A community or neighborhood watch are crime prevention programs initiated by neighborhoods where they look out for each other and, hopefully, prevent burglaries or vandalism…or worse. The idea behind them was that citizens needed to take up the responsibility to look after each other and their communities.

It’s not a bad idea…but it’s one that needs to be carried out with great caution, as the events that happened in South Florida several weeks back drove home.  Two people, completely misunderstanding each other in a toxic atmosphere of mistrust resulted in one innocent, unarmed teen’s death.

A community watch can be a good thing, if those undertaking the watch carefully follow the guidlines and keep the primary goal in mind…that of the safety of the community.  If it becomes some vigilante group, or a team of busybodies, then it actually subverts it’s intended purpose.

In similar fashion, Paul intends that the church community watch out for threats to the health of their fellowship. Instead of watching out for burglars, we have to be careful about doctrines, behaviors and attitudes that can negatively effect the well-being of the group. But we have to do so cautiously, so as not to end up working against ourselves by forgetting that redemption and relationship are the goals.

We’re going to be reading Titus 1:10-16 this week, and Paul provides some guidelines about what we need to be careful of as a community concerning doctrine, practice and motive.

What does Paul warn us about mostly in this section? What sort of myths and commands of people can serve to be divisive in the church today?

Some people freak out at Paul’s statement about Cretans in v12. It seems pretty harsh. But if you factor in the history of that statement (you can find it HERE), does it help you see why Paul may have been using that quote?

Hope to see you Sunday!

Sunday we’ll be continuing our study in Titus, reading 1:5-9.

As I write this, on my desk is the opened letter from some fraudulent group called St. Matthews Church. I’m not going to post their link for fear someone might actually click it. Anyway, these “caring” ministers sent me a paper prayer rug with a creepy face of Jesus printed on it. According to the incredibly long instructions printed on several different sheets of paper, if I kneel on this rug and pray for something…or make a wish, I guess….and then send this rug back (with a check, of course), my wish will come true. This, of course, is all done with a great flourish of Scriptures and Jesus’ name is invoked multiple times…well heck, Creepy Jesus is even on the rug!

It’s all a great source of a laugh until I start thinking about the people who actually get duped by these deceivers and I’m reminded of how dangerous church really is.

It’s vitally important for the church to live out in real life the things we believe about God, and it has to start with the leadership of the church.  Hence Paul’s instruction to Titus in our passage.

Hopefully in your experience with the church, there have been leaders whom you respected. What traits did they have that caused you to respect them? How do those traits compare with Paul’s quality control list in our passage?

When you’ve been aware of church leaders being caught in scandals, how has it affected you? If you re-read v7, Paul uses a job description to describe a church leader. How can what he compares leaders to help remind leaders of their purpose and place, and encourage the church community to see leaders in the proper context? (too confusing?…yeah, maybe….just think about it for a while).

That’s going to be our topic – hope you can join in.

Well Kats and Kitties, we’re on to our next study! This Sunday we’ll be starting a seven week (just shy of two and a half years) study in the book of Titus.  Titus was a really funny TV show back in the 90’s…but that’s a different thing.

The Titus we’ll be looking at is the one in the New Testament. It’s a short little book written by Paul to a young protege he left in Crete to get things in order with the churches. It was probably written sometime between Paul’s house arrest and his final arrest in Rome, so it’s just near the end of his ministry.

The larger theme of this book will be about how we put the stuff we claim to believe (the gospel, the hope of the coming kingdom of God) into practice.  In this short letter Paul makes the strongest correlation between what we believe and how we live.

We’ll cover the first four verses of chapter one this Sunday.  It is Paul’s introduction and greeting – though even by ancient standards, it’s pretty long.  It’s one serious run-on sentence. We get the distinct impression that Paul is less concerned about grammatical structuring than he is trying to get a point across even in his “hello”.  As you read it, consider how Paul describes himself.  What is the first thing he identifies as a characteristic of his life (v1)?  The word he uses in the Greek is “doulos” – and here’s the lexicon entry for that word. Is there any hint of self-importance in that title?

The question that lingers is…who are WE in God’s plan? Paul saw his place, is ours any different? What does this look like when lived out in real life?

Paul new more than just his status though.  If you read the passage in the Message (it reads much more clearly there), what did Paul’s overall purpose in life seem to be?  If you were asked to sum it up in one word, what word would you choose?

