Willamette Students

Ever had a bee sting? Those hurt. A friend of mine — who is very allergic to bee stings — once received 26 stings from wasps all at once. He was rushed to the hospital at once. He made it through, but he face and body was swollen for weeks. It really hurt, as you might imagine.

Our Scripture today is 1 Corinthians 15:55-58. It has to do with something “stinging.” Let’s read it:

⁵⁵“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

• Think on this: How might knowing there’s victory in Jesus change the way you live?

I love how this hope is tied to another promise. Eternal life (death having no power over us) leads us to give away our lives here and now. Verse 58 reminds us that everything we do for God — in our families, towards our friends, loving our enemies, serving the poor, loving others, praying — everything has a purpose. The opposite would be true if this is all there was to life. Live, eat, die. That’s it? NO! Jesus has overcome death, the grave could not hold Him, and we will live and reign with Him forever. That is awesome. It doesn’t sting, but it gives me goose bumps. Are you excited?

Look at your shoes. Are you wearing Nike kicks? The word Nike comes from the Greek word nikeo, meaning “to overcome,” or “I overcome.” When the shoe company says “Just do it!” they are encouraging us to overcome any obstacle to fitness (like sitting around and doing nothing!) An overcomer is a conqueror — which is our word for the day.

Conquerors are people who have overcome a huge obstacle. They can look back at the experience and say, “Yes, we’ve made it!” They also continue to walk in the face of seemingly impossible circumstances. The wall in front of them seems too tall, but they can draw from those past experiences and say that they’ve been there before.

So it is with us and God. He is The Conqueror. Jesus has defeated (conquered) all His enemies, and so there is no reason to doubt whether He’ll be victorious in the future.

Our passage today is Romans 8:34-37. It’s an awesome reminder of the victory that is in Jesus alone.

³⁴Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

• Think on this: Through what power are we conquerors? Why?
  

We are victorious because of Christ’s love. It is the strongest force in the universe.

• Since we live and breath from victory (not from failure), how does that change how you think and feel about your problems today?

Let’s consider Scripture each day this week that shows the effects of Jesus’ resurrection.

We follow the Man who could not be killed. He died a brutal death on the cross, then rose again, triumphant over all His enemies. Death could not contain Him.

Our passage for today is Romans 6:10-11. Let’s read it as part of the larger section (vv. 8-14):

⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

• Think on this: How can we be dead to sin?

It means that our old life (and old self/nature) has passed away and we are new people. We can desire new things. We should like we are alive to God, with Him as our Master, rather than living for sin and selfishness (as if we were still slaves of sin).

In Christ, you are a new person. Walk in this new life today!

This Sunday we celebrate what has been known for centuries as “Palm Sunday.” Jesus entered Jerusalem from the East, down the side of the Mount of Olives, heading for His death only a few days later. It is the beginning of the most action-packed, climactic week in the history of the world.

There are parallel accounts of this event in all four Gospels: Matt. 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40; and John 12:9-19. In the main services the adults will look at the story of it found in John 12:9-19.

When we meet as the jr. high group in the Mt. Hood Room, we’ll look at Mark 11:1-11:

¹As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ²saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ ”

⁴They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. ⁷When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. ⁸Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
¹⁰“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”

¹¹Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

A few things to think about:

1. What does “Hosanna” mean? It is a Hebrew word that means “Save!” or “Save us now!”
2. How did Jesus know the donkey would be in that specific spot? He’s God; He can do stuff like that. Also, it’s all part of His master plan…
   
3. What is a “colt”? A colt is what you call a donkey (or horse) that has never been ridden. This is significant, because it fulfills the centuries-old (at least 400 years before) prophecy that the Messiah would come riding like a King on a donkey. Specifically, a colt, which has never had a person ride on its back. Read Zechariah 9:9:

“Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

The people honored Jesus, because He was worth praising. It was like the most excited crowd from a sporting event you’ve ever seen!

This weekend we will dive into one of the sweetest passages in the Bible.
Feel the power of these red letters, the words of Jesus describing His work — His rescue mission as the Sent One from God (John 3:12-21):

12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[e]

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Read the rest of this entry »

Jesus walked into His Father’s house (the Temple in Jerusalem) and saw the corruption, injustice and all sorts of things being done in the name of God. In other words, He saw a lot of activity, and little worship. He was more than a little upset.

Our passage for this Sunday is John 2:13-22. Let’s read it:

12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. Read the rest of this entry »

Some say all we have to do is believe in Jesus and we get to go to Heaven when we die.

Others emphasize what it means to follow Him.

Jesus emphasizes both. In fact, He points to Himself and enjoyment of God more than heaven as the end goal. God is the end goal. In Jesus, we get God Himself!

We are to never stop believing, for the finished work of the Suffering Savior is our only basis of acceptance before God. God treated Jesus like He was us, so He could treat us like we are His Son (2 Cor. 5:21). He died in our place. Read the rest of this entry »

Our passage for this weekend is Mark 10:46-52. Let’s read it:

Blind Bartimaeus Receives His Sight
46Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Read the rest of this entry »

Our reading for today is Psalm 19:12-13:

¹² Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.

¹³ Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

Another scripture that comes to mind here is I Corinthians 4:4 – “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.” If I feel good about myself, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m right with God. I may think I’m all set but still have gaping flaws. Only God really knows what’s wrong with us and how to fix it. The fact is none of us would know where to start without God. He can see our errors much more clearly than we can!

Verse 13: “Keep your servant also from willful sins.” Have you ever known flat-out that something is wrong and still went right ahead and done it? I have. That’s scary, man – when a sin has that much power over you; when it indeed “rule(s) over you.” That’s when I’m a “slave to sin,” as Paul puts it. What a terrible state to be in! Sin promises happiness and in return makes us its slave. Pretty terrible deal. David knew he was capable of falling for the temporary pleasures of sin over and over again, so he said “God! Help!” That’s my prayer, too. I know I need it, every single day.

Our Scripture passage for this Sunday will be Mark 2:1-12. Here it is, so we can be thinking about it. What stands out to you? What’s difficult to understand? What does it show us about Jesus?

Jesus Heals a Paralytic
1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7″Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Read the rest of this entry »