Message Title:  Preparing for a Soul Revolution

 Date:   February 1, 2009 Teacher:  Richard

Series:  Soul Revolution

Text:  John 4:7-14

Message MAIN Idea:

Question:  What are our views of God that keep us separated from him?

MAIN Idea:  God demands things of us, but with regard to our behavior, he meets his own demands on our behalf.  What he wants from us that he can’t do himself is for us to give our hearts. Chapters 1-2.

Message Overview:

“What if our deepest longing, sewn into the fabric of our souls, is to express and experience the love of the greatest, most beautiful, knowledgeable, caring Being in the universe?  What if all our desires are fingers pointing toward God – the One who loves you more than any other and wants to provide good things for you, just as a good father does?”

The experiment is a bout reminding yourself regularly of God’s presence.  It is NOT about creating an expectation but an opportunity and providing resources to help.  We are hoping to hear some stories of how God has worked through the experiment in people’s lives.  Though not having a story to tell is not an indication of something broken.

“The point of life is relationship. . . So spiritual growth is relational – the goal is relational, the means is relational, the measure should be relational.”

“Most Christians have never even tried to stay continuously responsive to God.”  What would happen if you did?  What would happen if your hunger and thirst for God prompted a fountain from within you – God’s Spirit in you?

Bill Mallonee is one of my favorite musicians.  He is one of the best singer/songwriters in America.  He also happens to be one of the greatest guys around.  He loves to stand around and talk after shows.  He has a way of seeing through the façade and grasping what is real.  He is also not afraid of ambiguity.  Whenever I hear His Holy Spirit directed musings and wanderings, I am called to become something more and better connected with God and the world.  He wrote these lyrics in a song entitled “Every Father Knows” that was released on his amazing Christmas album “Yonder Shines the Infant Light:

“now some are lost in shopping malls and some on battlefields and some are lost in suburbs and some on capitol hills some are lost on terminal wards or in a nursing home 
and some are equally as lost in between their headphones but whatever your coordinates on your map of shame rather close or far away we’re all lost just the same

…so you may wake up a bit confused with the ache that’s in your heart 
doesn’t matter if you got there by choice or got there by default.”

The Samaritan woman in John 4 was lost in the desert.  She was lost in the city and she was lost at the well.  She was lost in a crowd and lost when she was alone.  I wish she had some headphones.  Her map of shame had her pass a watering hole on the way the way to Jacob’s well for water.  She was by herself by design.  There were aches in her heart that came by choice and default.  It’s a good thing John 4:4 tells us that Jesus had to go through Samaria.  Sure, Jews went out of their way to avoid Samaritans and Samaritan territory.  Jews hated Samaritans and the feelings were mutual.  Jesus, however, had a divine appointment on his journey that would change lives forever.  He met her on her map of shame.

We spend a lot of time wandering on our maps of shame.  Some of it is by choice, but a lot of it is by default.  Christopher Heuertz writes, “In my blindness, unable to see my God-given dignity and identity, I perceived myself through false identities.  True to my evangelical upbringing, I saw myself as sinful and selfish.  I saw myself through my own woundedness and insecurities.  I saw myself as mean, uncompassionate, cold-hearted and unresponsive.  I was hard on myself; I wouldn’t forgive myself, and instead I let shame rule my heart.”  He goes on to explain that He tried to make His way to God instead of allowing himself to be met by God in a divine appointment.  He continues, “I became god unto myself, playing the divine role of Creator (by trying to make myself a better person), Judge (by telling myself how bad I was, how unworthy I had become before God) and Redeemer (by trying to earn grace, to be good enough for it).

·      How has God met you by Divine Appointment in the past?

·      What is causing you to get lost on a map of shame these days?

·      What are you trying to do for yourself that only God can do?

It’s time to meet Jesus.  There is an ancient Christian practice called the Ignatian Method.  In this practice, you experience the text by pausing at different places and asking questions based on the five senses: 

1.     What do you see?

2.     What do you hear?

3.     What do you taste?

4.     What do you feel?

5.     What do you smell?

Read the following text and try to experience it like never before.  Read it through once and then allow for a couple of minutes of silence.  Pray out of the silence asking God to continue to allow His Word to be “living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword,” and for it to penetrate “even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; and to judge “the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)  After prayer, walk through the text meditatively together pausing to ask the senses questions.  You can follow the pattern below, or allow God to create a new pattern for you:

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, [What do you see?] Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” [What do you hear?] 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) [What do you taste? What do you smell?] 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” [What do you hear?] (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) [What do you feel?] 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” [What do you hear?] 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? [What do you see?] 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” [What do you hear?] 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” [What do you see? What do you hear? What do you taste?]

Close your time together by thanking God for the opportunity to meet Him in His Word together.

Message 2: Hunger for God     Text:  John 14:6-26; 15:4-5, 10-11     

Message MAIN Idea:

Question:  What is the central, most important part of the Christian life?

MAIN Idea:  Our deep hunger for God, not the stuff he gives or the things he does, and our constant connection to him are the main things.

Message Overview:

The Christ-life is simple (not easy): love God by trusting his Spirit as he reminds you of what the Bible says.  In the stresses and in the decision, God can be trusted. But am I even aware of his presence?

Learning to listen for God’s voice entails a desire to hear and time devoted to listening and an open Bible where we can see who God is as well as what he wants.  Then, if we do not obey what we already know God wants us to do, we will not hear him speak anything new.

As you begin your time together, take a couple of minutes to rest in silence together.  Remind everyone to breathe deep the breath of God.  Remember that God is with you, and that you are not alone.  Think about what God has done to get to you, and how He has revealed Himself as the Relentless Lover of your soul.  After you have remembered and been attentive to God’s presence, ask everyone to remember a time when they struggled with obedience: as a child, as a driver, as an employee… 

• Have a couple of people share their struggles with obedience.
• Why is obedience so difficult?

Read John 14:21 “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

• Take a couple of minutes to talk with God about how well you know His commands.
• Jesus says that if we love Him, we will obey Him.  Not talking or thinking about your feelings of love toward this Christ who gave Himself for us, how well are you proving your love for Him by following His commands?

In the Old Testament, King Saul had issues obeying God as well.  He followed part of the instructions that He had been given, and then did what he thought would be good.  He was sure that God would be all right with His recalibration of God’s plan.  His opinion and our opinion are not important.  God tells us what He wants, and we should give Him what He asks for. This is not because God is a tyrant, but because the God created and formed us knows what is best for us.  We too easily become arrogant and feel as if we should be the judge, jury and executioner.  I was watching a special on George Carlin this past week.  George definitely had issues with God.  Bill Maher, who also has issues with the concept of God in any form, moderated the segment on religion and George’s comedy.  They showed a clip of George talking about the first four commandments.  George had struggles with the word commandment to begin with, and simply could not deal with the whole idea of being obedient to our parents.  He believed that it was all a racket to keep people in line, and that respect had to be earned, and not expected.  (I agree that parents should love their children and be worthy of the respect that is given to them, but I hurt for Carlin and Maher, who have been marred by religion and its false proponents).  There is a God who does not simply demand obedience of us, but also has practiced that same obedience that He requires.  It is the whole point of God made flesh in the person of Jesus.  Listen to John 15:10-11, “10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”  God is not asking for something that He does not understand and has not felt, endured and experienced.  We all must obey something and someone.  Will that obedience ultimately bring life (Jesus promised abundant life), or will it cause us to spiral into self and continue down a path that does not bring fulfillment, even though it seems to do so at the beginning.  If we do what we want and continue to look out for number one, we will eventually come to agree with Three Dog Night because “one is the loneliest number.”

King Saul’s sin of thinking He knew more than God was met by these words in 1 Samuel 15:22, “But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”  Saul was good at lip service, but not so faithful in the follow-through.  He knew God’s command for His situation, and chose to do as he wished.  We often do not know God’s commands because we do not avail ourselves of the opportunity to acquire the necessary knowledge.  We are sporadic in our church attendance, hit and miss with our Bible reading and often even less connected to any kind of communal accountability that will cause us to take a serious look at our choices and their need for alignment.  Sometimes, however, we know what God wants and just choose to do the opposite.  We just don’t like obedience.

We do seem to admire sacrifice however.  We love the superheroes that give of themselves for the greater common good. We like it when people choose to buy us a bagel or a cup of coffee. We love it when someone gives of himself or herself to make our life better.  The more I think about it, we like sacrifice when it is practiced for us.  We are not so much into the practice itself, however.  Sacrifice is difficult, but we would sooner give up something before we would give in to obedience. We shrug our shoulders and cringe at the mention of the word obedience.  We believe the word should only be used in the context of kennels and the Westminster, except for the fact that our children better learn how to obey.  Sure, we like it when Paul tells children that they should obey their parents, but when we God says through the prophet that that God prefers obedience, we look for a better way.  There is no better way.  We have to say no to ourselves and our own plans and designs and yes to the one who tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Let’s look at this week’s text: John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

• How have you found Jesus to be the Way?
• How have you found Jesus to be the Truth?
• How have you found Jesus to be Life?

7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.

• What is the key to life with God? Why?

12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

• How can we continue in relationship with God?
• How do you recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in your life?

John 15: 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

• What does remaining in Jesus look like?

John 15:10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

• How can we find joy in our relationship with God?

As you close your time together, ask God to help you to learn how to rest and remain in Him and His love.  Remember these words from the Psalmist, in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Message 3:  Heart for People

Date:  February 15, 2009 Teacher:  Graham

Text:  1 John 4:7-12     

Message MAIN Idea: Question:  How do we best show our love for God? 

Message Overview:

We will look at the text from 1 John and see that we can’t love God without loving people. We will then look at some other texts and learn how to put our love for people into practice:

• Matthew 7:15-21, with this main point: by their fruit you will know them.
• James 2:16-17; 21-22, with this main point: faith without action is dead.
Matthew 18:15-20, with this main point: we can’t love one another without reconciling our differences.

As you prepare to look at the text and discuss this week’s sermon, read Matthew 7:15-20 together:

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

As you continue to meditate on this idea of being recognized by the fruit you produce, ask for a couple of volunteers to read Galatians 5:22-25:

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Have everyone take out a piece of paper and write out the fruit of the Spirit.  Allow a few minutes for each person to walk back through the events of the previous week and recognize the fruit that was growing in their lives.

• Share some stories of how the fruit of the Spirit was exemplified.

We just celebrated Valentine’s Day.   It is a good and necessary practice because it guarantees that there is at least one day a year when we actually step outside of our normal routine and show some kind of practical, concrete concern and interest for the ones we say we love.   Around Valentine’s Day, we actually stop to smell the roses of relationship, and pause to look into the eyes of the people that God has blessed and graced us with in our lives.  Some of us are very good at saying we love others, while some of us tend not to verbalize the concept.  The vocalization of the actual words does not mean that much, however, when not backed by consistent exhibition and execution.  We cannot just speak or show our love according to a calendar.  To live is to love.  We are all great lovers of something, someone or some thing.

