MEMORY - Jeremiah 29:11-13

Jeremiah 29: 11-13

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

URGENT PRAYER CONCERN

URGENT HEALING NEEDED: My roommate just asked me to lift up a friend named Jimmy. Jimmy was in a car accident this morning. He has no brain activity and the doctors say no chance of living. He's only 24 and has a baby on the way. WE WANT TO PRAY DOWN HEAVEN ON THIS ONE, so Jimmy will be able to be the father that little baby needs. 

I'm asking you to pray with 3 people and ask them to pray with 3. Let's get a chain going for Jimmy. GOD CAN DO A MIRACLE AND BRING HIM BACK! Jesus did it, and it can still happen if we would just believe! 

Prayer: God we call out for the life of Jimmy! WE ASK FOR HEALING RIGHT NOW IN THE NAME OF JESUS! LOVE HIM IN THIS WAY GOD...LOVE THAT UNBORN BABY IN THIS WAY GOD...THAT SHE WOULD HAVE A EARTHLY FATHER...WE GLORIFY YOU BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT YOU ARE ABLE TO DO! IN THE NAME OF JESUS! AMEN!

Acts 2:14-21

Peter's response to the mockers is classic: "We ain't drunk, its only 9:00am" Peter rebuttal to the mockers response of the disciples seemingly "drunk" state, is nothing complex or profound. He simply gives them the reaction fitting a fisherman from Galilee.  The Spirit has not fallen upon the profound, the intelligentsia or the complex. The Spirit has rather come upon the regular working joe. This occurrence must have been light years away from what the leaders in the Jewish religious communities were expecting. The fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel was most likely expected to first hit those trained in theology and the traditions of the patriarchs. In contrast, God decides to use those who are least expected, in his Kingdom. The elitist can join the banquet, however they are not the first invited. Remember the word of Jesus: "Those who were last, shall be first"

In the rest of this section, Peter begins connecting the sign of the arrival of the Holy Spirit to Old Testament texts. In this particular section, he concentrates on a passage from the prophet Joel. For the jewish crowd, this would have been extremely important. Who they are as a people is deeply connected to the Old Testament Text (Hebrew Bible). Therefore Peter uses the scripture to prove Christ's and the occurrence at Pentecost authenticity.

Questions:
What do you think this prophecy of Joel actually means?
How have you seen this particular prophecy of Joel in your own life or around you?

MEMORY: Thessalonians 3:6

2 Thessalonians 3:6  

⁶ In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching^[a] you received from us. 


Note: Idleness for the Thessolonian church was a problem. The same kind of idleness snare us if we aren't careful. Check out 2 Thessolonians 3 to read about the warning given to the church concerning the issue of idleness. 

God is a HEALER - Childlike faith

BIBLE STUDY: Acts 2

This is some of the most exciting scripture in the Bible...the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Setting: The Day of Pentecost
Understanding the setting is very important in grasping the enormity of the event which takes place during Pentecost. Pentecost was a festival that took place 50 days after the Passover festival. Pentecost refers to the Feast of Weeks or Harvest. This fest was one of the three annual fest when every nations was suppose to come to Jerusalem. Therefore during this time Jews from the every nation, would have been present in Jerusalem.The apostles are in the upper room, mentioned in 1:13, waiting for the promised "Holy Spirit.

2:1-13  Reverse of the Tower of Babel and the Power of Unity

 I must point out that the author describes of the disciples as being "with one accord in one place". The unifying force of mankind is found throughout the scripture. From Gideon's 300 to the tales of Jonathan and his armor bearer starting a war, the bible consistently depicts unified people as a powerful force. There is no place in scripture where this is more evident, than in the account of the Tower of Babel. Found in Genesis 11, men worked together to create a tower to reach Heaven. God is recorded saying:

6 And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to so, now nothing that they propose to so will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." Genesis 11:6-7


God, describes the power of Humankind when being in one accord, as being near limitless. This story is directly related to the coming of the Spirit in the book of Acts. In Genesis humans are trying to reach the divine by their own means, though there motivation and approach is wrong...their attempt could have been successful because of their singular focus. God in turn scatters them, and confuses their speech. In Acts we see the reversal of this. Like the men in the book of Genesis the disciples are completely unified, while waiting for the Christ. Instead of them seeking away to reach the Divine, the Divine (in the form of the Holy Spirit) comes to them. For the unified and empowered church anything is possible. I believe this is what Jesus spoke about when He said, "You will do even greater things than I." He wasn't talking about individuals, but the collective unified empowered church. Act 2:6 In a reversal of the Tower of Babel, now a new tongue (language) or tongues (languages) are spoken which unite rather than divide. God strategically picked the Day of Pentecost, not only because of the Harvest implications, however because on this day all the nations would be in Jerusalem. The Spirit is the great reconciler, between not only God and humans, but also between the races, ethnicities, nations and cultures. This theme of reconciliation will be continued throughout the book of Acts, as the Gospel is not exclusively Jewish, however extended to gentiles.

