Come Hungry- Leave Thirsty

Hey Guys,
Here’s the Plan, I typed up a quick summery of Matthew, just to give you a bit of an understanding of the book before we dive into it.
Matthew is the first book of the New Testament, it was written between 50 and 70 A.D. Matthew is one of the four Gospels. Now, the four Gospels are basically the same stories, as told by the different disciples, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew was the first one to write a Gospel testifying of Jesus Christ. As we read through these 4 books it will become evident that some things are written differently between the four disciples. Some view this as a weakness to the gospels and inherently diminishes their legitimacy. The Gospel of Matthew presents many important facts and significant lessons. First, it clearly establishes that Jesus Christ is the Messiah that was prophesized throughout the Old Testament. Second, it proves that Jesus was the Son of God, whom He claimed to be through living a sinless and perfect life. Third, the Gospel records Jesus performing miracles over nature, healing people, and raising the dead. Fourth, Jesus personally gives over 200 real and practical lessons of how God desires people to live, respond through challenging circumstances, and make choices regarding their future for eternity. Every word spoken and written in this Gospel can be applied to life in a practical manner.

So here’s what I am hoping to see. I read through all of Matthew today, so I think it is fair to say that you guys can read a chapter or two by Wed. I know it’s kinda late notice and I’m sorry for that! It’ll be easy though. To make things easier, I am going to do chapter one on my own. Chapter one explains the Genealogy of Jesus. I’ll cover the significance and basic outline of it as fast as I can.
In the spirit of Christmas, I am asking that you guys read through chapter 2 of Matthew. This tells of Christ’s Birth. For this week, just read it. You don’t need to do an in depth study or anything like that. The Goal of our Bible study now is to actually read the Bible and get a better understanding of it. I’ll be the first to admit, I SUCK at finding time to dig into my bible and read. We all need to be there for each other to encourage each other to read and grow in the word. So please, we are going to start off slow and just read, and as our study goes on then we can lengthen our readings and I’ll be giving study notes and questions that will hopefully help you better understand the context of what we are studying.
Wednesdays will be running a bit different this time around. I hope that as we go on we can start inviting other to join with us.
Here is my conviction, I am not satisfied. Every day I wake up exhausted from battling through the week in a meaningless pursuit of money, watching lame movies that never made it to theaters, and eating. It literally has made me bitter, un-filled, and over-all depressed. This life was meant for one thing, to glorify God in every aspect of our lives, and to reflect him so that others may come to know him. I pray that it is so evident in our lives, the joy that Jesus gives us, that others who also feel empty without him can see our full satisfaction in Jesus, and yearn to know him. That is why I want to see our group grow, with fresh people that want to know Christ. That should be our ultimate goal, bringing people to Christ. Our first step is knowing his word, TRULLY knowing Jesus. That is why we are beginning with the Gospels. I hope we all come hungry and leave thirsty for more. I have started this for easy use. This will just be for us. So instead of sending out an E-mail, you will just have to check on the blog for what we are studying and any study questions I might think up. That way through the week we can encourage each other and even provide your own questions too.
Hope you guys are having a good week and I will see you on Wednesday!