The Bible clearly teaches us that we are created in God’s image, and John tells us in his first letter that God is the origin of love:

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

• Who has revealed God’s love to you? How?

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

• We too easily forget our condition.  We begin to think of ourselves as generally good people headed down a decent path.  The facts say otherwise.  Take a couple of minutes to remember what Jesus has done for you.  Offer up some prayers of thanksgiving for the work of God in Christ.

11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

• God is the originator of love.  His very name is the definition of the idea. According to these verses He is the completer of the concept as well.  What does God’s love made complete actually look like in our lives?

Read these words from James 2:

14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

• Give examples of how people have tried to say they love God, but have not followed through with the actions in your life.
• How have you tried to love without following through?

I believe that one of the greatest epidemics facing the church today is found just a few chapters further into James’ letter.  The church in America has done a rather poor job showing the world how the love of God brings people together in community.  We have not been successful in exhibiting the fact that we die to ourselves and our own plans and designs, and put the needs of others in front of our own wishes and wants.  We are too easily lost in the circular pattern of trying to get our own.  I spoke to a gentleman this week that continued to reemphasize and stress his need to focus on himself because he is enduring some difficult circumstances.  My heart continues to break for him.  The world is such a lonely place when all we do is focus and fixate on our circumference.

We like to complicate things.  We always try to look good.  We want everyone to think we have “it” together.  The real problem is that we are focusing on the wrong pronoun, and that we don’t use the proper preposition.  All that really matters is that we are “in Him”.  This should sound vaguely familiar.  Jesus just kept repeating Himself last week.  He was in the Father and the Father was in Him, and if we remain in Him and obey His commands then He is in us and we are in Him, etc.

In Him, there is a different focus all together.  Paul wrote, in 2 Corinthians 12, “9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  This definitely does not sound very American, or very popular, but it is the truth and we so desperately need the truth to set us free so that a captive, imprisoned and dying world might meet the Savior that it longs, groans and cries out for.

The verse I was referring to earlier in James is found in chapter 5, “16 Therefore confess your sins (faults) to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

• Spend a couple minutes in silent reflection thinking of some things that you might need to confess.  Ask God for the strength to confess those things to the necessary people.  Then put your faith and love into practice and confess and pray and watch God transform you, me, us and our world.

This passage can go hand in hand with the passage from Matthew 18:

 15 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.18 “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

The world is waiting and watching.  As the title of Tony Wolf’s book encourages us, Go Be Jesus.

Message Title:  Building Character: Reformation

Date:   February 22, 2009 (Richard)

Series:  Soul Revolution

Text:  1 Corinthians 3:6-9           

Message MAIN Idea:  How does spiritual change happen?  We grow when God makes us grow.  We can keep ourselves well connected to him and we can inspect our lives for fruit, but God causes growth. 

Message Overview:  How do people change spiritually?  Bad habits are not changed by focusing on the bad habit but by replacing it with a good one.  If I want to live a God-ward life, I have to put into my life those kinds of routines and relationships that pull me toward God.  Then, God causes the growth to happen. 

I don’t have to worry about producing the fruit of joy and peace and patience, etc.  The production of that kind of fruit happens naturally in the life of someone living close to God.  I do have to figure out, however, how to live close to God.

As you prepare to visit or revisit the text for this week’s sermon, take a couple of minutes to sit in silence and enjoy breathing deep the breath of God.  Rest in the fact that God has created you, and that God has always loved you.  Experience the moment as a gift in itself.  Smile and make nothing of it…allow it to make something of you.  After sufficient time has been spent in the moment, ask for a couple of volunteers to read 1 Peter 2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.

• As you think back through the previous week, recognize the presence of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy or slander.  Take a couple of minutes to confess your sins to the One who forgives and forgets them. (The situation might warrant your confession to another person.  If so, write that person a note or write yourself a note to call, email or visit them.)

Continue by asking a couple of people to read 1 Peter 2:2-3: “2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

• Peter wants us to crave the technically pure and unadulterated word of God.  As the deer pants for the water (longs for the water that will nourish and quench his thirst), we are to crave and desire the word of God that will nourish us.
  1. What do you crave?
  2. Ask God to help you crave the Word.
How have you tasted that the Lord is good?

Read the text from this week’s sermon: 1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

In 1 Corinthians 3:5, Paul writes,  “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.”

• Who has been instrumental in you coming to believe?  Why?
• Who is continuing to help you come to believe? 
• Who are you helping come to believe?
• Pause to thank God for those who have helped you believe.  Pray for those around you that you are helping.  Ask God to open your eyes to see the others that you need your gift.
• What task(s) has the Lord given you?  (This might be a good time to mention that we all need soul companions on our journey of faith.  We need people to help us notice and discern the movement, direction and call of God.  Sometimes, the soul companion is simply another friend who is also desperately seeking God.  On other occasions, it would be wise to find a spiritual director (a person who has sought additional training in how to recognize, experience and practice the presence of God and others.)

In 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, Paul adds, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

It is way too easy for us as humans to turn our eyes in the wrong direction.  There was an abnormally large amount of welding done while I worked at Midas this week.  As I talked with some of the mechanics, I simply could not stop myself from trying to look at the bright light.  I try to always look people in the eyes when I am talking to them, but that bright light just kept calling for my attention and focus.  I know that it is not good for my eyes, but something just says, “look at me, I am so pretty.”  As Christians, we often look to the wrong people, and look for improper attention.  Our eyes are to be fixed on God and His work in our lives.  Before you know it, we are talking about what a particular person or group of people is doing or has done, and God just gets lost in the mix.  This concept is also why we spend so much of our time worn out and crying for help.  We never allow God to be God.  We are too busy trying to be god ourselves. (Remember what Christopher Heuertz wrote, “I became god unto myself, playing the divine role of Creator (by trying to make myself a better person), Judge (by telling myself how bad I was, how unworthy I had become before God) and Redeemer (by trying to earn grace, to be good enough for it.)  Whether we put someone else or ourselves on the pedestal, we are wrong.  Only God deserves the credit.  God is the one who makes things grow, develop and change for the better.  God improves things.  God, however, does allow us to be a part of the process.

• How is God growing you presently?  (There are many methods that can assist us in developing as believers.  Journaling is one method that allows us to clearly see how God is developing us.  We can go back and read where we used to be and see how things have changed.  Another method that is extremely valuable is that of conducting a spiritual audit of your life.  Christian businessman Fred Smith once told a friend that he audited his books every year, but that there was no plan for auditing his life.  Fred Smith then developed twelve questions that would eventually comprise one version of a spiritual audit.  Don Whitney also wrote “10 Questions to Ask to Make Sure You’re Still Growing.”  If you are interested in either of these assessment tools, please contact the office or google them on the internet.)
• One writer once said that the Christian life is like a bicycle, and that if you stop pedaling, you will fall off.  What are you doing to ensure that you keep pedaling (have continued growth) in your life?

March 1, 2009           

Building Character: Retrain

Text: Romans 7:15, 19; 8:1-6

Question: How do we change sinful habits?

As you prepare for this week’s discussion, remind everyone of one of the texts from last week found in 1 Peter 2:1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Paul gives us a more extensive list of what we need to get rid of in Galatians 5, “19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.  In another of his lists to put to death, he adds, “Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices…”

• Spend a couple of minutes asking God what you need to get rid of/put to death.

Then, read the following text from Matthew 12:43 “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” 

This text is talking about evil spirits, but the corollary is true.  We do not simply get rid of something and leave that space that any given sin occupied in our lives empty.  When we take something out, we need to put something in.  The negative needs to be replaced by a positive.  Scripture teaches us that we need to crucify the old man, or the old nature.  We need to stop living according to our wants, wishes and desires and begin living according God’s desires, plans and instructions.  It is the life of our sinful nature vs. the life of the spirit.  Our text for this week tells us that the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.

We all want life and peace, but we are not always ready to stop wanting what we are duped into craving and desiring so badly by the temptations of this world and our fallen inclinations.  We know the following text.  We can sing the children’s song that many of us have used as a mnemonic device, but we need to wrestle through its impact, inclusion and imperial claim on our lives.

Have someone read Galatians 5:22-25:  “22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”

• What from this list is missing most in your life? (You might want to write out the list of the fruit of the spirit, and then meander through your last week and recognize the presence or absence of the Spirit).
• Spend some time asking God to help you “keep in step with the Spirit.”

I will never forget that night as long as I live.  I had joined a recently married friend and his wife for a movie.  We were watching “The Firm.”  In the movie, the firm tries to get one of its employees played by Tom Cruise to cheat on his wife.  They want to have pictures of his indiscretion so they can keep him where they want him and so that he can never turn on the improprieties that the firm deals in.  They sent a beautiful woman to him at the bar in the hotel.  He withstood the temptation and remained faithful.  He loved his wife and never wanted to do anything to harm her.  Later during the same trip, he rescued a woman that was in distress, and ended up succumbing to the temptation to sleep with her.  I can still see his wife late in the movie sitting on the swing in their backyard with all of the fallen leaves cluttering the yard.  Her world was destroyed.  That indelible image still haunts me.  The pain, torture, isolation and alienation were so vivid.  After the movie, I said that I prayed that I would never do something like that to my wonderful wife.  My friend’s wife said that her husband would never do such a thing, and a lively debate ensued.  The old phrase, “There but for the grace of God, go I,” played prominently in that discussion.  As I talked about this week’s lesson with a friend and his wife, she made the statement that we are all one step away from deviant behavior.  Let’s face it.  We all have deviant thoughts.  The difference is found in whether or not we act on them.

Another thing that we talked about that night was a song by the brilliant and under-recognized and under-appreciated T Bone Burnett.  The song “Criminals” absolutely changed my life.

“Criminals”

I’ve seen a lot of criminals

I’ve seen a lot of crimes

Doing a lot of evil deeds

Doing a lot of time

We speak of these men as aliens

From some forbidden race

We speak of these men as animals

We will lock in a cage

But there’s one man I must arrest

I must interrogate

One man that I must make confess

Then rehabilitate

There is no other I can blame

No other I can judge

No other I can cast in shame

Then require blood

I see him in the shadows down the hall

I see him in the plaster on the wall

There is no crime he cannot commit

No murder too complex

His heart is filled with larceny

And violence and sex

His heart is filled with envy

And revenge and greed

His heart is filled with nothing

His heart is filled with need

He’ s capable of anything

Of any vicious act

This criminal is dangerous

The criminal under my own hat.

