conduct ourselves.

Questions for further reflection:
Why do we make wrong choices when we are so aware of the right choices to make?
Will I ever be able to consistently make good choices?
What are the factors in my life that help me make good decisions?
When do I tend to make poor decisions?
If I were God would I have as much patience as He does?

Promises and Faithfulness as Seen Through the Eyes of Joshua

The lesson today went well. After last week's group of sixteen students I wondered how many would come today. It did feel crowded last week, and lots of studies have shown that being crowded is not a comfortable feeling. I expanded the seating area, which made the nine students that came today feel like they had lots of room. They commented on how much they liked the seating more this week. 

The study was on the book of Joshua and for those so inclined more detailed notes may be seen here. I had it written out in this post, but it seemed too long so I uploaded it to Google Docs. I hope the links still work.

Questions for the dinner table

How does God show us in our daily lives that He is faithful?

How do we show God that we are faithful?

In a sense living a Christian life is so simple. Why is it so difficult to do then?

How many of the pressures in my life are self-imposed?

What a Great Day!!!

This morning we had a few new students which is always a reason to be happy. With sixteen students in attendance we now have a new high total, and we are starting to outgrow our corner spot on the comfy couches. When I broached the subject of moving to a different spot in the cafe, there were plans formulated to make it work for next week and beyond. We'll see if Mia's plan works next week.

A few parents inquired today about how to make a donation to help defray the costs of the muffins and drinks. The easiest thing to do is to make a donation to Baltimore Focus. If you would like to see more details about the study itself click here.

Today we were talking about the book of Deuteronomy which is a fascinating book. It is basically comprised of Moses' farewell sermons as he gets ready to hand over the authority to Joshua. Since there is a new generation that has grown up the law needs to be re-told to the people.

In my study I found that the verses that encapsulate the core thought behind the book are found in the beginning of Chapter 6. After starting off with the questions below we dove into the Scripture.

Why would the law need to be repeated?

Who is it who is hearing this?

What are they finally about to do?

This book is a lot like a sermon...Why would Moses be giving sermons?

What is about to happen to Moses?

Who will the new leader be?

Love the Lord Your God

6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³ Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

¹⁰ When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, ¹¹ houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, ¹² be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

¹³ Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. ¹⁴ Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; ¹⁵ for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 

Verse 2 what does it mean to fear the Lord?

Verse 4 what does it mean by heart, soul, strength?

Verse 6 how can they be on our hearts?

Verse 8 tie them on your hands, bind them on your foreheads?

Verse 12 why is God already warning them about being unfaithful?

Verse 14 why would anyone serve another God?

Are there other gods in our world?

How do people serve them?

Do they deliver?

Why do people serve them?

We ran out of time so I did not get to share Gandhi's quote, but i think that there is a lot of truth in it. No one thinks it is a good idea to do the wrong thing and go down the wrong path, but over the course of our lives, our small, day by day decisions turn out to define us, for better or worse.

“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Is this troubling or comforting to you?

How can we apply these thoughts in our lives?

My Busy Life

So sorry I have not posted anything lately...I have been swamped but I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel...or is that the headlight of an oncoming train??? I will do my best to post every Tuesday during the day except for next Tuesday when there is NO MEETING!! This is because of field trips.

Anyway last week we talked all about rules in Leviticus. We had a great discussion about why there are rules in the world and why God has rules for our lives.

Yesterday we talked about the Book of Numbers...quite an interesting book...a few censuses (is that the plural of census?) We talked about how prior to that time God had done most of the heavy lifting (sending the plagues, parting the Red Sea, etc) but now he wanted the people to start to take ownership of their destinies.

It has been great to see the group grow. We had 14 in attendance yesterday which ties our all time high!!! If we get any more we may have to move away from the comfy couches since we are fairly crammed into that area of Evergreen as it is.