I held my mom’s hand while she took her last breath. She died one month short of her 90th birthday. A couple of weeks before, I visited her in the nursing facility where she had recently moved, and she said, “I want you to see my fingernails.” Proudly she stretched out her hands so I […]
Week 22 Study Questions
Use one or both of these questions to introduce the lesson: 1. Think of these two sayings: “Rules are meant to be broken” and “Rules are there for a reason.” With which of these do you most agree? Why? What are some situations in which the other saying might be more appropriate? 2. What does […]
Week 22 Mission | Loving the Lost
Many Christians don’t seem to like non-Christians. Well, maybe it’s not that they don’t like them as much as they don’t like their beer drinking and their offensive language. And they certainly don’t want their children associating with those children. Such behavior and language may rub off on them. Consequently, Christians tend to isolate and […]
Week 22 Character | Mercy . . . Me?
Mrs. Sarah was the matriarch of the church I attended as a teenager. During prayer meeting, when confronted with a need that seemed overwhelming, she’d often exclaim, “Lawd have mercy!” “He does,” her husband would respond. “He does.” God’s mercy runs like a silver thread throughout the Scriptures. The English word appears some 341 times. […]
Week 22 Daily Reading
MONDAY Reading for Today: Mark 15:33-41 Galatians 5:1-12 Psalm 116 2 Samuel 20–21 Psalm 116 Have you ever talked to someone who was distracted by something else? Maybe they were on their phone and didn’t take their eyes off the screen when you spoke. Or maybe they had their head buried in a book and […]