MEMORY: Philippians 3:17

Philippians 3:17 
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

BIBLE STUDY: Num 13:26-33, Jer 6:17, 1 Cor 2:1-16,

"The Church" 

To take part in this Bible Study, you can answer the questions in the comment section, or leave any thoughts. 

Numbers 13:26-33 

Promise Land = South West Baltimore

Amalekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Canaanites = Addiction, Perversion, Poverty, Murder, Fatherlessness 

Israelites = The Church

The majority report is the city cannot change. The giants of poverty, the breakdown of the family and the after effects of the drug culture, have laid hold to the neighborhood and won't let go. However we cannot listen to the majority report...we must listen to what Caleb says, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." Caleb believed something very key about the promised land...that it was PROMISED by a most high God. God has promised us, that he would mend the broken hearted, and set the captives free...because of the promises of Isaiah 61...we stand firm in knowing that we can take the land! It's GOD'S! 

QUESTIONS

What is your promise land? And what's keeping you from it? 

Jeremiah 6:17

The watchman are shouting at us to PAY ATTENTION, the trumpet is blaring. The trumpet is symbolic of the call of God through the prophets. How will we respond to the wake up calls God is readily giving us? Will we take heed or do what Israel did in this scripture..."not listen". 

QUESTIONS

What is the Trumpet in your life? Are you listening to it or ignoring it? 

Cor 2:1-5 Paul comes not knowing anything but Christ Jesus. No Flare, theatrics, persuasion or human wisdom was used in his presentation of the Gospel to the Corinthians during his initial visit. Because of the difficulty of his travels and seriousness of his message, he came to this church weak, and trembling in fear. He strongly focuses on the fact that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 

QUESTIONS

How do you see the "wisdom of men" active in your own life or people around you? 

MEMORY: 2 Timothy 2:15-17

2 Timothy 2:15-17

2 Timothy 2:15-17 (New King James Version)

¹⁵ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ¹⁶ But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. ¹⁷ And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort,

Memory: Philippians 3:12-14

THIS YEAR IS THE YEAR TO MEMORIZE SCRIPTURE! 

THE VERSE FOR THIS WEEK IS: 

Philippians 3:12-14 (New International Version, ©2010)

 ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

To better our effectiveness at memorizing scripture: Let's try some new strategies!

So that we can really memorize scripture this year, I would like everyone to commit to the following statement:

I will be discipline in learning scripture and hold myself and others accountable. 

By committing to this you are saying that you will be willing to sign-up for a memory accountability partner. As Memory Accountability Partners (MAP) you will obligated to connect to the person weekly and ask if they have completed the memory verse. Even if you haven't memorized the verse yourself, you must connect with each other. You can use: Phone, Text, Facebook, email, IM, Twitter etc... Whatever works for you two. After reciting the verse you should encourage and pray for each other. 

After you've connected: Make sure one of you sends me an email with both person(s) grade. I will track how you've been doing each week so that you can see your progression at the end of each month. 

These are the three Grades you can receive:

Memorized (Atleast 90% memorized word-for-word, no help)

Almost-Memorized (89%-50% Memorized, may need help)

Not-Memorized (49%-0% Memorized) 

If you can't connect with your memory partner that week, just send the verse to me (from memory) and I will grade your attempt. 

Just Reply: "ACCOUNT-me in" if your ready for the next step towards memorization. I will pull names at random (If you already have a memory partner just indicate who, so I can keep track)

Just Reply: "Mailing List" If you would not like to have a Memory Accountability Partner (MAP), but would just like to stay on the mailing list and just send the scriptures in to me as we always have done, that's cool. 

If you would like to be removed from the mailing list: Just Reply: "Remove"   

I hope to have everyone matched up quickly so please respond ASAP.