This week in our home group, we hosted a traditional Jewish Seder service.
No, we aren't Jewish, but we are very aware of how powerful the metaphors and representations in this dinner are in relation to Jesus Christ and the promises He fulfills in our lives.
It may seem a little funny that we would participate in such a structured and ancient tradition considering that we are always reaching for new and fresh things here at Transit, but sometimes there is just no way around the fact that the original model captured it best. Why mess with a classic?
This is our second year sharing a traditional Jewish passover meal together and we believe it's something our church family will continue to do for years to come. To look back on redemptive history from the beginning, to understand how long awaited this Savior was and then to collectively recognize that we are living in a blessed day because Jesus has come and provided that redemption and restoration is a powerful picture for us to carry with us into our celbration of Easter. If it's something you have yet to be a part of, we would encourage you to give it a try!
We've attached a copy of the script for the Seder service that we use so that you can also have this resource. It's rather interesting to read through and we would encourage you to do so, maybe even get a group of friends together and try it out yourself!
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B10-5ZsxmX2ycEVDNm5QNzNjNU0/edit?usp=sharing
Be sure to keep up with our Passion Week vlog series on Facebook every day this week leading up to Easter, and if you don't have a place to celebrate this coming Sunday, feel free to join our family! Below is a link you can follow to our Facebook page, where you will find details for our Easter celebration, and also the vlog series.
https://www.facebook.com/TransitAssembly?ref=ts&fref=ts
Let us know how it goes or share any thoughts about participating in this sort of traditional dinner service. This is Transit Continued!
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Jesus >
(John 8:48-59)
Tonight at Transit we finished out John 8. Throughout this chapter, Jesus has been in a discussion with a group of Jews who have started on their journey of believing Him and coming to an understanding of who He really is. In this passage, we see them struggle through some huge personal and cultural traditions and beliefs that make it difficult for them to put all of their faith and belief in who Jesus is claiming to be. We also see Jesus firmly, but patiently walk with them through their doubts and help them to genuinely understand.
In this last portion of chapter 8, the particular struggle is with the fact that Jesus claims to be even greater than the prophets that came before Him. These Jews take a lot of pride in and put a lot of stock in the fact that they are decendants of these great men of God like Abraham. For this group of people, this is probably the most important claim Jesus can make and also the most crucial for them to accept. If they can see and truly grasp that Jesus is indeed greater than ALL of the prophets before him and that He has the most authority, then they will be able to accept that authority in their own lives and experience His priceless gift of eternal life.
The application for us here is simple. Jesus >.
Jesus is greater than all else; greater than all people, all things, and yes even greater than all other gods. He was not just a great man or a wise teacher, He was the Son of God sent to earth with all of God's power and authority. He should hold the ultimate authority in our lives. If we do not recognize Jesus as the greatest, of course we will see no need to submit to His authority or live our lives according to His Word. This unfortunately will keep us from experiencing eternity with Him. But the great news is, that if we allow Jesus to be the greatest in our lives, we will experience so much joy and freedom in living with Him now and forever!
Here are a few things to think about this week as you reflect on our discussion and this passage...
1. What would it look like to give Jesus ultimate authority? (This can be generally speaking or in your own personal life.)
2. What things keep people from giving Jesus this place and authority?
3. What does Jesus need to be greater than in your own life?
CHALLENGE:
This week, write out the phrase "Jesus >" on a slip of paper or a notecard. Put it somewhere that you will see it often and challenge yourself to practically make that statement true in your life. If you need to, jot down things on the back of the card that easily become greater than Jesus in your life, so you can be aware the next time you are tempted to forget that He is greater than all else. Sometimes a visual reminder can be just the encouragement we need to really process and grow from teaching!
Tweet or Instagram your "Jesus >" post and @TransitAssembly to get others involved in the discussion :)
*Feel free to post any and all questions related to our discussion tonight in the comment area below. You can also share anything you learn while pondering the questions or engaging in the challenge. We are so excited to encourage each other and grow even more in our studying of God’s word throughout the week! This is a conversation! This is Transit Continued.
Tonight at Transit we finished out John 8. Throughout this chapter, Jesus has been in a discussion with a group of Jews who have started on their journey of believing Him and coming to an understanding of who He really is. In this passage, we see them struggle through some huge personal and cultural traditions and beliefs that make it difficult for them to put all of their faith and belief in who Jesus is claiming to be. We also see Jesus firmly, but patiently walk with them through their doubts and help them to genuinely understand.
In this last portion of chapter 8, the particular struggle is with the fact that Jesus claims to be even greater than the prophets that came before Him. These Jews take a lot of pride in and put a lot of stock in the fact that they are decendants of these great men of God like Abraham. For this group of people, this is probably the most important claim Jesus can make and also the most crucial for them to accept. If they can see and truly grasp that Jesus is indeed greater than ALL of the prophets before him and that He has the most authority, then they will be able to accept that authority in their own lives and experience His priceless gift of eternal life.
