Mon Aug 4

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the word brothers.

Reading

1 Thessalonians 5:12-13—The Church Imperative

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

The church is Jesus’s church.
If we love Jesus, we must love his church.
Jesus gives his church leaders to care for the church.

Questions

(Some read the ?s before the notes/ ask them after.)

Why do people sometimes love Jesus but hate the church?
Why should we love the church?
How should we respond to the elders of Jesus’s church?

Notes

Today’s notes are from a commentary on Thessalonians by Richard D. Phillips

A frequent complaint about Christianity goes like this: “I love Jesus, but I hate the church.” The reasons given for this statement usually reflect the reality that while God’s Son is perfect, his disciples on earth are far from it. One example is a rap song by Jefferson Bethke, titled “Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus,” which was posted on the Internet and was so popular that it quickly received almost twenty million viewings. Bethke rapped: “Religion might preach grace, but another thing they practice / Tend to ridicule God’s people, they did it to John the Baptist … So for religion, no I hate it, in fact I literally resent it / Because when Jesus said it is finished, I believe he meant it.”

To oppose religion is not, of course, exactly to hate the church. Yet most people think of “organized religion” in terms of churches, and many can share church experiences that support Bethke’s accusation of self-righteousness and hypocrisy. So is it right for Christians to love Jesus and hate the church? The person to ask is Jesus himself, who not only did not hate the church because of its admitted failings but “loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). Jesus called it “my church,” which “I will build” (Matt. 16:18). According to the Bible, if we love Jesus, we must love the church, which comes from him, belongs to him, and is sanctified by [him].

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 80, 85a

Prayer

Ask God to bless your elders in their work caring for you.
Pray for a specific application from yesterday's sermons.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.