• What line(s) in this song were most compelling to you?
• What concepts do you agree with in this song? Why?
• What concepts in this song do you disagree with? Why?

Paul says in Romans 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…19 For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

• How does Paul’s admission of his inner struggle make you feel?
• Do you recognize your “wretchedness”?  “I’ll never forget the old hymn that had the line “such a worm as I”.  In subsequent hymnals, the line was changed to “such a sinner as I”.  Do you agree or disagree with the change?  Why?
• Remember that all of our righteousness (the best we have to offer) is nothing more than a useless pile of blood-stained rags.  Stop and spend some time thanking God for Jesus.

Paul continues in Romans 8, “1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;”

• Spend some meditating on your state of mind?  (Do you feel condemned?  Do you feel set free?  Are you experiencing life and peace?)

Remind everyone of the words from 1 Peter 2:2-3: “2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good,” and close with this blessing based on Romans 12:2:

March 8, 2009

Being The Body: Re-present

Text: Romans 12:4-5 

Question: What is the point of doing church?

As you prepare to spend time together around God’s Word, encourage everyone to take a couple minutes of silence just to catch up with themselves, and become fully present in this moment. After silence has been observed, ask if anything came to mind that you might need to pray about together, and then pray.  After prayer, read 2 Corinthians 5:14-21:

“14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

• What has Christ’s love compelled you to do recently?
• What does Paul mean by “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view”?
• How have you viewed the people around you this past week?
• What does it mean to you that you are “Christ’s ambassador”?
Spend a couple of minutes praying about what God’s appeal to others looks like through your life.

As I was reading through some of the definitions for the word represent, I came across this one on dictionary.com: to speak and act for by delegated authority.  I really began to feel uncomfortable with that definition.  As I meditated on it and some Scriptures that might relate to it, God lead me to the 2 Corinthians 5 passage that is listed above.  I read the passage out loud to my friend and was blown away by the phrase, “as though God were making His appeal through us.”  I think we too easily forget the awesome responsibility that we have been given.  There was a Christian song back in the glorious ‘80s that encouraged us to realize, “You’re the only Jesus some will ever see, and you’re the only words of life that some will ever read, so let them see in you the One in whom is all they’ll ever need.”  Why do we get so lost in buying stuff, acquiring things and managing other people’s perceptions of us?  Why do we invest so much time dwelling on our own problems, issues, wishes, hopes and desires?  Why do we always want to view the world through the lens of me and ignore the rest of humanity as we wallow and immerse ourselves in our egocentricity?  Paul shared his struggles with wanting to do good while evil was always rearing its wretched head last week as we looked at Romans 7, and we must remember to keep in step with the spirit so that our lives can be full of life and peace (Romans 8, Galatians 5).  We simply cannot, however, accomplish this living in the Spirit by ourselves.  The secret is not found in our attempts to accomplish anything by our own efforts.  We have to submit ourselves to God and then realize that He wants us to submit to one another.  We have to stop being so pronoun-challenged.  We are not meant to live our lives focused on I and me, but on Him, we and us.

Let’s read our text from this week’s sermon: Romans 12:4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We are all different and have been blessed with unique gifts, talents and abilities, but we are supposed to work together as one individual unit that has Christ as its head.  He is in control and we are to follow His leading to be a proper representation of God and His plans in this runaway world.  In his first letter to Corinth, we read: 1 Corinthians 12:21 “The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”  1 Corinthians 12:26 brings us right back to the final statement in Romans 12:5 that says, “each member belongs to all the others.”

• What does the word belong mean to you? 
• Dictionary.com says that belonging is defined by being “in the relation of”.  How related are you to the people in your life group?  How related are you to the people you share the building with at 1242 West 136^th street (Central)?
• The New Testament lists a number of “one another” passages.  How are you doing in the following areas:
  1. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love (Romans 12:10)
  2. Honor one another above yourselves (Romans 12:10)
  3. Live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16)
  4. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another (Romans 14:13)
  5. Accept one another (Romans 15:7)
  6. Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13)
  7. Be patient, bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2)
  8. Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32)
  9. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21)
  10. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. (Colossians 3:13)
  11. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
  12. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up (1 Thess 5:11)
  13. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)
  14. Brothers, do not slander one another (James 4:11)
  15. Love one another deeply from the heart… (1 Peter 1:22)
  16. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling (1 Peter 4:9)
  17. Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5)
  18. Love one another (1 John 3:11)

(This list is not complete, and does not include all the instances of the phrase “one another” in the New Testament, nor does it show the exact number of times that each of the above phrases is used.)

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4 that, “16 From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”  We so desperately need to work on our interpersonal relations, because we do not want the body of Christ to flail about in public with rampant, unnoticed, unchecked, undiagnosed and improperly dealt with “decay, disunity, disease and dysfunction.”

Another dimension is added altogether when we start mentioning the fact that we are on display in the public arena.  People are watching, and they will know if we are truly related to one another, or whether we are just a bunch of community players.

Paul tells us in Colossians 4: “5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

• Think back through your week.  How many opportunities were you given to share your faith?  Ask God to help make you aware of the opportunities, and take a moment to pray for the opportunities that are coming this week.

Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3: “15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

• How well does your life translate hope and faith to those around you?

Sometimes we answer with our words, but we always answer with our actions.  Close your time together by seeing what the Christian life (answer) looks like according to Paul immediately following this week’s text:

Romans 12:6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  Amen.

March 15, 2009

Being The Body: Resource

Text: 1 Timothy 6:17-19

As you continue your time together, take a moment to reflect on the discussions you have had since you arrived.  Take a couple of minutes for silent prayer, and thank God for the people in your lifegroup.  Pray for the issues you have discussed and asked for God’s direction as you meditate on His Word.  After sufficient time has been given, have someone lead a corporate prayer of thanksgiving and preparation for God’s blessings.  Then, ask for a couple of people to read Matthew 6:19-21:“19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

After a couple of people have read the text, allow yourselves to simply rest in God’s Word.  You might want to read it through one more time for yourself.  Allow the Words to examine you.  Ask God what you need to hear, and then allow some space and time to simply listen.  After meditation, you might want to ask a couple of the following questions.  (You could also allow each person to ask the questions, or mention the thoughts, that have arisen from the time of meditation.)

• What earthly investments have you made this week?
• What earthly investments have dominated your attention this week?
• What heavenly investments have you made this week?
• Take a moment to think about your Eternal Investment Portfolio.  Ask God to help you properly assess the state of your spiritual economy.
• How is investing in heaven a practical investment on earth?
Think of a couple of people that could really use a return on your heavenly investment this week.  Pray for them, and your faithfulness.

Our economy is pretty much in a shambles at the moment.  There are bailouts around every corner that come from a government that is hopelessly lost, and drowning even deeper in debt as it borrows to lend.  Some of those who have received the bailout funds have squandered it on their unchecked hedonism by hosting extravagant parties and going on opulent corporate retreats, or by offering the already affluent upper class and echelon with more surplus.  Businesses encouraged people to borrow money that they knew they could not repay and the system (including even the highest levels of government) created a black hole that would spiral the lot of us into the mess that we have today.  The reprehensible actions of the elite will affect the many for the foreseeable future and beyond.  This past week even found comedian Jon Stewart nearly accosting Jim Cramer and CNBC for their role and culpability in the financial fiasco that has been our recent history.  Let’s face it, if we put our hope and trust in any earthly system, we will find ourselves disappointed, disgruntled, discontented and dissatisfied.  This does not mean, however, that God would not want us to take advantage of the earthly systems that are in place in order to further His kingdom work in our world.  There is, though, a grave responsibility to discern the difference between amassing and hoarding and the proper disbursement of the gifts that we have been given.  The necessary and accurate distribution of funds is even more paramount when we realize that none of what we have actually belongs to us in the first place.  Everything we have belongs to God, and He intends for us to manage it wisely.  We are not owners, but stewards.  We are meant to be splendid receivers so that we can in turn be extravagant blessers.

• Who, in your life, would you describe as an extravagant blesser?  Why?

We should never forget the parable of the bags of gold (TNIV).  A man went on a journey and gave some of his money to three of his servants according to their ability.  When he returned, the man who had five bags of gold had gained five more.  The man who had two had gained two more, but the story was decidedly different with the third servant.  In Matthew 25:24-27, Jesus teaches: “24 The man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.  See, here is what belongs to you.’ His Master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!  So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?  Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.’”

• Take a couple of minutes to think about what God has entrusted to you.  Ask God to help you properly invest your time, talent and treasure.

It is imperative to remember that we are not meant to compare gifts.  We do not need to covet other’s gifts, and we should not base our significance on that which we possess.  We can however, according to 1 Corinthians 14:1, “follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts…” Remember these words from Romans 12, “6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

• Find a partner and spend a couple of minutes encouraging each other about the gifts that you recognize in each other.

March 22, 2009

Being The Body: Re-Imagine

Text: Luke 14:26-29

Question: How do I live the soul rich life for the long haul?

Commitment is not a “once and done: thing.  There is a price to be paid to follow Jesus: daily “re-upping”.

As you begin your time together, ask everyone to think about the time that they have spent with their loved ones recently.

• Thank God for the opportunity to enjoy time spent with those you love.
• Who would you like to spend time with, but have not had the opportunity to do so lately?  Pray for the eyes to recognize the opportunities to be with them, and for the wherewithal to capitalize on the opportunities.
• How much time have you spent with God lately? (This is not time for wallowing in guilt.  This is simply an opportunity for us to size up our relationship with our Creator and Sustainer.  God has been called the relentless lover of our souls.  My love for God, however, is very rarely, if ever, relentless, and usually half-hearted at best.  Our church is trying to focus on God’s call through Jesus to Love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, yet it is so easy to get sidetracked and derailed by all of the things of earth that seem to be so primal.)
• Take a couple of minutes to rest in God’s grace and remember that you are God’s beloved after reading Zephaniah 3:17, “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
• Take a couple more minutes to rest under the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30: “28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus’ words and concepts were not always so easy to swallow.  The preceding words from Matthew 11 are not even that easy when you think about the fact that we still have to wear a yoke.  Admittedly, it is a good yoke—a yoke that brings and adds life, but a yoke, nonetheless.  These words, however, appear ultimately tame when compared with the words from this week’s message.  It might do us well at this point to remember that C.S. Lewis tried to help us understand that Christ is not a tame lion.  

·     Read the following quote from Mr. Beaver in the Chronicles of Narnia series: “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”  How does this quote intersect with your understanding of Jesus and His call on your life?

In Luke 14, Jesus says, “26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

·     How does your love for Jesus compare to all of your other earthly loves?

·     Share a time where your love for Jesus superseded earthly loyalty?

