Matthew Kelly - Rediscover Jesus: An Invitation

REDISCOVER JESUS

Copyright 2015 BEACON PUBLISHING

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Scripture passages have been taken from

New Revised Standard Version Bible

Copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian

Education of the National Council of the

Churches of Christ in the United States

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How Easter Killed My Faith in Atheism by

Lee Strobel originally appeared in The Wall Street

Journal and is reproduced here with permission

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Hardcover ISBN-978-1-942611-19-6

Paperback ISBN-978-1-942611-20-2

Audiobook ISBN-978-1-942611-38-7

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FIRST EDITION

Printed in the United States of America

Come to me,

all you who labor and are burdened,

and I will give you rest.

JESUS OF NAZARETH

Matthew 11:28

Whoever is in Christ is a new creation.

PAUL THE APOSTLE

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ask and you will receive,

seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you.

JESUS OF NAZARETH

Luke 11:9

Table of Contents

PROLOGUE

ARE YOU JESUS?

OUR GOD IS A GOD OF SURPRISES.

It was the biggest meeting of Pauls life, and it had gone well. He couldnt wait to tell his wife and his boss. As he rushed out of the Brooklyn office building with the rest of the team, they noticed a vacant caba rare sight during rush hour.

Eager to get to the airport to catch their flight home, they bolted toward the cab, yelling to get the drivers attention. But as they made their way across the sidewalk, they inadvertently knocked over a small produce stand. The rest of the team seemed oblivious until Paul stopped and turned around to go back.

From beside the taxi the others called out to Paul, Come on, youll miss your flight.

Go ahead without me, Paul replied as he made his way back across the street toward the sidewalk covered in produce. At that moment, he realized that the woman who had been behind the produce stand was blind. She was just standing there crying softly with tears running down her face.

Its OK, its OK, Paul said to her as he got down on his hands and knees and began picking up the fruit and vegetables. There were a hundred people passing in each direction, but nobody else stopped to help. They just scurried off to wherever they were going.

When the fruit was all back up on the stand, Paul began neatly organizing it, setting aside anything that was spoiled. Now he turned to the woman and asked, Are you OK? She nodded through her tears. Then, reaching for his wallet, he took out some bills and passed them to the woman, saying, This money should cover the damages.

With that, Paul turned and began to walk away.

Mister, the woman called after him. Paul paused and turned around. Are you Jesus?

Oh, no, he replied.

The woman nodded and continued, I only ask because I prayed for Jesus to help me as I heard my fruit falling all over the sidewalk.

Paul turned to leave again, only now his eyes began to fill with tears.

For a long time he wandered around looking for a taxi. After finally finding one, he sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way to the airport. He had missed his flight, and because it was Friday night, all the other flights were full.

Paul spent the night in a hotel by the airport. This gave him time to think. He couldnt get one question out of his head: When was the last time someone confused you for Jesus?

POINT TO PONDER : Jesus wants you to carry on his work.

VERSE TO LIVE : Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. MATTHEW 6:33

QUESTION TO CONSIDER : How much is the sheer busyness of your life preventing you from living the life God is calling you to live?

PRAYER : Jesus, give me the courage to let down my guard.

OPENING THOUGHTS

THE BEST TIME TO REDISCOVER Jesus is right now.

You are holding this book in your hand at this very moment for a reason. I dont know what God has in store for you, but I am excited for you.

There are some questions that we all ask ourselves in different ways: Who am I? Who is God? What am I here for? What matters most? What matters least? What are my unique talents and abilities? What will my contribution be? What happens when we die?

We are constantly grappling with these questions. Jesus is the amazing friend who is going to help you answer them. Jesus is the amazing friend who is going to help you live the answers once you find them. Jesus is the amazing friend who is going to be at your side through it all.

If you dont already have this kind of relationship with Jesus, I only ask that you stay open to the possibility. He wants to have a dynamic relationship with you.

There are two ways to experience this book. The first is like with any other book: Read it from cover to cover. The other way is to use this book as a guide to a forty-day spiritual journey, reading a chapter a day. This second way is a perfect way to begin (or nourish) a habit of daily prayer.

At the end of each chapter you will find a Point to Ponder, a Verse to Live, a Question to Consider, and a short Prayer. These are designed to help you integrate what you learn in each chapter into your life.

But this book is not about the words on the page. Its about an encounter. My deep longing is that it facilitates a powerful encounter between you and Jesus, because whether we are aware of it or not, what you and I need more than anything else is to encounter Jesus. Whatever is happening in your life right now, nothing is more important than encountering him anew.

Some books find us at just the right time in our lives, and those books change our lives forever. I hope this is that kind of book for you.

ONE

NEW BEGINNINGS

GOD LOVES NEW BEGINNINGS.

Do you ever feel like you need a new beginning? Thats exactly how I was feeling not too long ago. I was tired and frustrated, a little disoriented spiritually, disgusted with some of the things happening in the world and in the Church, and distracted by so many situations that I could do absolutely nothing about.

I probably needed to recite the Serenity Prayer about a thousand times.

God, Grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

But I didnt have the presence of mind to do even that.

At first I just ignored all these feelings and tried to keep busy. But ignoring things doesnt make them go away. It took a while, but finally I realized that I needed a new beginning.

One of the things I love about our faith is that our God is a God of second chances, fresh starts, and new beginnings.

I love Mondays, because each Monday is a new beginninga fresh start! God gives us Mondays, and New Years Day, and birthdays, and every single one represents a new blessing and a new beginning.