Last Sunday we talked about Genesis 21.
The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”
God dealt with Sarah. We talked about how the word "dealt" is sometimes translated remembered. Like when it says that God remembered Noah. It doesn't really mean that we have a forgetful God. (Can you imagine God forgetting his car keys???!) No. It means that it was time for God to turn his grace toward him. And that is the same case here.
God turned his grace toward Sarah. He gave her the child that they had both been longing for. The days of them being laughed at for being childless were over.
So Sarah laughed. She rejoiced! And she knew in her heart that others would soon be rejoicing with her.
But they waited 25 years for this incredible gift to arrive. 25 years!! How long has any of us waited that long for something of this importance. Not many of us have had to wait that long.
Did you know that God wants to give gifts to you? He has a plan. (We already talked about this a few weeks ago.) He is extraordinary and has extraordinary for us (love, mercy, futures). (We talked about that last week.) And now, we learn that he is faithful to give us those gifts! He doesn't hold them back because he wishes us ill. He has a time and a place to release those gifts to us! They are there and in the best time God releases them to us. And they are always what we need. So, how do we respond when God has these gifts and he has or has not released them to us, yet?
Begs the question. Are you thankful for what you have? Have you looked at what God has given you, and I mean everything, and thanked him for it? Now, I know that we do that every year at Thanksgiving time. But I am going to throw a wrench in that. Here goes. I believe that there is an element of contentment in being thankful. I think that to truly be thankful for what you have your have to be content with what you have. Want an example? Think about: poorest Africa, single child, one ratty, broken doll. Now, contrast with: typical home in US, single child, 15 new, shiny toys. Process through level of thankfulness in regard to contentment.
The response to God's amazing gifts is to be thankful. And to be perfectly content in each of them. Only then can we use them to their utmost and love the very giving of them to the degree they deserve.
God is a faithful gift-giver!
Showing posts with label Sunday Thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunday Thoughts. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Friday, March 13, 2015
Dearly Imputed . . .
On Sunday we looked at Genesis 15. This is a great story of God having amazing plans for Abram and Abram's response to those plans.
Yes, he had questions. In fact, he cried out to God and shared his heart. Hey God, you have given me all these things but I still don't have a child of my own. A child through my wife Sarai. Where is that? When is that going to happen. But here is where Abram shows off what kind of character he has. God shows him the stars in the heavens and tells him that his offspring will be more than the stars in the sky. Some of us stop right here. But that would diminish the story. Because, this is when Abram says back to God, "I believe you." I mean he really believed God! And this is amazing. And God responded to him by taking his faith in God and reckoning it as righteousness. In the immortal words of Jerry Clower, "Whoooieee!" That's good.
But what does this mean? This phrase is an interesting one and I told you on Sunday that I would share a bit more about it. Did you know that the apostle Paul comes back to this specific story in Romans 4?
22 Therefore his faith[a] “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
This verse in Genesis 15 that Paul is referring to intrigues me. I just keep reading it. I guess I am trying to understand it or maybe even soak in it. I feel that it is important. That somehow, I'm missing something about it.
I think part of it is this concept of righteousness being reckoned to someone. How is that possible? How is it that because Abram believed he is somehow righteous? Can I see the math on that please? Believing=Righteousness? How is that?
We use reckoning in the South all the time. I grew up there. I know. "I reckon so." "I reckon I best be goin'." So you see, I'm used to this idea.
But this is bigger than my southern culture. It is bigger because I don't think we process it correctly. Let me explain.
The reckoning is not something that Abram did. The reckoning has everything to do with God. And I think that this concept is something called imputation.
Imputation is, in reference to God, the work of God outside of us. That means, that whatever is imputed to us has nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with God. Here is one way to look at this. Let's say that every time I do a particular action, you give me $10 dollars. That is cause and effect. I do something, you give me something. The variables are defined. This is something like a transaction and this is how we think of many, many things in our lives. (Sometimes even the spiritual!!) However, let's change the scenario. Let's change it to more like a trust fund. You promise to give me the entire, unlimited trust fund. Now, the trust fund is not ours. We didn't put anything into the trust fund. We didn't cause it to happen. We didn't cause it to not be there. It is simply there and we, frankly, have not done one thing to affect it positively or negatively.
