Meal # 208 – The Good Samaritan

Hi neighbor!

Please feel free to share any of your feelings, thoughts, and questions from this Bible reading in the comments section.

Memory Verse:

Matthew 5:7-8 – “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

Luke 10

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Videos

The Good Samaritan
(note: We did not use the memory verse in this video for today’s lesson at CMC)

Lean on Me – Kirk Franklin

Link to Handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/217058/The-Good-Samaritan

May God richly bless you, my neighbor!

Meal #207 – Jesus Raises Lazarus

Handout: http://www.scribd.com/doc/206395/Jesus-Raises-Lazarus

Hi neighbor!

You may click on the play button above to hear the audio recording of the lesson for today. For some reason, after you play the first time, it suddenly jumps to a later part. Just click and drag the recording back to “00:00:00″ at the beginning and it will start over again. (If it does not work, please just ignore it. Thanks! )

Here are some definitions and words to know before we begin. Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. A miracle is a sign which points to God, one that is a supernatural event which breaks out of the natural order of events. Resurrection means raising from the dead to life.

Lesson #207 – Jesus Raises Lazarus

The Death of Lazarus (verses 1-16)

The name of Lazarus means “helped by God.” Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. When Lazarus became very sick, the sisters sent news to Jesus telling Jesus that His good friend Lazarus was sick to the point of dying. Interestingly, Jesus delayed traveling to see Lazarus who was dying. This was not because Jesus did not care for Lazarus, but rather, Jesus acted according to God’s plans, not human plans. God delayed for a reason so that others who would come could witness a miracle from Lazarus’ death, and as a result would believe in God. When Jesus told the disciples that Lazarus was sleeping, Jesus actually meant that Lazarus was physically dead, but he would be dead only temporarily. The 12 Disciples misunderstood Jesus, so Jesus told them clearly that Lazarus was dead. But, it was a good thing because God’s power would be demonstrated through Lazarus’ death.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life (verses 17-27)

Belief in Jesus means that we will have life even if we die. Everybody must face the sure possibility of death, and where we go afterwards will depend on where we place our faith while we are still alive. Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe this?” Jesus always demands “yes” or “no” answer. “Maybe” will not be accepted. If you choose to believe in Jesus, you have the hope for eternal life. However, if you don’t believe in Jesus, there is no hope for eternal life.

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy (verses 28-37)

Here we come across the shortest verse in the Bible. John 11:35 – “Jesus wept.” Some people speculate that Jesus wept because He was sad that Lazarus was dead. But upon reading the Bible, that could not have been any further from the truth. Jesus wept because he felt compassion for those who were weeping. He shares our tears and our griefs, and bears our burden for us.

To some people, death is the greatest enemy. Some people fear it, dread it, fight against it, yet the truth is we do not need to do any of those things. Jesus has power over death, meaning that God can raise people from the dead. God is in control, not death. We no longer have to fear death if we believe in Jesus, because God is greater than death.

Lazarus Raised from the Dead (verses 38-44)

Four days have already passed since Lazarus has been dead. Jesus has raised several people from the dead in the past, but none of them had already been dead for four days. Jesus prayed to thank God the Father for the opportunity to display God’s glory to the people, so that they may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus then ordered Lazarus to come out, and sure enough he did. Lazarus could not free himself, so Jesus ordered to “Loose him, and let him go.”

Application

Jesus has come to free us from our tombs of sin and death. Jesus sets us free and unbinds us from our sins. He frees our stony hearts from the grip of sin and releases to new life in God just as Lazarus was set free from his grave clothes. Therefore, all who believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, receive through Him the gift of eternal life.

May God richly bless you, my neighbor!

Source for information: http://rotation.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4911036351/m/4551036351

Source for picture: http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/pdf/New/Curr207.pdf

Have a Blessed Independence Day!

 

I truly am thankful to God for the freedom that America represents. But who is truly free?

John 8:31-32 – 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

So, wherever you are in the world, if you abide in Jesus’ word, you can be free as well! May you seek the truth and abide in God’s word so that you also can experience the freedom that God intended for all of us to have. May the Spirit of God and the liberty he brings be with you on this special day of American history.

Note: This post was edited after I read savedsoul’s comment and realized that I left out a pretty important point. I replaced the previous Bible verse I used [2 Corinthians 3:17] with the verse now seen in this post.