Jesus continues in Luke 14:27, “27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

• What is Jesus actually asking for in this verse? 
• What difference is found in Luke 9:23, “Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”?

In Luke 14, Jesus then adds, “28″Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer exemplifies these verses.  He could have escaped the ills of Nazi Germany.  People in America were intrigued by His God-given gifts and abilities as he studied here.  They wanted him to stay and encourage a faithful resistance to the atrocities in Germany from a distance.  Bonhoeffer knew that it was God’s call for him to encourage a resistance, but that it could only be done on site, under duress and staring evil directly in the eye.  He went back to Germany and struggled with what that resistance was to look like, but never recanted his firm belief in the fact that, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”  Bonhoeffer died in a concentration camp just prior to Allied victory.  (You might want to do some internet research on Bonhoeffer and discuss it at length.  You might also want to obtain a copy of a DVD about Bonhoeffer like, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Memories and Perspectives.”)  Dietrich Bonhoeffer counted the cost of daily dying to himself and his own opinions.  It ultimately cost him his life, but Jesus had something to say about that as well: 

Mark 8:35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37 Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

• Bonhoeffer wrote a book entitled The Cost of Discipleship.  Spend a couple of minutes thinking about what you have paid and what you might presently owe.

Close your time by reading Galatians 2:20 and 6:14.  Encourage everyone to memorize these verses and journey with them this week, and forever.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Message Overview:

We will consider how Paul’s teaching for the church at Colossae gives impetus to our hopes dreams at Central.

Understanding the summation of all the commands of Scripture in these two areas:  Hunger for God and Heart for People (Matthew 22:37-40), how do we live that out?

Colossians 1:9-14 points us first in the direction of pursuing spiritual growth.  This is a matter of personal responsibility.  Fruit is produced by God in the life of everyone who pursues relationship (Hungers for) with God.  The whole church benefits from spiritual growth.  If I don’t grow we don’t grow.

Colossians 2:1-3 is about the richness of this life we have in Christ when it is shared in community (Heart for People).  If we don’t grow I don’t grow.  My connection with the body is important for me but even more important for the whole body.  And it is not enough to bump into each other.  We need a rich and deep fellowship like the one that LifeGroups intend to engender.

Colossians 3:1-3 encourages us to set our minds on things above – to Hunger for God in a way that reorients our priorities.  We cannot be materialistic or trapped by pornography or other addictions and have our hearts focused on heaven.

Colossians 4:2-6 is a call to live missionally (Heart for People).  It begins with prayer for people who are far from God but also includes a desire and ability to live attractive lives and to speak the Good News.

As you prepare to discuss this week’s texts for the message, take a couple of minutes to rest in God’s presence.  Let the busyness and the rush that has characterized the moments that got you to this place dissipate.  Let the thoughts that swirl in your mind begin to fade away as you encounter the Love that set the world in motion and desires to be with you.  After sufficient silence has been shared, have someone pray and ask God to reveal Himself through His Word, and then read the following text:

Matthew 22:34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

After reading the text a couple of times, encourage everyone to enter a conversation with Jesus that picks up after verse 40.  Have them write the dialogue for both Jesus and themselves.  When people appear to be finishing, invite them to read their “Godalogues” and discuss what God is teaching the group through them.

Hunger is defined as a strong or compelling desire or craving.  We hunger for position.  We hunger for popularity.  We hunger to be noticed.  We crave the blessing.  We desire the easy way.  We want more than what we have.  All of our yearnings seem to get wrapped up so easily in the temporal.  We become extremely myopic even in our best long term planning.  It somehow seems to always trickle down to the fact that we are thinking about ours with almost no recognition of the greater cosmic plan.  We get lost in the surface cravings and suppress the deepest longings of our heart.  We become too easily disconnected from our inmost desires and settle for the quick hit and the most painless option.

Paul longed for people to truly experience God.  He wanted them to be blown away by a Divine Presence that was so huge that they could never fully grasp His work in their lives.  He wanted them to develop a sincere desire to move beyond the quick facts and the relationship from a distance.  He believed that this God thing would transform life into an entirely new order.

Remember these words from Colossians 1: “9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

•    What would you say that you hunger for?

The Psalmist was hungry for God.  Read Psalm 63: 1 “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

•    What compels you to live, work and love as you do?

Paul wrote these words in 2 Corinthians 5: “14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

After we give our lives to Christ, we no longer have the right to live as we please.  Our hunger for God displays itself in our desire to become less and less and to allow Him to become more and more.  We continue to live, but Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20) in order that everyone everywhere might be able to know why he or she was created.  The Westminster Confession defines that purpose for existence like this: “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

Colossians 3 describes that new direction in life with these words: “1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Spend a couple of minutes asking God to help you not get sidetracked by the shallow and the superficial, but to dig deep in your soul and begin to mine the depths of the treasure of knowing Christ.  Ask God to make you hungry.  Ask God to give you an insatiable appetite for Him and His will.  Don’t forget that Jesus once told Satan, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

This hunger for God that reorients our lives to its original compass and design also compels us to live for others.  We can no longer live for our own 121-371 pounds. We were designed for community.  The Kingdom of God provides us with that necessary community to live and move and have our being in God.  In that community, we get to know Christ intimately.

In Colossians 2, Paul writes, “1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

•    What does being “encouraged in heart” look like?

•    How would you define being “united in love”?

•    How would you say that Central Christian Church is doing in these areas?

As we live in community, we learn and grow and develop in Christ.  As we live, give, love and share together, God continues to reveal Himself to us.  As He does so, we realize the need to not hoard these gifts of God for ourselves.  We recognize that God calls us to have His heart for others, and that He wants us to be His hands and feet and back and shoulders for a world that is searching for a reason for its existence.

In Colossians 4, Paul writes: “2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

• What does it mean to “devote” yourself to prayer?
• How would you describe your prayer life? (Don’t forget that Paul tells the Thessalonians that they are to “pray without ceasing.”)
• What are some of the opportunities that you have taken advantage of recently for Christ?

As you close your time together, ask God to continue to develop your desire for Him and to prepare your heart for the people you will encounter this week.  Expect God to give you the opportunities and be ready to share about your experiences next week.

January 18 Prayer Service Discussion Guide

As you begin your time together, light a candle (sit by a fire, plug in a night light, etc.)  Remind everyone that the light reminds us that God is always present with us.  You might even want to ask a question like: how has God been the light in your life?

Continue your time together by inviting people to rest in silence for five minutes.  Ask everyone to recognize his or her breathing and remember that God breathed into man and he became a living soul/being.  During this time, you might want to encourage people to pray the Jesus prayer.  It was adapted from the Tax Collector’s prayer in Luke 18 and the words of Bartimaeus in Mark 10.  The prayer is very simple.  You repeat the following phrase, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”  It can even be shortened to “Lord (or Christ), have mercy.”  When doing the longer form, I like to pray “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” as I inhale and “Have mercy on me as a sinner” as I exhale.

After your time in silence, ask:
•    How did you encounter God in the silence?
•    What struggles did you encounter?

After a time of discussion, ask everyone to become silent and rest in God’s presence again.  Ask everyone to repeat after you when you begin vocalizing a passage from Scripture…(Read each line and pause to allow everyone to speak God’s Word):
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 )
Be…
Be joyful…
Be joyful always…
Be joyful always; pray…
Be joyful always; pray continually…
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks…
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances…
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you…
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Amen.

Continue your time together by practicing the examen.  Ask everyone to think through his or her day until this point with reference to the following questions:
•    At what point did you feel farthest from God (At what point did you feel least alive/most drained)? This first question helps us understand what people have called the “desolations” in our life.  The “desolations” are “times of disconnection, depletion, alienation, and a sense of being blocked to the presence of God, others, or ourselves” (Mark Yaconelli, Downtime).
•    At what point did you feel closest to God (At what point did you feel most alive)?  This second question helps us understand what the ancients have called “consolations”.  The “consolations” are “moments of connection, moments when we feel more alive, more transparent to God and more loving to other people” (Mark Yaconelli, Downtime).

As you continue to pray together, you will enter a time of fixed-hour prayer.  There is so much that can be said about these different types of prayers.  For now, we will just say that these prayers are a part of what is often called the Divine Office.  They are designed to be prayed at certain times of the day so that a constant, continual offering of praise is offered to God.  Fixed-hour prayers can be found at explorefaith.org (under prayer and meditation, then fixed-hour prayer).  Phyllis Tickle has arranged the “office” that we are using.  Hard copies can be found in a three-volume set called The Divine Hours.  It would be best to have a copy for everyone, but you could just pass the text around, having individuals read each individual section, and then pass it to the next person.

The Vespers Office To Be Observed on the Hour or Half Hour Between 5 and 8 p.m

The Call to Prayer
Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise;* give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
Psalm 100:3

The Request for Presence
May God give us his blessing,* and may all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.
Psalm 67:7

The Greeting

We give you thanks, O God, we give you thanks,* calling upon your Name and declaring all your wonderful deeds.
Psalm 75:1

The Hymn

Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear; Things I would ask him to tell me if he were here: Scenes by the wayside, tales of the sea, Stories of Jesus tell them to me. First let me hear how the children stood round his knee, And I shall fancy his blessing resting on me; Words full of kindness, deeds full of grace, All in the love-light of Jesus’ face. Into the city I’d follow the children’s band, Waving a branch of the palm tree high in my hand; One of his heralds, yes I would sing Loudest hosannas, “Jesus is King!”
William Parker

The Refrain for the Vespers Lessons

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD* in the presence of all his people.
Psalm 116:16

The Vespers Psalm

The LORD Will Make Good His Purpose for Me
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart;* before the gods I will sing your praise. I will bow down toward your holy temple and praise your Name,* because of your love and faithfulness; For you have glorified your Name* and your word above all things. When I called, you answered me;* you increased my strength within me. All the kings of the earth will praise you, O LORD,* when they have heard the words of your mouth. They will sing of the ways of the LORD,* that great is the glory of the LORD. Though the LORD be high, he cares for the lowly;* he perceives the haughty from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe;* you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right hand shall save me. The LORD will make good his purpose for me;* O LORD, your love endures for ever; do not abandon the works of your hands.
Psalm 138

The Refrain

I will fulfill my vows to the LORD* in the presence of all his people.

The Gloria

Glory be to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, so it is now and so it shall ever be, world without end. Alleluia. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your Name. May your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for yours are the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The Prayer Appointed for the Week

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.†

Concluding Prayers of the Church

Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made us one with your saints in heaven and on earth: Grant that in my earthly pilgrimage I may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know myself to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. I ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, in whom all my intercessions are acceptable through the Spirit, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.† Lord God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ, triumphed over the powers of death and prepared for us our place in the new Jerusalem: Grant that I, who have this day given thanks for his resurrection, may praise you in the City of which he is the light, and where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.†

As you close your time together, read Colossians 2:1-3 and Colossians 4:2-6 together:

Colossians 2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Community is so important.  We need to love one another in the church.