So. How do we get access to the trust fund? Here it is. In order to have access to the trust fund, we must be related to the owner of the trust fund. Now, there are some problems with this relationship. First, you aren't really related. I mean, he loves you very much but you aren't naturally blood related. But the amazing thing is this. The owner of the trust fund has decided to adopt you! Now, this may be the freaky part, but he has gone further than adoption by law only. He has adopted you through transfusion! Through his son, you are now blood-related! You got it! The son gave his blood so that you could become a full-blooded son of the owner of the trust fund! Pretty amazing, right?
So what is our part in this? We have to believe in the owner of the trust fund and that his son gave his blood for us because both the owner and the son love us that much!
This is the part of the blog where I put in a metaphorical disclaimer. No metaphor can really illustrate the relationship and total concept of imputation. So I am very aware that this metaphor cannot duly give justice to what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross and the relationship of love that God for us and with us. I get that.
Let's come back to Abram. Abram did nothing to deserve God's righteousness. He didn't earn it. There was no way for him to earn it!! What could Abram give God?? God owns it all! No. That wasn't it. God's righteousness was freely given. Abram's belief in God united him to God so that God's righteousness was credited to him. Abram's faith did not produce the righteousness. Abram's faith in God fulfilled the other half of God's extension of relationship (love) that he had made to Abram in the first place! God began the relationship. Abram's faith sealed it. (Tangental aside: which totally explains how we can walk away from God - the relationship unsealed - and God continues to seek us out, continuing to offer his love and relationship!)
Okay, I'm going to offer one more example from an article I read from www.desiringgod.com. It is another analogy and of course the previous disclaimer still applies. I put it here in case it makes more sense to some than my analogy.
Here's a very imperfect analogy. But I will risk it in the hope of greater understanding. Suppose I say to Barnabas, my sixteen-year-old son, "Clean up your room before you go to school. You must have a clean room, or you won't be able to go watch the game tonight." Well, suppose he plans poorly and leaves for school without cleaning the room. And suppose I discover the messy room and clean it. His afternoon fills up and he gets home just before it's time to leave for the game and realizes what he has done and feels terrible. He apologizes and humbly accepts the consequences.
To which I say, "Barnabas, I am going to credit your apology and submission as a clean room. I said, 'You must have a clean room, or you won't be able to go watch the game tonight. Your room is clean. So you can go to the game." What I mean when I say, "I credit your apology as a clean room," is not that the apology is the clean room. Nor that he really cleaned his room. I cleaned it. It was pure grace. All I mean is that, in my way of reckoning - in my grace - his apology connects him with the promise given for a clean room. The clean room is his clean room. I credit it to him. Or, I credit his apology as a clean room. You can say it either way. And Paul said it both ways: "Faith is credited as righteousness," and "God credits righteousness to us through faith."
I feel by writing this I understand it a bit more. I am going to have to continue to work through this because I feel that there is still so much more here than I currently able to process. I hope this has helped understanding this amazing verse(s) in the Bible and perhaps has helped you along your journey.
Yes, he had questions. In fact, he cried out to God and shared his heart. Hey God, you have given me all these things but I still don't have a child of my own. A child through my wife Sarai. Where is that? When is that going to happen. But here is where Abram shows off what kind of character he has. God shows him the stars in the heavens and tells him that his offspring will be more than the stars in the sky. Some of us stop right here. But that would diminish the story. Because, this is when Abram says back to God, "I believe you." I mean he really believed God! And this is amazing. And God responded to him by taking his faith in God and reckoning it as righteousness. In the immortal words of Jerry Clower, "Whoooieee!" That's good.
But what does this mean? This phrase is an interesting one and I told you on Sunday that I would share a bit more about it. Did you know that the apostle Paul comes back to this specific story in Romans 4?
22 Therefore his faith[a] “was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
This verse in Genesis 15 that Paul is referring to intrigues me. I just keep reading it. I guess I am trying to understand it or maybe even soak in it. I feel that it is important. That somehow, I'm missing something about it.
I think part of it is this concept of righteousness being reckoned to someone. How is that possible? How is it that because Abram believed he is somehow righteous? Can I see the math on that please? Believing=Righteousness? How is that?
