Durruck
Pirate!
Sorry for the long delay since the last Bible study. I'm still trying to figure out format, topics, and stuff like that. Plus I'm lazy 
Anyway, here it is in all of it's formatted beauty.
First, I'd like to start with a word game. I'll say a word, and you say the first word that comes to mind.
Yes
Right
Red
Up
Square
It's interesting that we identify these concepts with their contrasting ideas. Generally, the responses will be "no" "left" "blue (or yellow, green, black), "down" and "circle" in that order.
So whatever it is we're presented with, we typically choose to identify with the exact opposite. But we're not alone. In Jonah, chapter 1, we read:
So God tells Jonah to go preach and Jonah does exactly the opposite. If we look at a map and assume that Jonah started in Jerusalem, he should have head east-northeast to Nineveh. Instead, he hops a boat headed west to modern-day Spain.
Queue God's wrath. Big storms, boat's about to break, the sailors draw lots and find out that it's Jonah's fault that they're all going to die.
In John chapter 18, we read that Peter denies Jesus three times. Obviously we knew this was going to happen since Jesus told us it would. Peter had to know after the 1st and 2nd denials that the 3rd was coming, yet he did it anyway.
Fortunately, there's a transition after Jesus defeats the grave. In John 21:15-17, Jesus reinstates Peter with a simple series of questions.
Now this is a hugely loaded conversation with lots of information for us, but most importantly for this lesson is the command that Jesus gives to Peter. Take care of my sheep.
The point Jesus is making here is that to love Jesus is to love the church, which Jesus compares to the sheep in a flock. He told Peter to care for them as a shepherd would care for his sheep: feed them (with God's word, in this case), guid them, protect them, bring them back if they strayed, and help them heal if they are hurt. It's a big task that Jesus is laying on Peter. He even calls Peter the rock upon which he will build his church. (Matthew 16:18)
Peter takes this charge very seriously and later echoes it in his letters to the church elders in 1 Peter 5:1-2, which is a big transformation. Early on, it seems that Peter is arrogant and boastful. But here we see that even though he's been told that he's a key-player, he is very humble about his position of authority, and reminds church elders of the same. But I don't think that his humility came from his thrice denial alone.
We're presented with three different views of the same conversation in Mark 9:35, Matthew 18:1-5, and Luke 9:46
Also in Mark, chapter 10:43-45
Jesus wasn't instituting a policy of slavery, but He is showing us a lesson in humility. He submitted to the Father's will - even to the point of his own execution - as an example of living a life by serving. It's the example we are asked to imitate. So whether it be at church, at home, at school... when God is calling you to lead, remember that you are also serving the needs of others. Being in charge isn't just a position of power, it's a position of responsibility. Even when you're "the boss," you still answer to someone.
Anyway, here it is in all of it's formatted beauty.
First, I'd like to start with a word game. I'll say a word, and you say the first word that comes to mind.
Yes
Right
Red
Up
Square
It's interesting that we identify these concepts with their contrasting ideas. Generally, the responses will be "no" "left" "blue (or yellow, green, black), "down" and "circle" in that order.
So whatever it is we're presented with, we typically choose to identify with the exact opposite. But we're not alone. In Jonah, chapter 1, we read:
So God tells Jonah to go preach and Jonah does exactly the opposite. If we look at a map and assume that Jonah started in Jerusalem, he should have head east-northeast to Nineveh. Instead, he hops a boat headed west to modern-day Spain.
Queue God's wrath. Big storms, boat's about to break, the sailors draw lots and find out that it's Jonah's fault that they're all going to die.
Jonah already owned up to the fact that the whole storm was his fault. So the sailors pray to God to release them of the sin of killing Jonah... and pitch him overboard. Obviously, the story doesn't end there, and neither does the list of places where we do exactly the opposite of what we should.
In John chapter 18, we read that Peter denies Jesus three times. Obviously we knew this was going to happen since Jesus told us it would. Peter had to know after the 1st and 2nd denials that the 3rd was coming, yet he did it anyway.
Fortunately, there's a transition after Jesus defeats the grave. In John 21:15-17, Jesus reinstates Peter with a simple series of questions.
Now this is a hugely loaded conversation with lots of information for us, but most importantly for this lesson is the command that Jesus gives to Peter. Take care of my sheep.
The point Jesus is making here is that to love Jesus is to love the church, which Jesus compares to the sheep in a flock. He told Peter to care for them as a shepherd would care for his sheep: feed them (with God's word, in this case), guid them, protect them, bring them back if they strayed, and help them heal if they are hurt. It's a big task that Jesus is laying on Peter. He even calls Peter the rock upon which he will build his church. (Matthew 16:18)
Peter takes this charge very seriously and later echoes it in his letters to the church elders in 1 Peter 5:1-2, which is a big transformation. Early on, it seems that Peter is arrogant and boastful. But here we see that even though he's been told that he's a key-player, he is very humble about his position of authority, and reminds church elders of the same. But I don't think that his humility came from his thrice denial alone.
We're presented with three different views of the same conversation in Mark 9:35, Matthew 18:1-5, and Luke 9:46
Mark chapter 9 said:
Also in Mark, chapter 10:43-45
Jesus wasn't instituting a policy of slavery, but He is showing us a lesson in humility. He submitted to the Father's will - even to the point of his own execution - as an example of living a life by serving. It's the example we are asked to imitate. So whether it be at church, at home, at school... when God is calling you to lead, remember that you are also serving the needs of others. Being in charge isn't just a position of power, it's a position of responsibility. Even when you're "the boss," you still answer to someone.
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