Three week series exploring the meaning of the parts of the logo of the PC(USA)
| Video Message | Resources |
| Week 1: The Scriptures | Monday Memo notes How to Weave the Written Scriptures into Your Life What we couldn’t cover during the sermon yesterday is how, week to week, you and I can cultivate this kind of willing, receptive relationship with the written scripture so that God’s Spirit uses them to shape and reshape us. Here are a few simple ideas that focus on quality interaction with the Bible, not quantity: – For the next few weeks, read one section a day in Psalm 119 (the longest psalm in the Old Testament, which happens to be about God’s law and written word): Psalm 119 NRSVUE;MSG – Psalm 119 – Center your own personal Bible reading on the parts of scripture that are the easy to understand, e.g. you don’t need to understand ancient cultures quite so much in order to understand them: Psalms, Proverbs, some sections of the Old Testament prophets, the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, and James. – Try reading scripture using the prayerful ancient method called “lectio divina.” It can be done in 10-15 min. and will make you open to hearing God’s Spirit through the written scripture: Lectio Divina: Engaging the Scriptures for Spiritual Transformation and Lectio Divina: A Beginner’s Guide – Busted Halo – Pray a verse a day. Use one verse or phrase from scripture as a prayer focus throughout one 24 hour period, even if it’s just single sentence prayers scattered throughout the day. Read the same passage in scripture each day for a week. As you do, you’ll see your sense of the passage deepen as the week progresses – you’ll notice, feel, and hear God more as the week goes on. (Pastor Chris mentioned a few weeks ago that this is one of his own spiritual practices.) – Work on memorizing a key verse that’s meaningful to you right now over the course of a week. Read it a few times every day till you can recite it from memory. – As you read scripture on your own, don’t just read it…make the last step of your reading going back through the passage or verses and praying them back to God – pray about the questions you have, about living these verses in your own life, and so on. As one ancient church father put it, when we pray using the scripture we are speaking to God in the very same words that God has spoken to us. – Carry one key idea from the Sunday sermon with you throughout the week. Pray about it daily. Reflect on it off and on during the week. Write about it in your journal. Then when you get to next Sunday, start the process over. |
| Week 2: | Monday Memo Notes |
| Week 3: | Monday Memo notes |