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

God does not want anyone on the outside.  The Outsiders need to be invited in.

Mark Yaconelli tells a wonderful story of how he watched some students’ lives be changed.  He simply asked them to draw a cross on the back of their hand, and to pray the following prayer every time they noticed the cross on their hand: “God, help me see your face in the face of the person next to me.”  Practice this for a day or a week remembering that Jesus wants to be present with people who are inside or outside, and that He wants us to be present with them as well.

Date:  January 25, 2009 (Graham)

Texts: Ephesians 4:11-13, Ephesians 2:10, Proverbs 3:5-6, Romans 12:1-2, Psalm 37:3-4

Message MAIN Idea: What is your life mission/calling?  God has placed within each believer a unique way to fulfill the mission given to all of us. It fits our personalities, passions, gifts, etc. It benefits the body and blesses the community around us.

Message Overview: From a historical perspective the Lord’s church has always been at its best when the ministry has been in the hands of the people. We call this doctrine the “Priesthood of all Believers,” and it is something we are passionate about here at Central (see, for example, Eph 4:11-12 and 2:10). God calls each one of us to join Him in His mission in this world.
* But how do I know what my calling is?
* How can I get to the place where I can hear from God about this?
Today we are going to look at some well known passages of scripture that give us insight into how we might find our calling (Proverbs 3:5-6; Romans 12:1-2; Psalm 37:3-4).  My prayer is that each one of us will come to the place where we might hear from God, and then, having clearly heard, will be obedient in doing that which He requires of us.

As you begin your time together, encourage everyone to take a few deep breaths and relax in Abba’s (Daddy’s) presence.  Encourage everyone to remember that have been fearfully and wonderfully made.  Remind them that God knit them together in their mother’s womb.  After letting people enjoy the silence for a couple of minutes, encourage everyone to lift up popcorn or sentence prayers of simple thankfulness for all that God has done, is doing or will do in their lives.

After prayer ask for three volunteers to read Psalm 37:3-4:  “3Trust in the LORD and do good; enjoy safe dwell in the land and pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Ask everyone to look for a word or phrase that stands out.  Have them pray the Word or phrase repeatedly for a few seconds and then rest in God’s presence again.  Encourage them to enjoy the time of silence as God guides them through the series of thoughts that they encounter.  After sufficient time has been given to journey with God through their thoughts, ask for volunteers to share their word or phrase and a portion of what God was teaching them through that word or phrase.

After your discussion time, pray another prayer of gratitude for God and His guidance at work in our lives.  Then, read Proverbs 3:5-6: “5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
•    What does it mean to “trust in the Lord with all your heart”?
•    Spend a couple of minutes thinking about times this past week where you leaned on your own understanding.  Ask for God’s forgiveness and be assured of the fact that you have received it.
•    How has God made your paths straight as you trusted in Him?

It is so easy to see things that need to be done.  We get upset when we see trash on the ground within three feet of a garbage can.  It bothers us when we notice that a bathroom is left looking like a tornado went through the paper products.  It frustrates us when we notice that something small and minute is left undone, or when things that we believe should be taken care of are left unfinished or unnoticed.  I was in a restaurant this past week with one of my friends.  The particular restaurant where we were enjoying a breakfast meant for royalty (large Southern royalty I might add) is always rather busy.  The morning in question was probably as busy as I had ever seen it.  There had been a family reunion of sorts that morning complete with children of all ages.  They had left things messier than necessary.  The dining room around them had filled quickly after they left.  A couple of patrons walked in to find no seat.  They stood somewhat patiently by the banquet table that had been created by sliding the smaller tables together and waited for the young waitress to notice their plight as she tried to take another couple’s order.  We noticed the issue and became a part of the solution.  We bussed the tables for the waitress and returned to our seat.  The ladies in waiting looked at us as if we were the eleventh plague.  The waitress showed her gratitude.
Of course, we enter restaurants and expect empty tables and lightning quick service.  We believe that everything should be taken care of, polished and maybe even spit-shined (not a table or any of the silverware or…I digress).  Maybe there is something wrong with our expectations.  We might have some major issues with entitlement.  We are so good at complaining about how things should be, but not usually ready to pick up a shovel, a trowel or even a plunger.  How many times have we said, “I just can’t believe that they did not _____________.”  We charge so many rabbit holes like a thousand screaming enemies cross a battle line.  As I have heard in so many disagreements in my life, “Don’t even go there.”
We have become something more than a nation of complainers.  As a matter of fact, we have become something much worse.  We have become a church of complainers.  We sit back and wait for someone else to fix what we believe everyone should notice as a need, problem or opportunity.  The fact is that if God has gifted us with the necessary vision to see a need, problem or opportunity, He can, and probably already has, blessed us with the ability to become a part of the solution and not the problem.  We so easily miss God’s calling, especially when we believe that it is, or should have been someone else’s job.  Our Western, and I believe American, mindset enables us to be full of ego and pride while always being prepared to deride the work, or lack thereof, of another.  We are so individually focused that we often only orbit true community.
•    How are you with regards to complaining?
•    Do you think there is a problem with entitlement in church? (Philippians 2:14-16 says, “14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16 as you hold out the word of life…”)
•    Discuss the statement, “We are so individually focused that we often only orbit true community.”  (Agree/disagree, etc.)

The church does not give us the opportunity to live island lives.  We are called to be the body of Christ for a lonely and broken world.  The “I” is dissolved in Christ and becomes the “we” and “us” that the New Testament continually refers to.  We owe it to each other, God and the world, to get out of our preferred seats and into the throes of the difficult, as well as easy, work that needs to be done.  If someone is not doing their job, help them.  If someone is overwhelmed with their job, find them respite.  If someone is doing your job, pick up your bat, cross yourself, kiss your necklace and swing away.

Many people have the problem of not seeing the forest for the trees.  They get lost in the details.  I am afraid that many of us in the church have the opposite problem.  We cannot see the trees because we love the forest.  In other words, we love salvation and we look forward to heaven, but we don’t want to see the trees that implore us to “act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).  We like to come into church and be entertained, but we do not want to help set up, take down, mop the floor, mow the yard or clean the garage.

Read Romans 12:1-2: “1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

•    Romans 12:1 encourages us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.  What are you having a problem sacrificing for the sake of the community?

•    Romans 12:2 says that we need to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.”  How do we have our minds renewed?

It is after our minds are renewed by God’s Word, etc. that we are able to test and approve what God’s will is.  We often try to understand God’s will before we allow Him to reshape, redirect and tune our thoughts to His frequency.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reminds us to “16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually;” and “18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  God’s will is not always so difficult to discern.  His Word will lead us to His Will, and His will cannot be in opposition with His Word.

May we never forget Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

There is much work, and many works, that will be done in, through, with and without us.  So, may His Will be done as we use our gifts “so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Amen.

I’m There Week One Message Title:  Where the Impossible Happens Everyday

Series:  I’m There

Why?  Most people feel they are very ordinary; exactly the kind of people God does extraordinary things through. Why now?  1. These are depressing times.  We need to see the extraordinary possibilities in Christ; 2.  Christmas is filled with hope and Bible characters that often seem extraordinary.

Text:  Luke 1:26-38; Philippians 4:13 (NLT)     

Message MAIN Idea: How can ordinary people become extraordinary servants of God?  Willingness (availability and obedience) is the key to God’s ability to do amazing things in someone’s life.  The strength is all in Christ. 

Message Overview: This is the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary.  She is afraid and deeply troubled by the appearance of the angel and the news Gabriel brings.  She does not understand how she could be the mother of Son of the Most High.  Others may question her virginity, but she knows the truth.  Verse 37 points out the major issue: “nothing is impossible with God.”  He can make a barren woman who is past child-bearing age have a son and he can make a woman who has never had sex have a child.  He can do the extraordinary through people who are willing to allow him to do what he wants. 

As you prepare to look at the text together, read these words from 2 Corinthians 9:15 (CEV), “Thank God for his gift that is too wonderful for words!” and take a couple of minutes to think of the gifts that you have received in the last week.  Give people the opportunity to mention some of the gifts that they have recently received.  After praising God and thanking Him for His goodness during this and every season, pray a prayer thanking God for the gift of His Word, and then read the text together.

Luke 1:26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.

Gabriel was given his orders.  He was to visit a young girl in an out of the way, off the beaten path town.  He was to tell her that she was going to give birth to divinity wrapped in humanity.  It is not the way that every story starts, or is it?  Surely, the details change and there was only one unique only begotten Son of the Most High, but God is always poised to do the miraculous, the well-beyond our imagination and the supernatural.  It is just that we seem to get stuck in the rut of natural, earthbound and boring.  Somehow, we lose the sense of something greater and begin to settle for much less than the adventure that God invites us to join and encounter.  Maybe, we just become too comfortable with this world and its natural laws.  We make this life and its perceived boundaries our home.

Mary was living her life.  Joseph had paid the bridal price and they were looking forward to getting married.  Things were business as usual until God breaks into her mundane, temporal existence through the announcement of the angel, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”  We seem to think that these were words reserved for Mary, but they are not.  They are words that are meant for each of us.  God was giving His grace to this young woman, and God is giving His grace to each of us.  You are highly favored by God.

Have everyone close his or her eyes and take a couple of deep breaths.  After a few seconds have passed, proclaim, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

• How did it feel to have those words spoken to you?
• Do you believe you are highly favored?  Why or Why not?

It must have been amazing for Mary to hear that the Lord was with her.  The God who created the universe, who put the planets in orbit around the sun and determined the times set for men and the exact places where they would live was paying attention to a young betrothed girl in Nazareth and pays attention to farmers, banker and day care workers in Indiana.  We do not always feel like the Lord is with us, but He has promised to be with us and never leave us.

• What kind of difference would it make if we actually lived like the Lord is with us?

Mary does not know how all of this can happen, but she is told that Holy Spirit will bless her and that the Power of the Most High will overshadow her.  We have access to the same Holy Spirit.  As a matter of fact, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and God “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us…”

• Do you live in the power of God, or according to your own strength?
• What are some practical ways you can allow the power of God to overshadow you?

Mary’s questions are answered by the amazing phrase, “Nothing is impossible with God.”  This is easy to believe intellectually, but very difficult to know in practical application.  We are so easily distracted by Satan and believe that God cannot fix the messes we have made.  We have blown it this time.  We have gone too far.  We have made one too many mistakes.

