New Days, New Ways; Simplified English discussion based on Mark chapter 2

soccer by moonlight
soccer by moonlight

New days, new ways. Soccer can even be played at night now.

Rules for Games

Do you like to play games?

Some types of games are:

  • sports, like football, hockey, baseball
  • video games
  • board games, like chess, checkers, monopoly, scrabble

What is your favorite game?

The rules of the game tell us how to play. Can the rules be changed?

Rules for the game of life

As in games, there are rules for living. Thousands of years ago, God gave rules for living to Moses. We can read them in Leviticus 19. Some of them are:

  • Don’t steal 
  • Don’t lie
  • Don’t harvest all of your garden
  • Don’t eat meat with blood in it
  • Keep the Sabbath
  • Don’t get a tattoo
  • Don’t wear clothing made of two different materials
  • Don’t breed your livestock with another breed of livestock
  • Don’t seed your garden with two kinds of seed
  • Don’t trim your beard or sideburns
  • Honor your mother and father

There were a lot more rules than that. Nobody could follow ALL the rules.

God changed the rules

When Jesus came, he changed the rules. He cancelled all the old rules. He gave us two simple rules to live by:

  • Love God
  • Love people

Jesus said Love God and love others…all the Law and the Prophets depend on these two (Matthew 22:37-39).

How can we love God?

  • By praying? Yes/No
  • By reading the Bible? Yes/No
  • By following the rules in Leviticus, that Moses gave? Yes/No
  • By living like Jesus? Yes/No
  • By accepting God’s grace? Yes/No

How can we love other people?

  • By praying for them? Yes/No
  • By giving them money? Yes/No/Sometimes
  • By welcoming them? Yes/No
  • By agreeing with them? Yes/No/Sometimes
  • By giving them grace? Yes/No

New days, New ways

Jesus didn’t follow the old rules that God gave Moses. What did he do that was different?

Do you think we should follow strict rules? Why or why not?

Should we expect other people to follow strict rules? Why or why not?

“This is a new day, so let’s see it in a new way.  Let’s always try to live under the freedom and grace that Jesus gives, and relate to each other in the Spirit of love and truth.” –quote from Pastor Wayne Snider

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People in Partnership

People:

Plural of person. One person, many people.

Partnership:

People who are together for some reason. The root word of partnership is partner. A partner is part of a group. Some types of partnership are:

  • business partners
  • families
  • marriage partners
  • work partners

What are some other partnerships?

Do you think of the church as a family? Is it a type of partnership? In what ways?

God’s Grace

God’s grace is His favor and blessing. It means God is good to us.

How is God good to His people?

When we are good to other people, we give them grace. What can you do to give grace to other people?

Christian People in Partnership

Christians are partners because we receive God’s grace together. We are in the family of God.

We also give grace to others. We do good works for other people because God wants us to love them.

English-Russian Gospels

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Broken but Loved

Broken but Loved

Broken but loved, this ornament is a gift from my son đź’™. It represents his love to me. But alas, the tail broke off some time ago. I glued it back on, but later it broke off again. Then it sat in a drawer for several years, until yesterday I got it out and glued it back together again. You can see where it broke, but I put it back out where it can remind me daily of my son who I love.

We are all like this ornamental bird, broken but loved. God our Father and Creator loved each one of us from the beginning. No one is perfect. We’re all broken. But he sent Jesus to redeem us and restore us to himself.

Romans 3:23-24 (The Amplified Bible) says: Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives, all are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus.

I’m so glad God loves me that much. In spite of my foibles, big mistakes, stupidity, brokenness and shame, he loves me. Jesus has redeemed us, and by faith in him we are restored to a right standing with God.

I wish I could undo the stupid things I’ve done, but I can’t. Yet God loves me anyway. And you too. Broken but loved.