A New Lens for Life

Christianity is fundamentally about a regime change.

20 Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.
- Luke 6:20-26

Recognition vs. Rejection

- Do what’s popular vs. What’s right

- What we live for is determined by where we live from

Success vs. Sorrow

Sorrow has a way of revealing what we value.

- What breaks your heart?

Comfort vs. Sacrifice

“You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples [May have been wondering, “Maybe I picked the wrong guys?”] and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.  

- You gain life by giving your life away.

Power vs. Weakness

- When we are weak, then we are strong. (2 Cor. 12:10)

“Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and the like, are mere flea bites in comparison… Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
— C. S. Lewis

- “Power Up” vs. “Open Up”

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Mixer

What is your favorite summertime memory from your childhood?

‘Neighborly’ - Daily Devotional

To get the Daily Devotionals delivered to you every morning, text ‘dailydevotional’ to 97000.

1. In Pastor Ken’s 7/12 entry, Fighting Against Sin, he reminds us that even as Christ-followers, we are often willing to “play with temptation.” Do you believe that God will just “wink” at certain sins - that He will overlook and not judge those? Where have you been deceived? What is the truth?
2. In Pastor Pam’s 7/14 entry, Questions?, she shares that sometimes an answer is not always what is needed to satisfy someone’s question about God. What did she mean?

Sermon Questions

On break for July & August! If your group still plans to meet, we still have church on Sundays to uncover the work God wants to do in us and through us! Here are some Inductive Bible Study tools from LOGOS.com to help you unpack Sunday’s message:

1. What impacted you most about Sunday’s message? Read the Scripture(s) used in the message.
2. Observation: What does the text say (who, what, when, where, how, why)? Also note uses of words like: therefore, after, now, but, if/then, etc. Notice repeating words or themes, lists of words and their order and definitions, etc. Use multiple Bible versions and compare.
3. Interpretation: What does the text mean? Look for what the writer is trying to communicate: cultural/historical context; about the author, about the person/people, about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit; what other Scripture that can interpret this text; what is the clearest meaning (being careful to not read into it what it doesn’t say, or what you want it to say)?
4. Application: What does the text mean to me? “We don’t study the Bible just to gain knowledge. We study to gain knowledge so we know how to live our lives in light of what we’ve learned.” (LOGOS.com) Together with your answer to Question #1, what do you hear God saying to you about you, Him, priorities and decisions, relationships, faith, conflict, spiritual warfare, difficulties, setbacks, and hope? What one action step will you take with this new knowledge?

Go Deeper - with Goodbook

Dr. Mark Strauss and Pastor Ken Ingold
Comparative World Religions
Week 8 || Session 8 || Christian Denominations

1. Why is the Protestant Reformation so significant to the history of Christianity?
2. Do you think it is important that we have many denominations to choose from? Why or why not?
3. What denominations were new to you? What did you learn about a denomination(s) you didn’t previously know?
4. What is your denominational/church background? What theology and practices have remained consistent for you and what has changed? Why?

*Are you joining the Goodbook Q&A Zoom on Tuesday evenings? Email ken@thechurchrb.org

REMINDER: Goodbook LIVE Q & A is next Sunday, July 25, 11:30am in the Garden Room.

Serve

Good Neighbor Weekend is coming up on Aug 5, 6 & 7! That’s right - a weekend of activities for being good neighbors to our community! Sign up on our website or in the Church Center app!

Pray

Pray this week for the children preparing to attend VBS (Vacation Bible School) next week at the Church at RB, July 26-30. Pray for the LORD to show them some amazing things about Him and that little hearts will be prompted to follow Jesus from this day forward!

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