• What is Satan telling you is impossible for God?
• Spend a couple of minutes praying for the “seemingly” impossible and know that God hears and answers prayer. (God had promised in Genesis 3:15 to send a Messiah.  Other Old Testaments prophecies spoke of the day Jesus would come.  It seemed like forever to the Israelites, but God kept His promise.  He has always kept His promises, and always will.)

After Gabriel gives her evidence of God’s work in progress, Mary replies, “I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be to me as you have said.”  Wow.  A young betrothed girl, maybe twelve or thirteen years of age, knew who and whose she was.  She had an unbelievable sense of identity.

·     How would you normally answer the question, “Who are you?”  I am ____________.

Mary was willing (available and obedient).  God was able.  Things have not changed.  God takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary.  Our problem lies in the fact that we don’t know who and whose we are and that we spend our lives trying to be extraordinary.  Close in prayer and ask God to help you realize who and whose you are, and make your ordinary self available to a God who will do the impossible in you.

I’m There Week Two Discussion Guide                 

Message Title:  Where the News is Too Good to Keep In

Date:  December 14, 2008

Series:  I’m There

Why?  Most people feel they are very ordinary; exactly the kind of people God does extraordinary things through.

Why now?  1. These are depressing times.  We need to see the extraordinary possibilities in Christ; 2.  Christmas is filled with hope and Bible characters who often seem extraordinary.

Text:  Luke 2:1-20; Mark 16:15 (NLT)     

Message MAIN Idea:

Question:  What prompts us to tell everyone everywhere the Good News? 

Message Overview:

The shepherds were living life in quiet obscurity.  They had nothing in their lives that was worth writing home about.  Every day was pretty much the same thing:  watch over sheep, tell stories, lead sheep to better grass and to still water.  Shepherds were unimportant people by the social standards of those days.  In fact, they were on the fringes of society – often dirty and a bit rough around the edges.

As you prepare to read this text, take a couple of minutes to rest in God’s presence and remember the Christmas programs that you have either seen, or played a role in throughout your life.  Have a few people share their memories.  After people have finished sharing, thank God for the myriad of ways that God has used to introduce this good news of Jesus’ birth to us.  Then, sit back and relax as someone reads these familiar, yet profound words over you.

Luke begins this account by giving historical context.  All of this took place in Israel under Roman rule.  The Romans were known for bringing their Pax Romana (Roman Peace) to the peoples that they conquered.  The Roman Peace was “good news”. When a king was born, he was announced as a Savior, and it was considered to be good news.  We might think that kind of language with reference to politics sounds weird, if it were not for our recent elections here in the United States.  There were people who touted John Mccain as the savior of the Republican Party.  Barack Obama was proclaimed as the great hope.  All of that is trumped by the good news in this passage.  A savior was born in Bethlehem and that Savior is the Hope of glory—the one who brings peace to all on whom His favor rests.  It can be so easy for us to trust in the power of government, or in our own abilities.  We can too easily expend the majority of our energies on trying to utilize what we can gain from worldly influence, while ignoring the fact that Jesus ushered in an upside down kingdom.  The Creator was entering His creation in order to redeem it from the mess that it had become.  He could have come in full view and with authority, but he chose to come in relative obscurity…

·     How do you see God ushering in an upside down Kingdom in this passage?

·     Describe a time in your life that you have focused on worldly “powers” and not God’s Power.

·     Read Philippians 2:5-8: “5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”  How does Luke 2 intersect with Philippians 2?

·     How is the manger a sign of things to come?

The incredible life-changing event is then announced to a rather improbable lot.  There were shepherds out in the fields minding their own business–a business that involves

dumb, difficult animals and their feeding and protection.  Shepherds just weren’t a normal first choice for witnesses.  As a matter of fact, they were not even considered credible witnesses in a court of law during some periods and their job pretty much kept them ceremonially unclean.  These shepherds, however, might have been the shepherds that watched over the temple flocks that were used for sacrifices.  They weren’t looking for an angel, and when they were enveloped by the Glory of the Lord, they were a bit scared.  Can you imagine a dark night, a bunch of sheep and an unexpected visitor, and then bam: the Glory of the Lord all around.  I would have been scared out of my mind as well.  If that wasn’t enough, the angel army suddenly shows up and confirms the whole amazingly miraculous event.

• The heavenly host appeared suddenly.  Angels appear suddenly elsewhere in the New Testament.  Jesus suddenly appears to women running from the tomb after His resurrection.  The Holy Spirit shows up suddenly on Pentecost.  Saul, the persecutor of the early church, has a sudden light that appears to him on the road to Damascus that changes the course and direction of his life.  How has God suddenly appeared in your life?

The Shepherds were ecstatic.  They were filled with urgency and went to see if what they had heard was true.  After finding the truth, they went out and shared that truth with everyone.  They were glorifying and praising God for what they had heard and seen.  It is an amazing thing to be entrusted with good news.  There is almost no other feeling like it.  Think about it: no one, or practically no one, else knows.  You have been chosen to be the repository for someone’s exciting news.  Sometimes they tell you that you have to keep it a secret.  Other times, you are free to broadcast their information to anyone and everyone.

·     Have you ever been entrusted with someone’s good news (an engagement, a pregnancy, a promotion, a scholarship, etc.)?  Explain.

We have all been entrusted with the good news of Jesus.  We should take the time like Mary to ponder what it all means, and we should definitely thank God for letting us know the good news—and one of the ways we show that thankfulness is by sharing it with everyone.

Close by reading Mark 16:15, “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone,” and then praying.

I’m There Week Three Discussion Guide:  Where Giving Feels Great

Date:  December 21, 2008 Teacher:  Richard

Series:  I’m There

Why?  Most people feel they are very ordinary; exactly the kind of people God does extraordinary things through.

Why now?  1. These are depressing times.  We need to see the extraordinary possibilities in Christ; 2.  Christmas is filled with hope and Bible characters who often seem extraordinary.

 Text:  Matthew 2:1-18; Acts 20:35 (NLT)     

 Message MAIN Idea:

 Question:  What can turn ordinarily self-centered people into self-emptying people? God’s people give generous, extravagant gifts to match what they have received.  This is not a matter of trying earn or repay what God has done, but of gratefully longing to be like the God who gives.

 Message Overview: The Magi were scholars and astrologers perhaps, who grew wealthy and powerful in the kingdom that is likely present day Iraq.  When they saw the unusual star in the sky, they understood through some prophesy (perhaps provided by Daniel?) that this was to be the great king of Israel.

 The realization of what they were seeing: the visitation of God in some significant way, prompted them to leave their home and journey to Israel to worship (show great respect and subservience toward) this baby king.  You could not go to such a king empty handed, so they brought extravagant gifts with them to show the level of their respect. 

 King Herod, on the other hand, attempted to undo God’s plan in the world.  Not only did he not bring gifts, he attempted to kill the child before he got started.  His was an attempt to keep what he had no matter what it cost anyone else.  The Magi’s attempt was to give generously of what they had.

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As you prepare to read the text together, read the following quote from Acts 20:35, “…You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Take a couple of minutes to remember your acts of gift giving.  Think of the favorite gifts that you have given.  Share some of the stories.  After sufficient discussion, remind each other of the words of 2 Corinthians 9:15 (CEV), “Thank God for his gift that is too wonderful for words!”, and read the text.

 Matthew 2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem  2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 
 6 ” ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’” 7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” 9After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. 13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” 14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 
 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

 ^{You just have to know your place.  You have to realize that you are not the bee’s knees, and that the world does not revolve around you.  The planets do not orbit you as the center of a universe that has been spun into space.  Oh, you know it is true intellectually, and so do I, but we live our lives as if we are all there is.  We somehow feel that if everything does not work out to our liking that the cosmic forces of light have turned on us, and wonder if there is something that we have done to anger the gods.  Of course, most who read this are Christian, and believe that there is only one triune God that watches over us, but we too often see God as our personal administrative assistant and do not recognize His sovereignty over us.  Paul recognized his place and repeatedly referred to himself as a slave of God.  We stick with friend (which He is if we do what He says), and rarely work on a relationship with what many refer to as the Man Upstairs.  Some of us study God in depth and get Him all but figured out.  Others of us realize that He is immanently transcendent—close yet so far away, above and beyond.  Vertical Horizon used to sing of a girl with these words, “You’re a god and I’m not.”  We need to remember these words.  Herod needed these words.  The Religious leaders needed them as well.  Their system of rules and regulation along with their position and power had become their god.}

 ^{The Magi went to the capital of Israel where they believed a King would be born and inquired about the regal birth.  Herod and the leaders were disturbed by the news.  Their authority and position would be called into question.  The Magi had traveled mile after mile to find out about this life-changing event.  They realized that there was something better than them and their way of life.  They were not lost in a delusion of grandeur and were seeking something and someone better, greater and more genuine.}

^{·              If people come to you searching for something more and someone greater, would there be evidence of its existence?}

^{·              If those people come searching, what would be threatened in your life? Why?}

 ^{When confronted with this overwhelming question about a promised King, Herod contacted the religious people that he knew would have the answer.}

^{·              Are you the type of person that people would come to with questions?  Why or Why not?}

 ^{The religious leaders were able to rattle off an answer, but that answer, and the question that led to it were not that big a deal to the people who actually knew the promises.  They evidently shuffled the facts to the inquirer and went about their business.  They had important things to do.  The possibility of the culmination of all that they had prayed about and learned was not even enough to knock them from their rut of tradition.  They kept on keeping on while God answered their prayers and kept His promises that they ignored.  They evidently did not even travel the few miles to check and see what all this fuss was about.  We need to pay close attention to the God that never stops working and reaching.  We need to not get lost in our misunderstanding and misconception.  We need to trust and be alert for the God that is active and with us.}

 ^{Herod tried his best to trick the Magi into helping him to find the child so he could get rid of this threat to his way of life, but the Magi had received the information that they needed, and kept right on moving.  They were overjoyed when the star appeared again and followed it to the house where Jesus was in Bethlehem.  God was in control and His supernatural credence to this event just keeps showing up.  His hand of providence is continually guarding the situation and those that are intimately involved.  The Magi offer expensive gifts to Jesus and worship him.  I’m not so sure they knew and understood the importance of their actions, but they were faithful and gave obeisance to one who was greater at His birth than their status could ever attain.  They knew that they were a part of something bigger and better than them and played along.}

^{·              What do you believe their gifts represented?}

 ^{The Magi and Joseph were attentive to the direction of God in their lives.  God is leading in our lives as well.  He has given us His Word and His Spirit to guide us.  He has also given us each other.  As we trust in God, and seek after Him, He will help us find the way that leads to abundant life on our journey through this fading world.}

^{·              Where do you need direction in life?}

 ^{As you close your time together, “You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”}

• Take a couple of minutes to think about the gifts you have given the One who has given all for you.  Have you given them with no strings attached?  Have you pulled back from your offering?  Is sacrifice involved, or have you simply skimmed off of the top?

