Ron Mehl writes, “…if you consistently dishonor the Sabbath principle in your life, somewhere along the line the bills will come due. Things will begin to break down in your life…? When we think of remembering the Sabbath often what we think of is focusing on God – and while this is certainly a part of this, there is a reason that God gives us a day to REST. Tonight we will look at the whys of and importance of Sabbath and the role it plays in our life! To Know: God calls us all to a day of rest EVERY week! To Feel: Relief and excitement at the gift that God is giving To Do: Choose to honor the Sabbath…by actually changing your calendar to give yourself a day of Sabbath each week. Do the hard work!

Reading: Luke 7:36—8:3 Jesus humbles the proud but is forgiving and accepting of those who come to him humbly. Basic Focus: Forgiveness. Humility. To Know: Jesus forgives the greatest sins of those who come to him. To Feel: Conviction for any lack of humility and relief that Jesus forgives our darkest sins. To Do: Confess sin…go to the feet of Jesus.

Tonight we will look at the truth that idols are anything which takes our focus off of God. Even the things which seem or are “good? – when they usurp God’s position in our lives, they become idols. We’ll challenge people to look at their own lives and name the idols they worship and then also remind them, that God tells us he wants our focus on him – not so he can see better when we mess up and be ready to jump on us – but rather He wants our focus on Him so that we will focus on what’s best for us – in this life and for eternity. To Know: We become like that which we worship To Feel: Desire to take stock of what gods I am worshiping that aren’t God and the willingness to get rid of them To Do:Take an active look at your life and answer this question: If everyone leaves an “Image? here on earth (and we do) – what image so I want mine to be? Then take the active steps towards doing just that!

Reading: Luke 7:11-17

God, in full power, is present in Jesus. Jesus' compassion meets us in pain and even death.

Basic Focus: Compassion. God's power.

To Know: Jesus, the Author of Life, meets us in our pain and struggle. He has power to change things.
To Feel: The love of God that transforms our lives from death to life.
To Do: Rely on and lead others to the compassionate and powerful presence of Jesus.

When God penned the 10 commandments he gave us more than just “rules for living?. He actually was writing a profound love letter to us. These commandments are God’s way of telling us what he thinks, what he desires for us. Just as a father wants their own children to have the benefit of their wisdom, the experiences, etc – the same is true for God with us. Over the centuries this love letter has been turned into something critical, something unattainable – over the next few weeks we want to reclaim this as what it is – a love letter from a Father to his children. To Know: God penned one of the most profound love letters in the 10 Commandments To Feel: The depth of God’s love – that he would love us so much, he’d give us this letter to guide our lives To Do: Commit to discovering and living the 10 Commandments more fully

Reading: John 16:12-15

The Spirit guides Jesus' followers along the path to truth.  It will be both convicting truth and the truth of hope in Jesus, which leads to a future without fear.  The Spirit declares the salvation brought by Jesus for all people.

Basic Focus: The work of the Spirit. Truth.

To Know: The Spirit is active in the life of a Jesus follower opening up the truth of Jesus.

To Feel: Trust that it is for our good that we engage in the life of faith where the Spirit will lead us to truth.

To Do: Seek the Spirit of truth through the practices of our faith. Willingly face our convictions and actively live in the truth of Jesus.