– Scripture:

                    If the Son Sets You Free

Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.” Surprised, they said, “But we’re descendants of Abraham. We’ve never been slaves to anyone. How can you say, ‘The truth will free you’?” Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient who can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. I know you are Abraham’s descendants. But I also know that you are trying to kill me because my message hasn’t yet penetrated your thick skulls. I’m talking about things I have seen while keeping company with the Father, and you just go on doing what you have heard from your father.” They were indignant. “Our father is Abraham!”
Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would have been doing the things Abraham did. And yet here you are trying to kill me, a man who has spoken to you the truth he got straight from God! Abraham never did that sort of thing. You persist in repeating the works of your father.” They said, “We’re not bastards. We have a legitimate father: the one and only God.”

                                John 8:31–41 MSG

 – Reflection:

We cannot mature in our faith without community. We just cannot. The process of maturing isn’t simple and isn’t smooth. It’s one of getting off track and getting on again and again and again. We need help with that. We’re designed to be together. We’re built to need one another. To “grow up healthy in God, robust in love,” we need community. We need to want to do the things that our savior did in being in the community and seeing the people; that way, we will know for ourselves what the community needs. Not listening to someone who hasn’t even been to your community, but get out there yourself. Go see family, see them, and remember what your city or town was like before you moved away. Help honor where you came from; if we all can do this, it will make for a better community that will move the needle more for change than just talking about it. Christ got out in the community and sacrificed his life to move the needle of his community, which, in a sense, has moved across the world today. We all want to do the work that has been placed in our hearts, let’s do what Jesus did start small and connect with one another to make the change necessary for the Kingdom.

Where do we go from here?

Do you have a sense of the true identities of your brothers and sisters in the community? Get serious about learning. Get intentional about allowing God to show you. Begin creating small groups. In those small groups; speak on things that will help the group honor the WORD. When you meet next, have each person bring a favorite story or verse from Scripture. Read them. Talk about them. They’ll point to something true. If someone loves the story of Caleb, for example, they’re likely designed and built to be brave, bold, and faithful like Caleb. And his community must help him do just that.

Our Prayer for Today

Father, help guide us in the ways that made you do the work you were called to do and aid us in those same abilities. We know things are not going to be easy, and know that anything worth having is worth working for. Allow us the strength to honor you and the Father with the work necessary to bring change in this world. In your name, Jesus, we pray and say Amen.