Church programs for Monday, Jan. 22 will resume their normal schedule at all locations this evening.
Leawood’s Sunday night in-person worship has been moved to 4 pm for Sunday, February 11.
During Lent, we are using short videos to share a daily idea (linked to the gospel of Luke) on how to grow spiritually. Watch today’s video. Click here or on the image below:
Note: We are reading the entire gospel of Luke in the GPS. Some day’s readings are longer than usual. We hope you’ll have an extra cup of coffee, or use your lunch break, and read Luke’s entire story of Jesus.
25 A legal expert stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to gain eternal life?”
26 Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?”
27 He responded, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself” [Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18].
28 Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right, so he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. 31 Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 32 Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. 33 A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ 36 What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”
37 Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
38 While Jesus and his disciples were traveling, Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. 39 She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his message. 40 By contrast, Martha was preoccupied with getting everything ready for their meal. So Martha came to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to prepare the table all by myself? Tell her to help me.”
41 The Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things. 42 One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part. It won’t be taken away from her.”
11:1 Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 Jesus told them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, uphold the holiness of your name.
Bring in your kingdom.
3 Give us the bread we need for today.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who has wronged us.
And don’t lead us into temptation.’”
5 He also said to them, “Imagine that one of you has a friend and you go to that friend in the middle of the night. Imagine saying, ‘Friend, loan me three loaves of bread 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has arrived and I have nothing to set before him.’ 7 Imagine further that he answers from within the house, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I assure you, even if he wouldn’t get up and help because of his friendship, he will get up and give his friend whatever he needs because of his friend’s brashness. 9 And I tell you: Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 Everyone who asks, receives. Whoever seeks, finds. To everyone who knocks, the door is opened.
11 “Which father among you would give a snake to your child if the child asked for a fish? 12 If a child asked for an egg, what father would give the child a scorpion? 13 If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
As Jesus chose “to go to Jerusalem” (9:51), he met more and more legal experts and Pharisees testing him with questions that sought to trap him. He answered the tricky question in 10:29 with a story showing vividly what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. He told his friend Martha it was vital to make him her first priority, and he taught his disciples how to pray—and why.
Click here to incorporate music and worship from the COR Worship Collective into your daily practice and devotion.
Lord Jesus, give me the bread I need for today. And give me your presence, too, because, in the words of the song, “this is my daily bread.” * Amen.
Mikiala Tennie serves as the Student Discipleship Program Director with Resurrection Students. She has nearly 20 years of volunteer and professional ministry experience and loves walking alongside and encouraging others in their spiritual journey. Mikiala is blessed to be an adoptive aunt and godmother to many kiddos and lives with her 10-pound Yorkie, KiKi Okoye Tennie.
Jesus had a knack for stringing together words that summarize what Christianity is supposed to be in a nutshell. He told us that our greatest command as Christ followers was to Love the Lord our God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength and at the same time we are to love our neighbors the same way we love ourselves. Now, those words are often distilled to, “Love God, Love Others.” We slap that on bumper stickers and print it on T-shirts as ways to both remind ourselves and to share that message of faith with others. After all, Jesus did tell us that our faith hinges on those two things. But sometimes we as humans have a hard time deciphering what exactly love looks like. We all agree that love is what we’re meant to do, but the mechanics of how we show that love and live that love has been a theological debate for years.
In fact, the question of the mechanics of it all was brought straight to Jesus. I love the words Jesus used. First, He described a compassionate man who saw someone in need and not only cared for that person’s needs in the moment, but also promised to follow up and check-in again later. It was after this descriptive story that Jesus gave this simple instruction: “Go and do likewise.”
Go…have compassion…take care of people who need help…follow up…repeat.
Go and do likewise.
Later in the chapter, Jesus lovingly told His dear friend Martha the necessity of sitting at His feet and taking in His teaching. He also taught His disciples a simple way to pray with shameless audacity to what He describes as a generous Father God.
I like to think that as complex as following Jesus can sometimes seem, it’s not as difficult as we make it out to be.
When Jesus paints us a picture or gives us an example, when Jesus teaches or instructs…
Our job?
Go and do likewise.
* Songwriter(s): Marie Barnett. Record Label(s): 2001 Reunion Records Inc. From https://www.elyrics.net/read/m/michael-w.-smith-lyrics/breathe-lyrics.html.