Water Is Thicker Than Blood

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

- Matthew 28:18-20

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,

27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  

- Galatians 3:26-28

1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?

2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

- Romans 6:1-4

Mixer

Would you rather play in a Superbowl, or compete at an Olympics?

Neighborly - Daily Devotional

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

1. In Pastor Harry’s, 2/8/22 entry, Champion, he reminds us that God pays attention to us - to you! And wants to! What do you think about that? Imagine God’s face when He “smiles upon you?” How would you describe it? How does this bring you back to Him in the times when you want to hide?
2. In Cristina’s 2/10/22 entry, Taste and See, she reminds us of God’s goodness in our lives. Get out your journal and write down your experiences of His goodness that come to mind - big or small. Or dig deep if you were thinking there was nothing at all. What does this list show you? How does it build your trust that God is for you?

Sermon Questions

Scriptures: Matthew 28:18-20; Galatians 3:26-28; Romans 6:1-4

1. What impacted or challenged you in today’s message?
2. What societal scripts (worth, identity) do you struggle with?
3. Read Romans 6:1-4. Jesus brought about a new humanity (counter-cultural). What does it mean to identify now with Christ, and be dead to our sin?
4. Why - if we are dead to our sin - is it necessary to step back into the waters of baptism again and again?
5. Pastor Jared taught that you now have the banner of Amazing Grace over your head. Of these things below, what will you step back into the waters of baptism with and allow it to die?
   1. I am what I’ve done.
   2. I am what I own.
   3. I am my desires.
   4. My identity is in my ideology.
6. Read Galatians 3:26-28. Pastor Jared said that through the blood of Jesus, there is now no stratification - no division. If the ground at the cross is now level for all, what can we do as a Good Neighbor church to follow Jesus in creating inclusion, instead of creating division?

Go Deeper

Read the account of The Woman at the Well - John 4:4-42

1. How was the Samaritan woman operating from a place of exclusion/experiencing division? What do you think she carried in her spirit?
2. How did Jesus create a spirit of inclusion with her? How did he choose to react to her, versus how he could have reacted?
3. How did this interaction with Jesus change her? What happened in verses 28-30, and 39?
4. How did the disciples react in vs 27? Why?
5. Who do you relate to - the Samaritan woman or the disciples, or both? What is the beauty in this account that inspires you to live out your baptism in Christ?

Serve

Good Neighbor Day is coming up Saturday, Feb 26! Register online or in app.

Pray

Happy Valentine’s Day! Give thanks to God for He first loved you, and ask Him to fill you with it so that He overflows onto others!

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