Hi, my name is Wade Stoller and I am part of the West of Westside
Home Group. With a bit of a push, I retired in August 2019. After working
for 50 years, I am trying to determine what I want to be when I grow
up. Through the confusion of this transition, God has been faithfully
directing my path.

• Please pause here and read Matthew 9:1-13

The story of the paralytic and the story of Matthew’s calling by Jesus
seem like an odd pairing. On the surface the paralytic needed physical
healing while Matthew needed social healing. What they had in common
is that both of them needed their sins forgiven. With the paralytic, Jesus
challenges him and the religious leaders present by telling him his sins
are forgiven. Then to silence the scoffers, HE tells the paralytic to rise up
and go home, which he joyfully does. After Matthew is called by Jesus,
he called together his colleagues and hosted a dinner party for Jesus.
When the religious leaders condemn Jesus for eating with sinners,
Jesus points out it is the sick that need a physician, not the healthy. The
sickness HE is referring to is sin. Both men are healed by responding in
obedience and faith to Jesus. Any other decision would have left them
in their former condition.

Just like Matthew and the paralytic, our greatest need is God’s
forgiveness of our sins. There may be sin in our life of which we are not
aware, or we may be actively ignoring God’s call to repent.

• As you meditate on the life and crucifixion of Jesus, ask the Holy Spirit to examine your life. Ask HIM to reveal any areas of sin that HE finds and then lead you into sincere confession and repentance before the Father’s throne of grace. You will find God’s grace is sufficient.

Hi, our names are Tom & Ramona Langhofer. We are in the West of
Westside Home Group led by Wade Stoller and Phil Lubensky. We have
been married for almost 11 years and we have 3 kids: Boston, Jacob and
Titus.

• Take a moment to stop and read Matthew 8:1-13

We love the leper’s faith, he recognized that Jesus was the only one able
to heal him and believed that He could! This man lost everything and
everyone dear to Him and it humbled him to recognize that only God
can heal him if that was His will!

Also, the centurion’s faith made Jesus marvel! The centurion probably
heard the story of the leper being healed and he believed that Jesus
had the power to command the servant to be healed from the distance.

Our faith pleases God and we must approach Him like the leper and
the centurion, believing Him and that He is a rewarder to those who
diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Every time we go to visit Romania, my faith (Ramona) grows stronger
because every problem and difficulty is an opportunity to draw closer
to Him, recognizing that only God can fix the problem if it is His will. He
draws nearer to us when we are brokenhearted and I have seen Him
work in amazing ways through hard times!

• May we always come to Him with the same faith as the leper’s and centurion’s and tell Him: “If it is Your will, You can do it!”

Good morning Sunday! Our predictable time to spend relaxing with the
Father.

We again remember that the shared rhythms of Advent, Christmas,
Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost root us in the redeeming story
of Christ, and live into the Biblical wisdom of the teacher that “there
is a time for everything” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Built into these annual
rhythms are the wide spectrum of our life with Christ: anticipation and
fulfillment, proclamation and response, lament and joy.

• Today we are reflecting, in the spirit of remembering Christmas, on the gift of Jesus as you’ve been reading through His life. Spend some time thanking the Father for the ways that Jesus has been a gift to you or those around you.

Hi, my name is Malia Marshall. I am a member of the Near Northwest
Home Group through Riverside! I am a senior at the University of Notre
Dame, and I am originally from Portland, Oregon. I have been attending
Riverside since my freshman year at Notre Dame, and I am also a Young
Life leader at Jefferson Intermediate in South Bend.

• Take a moment to stop and read Matthew 7:15-28.

When I read this passage, I am struck by Jesus’s warnings against
following false prophets who “come to you in sheep’s clothing” but are
“ferocious wolves” on the inside. He goes on to say that we will recognize
whether someone is worthy of our trust by the fruit they produce. What
I think is interesting about this metaphor is that the false prophets (the
“wolves”) who mislead people and should not be trusted by followers of
Jesus, disguise themselves as harmless sheep who seem very nice and
very trustworthy. Jesus then says that to tell what someone is really like,
we should not pay attention to their appealing words, but instead, pay
attention to whether they live their lives in a way honoring to God.

This part of the passage stuck out to me because I am discouraged
when I see and read about Christian leaders who misuse Christianity
and their power in ways that harm people and that do not reflect the life
and teachings of Jesus. Some examples of this include Christian leaders
who use their influences in ways that demean groups of people, abuse
women, promote violence, or seek personal wealth/glory.

While we are all imperfect people deserving of grace, sometimes actions
of Christian leaders come to light that are so egregiously against the vision of Christ, and I find it difficult to understand in the aftermath how other Christians didn’t see the warning signs or chose to look the other way when they did. The end of the Sermon on the Mount reminds me that the actions of Christian leaders (their “fruit”) really do matter and should be evaluated. This doesn’t mean expecting perfection from people, but it does mean it is important to hold people, especially leaders, accountable for acting in a godly and loving way. I pray that while remembering to treat all with grace, I would also have the wisdom and discernment to know and not dismiss when a Christian leader produces bad fruit in their lives.

Consider the following questions as you reflect on today’s reading:

• What kind of fruit would a “false prophet” produce?
• What fruits do you believe are important for Christians to show in their lives? (See Galatians 5:22-23).

