Beatitudes: Lucky are the Unlucky

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This week, Rev. Peter Ma from our sister church, Celebration Church in North York, continues our series based on Philip Yancey's book, "The Jesus I Never Knew" with a look at the Beatitudes.

Questions for Discussion

- In the past, what has been your response to the Beatitudes?
- Why is the message of Jesus so difficult for us to grasp?
- What new insights can we gain if we look at the Beatitudes in a new way?
- What feelings/experiences have you had as you studied the Beatitudes in the past?
- Are these words of Jesus just nice phrases that sound good but have no practical relevance?
- What new attitude or action can you adopt as a result of studying the Beatitudes?

What's so special about Jesus?

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Continuing our series on Philip Yancey's book, "The Jesus I Never Knew", Tom Eng looks at what we know about Jesus, and what made Him so special.

Questions for Discussion

- What opinions about Jesus have you heard from your friends, coworkers, and family members?
- What impressions do you have of Jesus' physical attributes, personality, and ministry?
- When in your life did you form these impressions?
- What emotions did Jesus display?
- How would you describe Jesus' personality?
- What characteristics of Jesus stand out?
- What does the Bible tell us about Jesus' message and ministry?
- What made Jesus so compelling to people?
- How could a poor, carpenter's son make such an impact on history?

Duel with the Devil

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In the first of our series on "The Jesus I Never Knew", Tom Eng discusses the Temptation of Jesus in the desert.

Questions for Discussion

- How do we experience temptation in our world? (At your job, With the media, With your family, In your leisure time)

- What was the true nature of Jesus' temptation in the desert?

- In what ways do we face the same temptations Jesus did?

- What do Jesus' responses to Satan tell us about how we are to respond to temptation?

- Do you ever wish Jesus would "hurry up" his work in your life - for example, in your job, dating relationships, friendships, marriage, raising your children, volunteer work, success in your church? What makes you spiritually impatient? What do you do with the impatience? Are you tempted to compromise Jesus' way to achieve what you want?

Advent Week 4: "Joy"

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Do not judge men by mere appearances; for the light laughter that bubbles on the lip often mantles over the depths of sadness, and the serious look may be the sober veil that covers a divine peace and joy.
- Edward Chapin





Do you ever judge a book by its cover? Or better yet, do you ever talk about books you've never read? A professor of literature at Paris University, Pierre Bayard, published a book "Comment Parler des Livres que l'on n'a pas Lus (How to Talk about Books that You Haven’t Read)" which caused quite a stir when it was released in February. Bayard's aim was to help alleviate the guilt that people felt about not reading a book completely, while acknowledging that there are many ways to interact with a book: skimming it, starting and not finishing, or looking at the index.

Joy can't always be discerned from outward appearances. You can't just skim a person's life and expect to know their joy. Joy is somewhere deep, somewhere real, somewhere that needs to be lived and needs to be alive in order to experience joy. It doesn't always reside at the surface. You can't talk about joy without having experienced and lived it. Such discussions invariably confuse joy with happiness, but to do so is to miss the point. By all appearances, the young pregnant girl and her husband forced to spend the night in the stable with the animals would be the last place you would look to find joy. And yet, there in the most lowly and awkward of circumstances, to Mary and Joseph the greatest joy the world has ever known was born, Jesus Christ. It is possible to know joy, even in the unhappiest of situations.

With Christmas just a few days away, let's not get fooled by what appears to be joy in the hustle and bustle around us, or in finding that perfect present or last minute shopping. The real joy at Christmas is Jesus Christ.


Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, “Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
- the prophet Zephaniah, speaking about the Messiah, the Saviour, to come (Zephaniah 3:14-17)

 

Advent Week 3: "Peace"

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Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on earth

To tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on earth

Jesus in the song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on earth

Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won't rhyme
So what's it worth

This peace on earth
Peace on earth
Peace on earth
Peace on earth





from "Peace on Earth" - U2

Advent Week 2: "Hope"

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I was drawn to this article by Rev. Ron Rolheiser this week as I reflected on "hope" during Advent.

Isn't it striking how the lighting of candles can be seen as subversive, even defiant? The simple candle, the light from which helped to topple apartheid, reminds of the hope for the world that is embodied in Jesus Christ.

1John 1:5 ¶ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

Advent Week 1: "Faith"

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Candles can give us light, they can set a mood, and they can even (apparently) eliminate household odours. :) Candles can also teach us about how we use our time. As a candle burns down, it becomes shorter and shorter, until all the wax has been consumed and it can no longer burn. We use the expression "burn the candle at both ends" when we want to mean that we are working late into the night and rising early in the morning because we have so much work to do.

Are you "burning the candle at both ends"? Each week during the Advent season, we'll be lighting a candle around the Advent wreath until all four are lit on the last Sunday before Christmas. It is an ancient tradition, and each candle has been given a particular significance by different groups of people. Faith, Hope, Peace, and Joy will be our themes this Advent season.

Take some time this week to reflect on the candle, and how it burns. Perhaps it can be a reminder not to let our own candles burn down so far that they burn out; a reminder that traditions can increase our faith, if we let them.