 Close with a prayer asking God to help you trust in His direction and provision.

I’m There Week Four Discussion Guide:  Where Dreams Come True

 Date:  December 28, 2008 Teacher:  Graham

Why?  Most people feel they are very ordinary; exactly the kind of people God does extraordinary things through. Why now?  1. These are depressing times.  We need to see the extraordinary possibilities in Christ; 2.  Christmas is filled with hope and Bible characters who often seem extraordinary.

 Text:  Luke 2:21-40; Philippians 2:10-11     

 Message MAIN Idea:

 Question:  What brings our hopes and dreams together?

 In the depths of our being we long for God; for restored relationship with him. Everything broken in us points to this issue. Everything good in us flows from relationship having been restored to some level.

 After Simeon had spoken, a prophetess named Anna came over. She was eighty-four years old! Her life was centered on the Lord and she spent her time worshiping night and day, fasting and praying. She gave thanks to God and spoke about Jesus to all who were waiting for this moment.  

 Simeon and Anna lived for many years with a dream. Consider their sacrifice for just one glimpse of Jesus! They are wonderful examples to us of perseverance and quiet determination. What hopes do you hold in your heart for the things of God? What dream has the Lord given you?  “Seek first his Kingdom, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

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As you prepare to study together, take a couple of minutes to think about the following question:  What are you longing for? 

 After meditating on the question, have someone read the following text: Ephesians 3:20, “But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

• How would you describe your longing (anticipation) for Jesus?

 Have someone else read the following text from Acts 17:11 “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true.”

• How would you describe your longing for the Word of God?

 Before reading the text, ask God to help you long for and to desire that which he wants for you, and to be able to put the cares of this world aside.

 Luke 2:21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 
 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. 39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

 It is still unbelievable.  No matter how much we think about it, it is beyond our comprehension.  The indefinable, infinite and boundless had created an infinitesimally small package to deliver itself into.  God was allowing Himself to experience His Creation firsthand and entrusted Himself to a young woman and a carpenter.  They were devout and attentive, but the magnitude of the story continues to baffle even the most basic of minds.  Created ones were being asked to follow the rules and regulations with the Creator in hand.  The Creator was allowing its Creation to walk Him through the process of birth and development.  The One who spun the universe into existence was waiting to be named and consecrated according to the tradition that He had inspired.  There was no way for Mary and Joseph to step away from this incredible story.  The angels appearing out of the blue, the dreams, the virgin birth, the shepherds and their worship had all been a blur.  There was child in their arms now.  They were able to look into His eyes and wonder.  He stared back.  If they were able to walk away from the magnitude of it all for even a second, it would all flood back as they called his name, Jesus: He was going to save His people from their sins.  God was with man like never before. 

• What do you think it was like to go and present this baby Jesus (God) to the Lord?

 The faithful Mary and Joseph take the child to the temple where they meet two other extremely faithful followers of God.  Simeon, who is called righteous and devout, was waiting for the comfort and consolation of God to arrive in the form of a tangible savior.  He was in tune with the Holy Spirit and came out on cue to meet this blessed gift.  God had kept His Word.

• How would Luke describe your faith if he was writing your story?
• What does it mean to you that Simeon was “righteous and devout”?
• Have you ever waited and longed for something?  Describe the experience when you received what you were waiting for.
• What did Simeon mean by the phrases, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel”?
• It was not all rosy and nice though.  Simeon also had some difficult words to share with Mary. “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” What do you think it was like to hear these words?  How would you set this prophecy aside and focus on loving and raising your child?

 Mary and Joseph were not left alone in those difficult words.  Anna the prophetess approached them.  Luke says, “she never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.”

• How often do you worship? Explain. (And yes, this is a trick question in many ways.)
• Have you ever fasted?  What was it like? 
• Why is fasting important?
• Luke says, “she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”  Anna knew how to be thankful and what to do in response to her thankfulness.  How is your thankfulness, and its response to others?

 Simeon and Anna had lived their lives in such a way that they were ready to experience God’s revelation.  They were able to act as a bridge between the old way and the new way.  They were a good example of some of the best that man had to offer from the old system that would never afford us entrance into God’s presence being met by the presence of God entering this world to transform life into life abundant.  They had reason to worship as does all of mankind, and we all will worship the child that they worshipped, one way or another.

 As you close this lesson and we close this series, remember these words from Paul in Philippians 2, “5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place, and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As you prepare to begin your discussion time together, remember the words of Psalm 63:1, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”  Spend a few moments resting in God and remembering that you were created to long for Him and experience His presence.  Remember that, as Augustine said, our souls are restless until they find their rest in God.  After sufficient time has been spent in silence, pray a prayer of thanksgiving for the fact that God promises to be found by those who earnestly seek Him.

• How have you been found by God? (list some evidences of how you know have been found recently)

The disciples had been through a lot in the last few weeks.  It was difficult to sort it all out.  Jesus had washed their feet like a lowly servant.  Judas had betrayed Jesus.  Peter had denied Jesus.  John stood closely by and watched him die.  Nicodemus and Joseph had buried him.  The women had anointed his body for burial.  Jesus was dead.  The disciples were afraid that they might be next.  Judas had hung himself.  Some of the women brought news that He was alive.  Peter and John could not find Him at the tomb.  It was empty.  What was going on?   Cleopas and the other disciple had their hearts strangely warmed as they talked to a stranger that they finally recognized was Jesus after He broke bread for them and vanished into thin air.  Jesus showed up behind locked doors.  He gave Thomas a chance to truly see, believe and experience.  The last few weeks had been difficult and confusing.  There had been a lot of time to doubt and a lot of time to believe.  There had been a lot of time to be assured, and a lot of time to question.  What was next?  How would they move on?  What now?  It was time to revisit something familiar.  It was time to do something that felt comfortable.  It was time to do something that took no thought.  It was time to stop thinking and figuring.  It was time to go fishing.  Read John 21 together, and allow God to meet you in the Apostle’s inspired words.

John 21:1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” 20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” 24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

• What do you do when the weight of “all that is” bears heavy on your soul?

“Dark night of the soul” is a phrase that is used to describe the experience that a spiritual person undergoes when they feel a certain loneliness and desperation.  It is a time of questioning, but it is also a time of growth and development.  It is a time in which a person begins, or begins again, to deny themselves and die to their doubts and desires.  It is a place where we become less and less and God becomes greater.  God promises to never leave us or forsake us, yet we go fishing.  We often end up like Peter and his crew that night on the Sea of Galilee.  We fish, yet we catch nothing.  When there are no fish in our nets, we should listen carefully for the voice from the shore.  We should look for the smoke from the charcoal fire.  We should listen to God’s direction and cast the net on the other side, even though conventional wisdom says fold the net and give up for today.  We should then head for shore and meet Jesus for breakfast. 

Jesus has made breakfast.  He invites you to join Him.  Spend a couple of minutes “at breakfast” with Jesus.

What were the two of you talking about?

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During their breakfast, Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him.  It hurt Peter, but it also freed Peter from his past failure.  We will have to pay the price for our failures and shortcomings, but we serve a God who can transform the difficult, deadly and seemingly destructive into fertile ground where God can do the unimaginable, the inconceivable and the incomprehensible.  Peter had blown it.  His mistake was huge.  He had said he was willing to die and that He would not turn his back on Jesus, yet he did.  He might have felt that He could never make up for his blunder.  But, Jesus met him in His bankruptcy and brokenness and turned His error into an invitation to service.

• What past failures are you holding on to?
• How is Jesus inviting you beyond those failures to service?

We mess up.  God fixes, revamps, and restores, and we get the privilege of taking this message to the world—to the fish that will be caught and the sheep that forget they are found.

It is a beautiful thing to have that privilege, yet it is also arduous, exacting and troublesome.  We will suffer for the stand that we take.  Jesus promised Peter suffering, and he also promises us that we will suffer.  Be reminded of these words from Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

• What is this verse saying to you?

In the midst of this conversation, Peter wanted to compare himself and his outcomes to the Apostle John.

• Who are you busy comparing yourself to?

Jesus reminded Peter that His eyes needed to be fixed on Him.  We are to follow Jesus.  God’s plan is God’s plan.  We are to let Him have His way in us.  It will look differently in each of us, but God will be able to do immeasurably more than we could ask (Eph 3:20), and can make all things, good and bad, work together for our ultimate good as we love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Read the final words of John again: “25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

Close in prayer realizing that He is still doing many other things in us.

Peter used to stick his foot in his mouth. He used to say things somewhat out of turn. Peter used to speak up when others would shut up—and they were probably right for just staying quiet. Sure, he said what others were obviously thinking, but you can only be wrong so many times before you should just buy yourself a greyhound ticket and find a small town where no one knows your name. After Jesus’ resurrection, it was Peter that said he was going fishin’, and the crew with him decided they might as well go. They were unsure of what was happening. They were unsettled. They did not understand their place or call. They did not catch anything that night (just like another time this professional fisherman was out on the Lake in Scripture with his cohorts). Peter was reinstated as an apostle on the beach in the early morning hours as Jesus joined them for breakfast after that long night. But, Peter would not hit his stride until the day of Pentecost. It was on that day that the wind began to blow and the Holy Spirit anointed Peter to speak to the people. The Holy Spirit kept empowering Peter and he kept being faithful. After the healing of the lame man in chapter three, he saw a crowd gathering and took full advantage of the opportunity that God was giving him. He had some rather bunt and pointed words to share with his audience (definitely not a seeker service): “Acts 3:13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” There was no time for pulling punches and no one was getting off the hook. It was no holds barred truth in your face whether you like it or not. The priests, captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees could not and would not take the message. They were not receiving what he was throwing, so they arrested Peter and John and threw them into jail. They were willing to do whatever they needed to do in order to silence these religious upstarts who were not classically trained and had no pedigree. They had not studied under the great teachers. They had not attended a fully accredited rabbi college. There were no degrees on their walls and no tassels on their robes. Their hands were not even clean. So, Peter and John were obeying God and found themselves in jail. This whole deal pretty much shoots another hole in that God wants me to be rich gospel that some people like to hold on to with all their greedy fingers. It also destroys every American Capitalistic idea of success. It consumes the concept that if we get on God’s side we can count on things doing nothing but improving in our lives. They were serving God. They were in the center of God’s will and it was more like the eye of a storm than a day at the beach with a shovel, a bucket and enough time to build the world’s most intricate sand castle. Yet, as they sat in jail and it appeared that they had lost that particular battle, the rest of the church was multiplying like rabbits in the backyard.