The application for us here is simple. Jesus >.
Jesus is greater than all else; greater than all people, all things, and yes even greater than all other gods. He was not just a great man or a wise teacher, He was the Son of God sent to earth with all of God's power and authority. He should hold the ultimate authority in our lives. If we do not recognize Jesus as the greatest, of course we will see no need to submit to His authority or live our lives according to His Word. This unfortunately will keep us from experiencing eternity with Him. But the great news is, that if we allow Jesus to be the greatest in our lives, we will experience so much joy and freedom in living with Him now and forever!
Here are a few things to think about this week as you reflect on our discussion and this passage...
1. What would it look like to give Jesus ultimate authority? (This can be generally speaking or in your own personal life.)
2. What things keep people from giving Jesus this place and authority?
3. What does Jesus need to be greater than in your own life?
CHALLENGE:
This week, write out the phrase "Jesus >" on a slip of paper or a notecard. Put it somewhere that you will see it often and challenge yourself to practically make that statement true in your life. If you need to, jot down things on the back of the card that easily become greater than Jesus in your life, so you can be aware the next time you are tempted to forget that He is greater than all else. Sometimes a visual reminder can be just the encouragement we need to really process and grow from teaching!
Tweet or Instagram your "Jesus >" post and @TransitAssembly to get others involved in the discussion :)
*Feel free to post any and all questions related to our discussion tonight in the comment area below. You can also share anything you learn while pondering the questions or engaging in the challenge. We are so excited to encourage each other and grow even more in our studying of God’s word throughout the week! This is a conversation! This is Transit Continued.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
For the Hearing Impaired
(John 8:41b-47)
This seems to be a common theme whenever Jesus gets into discussions with this particular group of people. They cannot, or rather will not accept that he is one with God and put their faith in Him. Jesus wants so badly for them to see that their failure to recognize Him as sent from God and one with God is the very thing that keeps them from spending eternity with Him.
The key in this passage is that these people are constantly presented with the truth but refuse to actually hear it and accept it. Sadly, people today are often this way as well. Over and over they are confronted with Truth and each time they walk away from it because they simply cannot or will not accept it. The reason that we as humans cannot wrap our minds around the idea of Jesus Christ being one with God is because by nature we do not belong to Him. We are born into sin and separation from God and it is only by His grace that we can come to recognize that without God's kindness and the blood of His Son, we are lost forever.
We only belong to God when we recognize that He sent his Son for us and that His son is equal to Him in power, authority and all other ways. This is a conversation that is essential to our Christian faith and to our eternal situation. Let’s dive in and get to the bottom of it!
Here are a couple things to think about this week as you take some time to reflect on our discussion.
1. Think of some examples in your own life when you have been directly confronted with truth and chose not to accept it.
2. Are you willing to accept the WHOLE truth about Jesus Christ, or are there some things you would rather not hear or accept.
CHALLENGE:
This week, watch a show or movie that you are unfamiliar with, on mute. Try
your best to interpret what is happening and jot down what you assume. Then,
re-watch it with the sound on. Take note of how much of a difference it makes
when you will open your ears to actually hear the truth of what is happening.
If you will actually listen, you will be unable to avoid the truth of what is
going on.
*Feel free to post any and
all questions related to our discussion tonight in the comment area below. You
can also share anything you learn while pondering the questions or engaging in
the challenge. We are so excited to encourage each other and grow even more in
our studying of God’s word throughout the week! This is a conversation! This is
Transit Continued.
This week at Transit, we
continued discussing the passage in John 8 where Jesus is having a conversation
with a group of Jews. As usual in these conversations, the discussion centers
around whether or not Jesus is also God or equal with God and what implications
believing or not believing that has for them.
This seems to be a common theme whenever Jesus gets into discussions with this particular group of people. They cannot, or rather will not accept that he is one with God and put their faith in Him. Jesus wants so badly for them to see that their failure to recognize Him as sent from God and one with God is the very thing that keeps them from spending eternity with Him.
The key in this passage is that these people are constantly presented with the truth but refuse to actually hear it and accept it. Sadly, people today are often this way as well. Over and over they are confronted with Truth and each time they walk away from it because they simply cannot or will not accept it. The reason that we as humans cannot wrap our minds around the idea of Jesus Christ being one with God is because by nature we do not belong to Him. We are born into sin and separation from God and it is only by His grace that we can come to recognize that without God's kindness and the blood of His Son, we are lost forever.
We only belong to God when we recognize that He sent his Son for us and that His son is equal to Him in power, authority and all other ways. This is a conversation that is essential to our Christian faith and to our eternal situation. Let’s dive in and get to the bottom of it!