Just a warning: If we’re people who want to build our own kingdom, prioritize comfort and feel we deserve to always be happy….Titus will wreck us. If, however, we are weary of empty and shallow pursuits in church and life in general…Titus will drink like cold, clear water on a hot summer day.  It all depends on our end-goal I suppose.

Hopefully we’ll see you Sunday!

Don’t forget the sunrise service! Try to be there early because we want to start on time, just as the sun is breaking the horizon’s line.  Then join us for our Easter service at our normal meeting times of 9 and 11 am.  This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Cor 15:1-4.  What is the gospel, the good news?  Paul lays it out, and reveals in a few short sentences the monumental implications of such news.  What does he say the good news is?  What does this news tell us about God, His agenda and ultimate goal? Do you consider that good news?

Resurrection is about redemption.  Jesus rising from the dead shows us what God’s got in mind…and man, is it GOOD!  So get up, get stoked…HE’S ALIVE!!!

See yer’ Sunday!

If you’ve been hanging out with Eastgate for the last 2.5 years, this Sunday you need to pat yourself on the back because you have journeyed through the entire gospel of Luke, chapter by chapter, verse by verse.  This Sunday we’ll be reading our final installation, ch 24:36-53 , and examining it to see how it relates to our lives.

We have read through Jesus’ birth and ministry in Galilee, right up to his betrayal, arrest and crucifixion.  It was a compelling, challenging story. We have read how three days after his death, Jesus’ body was missing and a couple of glowy guys said he had risen from the dead.  We read how Jesus himself ambushed a couple of travelers on the road to Emmaus and  gradually revealed himself to them. It’s been an amazing ride…and yet, with all of those stories surrounding us, we could STILL be left wondering what it all has to do with us, right here and now in 21st Century America.

That’s where the final section of Luke’s story becomes crucial.  In this wrap-up, we actually see a transition take place for Jesus’ followers.  Jesus shows up and they’re startled, yet he comes announcing something that is entirely opposite of their reaction.  That’s typical.

But then something changes.  What happens?  All before the events of Acts 2 the disciples take on a different demeanor. What do you think changes for them?

Jesus is with them, but differently than he was before.  Then Jesus is gone from them again – yet this doesn’t discourage the disciples, just the opposite.  Christ’s presence, activity and absence all seem to have a profound effect on them.  Do you think those same aspects of the resurrected Christ have the same impact on us?  How would you describe this at work in our own lives?

Hope to see you on Sunday!

All kinds of things disappoint us in life, don’t they?  In fact, its hard to remember a week where something didn’t disappoint me in some way…not sure if that makes me a whiner or not, but I’m just being real.  Whether its the deeper disappointments that come from wars or economies or failed relationships; or the shallow disappointments of sports teams shuffling ’round quarterbacks – we all face things that let us down and cause us sorrow.  That’s just sort of the nature of the road we travel in life.

Our study this Sunday will be in Luke 24:13-35 and we’ll meet some fellow travelers on a disappointing road.

As you read the passage, what do you notice about seeing and not seeing, visible and invisible?  When Jesus started walking with the travelers, what characterized their attitudes?  What does that tell us about where Jesus meets us in our life?

V 21 reveals what hope had been dashed for these travelers.  How did their expectations play a role in their present disappointment?

The obvious lesson that emerges in this section is Jesus’ skillful presentation of the Word that provides the travelers with a fresh vision.  How does that apply to our own lives right now?

What does v35 say caused the travelers to know the stranger was Jesus?  When they see it’s him, they suddenly can’t see him anymore, but they are filled with new hope and activity.  Why do you think that is?

This is one of my favorite stories in the gospels.  This, like no other account, is directly relating to our every day experience as followers of Christ 2,000 years after his death and resurrection.  Try on the character of the travelers and see how the story relates to you.  You may find yourself being ambushed by grace!

Hope to see you Sunday!

Have you ever encountered anything that you just can’t explain.  Something that just shocks you not only because it’s so unexpected but because it leaves you so confused?  Sometimes it can be ordinary things but because they seem so out of place, it just takes a minute to try and process what’s going on.  I remember a few Christmases back, when my daughter Janelle and her husband were just engaged. He lived in Jacksonville and she was living at home with us in PCB.  He had decided to surprise her by visiting without letting her know she was coming.  She was on the phone with him, each of them pining away for each other.  Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and Janelle went to answer it, still on the phone.  When the door opened, there stood her finance.  She was so confused and shocked, she almost closed the door on him – his appearance was completely unexpected and difficult to process.