We use reckoning in the South all the time. I grew up there. I know. "I reckon so." "I reckon I best be goin'." So you see, I'm used to this idea.
But this is bigger than my southern culture. It is bigger because I don't think we process it correctly. Let me explain.
The reckoning is not something that Abram did. The reckoning has everything to do with God. And I think that this concept is something called imputation.
Imputation is, in reference to God, the work of God outside of us. That means, that whatever is imputed to us has nothing to do with us. It has everything to do with God. Here is one way to look at this. Let's say that every time I do a particular action, you give me $10 dollars. That is cause and effect. I do something, you give me something. The variables are defined. This is something like a transaction and this is how we think of many, many things in our lives. (Sometimes even the spiritual!!) However, let's change the scenario. Let's change it to more like a trust fund. You promise to give me the entire, unlimited trust fund. Now, the trust fund is not ours. We didn't put anything into the trust fund. We didn't cause it to happen. We didn't cause it to not be there. It is simply there and we, frankly, have not done one thing to affect it positively or negatively.
So. How do we get access to the trust fund? Here it is. In order to have access to the trust fund, we must be related to the owner of the trust fund. Now, there are some problems with this relationship. First, you aren't really related. I mean, he loves you very much but you aren't naturally blood related. But the amazing thing is this. The owner of the trust fund has decided to adopt you! Now, this may be the freaky part, but he has gone further than adoption by law only. He has adopted you through transfusion! Through his son, you are now blood-related! You got it! The son gave his blood so that you could become a full-blooded son of the owner of the trust fund! Pretty amazing, right?
So what is our part in this? We have to believe in the owner of the trust fund and that his son gave his blood for us because both the owner and the son love us that much!
This is the part of the blog where I put in a metaphorical disclaimer. No metaphor can really illustrate the relationship and total concept of imputation. So I am very aware that this metaphor cannot duly give justice to what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross and the relationship of love that God for us and with us. I get that.
Let's come back to Abram. Abram did nothing to deserve God's righteousness. He didn't earn it. There was no way for him to earn it!! What could Abram give God?? God owns it all! No. That wasn't it. God's righteousness was freely given. Abram's belief in God united him to God so that God's righteousness was credited to him. Abram's faith did not produce the righteousness. Abram's faith in God fulfilled the other half of God's extension of relationship (love) that he had made to Abram in the first place! God began the relationship. Abram's faith sealed it. (Tangental aside: which totally explains how we can walk away from God - the relationship unsealed - and God continues to seek us out, continuing to offer his love and relationship!)
Okay, I'm going to offer one more example from an article I read from www.desiringgod.com. It is another analogy and of course the previous disclaimer still applies. I put it here in case it makes more sense to some than my analogy.
Here's a very imperfect analogy. But I will risk it in the hope of greater understanding. Suppose I say to Barnabas, my sixteen-year-old son, "Clean up your room before you go to school. You must have a clean room, or you won't be able to go watch the game tonight." Well, suppose he plans poorly and leaves for school without cleaning the room. And suppose I discover the messy room and clean it. His afternoon fills up and he gets home just before it's time to leave for the game and realizes what he has done and feels terrible. He apologizes and humbly accepts the consequences.
To which I say, "Barnabas, I am going to credit your apology and submission as a clean room. I said, 'You must have a clean room, or you won't be able to go watch the game tonight. Your room is clean. So you can go to the game." What I mean when I say, "I credit your apology as a clean room," is not that the apology is the clean room. Nor that he really cleaned his room. I cleaned it. It was pure grace. All I mean is that, in my way of reckoning - in my grace - his apology connects him with the promise given for a clean room. The clean room is his clean room. I credit it to him. Or, I credit his apology as a clean room. You can say it either way. And Paul said it both ways: "Faith is credited as righteousness," and "God credits righteousness to us through faith."
I feel by writing this I understand it a bit more. I am going to have to continue to work through this because I feel that there is still so much more here than I currently able to process. I hope this has helped understanding this amazing verse(s) in the Bible and perhaps has helped you along your journey.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Under the Rug
The phrase I wanted people to remember this week was this:
God helps us put others first.
This is a sound biblical phrase. It was one of Jesus' greatest commandments. Put others first. How noble! How valuable! How incredibly counter to what our culture truly believes.
