“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?

Hello, I’m Janelle Phillips and I participate in the Near Northwest Home
Group. I’m married to David and my two boys Jonah (6) and Theodore
(3) help keep me busy and curious about the world. I also teach at a local
nature-based Montessori preschool where I love exploring the wonders
of God’s creation with little people. I’ve been even more thankful than
usual for outdoor spaces this past year!

Today we’re reading Matthew 5:27-48.

In verse 44 Jesus says to “love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you.” In my life right now I’m not being actively persecuted
and I try not to have any enemies. But the past year has brought many
polarizing events and opinions and it can be hard for me to continue to
extend love to someone who in word or deed seems to stand directly
counter to my own beliefs and values.

I might wonder, in disbelief or dismissal, “How could they do that? How
could they think that?” Even if I do not say or do anything in response
to the other person I know the attitude of my heart and the thoughts of
my mind matter to God and need to be more aligned with His Kingdom.

As you go about your day today, consider the following question:

• Who is God asking you to extend love to today, even if it’s hard?

This is from David Phillips. I am from Plymouth originally and work at
Notre Dame. If you know me at church, it is probably as the tall guy
chasing after two little boys. I am in the home group that meets at the
Encks’ house near Keller Park (Near Northwest) during normal times.
Our home group has spent most of the last year studying the Sermon
on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, so we are going to lead the devotionals for
this part.

• For today, first take some time to read through Matthew 5:1-26

This start of the Sermon on the Mount surprises me. Jesus has been
healing people and calling disciples, gathering a crowd, but we haven’t
heard much from Jesus directly yet. Then, he starts off with these
unusual statements. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” “blessed are
those who mourn,” and so on. I’ve heard it summarized as “lucky are
the unlucky.” It is just so different from what I am used to and what
I naturally pursue in the world; it is so upside-down. And yet it is the
center of Jesus’s teaching. It is the first thing Jesus shares with this
big crowd. When I read it, I have to force myself to take it at face value,
because it is just so different.

These upside down statements have helped me in the midst of the COVID
pandemic, when the world has been turned upside down. “Blessed are
those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” has been particularly
meaningful to me, a verse that I have said multiple times each day
over the past months. This statement is a promise of eternity to me,
of what is to come: people dying in a pandemic, political division, and
isolation are not the end; God and good will eventually win. But what
has been most important to me is that Jesus’s words are also true now.
Life is hard right now, but that death and mourning over it is somehow
creating space for resurrection.

When I mourn now over the daily struggles of working from a windowless
room in my basement, the effects of my own sin, or even very literally
mourn people who are dying, I am learning how to follow the Jesus who
came and conquered by dying.

Reflect on the following question today:

• What is God trying to do in you in this time of mourning?

Each Sunday through Lent, we are going to observe our predictable
routine of slowness.

In the introduction, I observed, “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, spend some time reflecting on a season of life that was characterized by Advent-like waiting. Are you still waiting? What are you waiting and longing for?

• Spend some time reflecting about this to the Lord – He wants to hear your thoughts, fears, and dreams.

Hello, I’m Evan Good. I’ve been at Riverside for 3-ish years I think, and I’m
in the Marquette Home Group led by Keith and Shelley. If you’ve heard a
loud boisterous (possibly obnoxious) laugh sometime during service or
after, it was probably me!

• Today’s passage is Matthew 4:12-25.

There’s a few different things that jumped out at me from today’s
reading. The first is the part of the prophecy in verse 16 “the people who
sat in darkness have seen a great light”, and it made me think about how
much effort God puts into going to those in darkness. He consistently
chases the “hopeless”.

The other part that struck me was the disciples’ response to Jesus
calling them to join Him. They just up and left, in an instant. I’m deeply
challenged by the commitment that took, no planning, no talking
to those they were working with to see if it was ok, no tying up loose
ends—they just left. In fact, this challenged me so much that I checked
the account in the other gospels trying to find if they really went that
immediately. The different accounts of the disciples have varying
details around the circumstances but they all show the disciples leaving
to follow Jesus immediately. If you want to check them for yourself look
at Mark 1:16-19, Luke 5:1-11, and John 1:15-51 (don’t worry, John has
short verses).

In light of that, the questions I’m now wrestling with and encourage you
to consider are:

• Is there someone in your life who’s sitting in darkness that you can be a great light to?

• What might Jesus be calling you to leave behind in order to follow Him?

I am Laura Maddux. I am from Texas, but moved here to teach sign
language interpreting at Bethel in 2019. I’ll be married to Adam
Polhemus (this month!) and what will soon be our house frequently
has three teenage girls and 2 crazy dogs around. I’ve been attending
Riverside since October of 2019, and enjoy the Marquette Home Group
and the tight relationships I’ve formed with many other believers here.

• Pause to read Matthew 4:1-11

After 40 days without food, Jesus had to be physically weak. However,
all the time in focused meditation and prayer had left him spiritually
strong to withstand the devil’s temptations. He responded to every
temptation he faced with a scripture.

Reflect on the following questions today:

• What is a temptation in your life and what is a scripture you can use to combat when you are tempted?

• The devil also used scripture in a false way to try to convince Jesus (verse 6). Are there any scriptures you think have been twisted into lies in this way in your life? What are verses you can use to combat those lies?

• What ways are you tempted to worship the idols of this life instead of God?

• Have you ever fasted for even 24 hours as you pray and seek God on a topic? Why not pick a day in the next week where you can abstain from food and focus on where the Lord is leading you. If you’re interested in how to go about this practice, reach out to someone on the elder team or pastoral staff for guidance.