Hello! I am Sarah Enck, and I am a member of the Near Northwest Home
Group. I am a mom to twin boys, wife to Ryan for nine years, and a
School Counselor at Saint Joe High School. I am passionate about story
and the most fulfilling thing is to sit with someone while they share their
story with me.

• Today we continue to think of our own story as it relates to our relationship with others and with Christ. Let’s continue our study of the Sermon on the Mount with Matthew 7:1-14. Read this passage now – thoughtfully – thinking through each verse.

Judging others. I don’t know what first comes to mind when you read
the first six verses in this chapter, but I always feel defensive – I’m not
a judgmental person. As I’ve studied this idea further, I’ve had to really
evaluate what judgment means and what Christ is commanding of his
followers. Should I always give my friends unconditional approval or
just judge their actions? According to this passage, judgment should be
fair and not hypocritical. I cannot approach someone in love without
being open to them coming to me to talk through the areas in which
I fall short. In whatever those conversations look like, they should be
measured with justice, mercy, and love.

Ask. Seek. Knock. I have read these next verses so many times, and I
think this is the first time I have thoughtfully considered seek and knock
in relation to the rest of the passage. Typically, I stop at ask and settle
on the idea that if I ask God to grant my requests he will follow through.
Thankfully, I have grown in my view of God and no longer see God as just
a magic genie who grants my wishes. Instead, I see that asking requires
believers to come to God with a spirit of humility – acknowledging that
we cannot do anything apart from the help He provides. Beyond that, we are to seek him in our requests and prayers with care and application.
As we ask in humility and seek his presence, we continue to knock -approaching him with earnestness and perseverance. We need to
implement each of these steps in our relationship with the Lord because
we need help from him in order to live out what is he commanding us in
the rest of the Sermon on the Mount.

Consider the following reflection today:

Think of a current situation that you can implement ASK, SEEK,
KNOCK this week. Pray about this and ask for his guidance. Seek Him as
you meditate on his Word and reflect on what He is telling you. Continue
to knock and wait on Him as he reveals His plan for you.

“Hallo”, my name is Lea Barthuly and we have been going to Riverside
since moving to South Bend over 3 years ago. I grew up in Germany and
have worked/lived all over the place, from Texas to China to Florida.
Now, my husband Josh and I live in the Near-Northwest-Neighborhood.
We love going to our NNN home group and connecting with international
students on Notre Dame’s campus.

• Today’s reading is Matthew 6:19-34.

This winter, as I watch the sparrows devour the bird seeds outside my
window, I am often reminded of verse 26: “…they neither sow nor reap
nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” These
little birds go about their days without worry and God provides all they
need. Even during a South Bend winter! Verse 26 also asks “Are you not
of more value than they?” Yes, you are.

As God’s son or daughter, we are called not to worry about tomorrow
and the day to day but to “seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness.” Why? Because we have a heavenly father who already
knows about all our daily needs – who deeply cares about them.

I like to think of it as a daily adventure. If He is my father and has told
me He will provide, then how will He do it today? I can pray for an open
parking spot, a difficult meeting, or for the food that I burned to still taste
good… and then watch Him in action! What happens next is sometimes
truly miraculous. And sometimes seemingly “less” miraculous. The
response to my prayer comes as a lesson in patience or a reminder that
even after failures, His grace is still sufficient for me.

Daily adventures are our training ground. When we entrust our heavenly
father to take care of the “small” things and see that He keeps His word,
we can also trust Him with tomorrow’s “big” things and stay focused on
His kingdom.

Reflect on the following questions today:

• Do you believe that God truly cares about your daily needs and troubles?

• What “small” thing will you pray about today? At the end of the day, make a note about the outcome.

Sing/read the song out loud: “What a Friend we have in Jesus”

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Hey there! I’m Nicole Forgette. I’m originally from Minnesota but have
lived in South Bend for the past three years. I love adventure, especially
the infinite adventure in knowing God through Christ in His Word. I serve
in the ministry of Revive Our Hearts in the Spanish division and am part
of the wonderful Near Northwest Home Group through Riverside.

• Let’s read Matthew 6:1-18. You probably have a section of this memorized without even knowing it!

The Lord’s Prayer! It’s one many of us learn as children or hear in movies
or at Christian events. So easily it can become a repetition that we may
not realize what we’re actually praying for. So let’s pick it apart a bit and
take a closer look!

Notice the first two verses have to do with God. So easily we can start
our prayer with talking about ourselves. Let us put our first focus in
prayer on Him!

• “Your Kingdom Come”—When we ask for the Kingdom to come, do we know what we’re asking for? Do we know what God’s Kingdom is?

• “Give us this day”—God meets our daily needs. So quick we are to worry about tomorrow, but God tells us to not worry about tomorrow. Let us focus on today!

• “Lead us not into temptation”—Often it seems like we lead ourselves into temptation and then ask Christ to deliver us.

• “For Yours is…”—The doxology, finishing the prayer in praise! May we both start and end our prayers in praise to Christ our Lord.

This prayer isn’t one we’re supposed to constantly repeat but it is a
pattern/example of how we should pattern our prayers.

Reflect on the following question as you go about your day today:

• What other lines of this pattern prayer seem confusing?