I was driving behind a vehicle the other day that had a bumper sticker. It stated something to effect of vote for equality for all in marriage. Basically it was saying (command form) that homosexual couples should be allow to marry in the name of equality.
How does this play into Put Others First? Isn't that the goal of this bumper sticker? Aren't homosexual couples a part of the others?
I have been meaning to go back and find the first use of a couple getting married in history. I don't mean the way we categorize marriage as such that it is. Huge ceremony. Big dresses. Large bills. I mean the first marriage where a covenant was made.
The earliest one I can think of is the Genesis example of God (as priest) presenting the bride, which he had just created, to Adam the first groom.
And I have been thinking.
Marriage is not and has never been an equality issue. God didn't make it to be one. It wasn't created to be one. Marriage has always been about the covenant of relationship between husband, wife and God. Here it is: God created marriage. He created covenant. He created husband and wife. No, this debate has never been about equality. This debate must be about the real issue. The issue of marriage as gift. By placing and belittling marriage to the role of an equality issue, we are stating and propagating the myth that marriage is a right. An inalienable right. Something everyone should have access. However. And this is a big however. Marriage is not a right. We do not own marriage.
Maybe we should make a bumper sticker that says that the IRS should get out of my marriage. Ahhh, I could see it now. Divorce the IRS out of marriage! And didn't we allow the IRS to dictate what the advantage of marriage is? It started out okay. But over time this has become the issue of our age. The definition of marriage has become tied to tax deductions and equal rights. But that is not what and how marriage was designed to be. God designed marriage as a gift of relationship between a man and a woman before God. God did not make it a right, but it was truly the first bridal shower. The covenant of relationship before a holy God. And this is just one area. There are many, many more!
And doesn't it really come down to the context? Take putting others first as an example in context. If we put everybody first, even before God, then this becomes a massive failure of initiative. It takes what was meant as a servant song and creates a chromatic nightmare. For Jesus said that we were to love God first. Put God first. And then out of that relationship we could then put others first. But that isn't what we are in danger of doing. The danger is putting others first before God and to the exclusion of God.
I was counseling a couple and I noted that they put a great many things before their relationship with each other, but as we talked longer and had more sessions, I realized that they were putting a great many things before God! They were upside down in their relationships!! They had swept/allowed/shoved their relationship with God under the rug. It had been relegated to the place of apathy and irrelevance in their lives. Powdered with dust and coated with neglect.
It is time to pull our relationships out from under the rug and set them in the proper place of worth and honor in our lives. God: first and foremost.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Reality of Redemption
Yesterday, Oswald Chambers (here) wrote about Paul's Gospel. How it means something for Paul that others may not understand. He calls it the Reality of Redemption.
Here is a quote from that writing:
"The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption."
Most weeks, as I study, I struggle for a title for the message that God has for me to deliver. I struggle for the key image of that message. Professors in seminary taught that the title doesn't matter because no one will see the title. For me, this is like saying that the title of a book doesn't matter. Frankly, I believe it does. I believe that a title to a message matters. And of this to say, I struggled with the title this week and God gave me this one. The Reality of Redemption. Many weeks I know why I get the titles I get. Why I get the images I get. And they are supposed to be linked to help the main point of the message that God has given.
This week I choose them separately and frankly, I could think of a lot better titles for this image.
However, it wouldn't be what God gave me. So Reality of Redemption it is/was.
On this side of yesterday, I see the point. I understand after the fact. Which, I think, is common with how God works.
He was teaching me something. Yesterday, I referred to the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson, Charge of the Light Brigade. In it, this is written:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
(If you want to read more about this famous event, go here.)
Basically, they received orders and no matter what they thought about the orders, they followed them. They received them and carried them out.
This is sometimes called blind obedience. And is in human terms, not wise. Namely because the person giving the orders could be wrong.
However, as we know, God is not human and only has the best in line for you life. Therefore, to blindly follow and instantly obey God is his ultimate desire for your life! He wants the best for you and plans to guide you there, if you will let him and follow him.
This is the nature of obedience to God. It is the nature of a relationship with God. And why shouldn't we obey him?!!
