Tim - Luke 7 (Our friend Steven!)

Luke 7

The Faith of the Centurion

¹ When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. ² There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. ³ The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, ⁵ because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” ⁶ So Jesus went with them.
He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷ That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁸ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
⁹ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” ¹⁰ Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well!

Our good, family friend, Steven Bosworth suffered a brain aneurysm this week.  We were stunned.  Yesterday Tim was able to pull his "Pastor" card and visit him in ICU at the UofM, he is doing great and he is a true miracle!!!

Our family  had the cool privilege of praying with Steven this morning on speaker phone before we started our day.   Tim shared with him the scripture we read this morning and how much it reminded us of him!  For those of you who know Steven like we do the story describes his humility, serventhood and GREAT FAITH perfectly.   Steven just stands out from the rest.  He has served more than anyone of us every dream of serving and we see God's favor on his body now - a divine touch from above we know.   Tim cried as he read this scripture this morning because he said truly he experienced what the men did in this scripture when he went to the hospital "they returned to the house and FOUND THE SERVANT WELL".

We are praising the Lord this morning for our dear friend's life.  Kadin prayed that God would touch Steven's body so that he can ride his bike again real soon.  We love you Steven!

Livia - Philemon 1:3

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philemon 1:3 NIV)

This is a greeting that many letters written in the Bible start with. This is a great example for us and how we should greet others. Wishing grace and peace upon their lives now and always.

Grace is unmerited favor, which means that there is nothing we can do to earn grace. It's a free gift fro God.

Peace is being friends with your enemies and working hard to keep unity in your relationships.

Devin - Romans 12:10

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Romans 12:10 NIV)

How do we devote ourselves to one another or how do we honor each other?

Liv - give your things away
Tim- withhold prideful thoughts (like winning a game)
Liv - apologize quickly
G - listen to each other when you talk
Tim - even people who hurt you, serve them with a loving true heart

Above yourself is huge. Don't be so stinking selfish! And be okay with it.
Enjoy it. This concept is life changing. And God's word will teach this wisdom to us.

Liv prayed : come into our lives and help us love of each other !!!

Gina - Proverbs 19:11

A person's wisdom yields patience;
it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11 NIV)

I had a situation recently where I felt like someone was not getting me , they gave me odd looks and an awkward "ookkay" kind of answer that left me wondering. I prayed about it because I kinda wanted to "go after it" I you know what I mean. Then this morning I found this scripture!   I want to be wise , I want to be Christ-like. God thanks for your wisdom and guidance in my life.

Tim - 2 Peter 1:1-3

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:2-4 NIV)

His power has given us everything we need for a Godly life. We get to live in a divine nature. To live, love, forgive, have wisdom like nothing else !

Can we escape evil desires ? We might have the thoughts but we can defeat those thoughts an desires with Christ in us.

Livia - Judges 16

So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother's womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man." (Judges 16:17 NIV)

Livia: It's kind of like...why did he finally trust her after she kept trying to kill him? We don't think right all the time and that's why we need to always counsel with God and the wise leaders in our lives.

God is our strength!

Tim - Philippians 3:1-14

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (Philippians 3:12 NIV)

Paul is saying "I'm doing this!" but it's all a loss in comparison to KNOWING Christ. He thought he was good (righteous) but he realized that he's not without the cross, without Christ. Knowing Christ is our hope!!!

Doing good does not get it, being in Christ is what matters.

"The surpassing worth" ( way more valuable than we can imagine or come up with).

Kadin: "Dad, Are there churches that just believe in God but don't worship him?"

Whooa - where did that come from?

Wow.