[Sunday] Christ the King Sunday 2023

Just as Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,” at the close of every liturgical year, we look forward, with renewed hope, to Christ’s coming again in glory to reign as Lord forever. In the same way, we also look forward to our own resurrection and the time of a new earth — an earth that is no longer broken by sin and groaning. Christ will come again in glory just as surely as He came the first time, when He was born. So we have these three weeks of “transition” at the end of the “long green season” into the Advent Season: the new beginning of the liturgical year.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Christ The King

1. Skim over Matthew 23-25.  What is Jesus primarily talking about?  How does it make you feel?

2. Think of a time when things seemed out of control in your life, where did you think God was in that time?   

3. Read Matthew 25:31.   At the end times where does Jesus say he (the son of man) will be?   

4. Read Matthew 25:32-40. How do the sheep (the righteous) respond when Jesus tells them all the good kingdom of God work they had been doing and welcomes them into His kingdom?   Think of a time when you didn’t realize when God was doing His Kingdom work through you as you were His hands and feet loving others.

---

What Had happened at Grace this week. 

[Sunday] Speak Well - Generosity

What she does is pretty outlandish. But while the disciples scold her for being wasteful, Jesus stands up for her. May we stand up for even the foolish, because we might just be emulating the grace of Jesus.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Generosity -Speak Well

1. How does a person’s reputation affect his standing in society?

2. Read Mark 14:1-9.   What do the disciples think about the woman who pours out the nard?  How do they describe what she’s done?  If you were that woman, how would you have felt at that moment?

3. How does Jesus respond to the disciples?  What does Jesus do for this woman?  How does Jesus do this same thing for you?

4. Who will you see this week that is normally slandered?  How might you speak well of them this week?

---

What Had happened at Grace this week. 

[Sunday] Coveting Abundance - Generosity

We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance,  house, wife, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to them in keeping it.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Generosity - Coveting Abundance

1. -What kinds of things are done under the guise of fair dealing by people who want what belongs to someone else yet do not want to appear dishonest?  How does society aid and abet such practices?

2. Read 1 Kings 21:1-16.  How do Ahab and Jezebel covet?  How are their actions dishonest?  

3. What ways today are we tempted to act in a similar way to Ahab and Jezebel?

1. In a world full of coveting, Jesus “gives his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  How is Jesus the opposite of the world?  What hope does this hold for you? 

---

What Had happened at Grace this week. 

[Sunday] Steal Generosity - Generosity

We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Generosity - Steal Generosity

1. -

---

What Had happened at Grace this week. 

[Sunday] Honored Blessing - Generosity

This is from the confession

Honor your father and mother, and your days will be blessed. Jacob contemplates his long history filled with selfishness, dishonor, and greed and chooses to see the abundance of God by honoring Pharaoh with a blessing.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Generosity - Honored Blessing

1. How is honoring different from loving?

2. Read Genesis 47:1-12.  How does Jacob describe his life?  

3. At the end of his life, how and why does he honor Pharoah?  What is surprising about that?

4. In what ways are parents God’s earthly representatives? Living in the abundance of God, how can we be free to honor our parents and leaders around us?

---

What Had happened at Grace this week. 

[Sunday] Split Abundance - Generosity

Have no other Gods before me. What does this mean? We should fear love and trust in God above all things. God has created us in abundance, so rest.

QUESTIONS FOR THE WEEK:   Generosity - Splitting Abundance 

1. What makes you uncomfortable as we talk about stewardship and generosity?   How is it tempting to make stewardship more about the law than grace?

2. Give a description of popular false gods in our generation. How does an idolatrous heart feel and behave toward each of these false Gods?

3. Read Luke 12:13-34.  What question is first asked of Jesus?  How does one miss out on the abundance of God?

4. How does Jesus respond to his question?  What does he encourage us to see?

---

What Had happened at Grace this week. 

Generosity: What does this mean?

View fullsize

Generosity: What does this mean?

When we talk about stewardship and our money, it always seems like the law is being laid down with little hope aside from compliance. The same feeling can be said about the 10 commandments. But with all the hopelessness around, perhaps looking at the 10 commandments and our generosity though that old question of “What does this mean?” Can give us a vision of God’s abundance.

---

Reading Plan
Read around the readings for Sunday

• Oct 22
  Commandments 1-3

  • Deuteronomy 5:1-15

  • Philippians 4:4-7

  • Luke 12:13-34

• Oct 29
  Commandment 4

  • Genesis 47:1-2, 9-12

  • Romans 13:1-7

  • Mark 7:1-13

• Nov 5
  Commandments 5,6,7,

  • 2 Kings 5:19b-24

  • Ephesians 4:25-32

  • Luke 19:1-10

• Nov 12
  Commandments 9, 10

  • 1 Kings 21:1-10

  • Hebrews 13:1-8

  • Mark 10:35-45

• Nov 19
  Commandment 8

  • Zecheriah 8:12-17

  • 1 Thessalonians 5:12-18

  • Mark 14:1-11