Month: August 2020

I was on a “church call” earlier this week…and our senior pastor made a reference to the book of Jeremiah, which immediately woke me up!  And he talked about Jeremiah sitting in prison and buying a plot of land.  I was scratching my head, wondering where that part of our study had happened….or maybe hadn’t happened yet.  Then, as fate would have things, I picked up this week’s lesson, Chapter 14, where our author immediately talks about Jeremiah buying land in Anathoth!

There are not coincidences in life, gents!

We’re continuing our slow down this week, focusing just on Chapter 14.  David Parker will lead us this week.  Scripture focus is: Jeremiah 32:9-10, 15-17, 24-27, and 42-44.

This week, we’ll talk about “being practical”, which our author describes as “giving high praise”.  How many of us would describe ourselves as practical?  And if not you, then who in your circle of influencers is worthy of “high praise”?  Who’s the most practical among your connections?

Same Zoom invite as last week.  You should also have the calendar invite.

Log in at 7:30 am to check in with the group.  David will kick things off at 7:45 am.

Peace!

This week, we’re going to continue to “slow down” a bit….and focus on simply Chapter 13 of our current study.  While we’ve been learning these last few weeks about the greatness of Jeremiah, we’ll discuss this week some of the people around him that, arguably, are instrumental in his success.  “Jeremiah”, our author says in this chapter, “was not friendless….”.

Our discussions this Friday might shepherd us to looking “inward” rather than outward.  Who are in our immediate circle of “friends”…and even beyond in other spheres of influence…..who are these people that have helped us along the way?  Our “slow down” this week actually comes in a several forms; a slowness in our reading assignment and slow-down for introspection.

Deep stuff.

I’ve extended out the Zoom meeting invitation that everyone should have as a calendar invite.  Reach out to me if you don’t see that.

Gather at 7:30 am ET.  Lesson starts at 7:45 am ET.

Peace!

Calling a slight audible for this Friday….

The assignment is to read chapters 12-16….but honestly, as I read through the first chapter this week, I think there’s already a lot to unpack in that chapter alone.  So, my recommendation is to read that chapter, at a minimum.  We’ll talk about what does it mean to be in “exile”?  Are we just supposed to “suck it up”, or can we make changes to meet our own needs?  How can we learn from Jeremiah, his letter to the Israelites, and translate that to today’s situations.  For me personally, I think this global pandemic has forced many of us to go into “exile” of sorts.  Our normal way of living has been altered; how we interact with one another, with co-workers, that’s all changed too!

And I find myself, at times, complaining about the current cards we’ve been dealt.

The scripture reading for this week is Jeremiah 29:1-14.  Contained in that passage is one we’ve all heard before, Jeremiah 29:11:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Ask yourself….”do I really believe that” or does that not matter anymore…given COVID, working from home, and home-schooling…”

We’ll chat specifically about Chapter 12….and Jeremiah’s letter to the Israelites spoken from God.  And we’ll talk about how to wrap up the rest of the chapters next week, in the next couple weeks, or whatever.

Lastly, thanks to Luke Nelson for throwing together a handful of book suggestions for our next study.  Take a look at these so we can start to map that out for our future lessons as well.

The Last Arrow: Save Nothing for the Next Life

By: Erwin Raphael McManus

Battle Plan for Prayer (Bible Study Book)

By: Alex Kendrick

 Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood Video Series Workbook

By: Dennis Rainey

 Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

By: Paul David Tripp

 Simply Jesus and You

By: Joseph M. Stowell

Zoom info is out via calendar invite.  Hit me up if you don’t have that!  7:30 am ET for checking in.  I’ll introduce our lesson at 7:45 am EWT.

Feel free to invite a friend this week.  I think chapter 12 is so very relevant to today’s situations!

Peace!

I’m especially excited that Rob Miller has agreed to lead us this week.  Aside from his promise of “nuggets of knowledge”, Rob brings a certain degree of passion into his lessons.  He might tell us otherwise, but there’s something about his persistence these last couple years of our men’s group meeting that is certainly commendable.

“Persistence” is part of the focus for this week’s lesson.  Longer reading assignment, Chapters 9-11…..so be sure to carve out a little time to knock that out.

The scripture lesson is Jeremiah, chapter 35.  Here, we’ll learn about a nomadic tribe called the Recabites.  There’s a stark contrast between the Israelites devotion to God and a similar level of devotion from the Recabites.  Here’s a hint, however.  Don’t fall into the trap that one group’s actions is better than the other.  Instead, try to understand the better qualities of each and come prepared to share how those can apply to us today.

The Recabites, nomadic by nature, don’t have a place to call “home”.  Some would argue that the Recabites travel around from place to place, taking their tents up and down very frequently, because their “home” is in the house of our heavenly Father.  More on that this Friday!

You have calendar invites for the Zoom meeting.  Gather with your coffee beginning at 7:30 am ET so we can “check in” with one another.  Rob will lead us beginning at 7:45 am ET.

Peace!