B. A. D. (Be A Disciple) Student Ministries

Who Were You Before Salvation? Today, I'd like to focus on just one story from Acts. The story of Paul, formerly known as Saul.  Jesus is back in heaven, and the disciples are going crazy--spreading the word of God and the good news of Jesus like it's keeping them alive (it is, by the way.) And a new disciple, Stephen, is on fire for God in a way you wouldn't believe. People are amazed at his devotion and love for the Lord--he is truly an inspiring man! He does, however, call out some people for resisting the Holy Spirit--their free gift of eternal salvation!  These people did not react well to this news, Saul was one of them. Their solution? Stone Stephen to death. Yikes. What's amazing here though, is that as Stephen is dying, with rocks being hurled directly at him, he prays. What did he say? "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, do not hold this sin against them." He forgave his murderers in the midst of his own death! But that still not eve...

We Need to Talk about Pilate  Pilate--a man we've heard about over the last four books, but haven't really talked about. The man who chose Jesus's sentence. John gives us a bit more insight to the mysterious Pilate, and I'd like to discuss that a bit. See, Pilate actually realized  that there was no basis on which Jesus should be crucified, and when he tried to explain that, the people were having none of it. "Of course there is! He claims to be king, which is a disgrace to Caesar!" etc. etc. And Pilate begs Jesus to tell him anything that would save him, and Jesus says that this is all out of Pilate's hands. Pilate continued to try to set Jesus free, but no one was having it. He even said, "Really? You want me to crucify your king?" which was again met with, "We have no king but Caesar."  Remember that sign that they hung on Jesus? The one that said, "King of the Jews?" Pilate wrote that. And the people told him to...

Who Throws the First Stone?  Today I'd like to start out by talking about the first part of John 8. The people are trying to trap Jesus, and find a woman who has committed adultery. Remember way back to the Old Testament where it was said that anyone who has committed adultery must be stoned to death? That's the exact point the people bring up to Jesus. So they bring this woman, and stand her up in the middle of a circle of people (a la Jr. High School fight), and they say, "Hey, Jesus, this is what the book of Moses told us to do. What have you got to say about that?" They continued questioning him, but Jesus remained  quiet and wrote something in the ground with his finger. Finally, he stood up, and said, "Whoever is without sin may be the first to throw a stone." And he went back to writing on the ground. Slowly, the people began to leave. Jesus was the only one there without sin.  When everyone else had left. Jesus went to the woman, and said ...

He Came to Serve, Not to Be Served I think it's time, 3 out of 4 gospels complete, to take some time to reflect on Jesus's ministry.  1. He arrived in humility and left the same way.  How is it that a man, The Son of God, who came to save us all, could come from such a humble background? How is it that he was born in a manger and not in a castle? How is it that his crown was made of thorns, and not of precious metals and gems?  I believe it is to prove several points. 1. Through God anything is possible. 2. Faith has more value than wealth. 3. Your beginning does not matter, it does not determine who you are.  2. He came to serve, not to be serve.  Rather than taking people's wealth, creating rules, and demanding servants and aids as the Son of God (which he could have very easily gotten), he  served us.  He spent the Sabbath, the Holy Day, healing the sick, the injured, and raising the dead. That's nuts. He served the disciple...

What are you worried about? Lesson number one from today's reading: Don't sweat the small stuff. Luke 10 One of the key things I'd really like to discuss is the story of Mary and Martha. They were preparing for a visit from Jesus, and when he arrived, Mary stopped all the preparations and listened to everything Jesus said. Martha remained distracted, then said, "Jesus, my sister is leaving all the work to me! Tell her to help!" And Jesus simply tells her that she is worried about all the wrong things, and that Mary is concerning herself with what is important. I just think that that's a very beautiful and straightforward way of reminding us all to keep our eyes to Jesus. It doesn't matter what we have to offer him, our worldly possessions mean nothing. What matters is how we act on what we're called to do as followers of Christ.  Lesson number two: Worrying will never change the outcome.  Luke 12:22-34 We are told not to worr...

What does it mean to love the Lord? Luke goes much the way the past two gospels have gone, but we get a few side stories here and there.  We hear about Mary and Joseph losing Jesus (can you imagine their fear at losing the Son of God?!). But fear not! Jesus was found in the temple, hearing lessons and asking questions, hungry for knowledge of God. Mary and Joseph were like, "What are you doing?!" And Jesus is like, "It's okay, you should have known I would be at my Dad's!"  Then we see the Blessings and Woes. (Luke 6). To summarize, the poor, hungry, sad, and hated are blessed--because they will know true gratitude when their earthly troubles are relieved. But those who have everything, less so. They feel no need to be grateful, they've experienced great comfort in life.  There's a reiteration of a very important verse--Luke 6:37. "Judge not and you will not be judged. Condemn not and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and yo...

Who are you for?  In Mark 9:40 we are faced with a fact: "Whoever is not against us is for us." Whoever is not against the Lord is for Him. Believe in the resurrection, follow Christ's ways, believe in Him. And the Lord will make things possible (Mark 10:27)--so I ask you, who are you for?  In Mark 11 we see Jesus's triumphant entry into the city where he will later be crucified. The people are shouting, "Hosanna in the highest!" they're throwing down their robes and palm leaves and making a path for him. But remember, he's riding a donkey. Just like his "triumphant" entrance into the world (in a barn, in a manger) Jesus is a man for the people. He's not on a majestic white horse--he's on a donkey. And he still accumulated a following of people.  Then we go through the betrayal and denial and crucifixion and resurrection once again.  And we're brought into Luke chapter 1. Luke 1 goes into much greater detail a...