Week 3: 19th January
Journeying : Taking Time Out
Preacher: Andrew Walmsley
Scripture
Exodus 14:13–31 & Luke 3_15-17,21-22
John 2:1–11 (ESV)
The Wedding at Cana
2 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.
Outline of this week's theme
Taking time out is something that we should all do at some point. Yet for many of us that can become quite hard, especially when we are involved heavily with different Church ministry activities. Couple that with our family and friends and we end up living lives that are challenging and simply busy all the time. Yet when we read through the ‘wedding at Cana’ passage from John, and consider the other times that Jesus took time out, we see a pattern in Jesus’ ministry. He was busy, preaching, teaching, and healing, and talking to those that he met. But Jesus also was able to take time out. He took time out to be alone to pray, and also took time out in those social occasions, such as the wedding, to relax and be with others. And it was through those ‘time out’ moments that he grew closer to God, and things happened.
The following questions will help you reflect on taking time out.
Questions for reflection
Taking time out
- Do you take time out, either to pray and be alone with God, or with others in social occasions?
Grounding ourselves in God
- Do you allow your time outs to ground you in the glory of God, of Christ, of the Holy Spirit?
- Do you look to see Jesus in the things you do, or the places where you are?
Do not allow ourselves to pressure others or let others distract us or pressure us
- Do we put undue pressure on others when we shouldn't?
- Do we allows others to distract us from what God wants for us and our service to community?
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