Day 33 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 12.
• During days 29-35 (at your own pace) read chapters 17 and 18 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 29-35, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 5.

"25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' 26 He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? How do you read it?' 27 And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' 28 And he said to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.' 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' 30 Jesus replied, 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?' 37 He said, 'The one who showed him mercy.' And Jesus said to him, 'You go, and do likewise.'” (Luke 10:25-37 ESV)

In your reading of Matthew 11, compare verses 9-14 to the parable of the Good Samaritan. How was Jesus a neighbor to the man with the withered hand?

Finke, referring to Jesus' question in Luke 10:36, comments, "It is a clever question because it puts the reader into the position of wanting to be a part of the right ending to the story. In other words...I don't want to be that person who is in too much of a hurry or too full of themselves to be a neighbor to someone in their path. I want my story to be like the Samaritan's story. Jesus' response? 'Go and do likewise.'"

Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? How will you go and do likewise?

Day 32 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 11.
• During days 29-35 (at your own pace) read chapters 17 and 18 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 29-35, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 5.

"Walk with me and work with me—-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace." (found in Matthew 11:28-30 MSG)

Finke wraps up chapter 17 with 3 questions:

1. Who are these people?
2. What is Jesus already up to in their lives?
3. How can I join him?

Let's look closely at question 2. Read the verse (above) from Matthew 11. How does this verse help you gain a better grasp of question 2? How does it provide both instruction and relief?

Day 31 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 10.
• During days 29-35 (at your own pace) read chapters 17 and 18 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 29-35, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 5.

"And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him." (Matthew 10:1-4 ESV)

I love this neighboring formula which Finke shows us in chapter 17.

Take a close look at it. Reading through Matthew 10 and other accounts of Jesus, how do you find Jesus having modeled this formula with His disciples and others He encountered?

How does Jesus' example, with insight from the neighboring formula, give you a better grasp on developing friendships with your neighbors?

Day 30 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 9.
• During days 29-35 (at your own pace) read chapters 17 and 18 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 29-35, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 5.

9 "As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he rose and followed him. 10 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 'Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?' 12 But when he heard it, he said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.'” (Matthew 9:9-13 ESV)

Finke shares in chapter 17, "...if we are going to learn how to join Jesus on his mission, our neighborhood is a logical place to start...How do we start? How do we join what Jesus is doing in our neighbors' lives if we don't even know their names? The Finke's conclusion? 

Have a...

Some people refer to the above Jesus account as a Matthew Party. Those in attendance at a Matthew party are a mix of Jesus followers and those who do not yet know Him. It is an opportunity for people to let their hair down (for those who have hair...I only have memories), be themselves and enjoy the company of others. It is an opportunity to burst the "Christian bubble" for Jesus followers who only know other believers. It is an opportunity for those who do not yet follow Jesus to see that Christians can enjoy a good time too.

I don't have much experience in throwing large-scale parties with the neighbors, but when living in Lake Zurich, IL, my wife, Amy, and I did intentionally invite our next door neighbors plus some friends from our church for a BBQ at our home. One story that sticks out involved Ralph from across the street. Somehow Ralph mentioned being invited to our house to his next door neighbors. His neighbors thought it sounded cool, so he invited them to join us...perfectly fine by us! After the party Ralph shared that we should do these more often which we unfortunately didn't do. But that one BBQ did help build a better conversational relationship with Ralph. And from that point on, we were getting freshly picked vegetables from his garden throughout the subsequent summers.

Whether it is having many neighbors over or a few who live on either side of your home or apartment, what will be your next step to break the ice and maybe even...PARTY!!!?

Day 29 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 8.
• During days 29-35 (at your own pace) read chapters 17 and 18 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 29-35, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 5.

"When he [Jesus] came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him." (Matthew 8:1 ESV)

"When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him..." (Matthew 8:5a ESV)

"And when Jesus entered Peter's house..." (Matthew 8:14a ESV)

"And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him." (Matthew 8:23 ESV)

"And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him." (Matthew 8:28a ESV)

In chapter 17, Finke shares, "Remember how we said 53% of Americans have almost no one to talk to? There are reasons for that. And one of the reasons is that we can live within 20 feet of other people, and it's normal not to get to know each other. Recently I read that 30% of Americans know none of their neighbors." He later shares the idea of having a neighborhood party and we will get into that tomorrow and the next day.

For now, let's look at Jesus from Matthew 8. Look at the verses above. What do you see? 

