Where Two Or Three Are Gathered Series

May 13-14 Train up a Child

May 20-21 Judge Not

May 27-28 Forgetting what Lies Behind

June 3-4 Plans to Prosper You

June 10-11 Money is the Root of All Evil

June 17-18 Be Strong and Courageous

If you would like us to tackle an additional text that is often taken out of context, send me an email, make a note on the Connection Card, use the app, or leave a comment on the EBC Facebook page. Because of input we’ve already received on Facebook, we will be extending the series by at least three weeks already.

Let me also say that while this series sounds interesting, you may find yourself pushing back a bit when some of your favorite verses are unpacked in a way that may be different than you’re used to. My goal is not to unsettle you or to have you no longer quote certain verses. It’s actually just the opposite. My prayer is that when we understand the context of these texts, our love for these verses will only deepen as the Word becomes even dearer to us.

The text we’ll be setting in context this weekend is quite popular and is found in Matthew 18:20. To see how well-known this is, I’ll quote the front half and you finish it: “For where two or three are gathered in my name…” If you’re familiar with it, go ahead and quote the rest: “…there am I among them.”

This verse is often connected to prayer, and while this is certainly an application, the primary meaning is much different. Speaking of prayer, the National Day of Prayer is this Thursday. There’s a prayer breakfast at the Quad Cities Prayer Center at 6:30 Thursday morning that I plan to attend and many communities in the QCA will host prayer times at noon. You can find more information on the Resource Table. I’ll be gathering for prayer at the Rock Island Courthouse if you’d like to join me.

I like something David Platt said during the most recent Secret Church gathering: “Our goal in Bible study is not to determine our personal meaning of a verse; our goal is to discover what the Holy Spirit meant when He gave us this chapter.”

In the opening verses of Matthew 18, we see again that the disciples are all about who’s the greatest. Jesus puts a child in their midst and tells them that they must become like children. And then in verse 6, he warns them about causing children to sin and describes what will happen to those who do so. He then challenges his followers to be severe about dealing with their own sins. In verses 12-14, he describes how a shepherd seeks after one straying sheep by leaving the 99 on the mountain so that he can go and search for the one who is danger. There is great rejoicing when a lost sinner is reconciled and comes home.

We could summarize the first part of the chapter like this: We must deal with our own selfishness and sins and we must also seek out those who are straying. And then in verse 15 Jesus tells his followers what to do when someone sins against them: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.”