Obedience keeps us devoted to him. Dependent. Aware that our very existence is because of our loving God that, when we submit our will and seek out his, we are blessed. We are redeemed. And that is the reality of redemption. Blessed Redeemer.
The title, to me, did not make sense. But, to a God that wanted to show me to trust him, and in a small exercise to do so, list a title that didn't make as much sense to me, it made perfect sense to him.
Here is a quote from that writing:
"The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption."
Most weeks, as I study, I struggle for a title for the message that God has for me to deliver. I struggle for the key image of that message. Professors in seminary taught that the title doesn't matter because no one will see the title. For me, this is like saying that the title of a book doesn't matter. Frankly, I believe it does. I believe that a title to a message matters. And of this to say, I struggled with the title this week and God gave me this one. The Reality of Redemption. Many weeks I know why I get the titles I get. Why I get the images I get. And they are supposed to be linked to help the main point of the message that God has given.
This week I choose them separately and frankly, I could think of a lot better titles for this image.
However, it wouldn't be what God gave me. So Reality of Redemption it is/was.
On this side of yesterday, I see the point. I understand after the fact. Which, I think, is common with how God works.
He was teaching me something. Yesterday, I referred to the poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson, Charge of the Light Brigade. In it, this is written:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die:
(If you want to read more about this famous event, go here.)
Basically, they received orders and no matter what they thought about the orders, they followed them. They received them and carried them out.
This is sometimes called blind obedience. And is in human terms, not wise. Namely because the person giving the orders could be wrong.
However, as we know, God is not human and only has the best in line for you life. Therefore, to blindly follow and instantly obey God is his ultimate desire for your life! He wants the best for you and plans to guide you there, if you will let him and follow him.
This is the nature of obedience to God. It is the nature of a relationship with God. And why shouldn't we obey him?!!
Obedience keeps us devoted to him. Dependent. Aware that our very existence is because of our loving God that, when we submit our will and seek out his, we are blessed. We are redeemed. And that is the reality of redemption. Blessed Redeemer.
The title, to me, did not make sense. But, to a God that wanted to show me to trust him, and in a small exercise to do so, list a title that didn't make as much sense to me, it made perfect sense to him.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
The East Gate
Sunday we talked about the next to last gate in our journey to go around the gates of Jerusalem. It is the East Gate and it faces, well, you guess it, east. Directly east of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives. It is referred in the Bible that when Jesus returns it will be on this mountain. This explains the large number of people (Jews) that want to be buried right in front of the East Gate.
My question is: What are you looking forward to? What is it that you want to happen so bad that you think about and dream about it and "yearn" for it? Followers of Christ yearn for his return!! More than anything else! I read a pastor that wrote, "If you don’t long for the King to get the honor He deserves, then maybe you haven’t really recognized Him as your king."
Wow. That is challenging! If we aren't looking forward to the end of evil and all that Jesus brings with him when he comes back then maybe we don't really see him as king of our lives.
The point? Christ's return brings judgment and joy.
There will be both when he returns. There will be the end of death and the end of evil's days. Those that are followers of Christ will recieve a Crown of Righteousness (1 Timothy 4:8). We will be judged worthy for that crown or unworthy for that crown. Judgment. Joy.
So, if you looked out your peephole tomorrow morning, and Jesus was on the other side, what would you feel? Joy? Or fear? Joy and judgment are coming whether we want them to or not. Knock. Knock.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Troubled Waters Reboot (Rebubble?)
On Sunday we talked about the Water Gate from Nehemiah's time. How Hezekiah ordered a tunnel dug so that Jerusalem would have water during times of siege.
This tunnel and the water that flowed through it lasted for centuries and continues to bring water into the city. Ever heard of the Pool of Siloam? It was fed by this spring. The Spring of Gihon.
People relied on this water and still do! This is a symbol of how we are to depend on God's Word to give us nourishment! It is there to fill us and prepare us for presentation to God.
This was the purpose of the Pool of Siloam. To cleanse those that were going to hear the Word of God. People would be cleansed in the water so that they could be cleansed by the Word of God! It was a time of preparation for presentation!!
We find in Ephesians 5:
"Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish."
The "word" referred to here is the Good News. The Gos Pel of Christ. Through the word of the Word Incarnate (That's Jesus!), we are made clean. We are made pure. We are made ready to be presented to the Holy God of Israel!