I see Jesus always on the move and initiating contact with others. Now some made steps toward Him when they came within His vicinity, but He took the first relational step in making Himself present and available with people.

What do you learn from Jesus' example? What is He teaching you? Even before planning a party, how can you take a next step towards being present and available with your neighbors?

Day 28 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 7.
• During days 22-28 (at your own pace) read chapters 11 thru 16 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 22-28, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 4.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...” (Matthew 28:19a ESV)

As I think back to some spiritual conversations over the last few months, I recall that they happened while chaperoning at my son's class trip, while taking my car to the mechanic, at Starbucks, out to lunch at a local restaurant, when walking my dog.

We revisit Matthew 28:19 (previously discussed on day 8).

The big question for joining Jesus on His mission is WHEN? When can I get this accomplished in an already packed schedule?

Finke unpacks this at the end of chapter 16, "As most people know, Jesus says in Matthew 28, 'Therefore go and make disciples...' What you may or may not know is that the Greek participle that is most commonly translated as 'go' in Matthew 28 is literally to be translated as 'while going.' 'While going, make disciples...' That changes a few things, doesn't it? Jesus isn't saying, 'go' as in 'go find room in your hectic day to make disciples,' but is rather saying, 'while you are going through your hectic day make disciples.'...Our hectic life is our missional life...We don't have to struggle to add another layer of volunteer hours to our lives in order to 'be missional.' Our lives as they are now are missional... if we open our eyes to see."

How does this uncomplicate things for you as you join Jesus on His mission?

From your reading of Matthew 7 - "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock." (Matthew 7:24 ESV)

Day 27 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 6.
• During days 22-28 (at your own pace) read chapters 11 thru 16 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 22-28, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 4.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10 ESV)

A story I recently shared on another blog...

It happened during week 4 of our small group meeting together. Near the close of our meeting we asked our waitress, who had been serving us the past few weeks, if there was anything we could pray about for her. It was a simple question. But it made an impact. She first stepped back, expressed a surprised look, and then quickly, replied, "Yes. I have a couple things you can pray about." Later she enthusiastically asked if she could share a third request. Of course we said, "Yes!" After the first exchange she left our table with a tear in her eye. She earlier shared, "You've made my day!" (Of course, we know it was Jesus who did that through us--the body of Christ.)

We prayed for her at our table after she walked away. It was a great experience. We have since followed up with her on how things have been going. But, not to diminish any of this, considering Finke's words in chapter 16, I wonder what deeper impact could have been made if we prayed out loud for her, right away, with her in our presence. The trick would have been to keep it short since our waitress was working, but take a look at one of Finke's examples of a short and simple prayer, "Dear Jesus, you already know my friend here has found out his wife has cancer. We're scared. We invite you into our trouble. We ask you to heal her and help us to trust you as you work out your plan for her life. Amen." I reread that prayer and timed it. That took 14 seconds. 14 seconds would likely not have been interfered with our waitress' work. Something to try next time.

Finke offer multiple ways to minister to others through prayer. A few of these include:

• "We can use our morning devotion time to prayer for our neighbors..."
• "Every time we pray the Lord's Prayer we can be more intentional about inviting the kingdom to come and the will of the Father to be done in our neighborhood, workplace or school as it is in heaven."
• "Jesus tells us to ask the Father to send out workers into his harvest (see Matthew 9:37)"

In your reading of Matthew 6, in what ways does Jesus teach us to pray?

What will be your next step in ministering to others through prayer?

Day 26 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 5.
• During days 22-28 (at your own pace) read chapters 11 thru 16 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 22-28, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 4.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10 ESV)

Good works can come in the smallest forms, even in just a smile. 

The last church I served at has two campuses. One of these campuses runs a seven-day-a-week coffee house. I served at the other campus two miles away. One of my responsibilities was picking up supplies each Friday from the full-service coffee house and bringing them back to my campus to be used at our much-smaller-scale Sunday morning coffee service.

During my last pick up, one of the baristas came up to me and said, "Thanks for always coming in with a smile. Some of those Fridays when you'd come in, I may have been in a bad mood and down on life. Then I'd see you walk in smiling and think, well, maybe things aren't as dark as they seem. Maybe there is hope for the day." I had no idea! I had some brief friendly conversations with this person each week, but that was about it. I feel blessed by God to be able to tell this story because we don't always get to hear the impact God uses through us in another's life. But these simple acts of doing good do make an impact.

