Truthful but Tender

Lesson 4 deals with how Jesus was truthful but tender with people when they did something or spoke something that was of man and not of God.

This lesson explores the tension many of us feel between telling others what we really think and not wanting to hurt their feelings or make them angry.

Which of following best describes you?

If I see someone doing something wrong, it’s important to me to be truthful, even if it means not always being tactful.
If I see someone doing something wrong, it’s important to me to deal with the situation tactfully, even if I need to compromise the whole truth.

Jesus did not tell people what they wanted to hear. He told them what they needed to hear. Sometimes that made them mad. Depending on our temperaments, we have one of two tendencies when it comes to telling the truth as we see it.
Some lean towards niceness.We want people to feel good and not hurt their feelings. We may be uncomfortable with conflict.
Others lean towards toughness. They are blunt to the point of being insensitive to people’s feelings or different point of view.

Living our lives where the norm is niceness is not safe. When we do live that way, we feel we have to hide our true thoughts and feelings. Before we know we going along to get along. And we are not truly happy and often avoid conflicts and those people who are "SO NICE." We view them to by hypocrites.

But living a live of unrestrained toughness isn't safe either. Gentler personalities withdraw to avoid being beaten down.

Jesus calls us to be honest but not mean, truthful but tender.


TRUTHFUL BUT TENDER
Matthew 16:13-28
Matthew 7:1-5
Luke 6:37-39
Matthew 5:21-22

In 7:1-5 we are told to judge with God’s values.
In 16:23 Jesus did judge by God’s values.

See you all at our house at 5pm 4/21/2007

This weeks lesson deals with loving flawed people. That just about covers us all. We are in John 8: 1-6. It is the story of the adulterous women brought to Jesus. The mob wants him to condem her and follow the Jewish law of putting her to dealth. Of course they were trying to entrap Jesus. If he refused to intervene, the woman would be stoned to death and Jesus would be blamed. If on the other hand he said she should not be killed, then he would be teaching against the "LAW".

If you read the verses, you will notice that the man was not brought to Jesus for adultery, only the women . Jewish law declared that both parties in the act should receive the death penalty (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). What if we treated people harshly without mercy or grace? There would be a lot of dead bodies. And who would be the judge and who would judge the judge?

The good news is that God gives us mercy (Not Giving us what we deserve) and grace (Giving us what we do not deserve). The lesson in this is that while we should judge people when they sin, we should judge them on God's values and not ours. How many times have you said, '...they got just what they deserved.'

We must learn to look at our sins first and then we won't be so worried about everyone else's sin.

Pray that God will show you when you sin his Mercy and Grace. And thank him for it.

Showing Up

This weeks lessons focuses on being there when our brothers and sisters
are going through painful times. We will see how Jesus responses to Mary
and Martha when their brother Lazarus dies and is placed in a tomb. While this lesson is about the events after Lazarus dies and how and why Jesus rose him from the grave, it is a lesson about understanding our place in Christ.

It takes place about a week before Passover and the crucifixion of Jesus.
We see the grieving of Mary and Martha and how that effects Jesus. Although he knew what was going to happen to him, Mary, Martha and the disciples messed the meaning of Lazarus being raised. They were concerned about the here and now.

Even when Jesus tells them, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11: 25-26), they fell to understand what he is saying. He of course was telling them and us that if He lives in us that when we die here on earth that we have the promise of eternal life in Heaven with him. There is no separation from God if we are christian.

Finally, the lessons teaches how to respond to others during life's crisis we all face. Sometimes just showing up and being there is enough. Ask God this week to give you a chance to show up and make a difference in a friends life.

God bless you.
See you all Saturday.

Our Pray Request

1. Our Church ,God is working in powerful way at his home. We are growing so fast it is hard to keep up with all the people that are looking for a home to worship in and people to connect with. Our pray is for leaders to step up to the plate and take a swing at meeting all the needs.

2. Our pastors, they are spreading the word straight from the good book (God's Holy Word). It is hard to preach and even hard to listen to and hear most of the time. Pat is preaching on some really tough subjects so we need to pray his words come out like God wants them to and the ears that hear them listen closely to God speaking NOT Pat.

3. For the many loved ones that are fighting all around this world for us back here on the good old soil of the USA. Are we acting like God's children and are we worthy of the sacrifice they are giving to protect us. Many are giving their life or limbs etc. for us . Also we need to remember their families in pray as they do without their loved one.

4.For our leaders as they make major choices about the actions or non actions of our country. We need to pray for them not talk against them. We are not ever going to agree with all of the choices they make but we still need to stand together strong or the enemy will attack us even harder. Satan loves it when we fight among our self.

5.Pray daily for the unsaved they are the ones Jesus is after he already has the saved. Remember in the scripture Jesus spends his time with the unsaved most of the time. It is wonderful to enjoy your christian friends but you are not about Gods business unless you are with the unsaved building relationships and leading them to the Lord.

Bible Verses

What is your favorite bible verse or verses?
Here is one of mine. Please add yours.

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

Your Comments and Thoughts

We designed this blog to share your thoughts, prayers, praises and other information. We will update it with meeting changes, study notes and just about anything you want to add. Hope to hear from you all soon and often.
God Bless