15th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord
So many times a day
I need you.
Together we travel
through ups and downs.
You stay with me
even when I turn from you.
Thank you for being my
constant companion.
Amen
Journal/Reflection Questions
Amos 7:12-15
- Amos was picked by God to prophecy but felt he didn’t have what it would take to do the job. When have you felt God pulling you out to do something you don’t feel you are gifted enough to do? Should this make a difference? Why or why not?
- Have you ever been like Amos? Been put in a situation where you can’t go back to where you have been, where you were comfortable and set course on a path where you felt ill-equipped and inadequate?
Ephesians 1:3-14 or 1:3-10
- Share a time when you felt the fullness of God? When you felt lavished in God’s love? Be specific.
- How does it make you feel to hear/read the words “God has known you for eternity”? What does this mean to you? How does it make sense?
Mark 6:7-13
- The disciples were sent out two by two. What is the purpose of this? How is this relevant today?
- The scripture says they were sent out with no food, no sack and no money. How would you fare in this situation? What was the purpose of doing this? Could you go on a journey with nothing? Why or why not?
General Questions for Journaling
- People say “God only gives us what we can handle”, you find this true? Why or why not?
- What are other ways to say, “God only gives us what we can handle”?
- Is there something you have had to change in your life/daily routine recently? What was it? Was it easy or difficult to make the change? How long before you got used to the change to make it a new discipline?
- How would you describe your ‘comfort zone’. What does it look like? Sound like? Smell like? Taste like? How does it feel?
- Name 3 times when the Holy Spirit has been active in your life this week.
- What are some things you hope for? Do you have a list?
- Are the things you hope for just for you or do they benefit others?
- Do you have hopes and dreams for your life? Do you have hopes and dreams for others? How do these hopes and dreams coincide with the hopes and dreams God has for you?
- Describe hospitality? How is it done well?
- What can you do this week to help people feel welcome and comfortable? How is this a reflection of God’s love and evangelization?
Closing Prayer
Leader: Your grace covers me like a warm blanket
ALL: Lord, I put my trust in YOU!
Leader: Your mercy fills me like a river that overflows
ALL: Lord, I put my trust in YOU!
Leader: Your Word brightens my day like the sun
ALL: Lord, I put my trust in YOU!
Leader: My sin is washed clean with the rain
ALL: Lord, I put my trust in YOU!
Leader: Your Spirit guides me like the wind
ALL: Lord, I put my trust in YOU!
Leader: Your love is welcoming like the shade tree
ALL: Lord, I put my trust in YOU!
Challenge for the Week: Many people would say their cell phone is their life line. It has all of their personal information, passwords to accounts, contact information with friends and families phone numbers and addresses and they even hold memories. Could you go a day without your phone? Would you know someone’s phone number to call if you needed help? These questions are a real challenge to many of us to realize how much importance we put into this material thing. However connected you are to your cell phone and how much you rely on the information it holds, it is simply your connection to the world. What is your connection to the spiritual? In church people are taught the words of the Bible, “Jesus is the way the truth and the life” which tells us that Jesus is the life line to the eternal. This week reflect on how dependent you are to things that are not eternal. What do you cling to and what are the consequences or benefits of doing so? Perhaps even test out your presumptions and leave you cell phone at home one day or turn it off except for when you need to make a call. It could really help focus your thoughts towards our true life line, JESUS!
weeklyscripturejournal 