Love of law or law of love?

Sometimes it seems like Christians are more in love with Bible commands and laws than they are with Christ. Paul sums up law as loving others (Rom 13:8-10), or popularly known as the "Law of Love." Do you find yourself more concerned with who is doing what than you are with demonstrating the love of Christ to them? How can you fulfill the law of love this week?
 

Wait for it (Him)

 After His resurrection, Christ instructed His disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Ghost to be given to them (Acts 1). As followers of the risen Christ, sometimes the hardest thing we have to do is to just wait. Can you think of a time when you've tried to do God's work without the Holy Spirit's guidance? When you are moved to action, do your actions seem like the actions Christ would take? 

Real Hope/Real Power

 The disciples' fearless hope and faith might have begun with the empty tomb (Matt 28). Their faith was strengthened when they actually met the risen Christ and spent time with Him. During this time, they seemed to have learned that true power is not in political advantage, but in the hope that comes from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who do you look to for hope and help? 

He is risen, indeed

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Past the Palms...

 When celebrating Palm Sunday, it's hard not to look beyond the day's triumphant entry and on to the night when many from the same group became part of a lynch mob (Mark 14). How do God's good people so quickly become angry enough to murder the very Son of God? Can you think of a time when you found yourself swept up a in crowd and began to adopt the crowd's emotion and bad behavior?

Loving in-bounds

 Most Christians believe that they are called to love. In his letter, John compares the kind of love we should have to the love Christ showed us (1 John 4:7-12). We might remember that Christ gave His love to everyone, including those who were not behaving in the ways He prescribed. What limits your love for others? What gender, political, or personal expectations do you require to love another?

When your religion requires a temple

 When Christ preached that the temple of God would be desecrated (and destroyed), the religious leaders were so angry the plotted to kill him (Mark 13-14). Their response makes us wonder if they were worshipping God or their ceremonies and artifacts. What would prevent you from worshipping God?