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FRIDAY — Old Testament Friends
Today’s Big Point: Old friends have shared experiences, likes, loves, and memories. They have been there to teach us and to serve us in our times of need. We have a crowd of friends in the Old Testament waiting to share these same things.

In summary of the last eight weeks, as we looked back on the lives of Old Testament heroes during The Classics series, it is important to remember a few common themes.
~The first theme to remember is that God chooses the person with the strongest character to lead his people to victory at crucial times. The key elements for such leadership are faith, trust, and worship.
~The second theme to remember is that the faith of the Old Testament heroes was a faith for the real world and not for the restricted environment of professional religion.

Almost every man and woman in the Old Testament did faith oriented things for which we credit them — not in religious environments, but in real-world environments. Shadrach and his friends did their faith work in a city furnace. David did his work on battlefields, in palaces, and on his knees. Abraham did his work while involving his immediate family, Esther did hers in the king’s palace, Ruth did hers in the fields of foreign land, and Gideon in the fields of enemy infested camps. These men and women and many others of the Old Testament were administrators, scholars, builders, warriors, and merchants. For the most part, they were not clergy. They were the people of the streets and their faith was defined in terms of a God who wanted to be active in the streets. Their jobs were the work of the streets; but we, in our lack of imagination, have taken these men and women off the streets (figuratively speaking) and made them seem like theologians and full-time religious workers. In short, we have tended to tame these men and women of the Bible, making them smaller than life. It has not occurred to us that they could have been construction workers on a highway project, manufacturers, secretaries, and managers in our day. The result? We do not fully appreciate that their faith was a faith for the real world. These men and women of the Old Testament were meant to be like old friends to us. We were meant to see ourselves in their story. We were meant to study their life and ask questions like…What caused them to be successful? How did they choose to honor God despite their circumstances? What made them unique? We were meant to look at their lives and imitate the godly characteristics that we observe in them. As we close the Classics series, do you see yourself observing them in this way?

Weekend Reminders:
Come Celebrate! In two short months we’ll celebrate the past and imagine the future at CedarCreek’s 15th Anniversary Celebration-Friday, September 10th at Huntington Center in Downtown Toledo. Tickets are $10 to $12 and include a delicious stadium-style meal and an incredible night of music and fun. Stop by the Welcome Center/Connecting Point at any CedarCreek campus for tickets!

DAILY BIBLE READING COMMENTARY:
Luke 19:1 Zacchaeus isn’t just a hated tax collector, but he is the chief tax collector – the worst amongst the worst. Jesus scandalized the Jewish community to openly advertising that he was going to go to Zacchaeus’ home.
Luke 19:8 As a result of Jesus’ radical move to cross social lines, Zacchaeus’ heart was changed in a radical way. While giving to the poor was a sign of piety, it was considered unwise to give away more than 20% of one’s worth. However, Zacchaeus decided to give away half – now that’s generosity! Additionally, restitution was an additional 20% over the value of what was lost. Zacchaeus’ heart was so radically changed that he promised to give back 400% of what was ill-gotten.
Luke 19:10 As depicted in Zacchaeus’ story, the theme of Luke constantly portrays the lengths that Jesus would go to seek and save those that were lost. This theme should introduce a certain level of tension in our lives…what are we willing to do – to stretch our faith toward – in order to share the gospel message behind and beyond the walls of CedarCreek Church?
Luke 19:11-27 Matthew records a similar story titled The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).  Persecuted for centuries, the Jews were waiting for a Messiah to come to earth and in a visible show of power, punish the pagan rulers that had mistreated the Jewish people. Jesus points out that he will receive this royal authority, not in Jerusalem, but in heaven at God’s right hand (Acts 2:32-36). 

HomePointe Family Activity Section
Coming this fall, we will kick off our all new CedarCreek family ministry called HomePointe. Families will be able to take part in opportunities and resources at CedarCreek that will assist them in their journey to intentionally grow a Godly family. The following family activity is just one of the many resources we will be offering.

Big Point for Parents: Leadership is an important aspect of growing a Godly family at home. Leading at home is an essential means of maturing and refining men and women for wider influence. Home is the first and most consistent context in which we prove ourselves worthy and make ourselves ready for what God might ask us to do when we grow up to be adults. That’s why leading at home is the proving ground of success.

Big Point for Children: God will give us opportunities to lead at home so that we are practiced up and ready to lead when we grow up.

Lesson: The primary qualification for leading at church is leading well at home. In the New Testament, Timothy and Paul were both trying to appoint church leaders. Paul listed several items that every person interested should have as personal qualities (read 1 Timothy 3:5). When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon he gave him one task at a time so that he could prove himself obedient and faithful with each task (read Judges 6).

Activity: As a family, talk about the importance of Dad and Mom leading well at home. Have the children list ways that Dad and Mom lead the family well. Great leaders don’t just teach what they believe… they live it! Finally, list ways the children can begin to practice their leadership through chores and activities at home.

Pray: God help our family to live what we believe!

Living It Out: July’s Memory Verse
“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”
Hebrews 11:1 (New Living Translation)

Living It Out
It is the dream of CedarCreek that everyone who calls this their church home will be reading and studying the same topics, both individually and in groups. Each week, join with thousands of others at CedarCreek Church in applying God’s Word, the Bible, into your daily life. Our hope is that while we learn and grow together, as individuals and as a church, we will collectively live out the weekend message.

Living It Out resources, such as the Daily Bible Study, Daily Bible Reading Plan, Discussion Questions and Scripture Memory Verses, are designed to help us embrace a missional mindset…a mindset that compels us to love Jesus, serve others and tell the world about Christ.
Living It Out: Daily Bible Study…Daily Bible study activities to reflect on the weekend message
Living It Out: Daily Bible Reading Plan…Read through the New Testament in a year
Living It Out: Discussion Questions…Weekly questions to discuss with others
Living It Out: Scripture Memory…Memorize one Bible verse per month

All of these resources are also available electronically at www.livingitout.tv, where you can subscribe to have any or all of them emailed to you as they are updated.

We Want Your Feedback!
Tell us about any questions or comments you have about this week’s Living It Out: Daily Bible Study. Forward them to barbr@cedarcreek.tv.

RESOURCES:
The Leadership Bible
The Inspirational Bible
It Starts At Home; Kurt Bruner & Steve Stroope

This week’s Living It Out: Daily Bible Study written by:
Gina Carlson, Stephanie Coil, and Chantele Henry