*This story can seem so removed from our experience. We just do not go to jail for what we believe and preach. Martin Luther King did, but things have changed since then—right? Christians around the world are being persecuted for their faith as I write and you read. Learn more about your brothers and sister’s perils at persecution.com. You might also want to visit prisoneralert.com.

It was definitely not their best meeting. They had made all kinds of decisions before. There were good decisions and bad decisions. There were judgments that dissipated and were never heard from again, and there were rulings that would haunt their dreams and interrupt all of their waking moments. This whole Jesus thing had not really worked out as planned. They were trying to suppress his voice and influence by extinction, but his followers were proving themselves to be dedicated, sold out and unwavering in their following of the rabbi from Nazareth. The religious leaders had successfully wiped him off the face of the earth for at least a couple of days. Of course, people claimed that he appeared again after some sort of resurrection, and then disappeared of his own accord by ascending into heaven from the top of a mountain. However it happened, he was now gone, but his disciples were becoming more and more difficult to stop, and even corral. They lived out loud and had no reservations about sacrificing themselves for the cause. It seemed like no matter where they turned, the Jesus gang would meet them square in the face and try to remind them of the bad choices they had made that lead them down the wrong path. The apostles wanted the leaders and people to know that the ultimate Promised One, the hope of all Israel, and even the world, had come to rescue them, but they had chosen poorly and missed out on the opportunity of working with God. These Christians, as they would eventually be called, were not afraid to tell the truth that had to be told. The religious leaders had tried to change God’s plans. They thought that their way was better. The Bible teaches us, however, that even though man believes that his way is good and right that it will eventually and ultimately end in death. Yet, these leaders would not hear the message of the good news that was being proclaimed. They had relegated the good news to the cheapest and most outrageous tabloid somewhere between sasquatch and alien babies born to humans. They were so determined that they had chosen wisely that they were about to stick their fingers in their ears and start screaming, “I can’t hear you, na-na-na-na-na.” The disciples just kept on telling the story, and God just kept saying Amen by healing, protecting and blessing their efforts. The leaders would have liked to have seriously clamped down on this movement that day, but no matter what happened there was that lame man who could walk standing right there throwing the most recent wrench.

The record was definitely broken. They knew that the religious leaders wanted them to be quiet. There had been previous threats and there were going to be more of them. The threats were mostly empty at this point for the disciples but they would not remain that way for long. Jesus had told them that they would suffer persecution and trials. He had also told them that they needed to take up their cross and follow Him. They weren’t so sure what he meant when he said that, but the idea was becoming more and more realistic and possible with every passing moment. Each healing and every word was increasing the ire and impatience of the religious leaders. They claimed to be the authority, and were actually supposed to be, but had lost that right by choosing to trust in themselves and their own opinions while ignoring the Word of God to focus on their own misinterpretations. I mean, we can say what we want about them, but are we any different? We get ideas in our heads and try to mold the good news to them instead of allowing the good news to give us the ideas and the direction that we so desperately need. The sad part of this whole process is that creation is groaning for something better, and people are crying out for help, while we try to ask God to bless our efforts. We think we know what is best, what is needed and what is prudent at any and every juncture while the world surfs to its destruction on the tidal waves of humanism, Buddhism, Islam and the Tao, or even the Dow. Do the plans of God really take precedent in our lives? Jesus told us to go into the world and make disciples, but our schools don’t really want us talking about God, our jobs would frown on us evangelizing in the workplace, and people whine about the separation of church and state. Have the people of this nation ever really seen a united front of believers who are willing to say, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.” Can we even tell the difference between the world’s instructions and desires and the plans of the Almighty? Have we become so politically correct that we are actually spiritually negligent? Are we more concerned with earthly approval ratings and our skin and bones than we are the wild, unpredictable, untamed and unsafe call of God that commands us to rise from the mundane and the inane to something bigger, better and more spectacular than this cut throat existence that looks out for number one? You know, it’s downright impossible to obey what we do not know needs to be obeyed. God’s Word, the best seller, adorns communion tables and collects dust on the shelves of many “followers of Jesus” while we complain about gas prices and watch the world spiral to its doom as disinterested spectators who only really care about ourselves and our own. It is time to stop assuming what Jesus would do and meet him on the pages of the gospels and actually know what he did, what he said and what expects from us. It is time to read the words of the rest of the New Testament as well– with new eyes and ears so that we can truly recognize how innovative and life changing they were, and still are. God has spoken and will continue to speak, but who are we listening to?

Rainbow Christian Camp is committed to helping students realize the importance of missions. They offer all kinds of opportunities for people to get connected with what God is doing around the world. Part of that commitment entails having a missionary in residence at the camp each summer. This summer, the missionary in residence is RoRo Eustache of Haitian Christian Outreach. He is an dear brother in Christ that is truly committed to the gospel. He is sold out to Christ and His Kingdom and committed to spreading the Gospel throughout Haiti and  beyond. He tells the story of a young man who helped out while a group was visiting Haiti. The young man carried things and did whatever he could to serve the group and the church. He had been faithful in helping even though he did not have good shoes. RoRo wanted to bless him for his hard work and gave him some tennis shoes. Not long after the gift was given, a local witch doctor came to talk with RoRo. He asked RoRo if he would continue to tell his son about Jesus and help him to find God. RoRo told the witch doctor that he did not know his son. Of course, the witch doctor’s son had a new pair of shoes. The witch doctor went on to say that he had wanted to get his son some shoes, but just did not have the money. RoRo said that he would be glad to help the son, but that he also wanted to help the father. The Witch doctor felt that it was too late for him, especially since he had sold his soul to the devil. RoRo kept telling him that God was greater than He could ever imagine and tried to help see how much God loved him. The witch doctor was recently baptized into Christ and now has a new lease on life. RoRo has story after story to tell. He is so amazed by God and cannot help but tell about all the good things that God is constantly doing in and around him. I recently took RoRo on a tour of Indianapolis. I was so blessed as I watched him meet people and love them. Before he left conversations with my friends, he would always pull out a card and hand it to the person he was talking with and ask for prayer. What would happen if we truly started praying for each other? What would happen if we got to the point where we could not help but talk about what we have seen and heard? God is always at work around us too, but we often either ignore what He is doing or relegate it to some kind of strange coincidence. God is still a God of miracles who can do immeasurably more than we could ever ask him to do. Have we lost our reverence? Are we lost in amazement of what we have accomplished? Do we actually think that technology is cooler than God? Do we believe that we have made ourselves who and what we are? Do we live our lives as if we bettered ourselves beyond the need for God? We get angry if people say that faith and religion is just a crutch, and then we use our belief as a crutch. Do people know we believe? Have they seen us live differently? Have they heard us tell the stories of good news that interrupt and supercede all of the negativity, hatred and insanity? There are ears that need to hear what our eyes need to see and our tongues need to proclaim.

What miraculous things has God done for you and/or those around you?

Tell someone the good news from your life and/or the lives around you.

Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,

To the house of Jacob their sins.

Some people can hear it. More and more hear it every day. The timpani’s slight rumble, and the clarinet’s broken reed announce the last minute preparations. Where are the brass players? They are lost in the Quarter amidst the broken glass and strewn beads of yesterday’s reveling. They are on 18th with Arthur Bryant eating wonder bread and drinking James lemonade. They are on Beale with B.B. trying to find a song to play. Beethoven will not do. John Phillip Susa is out of the question. The blues just won’t fit the bill either. It is time to sound the call to war. There is a battle raging deep beneath the surface of our feigned existence. We suffocate in our world that thinks it is breathing, and we have labored with them too long. There is a better land, a better way and a better hope than Obama, Clinton or McCain can envision. I mean no offense to any of our presidential candidates, but there is a true, eternal and almighty God beyond our impotent national god and there is a hope that resounds for everyone. We simply have to stop settling for the evening news and step out of our fenced in backyards and off of our front stoops into the streets with our trumpets held high. It is time to parade through the streets of every town and every city, as well as every country road, from Rattlesnake ridge to Rodeo drive, and from 10^th to 131^st. The entire symphony needs to sound as one trumpet. We must lay aside petty differences. There is a time for flutes, and there is a need for oboes, and a place for cellos, but their time, place and necessity has passed for the moment. We have lost the tune, and must return to the basic call led by the trumpet that will rattle us to our core and shake us from our mediocrity and settle for less society that is grabbing and grubbing for more of everything that does not matter and shuns that which does. They have expelled the Scientists of intelligent design and have relegated the priest to a courtroom, and the Vatican has had to release some of their gold. There is a tarnished dome at Notre Dame and there is not enough windex for the Crystal Cathedral windows. Mother Mary weeps and Jesus is recrucified to infinity by our lack of attention and inability to comprehend. Absurdity rules the day, and I just can’t figure out whether I should buy a Chevy or a Toyota. It is time to speak up and speak out. It is time to stop doing what we want to do and start doing what we were supposed to be doing all along. We need to see the gifts, hear the call and proclaim the gospel. May we see it and hear it like Peter and John, and tell it likewise.

Acts 3:1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

I seem to remember an old song that said, “ I love what you do when you do when you do what you did for me.”  I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to not be able to move from one spot to another with relative ease.  It is one thing to lean on your brothers and sisters, and it is a completely different novel to have to totally rely on others for your every move.  Once you cross the transportation hurdle in this story, you have to start thinking about how wonderful it would be to have to beg for money from each and every passerby.  You catch a few people’s eyes, but most of them look away before their compassion kicks in and their quarters fall out.  This man simply had a difficult existence.  I bet he would not even want to call it a life, but he did what he normally did that day.  He made his way to the Beautiful gate and began the arduous process of trying to take care of his needs.  In the meantime, Peter and John did what they normally did.  It was about time for afternoon prayer so they headed for the temple.  As they were going, they heard the man’s call for assistance, noticed the man’s real need and recognized the opportunity that God was giving them.  Once they really got his attention, they offered him more than he could ever imagined.  I wonder if he began to drop his head when he heard that they did not have money, or if their reputation had proceeded them, and he knew he who they were.  Either way, they would not leave him guessing for long as they offered him the chance to get up and walk.  He was not going to spend too much time in limbo.  It might have seemed like time had stopped and everything was moving in extremely slow motion but his heart must have told him otherwise as he felt strength enter his feet and ankles and jumped up.  He absolutely could not contain himself and practiced every dance step he had ever seen or dreamed of along with running a couple of wind sprints and exhibiting a few hops, skips and jumps to round out the experience and prove the life-giving, healing power of Jesus.  It was a riotous, raucous afternoon prayer.  People had special reason to celebrate the gift of God that day—all because the lame man and his friends did what they did, Peter and John did what they did, and God does what God is always doing in and through faithful people who watch for the opportunities.