Wow. That's amazing stuff. Did you know the Word does all that? That is why the Psalmist writes in 119:105:
"Your word is a light unto my feet and a light unto my path."
God's word gives us direction, cleansing and encouragement.
And that is a promise from God.
This tunnel and the water that flowed through it lasted for centuries and continues to bring water into the city. Ever heard of the Pool of Siloam? It was fed by this spring. The Spring of Gihon.
People relied on this water and still do! This is a symbol of how we are to depend on God's Word to give us nourishment! It is there to fill us and prepare us for presentation to God.
This was the purpose of the Pool of Siloam. To cleanse those that were going to hear the Word of God. People would be cleansed in the water so that they could be cleansed by the Word of God! It was a time of preparation for presentation!!
We find in Ephesians 5:
"Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish."
The "word" referred to here is the Good News. The Gos Pel of Christ. Through the word of the Word Incarnate (That's Jesus!), we are made clean. We are made pure. We are made ready to be presented to the Holy God of Israel!
Wow. That's amazing stuff. Did you know the Word does all that? That is why the Psalmist writes in 119:105:
"Your word is a light unto my feet and a light unto my path."
God's word gives us direction, cleansing and encouragement.
And that is a promise from God.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Where is God when things fall apart?
In the movie, God's Not Dead, that we watched last Friday night, one of the questions that was discussed was the question of how a loving God can allow innocent people to be hurt so badly.
As I shared on Sunday, C.S. Lewis' quote - "Evil is atheism's most potent weapon against the Christian faith," illustrates this burning question that seems to turn many away from believing in God.
If you were not here on Sunday, it might be good to go and listen to the my message before perusing the rest of this information. However, if you were there, then you know that I intended on posting the information below as supplemental to the message because there is SO VERY MUCH to discuss on this topic. One Sunday really doesn't do it justice! (no pun intended)
Besides the point I shared on Sunday [that God knows all and sees and it is our perspective that needs to change about God - not the other way around], no matter what the point is that is supposed to substantiate that feeling of forsakenness when bad things happen there is no head knowledge that is going to help out us feel better. It is only through the heart that God will show us that He is there and does in fact care about what is happening to us.
That being said, here is the additional background information (not heart/not feeling) that I offered on Sunday to be posted here. (Note: This post is LONG! Read the whole thing!)
The Seven Pillars
1. God’s character is loving, good, and righteous.
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right (Genesis 18:25)?”
As we see in the movie, “God is good…all the time.”
2. He has given us freedom to choose to love Him, or reject Him.
True love must be a choice, or it is robotic.
3. This freedom resulted in a fallen world with evil, sin, and real dangers.
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).”
Everything is broken and the world is not how it was intended to be originally.
4. He intensely desires restored fellowship with us.
“Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool (Isaiah 1:18).”
God longs to be gracious to us, and to be reunited in fellowship.
5. His love is so great that He gave up His only Son to restore that relationship.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).”
He didn’t just say He loved us; He showed it by giving up His very best.
6. But sin remains in our fleshly body and the physical world temporarily.
“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please (Galatians 5:17).”
The effects of the curse remain, but it has now lost its power and permanence.
7. We can trust His finished work because He defeated death (sin) by resurrection.
“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10).”
The empty tomb proves His triumph over sin and death, and our own empty graves.
As you can see, each of these could be their own sermon topic!
I did like this analogy that was in the supplement:
Imagine it like this, the baby that you and your spouse created has diaper rash, and not only a rash, but a horrible, painful rash that is so bad that it is cracked, swollen, and red beyond even being able to touch it without a scream from your beloved baby.
Do you ignore it, wrap on a new diaper, and call it good?
Not if you love your baby.
You go to the doctor, who causes more pain with an examination, prescribing baths and ointments that require more touching with towels and lotions.
In the midst of this painful ordeal to heal the rash, your baby turns to you and says, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME WHEN YOU ALLOW ALL THIS TORTUROUS RUBBING?! YOUR ACTIONS MAKE NO SENSE! STOP HURTING ME!”
As I shared on Sunday, C.S. Lewis' quote - "Evil is atheism's most potent weapon against the Christian faith," illustrates this burning question that seems to turn many away from believing in God.
