Please read Exodus 20: 1-17 to prepare for Sunday morning worship.
Sermon Focus: Covenant Keeping: Contracts and Covenants
Key Verse: “…showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Exodus 20: 6.
Reflection Questions:
- Covenants include agreements between parties to live in certain ways together, such as vows in marriage. The ten commandments are the agreements we make with God in choosing to live a Christian life. Is there one that is difficult to live into? Is there one you find easier than others?
- Verse six reminds us that God shows love to those who follow the commandments. How will you try to live into these covenants more closely this week?
Connection for Today:
Perhaps one of the most polarizing debates within Christianity and U.S. politics is the role of the ten commandments in our justice system. Several courthouses display depictions of the commandments while others have chosen to remove these symbols. Regardless of our feelings on their role in U.S. courthouses and politics, as Christians we should take them seriously. They act as guideposts for the ways we live with one another in the world. Imagine for a moment if all people of the Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) were to live out the ten commandments. Or what if just every Christian lived without lying? Can you imagine how different the world would be? God’s commands are not meant to take away freedom, but to offer it. In a world without lying, in a life with no idolatry, there is freedom–and God’s love.