I've always been a fan of Saint Francis of Assisi's comment, "Preach the good news, if necessary, use words." We live in a jaded culture. It is hard to trust people. They may say one thing but do they really mean it and live it. As Finke points out in chapter 15, "...it is important that people see Jesus in us before they hear about Jesus from us. The good works he has prepared in advance for us to do become visible proof that Jesus is real. Words regain meaning because through our simple acts of kindness, people are seeing that the kingdom of God has come to them."  

So what good can you do in your community? How can you help make the kingdom and grace of God a little more real to people with whom you cross paths? How can you show the love of Jesus even in the smallest forms?

In your reading of Matthew 5 what does Jesus teach on doing good? After listening to Him, what good will you put into practice today?

"...let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthews 5:16b ESV)

Day 25 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and Matthew 4.
• During days 22-28 (at your own pace) read chapters 11 thru 16 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 22-28, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 4.

"So Philip ran to [the Ethiopian] and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?' And he said, 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: 'Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.' And the eunuch said to Philip, 'About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?' Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus." (Acts 8:30-35 ESV)

A number of years ago the church my family attended did a sermon series focused on evangelism titled, "Talking to Your Friends About Faith." I had the opportunity to teach a Saturday morning workshop during this series on how to do just that. In my opening remarks I shared that really we could change the title to "Listening to Your Friends About Faith" because when it comes down to it, listening is 90% of the conversation. In listening we better meet people where they are at when sharing the good new of Jesus.

And good news to you introverts, as Finke writes in chapter 14, "...a strong argument can be made that introverts are actually better suited for missional conversation--once the difficulty of initiating conversation is overcome--because they would rather ask questions and listen than hear themselves talking."

It is a short story, but look at what you read of Philip and the Ethiopian. Philip did initiate the conversation, but after listening to the Ethiopian and hearing what he was struggling with, "then Philip opened his mouth..." What a perfect example!

Finke closes chapter 14 with these words and a question, "Jesus can do more with two people who are talking with each other than he can with two people who are successfully ignoring each other. So, what kind of conversations are you having with the people around you?"

And speaking of listening, from reading Matthew 4, what do you hear Jesus teaching you? What act of faith is He challenging you to practice?

Day 24 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below and, beginning today (see below), read also Matthew 3.
• During days 22-28 (at your own pace) read chapters 11 thru 16 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 22-28, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 4.

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (God the Father speaking of God the Son in Matthew 17:5 ESV)

Finke explains in chapter 13, "If we want to recognize what Jesus is telling us or showing us in our daily lives, it begins with us being deeply familiar with what he's already shown us and told us in the Gospels.

Let's add something new to these daily devotions. For the next 26 days, which will take us to nearly the last day of this 50-day journey, let's read one chapter from the Book of Matthew each day. I'll include in each devotion a Bible Gateway link to the chapter for the day.

While we read each day's chapter, consider Finke's words, "Don't read to get through the words of Jesus. Read to get the words of Jesus through you."

May we also then practice what Jesus is teaching us. As James wrote, "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only..." (James 1:22a ESV)

We will start with Matthew 3 where we first see Jesus in His adult ministry.

Day 23 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below.
• During days 22-28 (at your own pace) read chapters 11 thru 16 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 22-28, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 4.

"Seek first the kingdom of God..." (Jesus in Matthew 6:33 ESV)

Finke writes in chapter 12, "Are you sometimes irritated by the people who interrupt your day? I know I can be. Maybe now is a good time to stop seeing such moments as interruptions and start seeing them as appointments...appointments set up by God without consulting us...Wherever you go, there you are, and wherever you are, Jesus is already up to something. Therefore, coincidences become God-incidences. Good luck becomes God's anonymous provision. Bad luck becomes God's redirection of our plans."

So here is my "interruption" story...

On one summer night I was in a lousy mood, crabby and didn't want to be around anyone.  I was at my worst and was really behaving like a jerk.  My son wanted to play with me and I refused multiple times.  Embarrassing.  I only wanted to my own thing and didn't want any interruptions. Then my son wore me down enough to get me to begrudgingly play with him, his friend and his dad.  While the boys were running around, his friend's dad began to open up about some tough stuff going on in his life and even shared something like, “I'm not sure why I'm telling all of this to you.”  I was most surprised. It pretty much shocked the jerk out of me. I listened and with the Lord's help and power showed the love of Jesus to this hurting man. This "interruption" unbeknownst to me was a God-incident. It is when the jerk shocked out of me when God opened my eyes and helped me to get over myself and seek His kingdom first.