Here are a couple things to think about this week as you take some time to reflect on our discussion.
1. Think of some examples in your own life when you have been directly confronted with truth and chose not to accept it.
2. Are you willing to accept the WHOLE truth about Jesus Christ, or are there some things you would rather not hear or accept.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Freedom {from} Truth
(John 8:31-41)
This evening at Transit, the Gospel of John made a come back! That’s right, after a short break to discuss Transit vision for this year and our year theme of Evangelism, we jumped back into our study of John. We’ve been at this for quite some time now, but as we discover every week there is still SO much more to learn!
This evening at Transit, the Gospel of John made a come back! That’s right, after a short break to discuss Transit vision for this year and our year theme of Evangelism, we jumped back into our study of John. We’ve been at this for quite some time now, but as we discover every week there is still SO much more to learn!
We asked a big, hard question based
on the passage of scripture we read.
“What keeps us from being free?”
In this passage, Jesus is speaking with a group of Jews who have decided to believe in Him. However, they are still confused about some of the things He is saying and teaching, one of them being “true freedom.” They are still thinking in terms of freedom from slavery and do not understand their need for freedom since they were born "free" as heirs of Abraham. Meaning, as heirs of Abraham (Jews) thy have always automatically belonged to God.
The freedom Jesus is referring to however, is
freedom from sin. Although they may not have been physically enslaved or born
into slavery, they were born into
sin. Jesus explains to them that if they really knew God and his word then they
would recognize Him (being Jesus) as the only way to real freedom.
We too are born into sin. The bottom line is
that we are sinful by nature despite our heritage, and therefore we are born
into slavery. The ONLY way for us to be truly free is to recognize Jesus Christ
as Lord and acknowledge that His blood shed on the cross is the only thing that
can set us free.
Often times people are confused and misled about
truth. We live in a society that claims there is no “absolute” truth and that
freedom from rules and truth is real
freedom. What Jesus tells us is that despite worldly views and our very fleshly
ideas, the only way that we can live authentically free is to give Him
authority in our lives and essentially to become a slave to Him.
Here
are some things to think about this week as you reflect on our home group
discussion
- How do you define “absolute” truth?
- What is the “absolute” truth by which you live your life?
- How have you personally experienced freedom in your own life through knowing the Truth of Jesus Christ?
*Feel
free to post any and all questions related to our discussion tonight in the
comment area below. You can also share anything you learn while pondering the
questions or engaging in the challenge. We are so excited to encourage each
other and grow even more in our studying of God’s word throughout the week!
This is a conversation! This is Transit Continued.
Welcome to Transit Continued!
Hello Transit family, and welcome to Transit Continued!
This is a new element of Transit that we are excited to introduce to you. Home groups are so great for studying God's word, growing in our relationship with Christ, and building great friendships, but they are only a few hours long...
How many times have you left excited about the passage that we studied but still unsure of some things or with some unanswered questions? Have you ever found yourself thinking about our discussion from home group throughout the week and wishing you could keep going over it with other people who were there too? Are you looking for a way to retain what we are learning and practically apply it in your life throughout the week? Would you love to establish more accountability in your walk with Christ?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, this is the place for you! Transit Continued is way to make all of the above possible. Now the discussion doesn't have to end just because time runs out. It can continue all week long and beyond! If we don't get to a question or you are still confused by a passage or you just want to encourage everyone to keep applying the scripture from that week, just pop onto Transit Continued and start typing!
Our vision is that we would continue to develop as a church community even when we aren't together; that we would encourage and inspire each other to go deeper in our journey with Christ and our love of his word. This is our chance to shake things up, to take church beyond four walls.
This is Transit Continued!
This is a new element of Transit that we are excited to introduce to you. Home groups are so great for studying God's word, growing in our relationship with Christ, and building great friendships, but they are only a few hours long...
How many times have you left excited about the passage that we studied but still unsure of some things or with some unanswered questions? Have you ever found yourself thinking about our discussion from home group throughout the week and wishing you could keep going over it with other people who were there too? Are you looking for a way to retain what we are learning and practically apply it in your life throughout the week? Would you love to establish more accountability in your walk with Christ?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, this is the place for you! Transit Continued is way to make all of the above possible. Now the discussion doesn't have to end just because time runs out. It can continue all week long and beyond! If we don't get to a question or you are still confused by a passage or you just want to encourage everyone to keep applying the scripture from that week, just pop onto Transit Continued and start typing!
Our vision is that we would continue to develop as a church community even when we aren't together; that we would encourage and inspire each other to go deeper in our journey with Christ and our love of his word. This is our chance to shake things up, to take church beyond four walls.
This is Transit Continued!
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