Imagine that shock a billion times over, and we can start to get a picture of what the followers of Christ were going through when they found an empty tomb one Sunday morning.

We’re going to be reading Luke 24:1-12 this Sunday (only three more teachings in Luke to go!).

This is Luke’s lead up to the actual appearances of Jesus in the resurrection. Luke gives us more perspectives and details than any of the gospels, as a good documentary maker would do. Here, several women go to finish up the job of perfuming Jesus’ corpse only to find the tomb empty and the corpse missing.  This was not at all expected.  Nor were the angelic glow-dudes who start talking about Jesus not being dead anymore…and things move from unexpected to downright insane.  Nevertheless, they put together what Jesus said before and suddenly, what used to be familiar territory starts shifting and changing around them.  They go to tell the other disciples who understandably dismiss this all as nonsense.

The whole story is delightful to me! I really love how the various gospel accounts don’t match up very well either.  To me, that authenticates this whole scene…full of confusion and conflicting details. Everyone’s in shock trying to figure out what is happening.  The only consistent thing in all of the accounts is the subject at the center of this disarray.  The tomb is empty and Jesus is gone.

There’s a message in that empty tomb.  The fact that Jesus wasn’t able to be confined to that man-made hole tells us something…but what?

The empty tomb was all they had to go on at first. No one SAW Jesus rise from the dead, just a couple florescent fellows  said he did.  What does that tell us about what it will take to accept this message?

Of all the disciples, Peter (and John according to John’s gospel) went to check this story out for themselves. Even though the claim the women made was completely absurd and flew in the face of every certainty life experience could provide.  A willingness to check it out for himself tells us something about Peter…what does that tell us about the impetus for this journey of faith? What do you think is more important, clinical facts, or  possibilities?

This is great stuff to explore – looking forward to examining it with you this Sunday!

Sometimes its hard to stand up for what you believe when everyone else see’s things differently.  That is never more true when it comes to our faith in Christ.  Following Jesus means we will have to count the cost of being associated with him in an environment that isn’t always favorable for that.  Joseph of Arimathea had to experience that before any of us…in fact, he was the first one through that gate.

We’re going to read about him in the passage we’ll be exploring this Sunday, Luke 23:5-56.

As you think about who Joseph was in the society and culture of that time, what do you think this act of taking Jesus’ body to bury it would cost him?

Have you ever had to go against the flow of the culture around you to be identified as a follower of Christ?  How did you feel? What became your motivation for paying the cost to be associated with Him? We might think it’s smarter just to keep our faith a secret…but how does that compare to the message of the Gospel?
This is a thought provoking subject for us in a Post-Christian America.  I’ll be interested to hear your thoughts.

Also – here is the last small group leader’s guide for this quarter: leaders guide 23-50-56

We will be reading the events that surround Christ’s crucifixion this Sunday.  There is no way to cover that much text and subject matter and do a thorough job of exegesis…so suffice it to say that we will be looking at the major themes of what the cross means to us as followers of Christ.

As I read it, all of the sacrifices, prophecies and narratives of the Old Testament lead in a line, converging at the cross of Christ.  All of the effects and consequences of mankind’s great rebellion against God and His plan converge there as well.  In the crucifixion of Jesus, we have pictured not only the judgment and pain of sin, but also the grace and forgiveness of God.  It is a literal cross-hair on which the meaning of life is focused.

As you read this account, you’ll see a wide variety of characters in Luke’s narrative.  From mourners to soldiers to religious leaders to crooks.  If you try any of these characters on for size, which ones can you relate to your own life and response to God?  Which character’s interaction with Jesus upsets you?  Which one comforts you, and why?

What comes across so clearly to me is the sheer magnitude of God’s grace revealed in the cross.  I’ve been contemplating the sacrifice of Jesus a lot this week.  I once questioned a friend’s destructive and self-destructive choices in light of their Christian confession, and the person reprimanded me saying “Remember what you teach Rob, it’s not about being legalistic, it’s about grace!”

As I think about what Jesus suffered in paying the price for my sins…I’ve been contemplating a right response to his love.  His love is never in question…and I will never move from the torn curtain of God’s grace.  But what should OUR response be to that love?  Does our response reveal anything about what we believe and what we consider real?  If I’m a rebel forgiven by great love, is further rebellion a reasonable reaction?  I guess my question is, where’s the love?  Guess I’m just thinking out loud.

Hope to see you Sunday.   Leader’s guide for small groups can be found here: leaders guide 23-26-49