What God-incident, first interpreted as an interruption, have you experienced in your life? How may you pray to God to open your eyes to seek His kingdom first?

Day 22 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below.
• During days 22-28 (at your own pace) read chapters 11 thru 16 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 22-28, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 4.

"...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8b ESV)

As a follower of Jesus this is your identity. You are His witness, with emphasis on His. We have Jesus wherever we go (or maybe better said, He has us and uses us wherever we go).

Finke shares in chapter 11, "Jesus is very clever. Wherever he wants you to start being a missionary, he already has you there...As the great theologian Winnie-the-Pooh once observed, 'Wherever you go, there you are.' To which I would simply add, 'and wherever you are, Jesus is already working redemptively.'"

I used to pray daily for God to open up an opportunity for me to share His love with another. A well-intentioned prayer, but it falls short of the truth. I don't need to pray for God to open up an opportunity for me to share the love of Jesus with others--He provides those (plural) wherever I go. The prayer has changed to something like this, "Dear Lord, help me to better join you today on the multiple opportunities you WILL provide me to share your love and good news wherever I go."

How does the idea that "wherever you are, Jesus is already working redemptively" mess with you and/or give you new perspective about being His witness in your community?

Day 21 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below.
• During days 15-21 (at your own pace) read chapters 7 thru 10 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 15-21, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 3.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)

A couple months ago a friend and I drove my '97 Accord from the Chicago area to a town outside of Houston, Texas. Much trust was involved in this trip. My car's A/C is broken, so we were trusting in God that we wouldn't melt on the way down there. My car had nearly 195,000 racked up on the odometer. Lastly, I didn't have a printed map in the car, just my GPS. All went well. We made it there and back to our homes safely. God even blessed us with some cooler-than-usual temperatures when in the Houston area. 

The only "weird" time with the GPS was when it directed us off the highway driving through Oklahoma. Following the GPS' instructions, we drove down a road for about a mile, turned around, and then got back onto the highway at the same place we had gotten off of it. Something faulty happened there. It seemed like we had just wasted our time...but you never know. God could have recalculated our trip so as to avoid an accident.

It seems to me that when joining Jesus on His mission much trust is involved. Like my car, we've got a lot of imperfections. Whereas saved by Jesus Christ, we are still sinful beings who mess up. Because of our imperfections, when sharing the love of Jesus, we worry and are fearful that we'll say and/or do something wrong, something that will end the conversation or, much worse, end a friendship.

Finke offers these words at the end of chapter 10, "When we miss our missional opportunity, when we blow by our missional turn, we repent and he recalculates. We may not be very good at being missionaries, but he is very good at being God. He's got this."

So when it comes to God's Plan for Sharing the love of Jesus, we trust in Him with all our heart. We lean not on our own understanding. In all our ways, we acknowledge Him. And He will make straight our paths.

How does trusting in God provide you with encouragement as you join Jesus on His mission?

Day 20 of 50

READING GUIDE:

• Read today's devotion below.
• During days 15-21 (at your own pace) read chapters 7 thru 10 from Joining Jesus on His Mission.
• After days 15-21, meet with your small group and follow the back-of-the-book discussion guide for SESSION 3

"Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (1 Corinthians 12:27 ESV)

I'll never forget it. I'll spare you the details. But I'll never forget that lowest time of my life. It was a time when I felt all the chips were down. I felt sorry for my actions, miserable, depressed, rejected. And then the phone rang. My friend Paul called me out of (seemingly) nowhere, "How are you doing, Craig? You don't sound like yourself..." As the conversation continued, a weight lifted. I felt the beginnings of being restored. I heard the good news again. I firmly believe God used my friend Paul to call me at exactly the right time. Not kind of the right time. Exactly the right time.

Have you had a similar experience? How has God used another to restore you with His good news? How has another been the body of Christ to?

In chapter 10, Finke explains, "Being 'the body of Christ' is not simply a theological metaphor Paul utilizes. It is a statement of fact. Because the Spirit of Jesus lives in us, we are literally the visible body of the invisible Jesus to the people around us...Through our hands people experience the hands of Jesus. Through our voice people hear the voice of Jesus. Through our service people experience the care of Jesus. Through our face people see the face of Jesus."

Look at the those in you life. 

Remember how God used others to share the good news of Jesus to you. 

Then ask yourself...

Who in my life is "ready for some news that is good"? 

Who in my life is "ready for a little hope, a little help, a little grace"? 

Who in my life is "ready for a cool cup of water of truth"?