Week 18 -- Mark 16:15

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.


This is what we call the Great Commission.  Be sure to read the surrounding verses and look up some cross-references, footnotes, commentaries, etc. for further study.

Please encourage the group by sharing some of the things the Lord is showing you.

Have a great week!

Matthew 4:19 Footnote

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

NIV, Life Application Study Bible Footnote:

Jesus told Peter and Andrew to leave their fishing business and become "fishers of men," to help others find God.  Jesus was calling them away from their productive trades to be productive spiritually.  We all need to fish for souls.  If we practice Christ's teachings and share the gospel with others, we will be able to draw those around us to Christ like a fisherman who pulls fish into his boat with nets.

This was an appropriate verse for us as we were at the lake all week!  My little guy got to try out his new fishing pole for the first time.

Week 17 - Matthew 4:19

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

The first three spokes (The Word, Prayer & Fellowship) prepare us for passing on to others all that we have received from the Lord.  This is accomplished through sharing our own experience of Christ and declaring and explaining the Gospel, God's power to save.  The next spoke and focus for our memory verses is Witnessing.

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Hebrews 3:13 Footnote

Our scripture verse this week is really part of the verse before it, verse 12.  Together they read this way:

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  Hebrews 3:12-13

NIV, Life Appication Bible footnotes:

Our hearts turn away from the living God when we stubbornly refuse to believe him.  If we persist in our unbelief, God will eventually leave us alone in our sin.  But God can give us new hearts, new desires, and new spirits (Ezekiel 36:22-27).  To prevent having an unbelieving heart, stay in fellowship with other believers, talk daily about your mutual faith, be aware of the deceitfulness of sin (it attracts but also destroys), and encourage each other with love and concern.

Pass the Verse, Please!

Along with "Pass the potatoes, please," we are passing our verses around the table.  

Make cards or papers with the verse written on the inside and the scripture reference on the outside.  Take turns drawing a paper and saying the verse before you open it.  

The children are a lot better at this than I am.  I'm having trouble remembering all the scripture references.  Anyone else?

Have a blessed day!

Week 16 - Hebrews 3:13

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

Our focus continues on "fellowship".  Any thoughts?  Why do we need fellowship?

On a different note, we are in the Christmas spirit today!  We're having an Operation Christmas Child shoe box packing party for Samaritan's Purse.  

Consider packing a box and give Christmas away!

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Hebrews 10:24-25 Footnotes & Commentary

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Life Application Study Bible, NIV footnotes:

We have significant privileges associated with our new life in Christ: 1. we have personal access to God through Christ and can draw near to him without an elaborate system (10:22); 2. we may grow in faith, overcome doubts and questions, and deepen our relationship with God (10:23); 3. we may enjoy encouragement from one another (10:24); 4. we may worship together (10:25).

To neglect Christian meetings is to give up the encouragement and help of other Christians.  We gather together to share our faith and to strengthen one another in the Lord.  As we get closer to the "Day" when Christ will return, we will face many spiritual struggles, and even times of persectuion.  Anti-Christian forces will grow in strength.  Difficulties should never be excuses for missing church services.  Rather, as difficulties arise, we should make an even greater effort to be faithful in attendance.

Matthew Henry's Commentary:

IV. We have the means prescribed for preventing our apostasy, and promoting our fidelity and perseverance, Heb. 10:24, 25 He mentions several; as, 1. That we should consider one another, to provoke to love and to good works. Christians ought to have a tender consideration and concern for one another; they should affectionately consider what their several wants, weaknesses, and temptations are; and they should do this, not to reproach one another, to provoke one another not to anger, but to love and good works, calling upon themselves and one another to love God and Christ more, to love duty and holiness more, to love their brethren in Christ more, and to do all the good offices of Christian affection both to the bodies and the souls of each other. A good example given to others is the best and most effectual provocation to love and good works. 2. Not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, Heb. 10:25. It is the will of Christ that his disciples should assemble together, sometimes more privately for conference and prayer, and in public for hearing and joining in all the ordinances of gospel worship. There were in the apostles’ times, and should be in every age, Christian assemblies for the worship of God, and for mutual edification. And it seems even in those times there were some who forsook these assemblies, and so began to apostatize from religion itself. The communion of saints is a great help and privilege, and a good means of steadiness and perseverance; hereby their hearts and hands are mutually strengthened. 3. To exhort one another, to exhort ourselves and each other, to warn ourselves and one another of the sin and danger of backsliding, to put ourselves and our fellow-christians in mind of our duty, of our failures and corruptions, to watch over one another, and be jealous of ourselves and one another with a godly jealousy. This, managed with a true gospel spirit, would be the best and most cordial friendship. 4. That we should observe the approaching of times of trial, and be thereby quickened to greater diligence:So much the more, as you see the day approaching. Christians ought to observe the signs of the times, such as God has foretold. There was a day approaching, a terrible day to the Jewish nation, when their city should be destroyed, and the body of the people rejected of God for rejecting Christ. This would be a day of dispersion and temptation to the chosen remnant. Now the apostle puts them upon observing what signs there were of the approach of such a terrible day, and upon being the more constant in meeting together and exhorting one another, that they might be the better prepared for such a day. There is a trying day coming on us all, the day of our death, and we should observe all the signs of its approaching, and improve them to greater watchfulness and diligence in duty.

I wanted to share this hymn with all of you.  It's been on my heart for the last week.  As Christians we have to put our trust in Jesus....trusting Him for your salvation, your very life, your health, your family, your finances, your relationships, your future....the list goes on.  Whatever circumstances you're facing in your life, may the Lord give you the grace to trust Him more!

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Week 15 - Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

We have been memorizing and meditating on scripture about Christ, the Word and prayer.  Now, we are moving to fellowship.  Fellowship centered around the Lord Jesus provides the mutual encouragement, admonition, and stimulation we all need.

This definition of fellowship comes from the Dictionary of Bible Themes, an online study tool at Biblegateway.com:

The fellowship that believers share as a result of their common union with God through Jesus Christ is expressed in life together. It is evident in worship together, in a love for one another which reflects God’s own love and in a practical commitment to one another which is demonstrated in concern for the weak and readiness to share with the poor and needy.