The Word lyfe stream invites to be immersed and formed by the Word of God and to living out the good news of Jesus.
Stepping into the Word lyfe stream...
The Word lyfe stream focuses on three areas – being immersed in the word of God, sharing faith and getting to know Jesus better. God’s great message to humanity is that all can be redeemed and restored to its intended design. This is the message embodied in Jesus himself, rooted in the word of God, and ultimately expressed through the lives of those who follow Christ. It is a living tale of grace spoken in and through word and action.
This session focuses on discovering ways to share and be the good news of Jesus Christ.
Recap on your experience of the previous challenge. How did it go? Was it helpful?
If you weren’t able to try the challenge, explore the question: where and how did you experience God last week?
Read the passage several times through, slowly and prayerfully. It might help to use your imagination to picture the scene. At the end of the text you will find helpful background information in our ‘Setting the Scene’ section.
As you read, look out for shockers and blockers.
Shockers – a phrase, word, image or something from the text that resonates, stands out or connects with you.
Blockers – something from the text that raises questions for you.
Jesus returned to Galilee with the power of the Spirit. News about him spread everywhere. He taught in the Jewish meeting places, and everyone praised him.
Jesus went back to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and as usual he went to the meeting place on the Sabbath. When he stood up to read from the Scriptures, he was given the book of Isaiah the prophet. He opened it and read, “The Lord’s Spirit has come to me, because he has chosen me to tell the good news to the poor. The Lord has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners, to give sight to the blind, to free everyone who suffers, and to say, ‘This is the year the Lord has chosen.’”
Jesus closed the book, then handed it back to the man in charge and sat down. Everyone in the meeting place looked straight at Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, “What you have just heard me read has come true today.” All the people started talking about Jesus and were amazed at the wonderful things he said. They kept on asking, “Isn’t he Joseph’s son?”
When the people in the meeting place heard Jesus say this, they became so angry that they got up and threw him out of town. They dragged him to the edge of the cliff on which the town was built, because they wanted to throw him down from there. But Jesus slipped through the crowd and got away.
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
After you have all had time to read the text, pause and be still to listen to God through the Scriptures.
Begin your reflection time by each naming your shockers and blockers. Listen carefully to each other, share your thoughts and reflect on this passage together.
You might also like to explore these questions:
Q1. What captivates or amazes you most about Jesus?
Q2. God uses three main ways to reveal himself – the Bible, creation, and the work of the Holy Spirit in his followers. How did you come to know about Jesus?
Word lyfe challenge: As a group, create a challenge that will help you increase your engagement with the Bible this week or choose from the following:
The Jewish education system required young children to memorise large chunks of the Old Testament. By the age of 12, most children had learnt the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) by heart! Memorising Scripture allows God’s word to permeate deep into our hearts. Why not write down some verses this week? You could stick them to a mirror, the TV or on the fridge. Read them until you can recite them by heart. Try these verses to get you going: Galatians 2.20, Romans 5.1, John 3.16, Psalm 1.1, Ephesians 2.8.
Commit time this week to reading a whole book from the Bible, maybe one of the Gospels, or one of Paul’s letters such as Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Colossians. See what difference taking in the whole book makes relative to a verse here or there.
As this session is also about sharing faith, spend some quality time with a friend this week. Ask them about their life story and take the opportunity to share your own. If they are interested, tell them what difference your faith has made in your life – what God means to you and what you think he’s like. Be careful not to force your story; don’t pretend to have all the answers and try not to use religious jargon. Some people will naturally find this easier to do than others, but it’s good to be able to talk concisely and intelligently about faith.
You might like to commit to praying for each person in the group this week as you look to increase your engagement with the Bible.
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Main video
‘Our souls will never grow in God if we read the Bible solely to get ammunition to defend ourselves or defeat others. No. We read the Bible to be fed. We read to be converted, to be strengthened, to be taught, to be rebuked, to be counselled, to be comforted.’
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