If you were not here on Sunday, it might be good to go and listen to the my message before perusing the rest of this information. However, if you were there, then you know that I intended on posting the information below as supplemental to the message because there is SO VERY MUCH to discuss on this topic. One Sunday really doesn't do it justice! (no pun intended)
Besides the point I shared on Sunday [that God knows all and sees and it is our perspective that needs to change about God - not the other way around], no matter what the point is that is supposed to substantiate that feeling of forsakenness when bad things happen there is no head knowledge that is going to help out us feel better. It is only through the heart that God will show us that He is there and does in fact care about what is happening to us.
That being said, here is the additional background information (not heart/not feeling) that I offered on Sunday to be posted here. (Note: This post is LONG! Read the whole thing!)
The Seven Pillars
1. God’s character is loving, good, and righteous.
“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right (Genesis 18:25)?”
As we see in the movie, “God is good…all the time.”
2. He has given us freedom to choose to love Him, or reject Him.
True love must be a choice, or it is robotic.
3. This freedom resulted in a fallen world with evil, sin, and real dangers.
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).”
Everything is broken and the world is not how it was intended to be originally.
4. He intensely desires restored fellowship with us.
“Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool (Isaiah 1:18).”
God longs to be gracious to us, and to be reunited in fellowship.
5. His love is so great that He gave up His only Son to restore that relationship.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).”
He didn’t just say He loved us; He showed it by giving up His very best.
6. But sin remains in our fleshly body and the physical world temporarily.
“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please (Galatians 5:17).”
The effects of the curse remain, but it has now lost its power and permanence.
7. We can trust His finished work because He defeated death (sin) by resurrection.
“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10).”
The empty tomb proves His triumph over sin and death, and our own empty graves.
As you can see, each of these could be their own sermon topic!
I did like this analogy that was in the supplement:
Imagine it like this, the baby that you and your spouse created has diaper rash, and not only a rash, but a horrible, painful rash that is so bad that it is cracked, swollen, and red beyond even being able to touch it without a scream from your beloved baby.
Do you ignore it, wrap on a new diaper, and call it good?
Not if you love your baby.
You go to the doctor, who causes more pain with an examination, prescribing baths and ointments that require more touching with towels and lotions.
In the midst of this painful ordeal to heal the rash, your baby turns to you and says, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME? HOW CAN YOU SAY YOU LOVE ME WHEN YOU ALLOW ALL THIS TORTUROUS RUBBING?! YOUR ACTIONS MAKE NO SENSE! STOP HURTING ME!”
Further than the 7 Pillars, there are 7 suppositions as well. Here they are:
The Seven Suppositions
Supposition 1: Evil is real and people are blinded by their sin
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).”
This shouldn’t require much corroboration if you’ve ever driven in rush hour. People are selfish, mean, and spiritually dead. Doubt it?
Then why do we all have locks on our cars and homes? Policeman carry guns, metal detectors are everywhere, and we see murders every day on the news. Or whom do you look for first in your family photo? You!
Evil is real, sin is real, and mankind is infected with a self-centered nature.
If you have any doubt about evil, just check out some of the comments on the God’s Not Dead trailer on YouTube.
Supposition 2: His ways are higher than our ways
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways
and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).”
As ironic as it seems, our indignation, confusion, and questioning of God’s intent, motives, and ultimate purpose for our lives demonstrates our own rebellious nature. We question His goodness and so prove our unworthy state of brokenness in doubting His goodness.
He has a purpose and a plan as Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, `plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
We cannot explain the why of God’s ways, but A. W. Tozer comes close:
“All God's acts are done in perfect wisdom, first for His own glory, and then for the highest good of the greatest number for the longest time. And all His acts are as pure as they are wise, and as good as they are wise and pure. Not only could His acts not be better done: a better way to do them could not be imagined. An infinitely wise God must work in a manner not to be improved upon by finite creatures.”
Supposition 3: There is no innocence; we are all guilty
“
“Nobody’s perfect” is an old adage that sums up our fallen condition nicely.
At its very heart, this is a faulty question to ask God why He allows “innocent” people to suffer. We are all guilty before a holy God. None of us are innocent. Everyone has broken God’s law, and as James says, “
This is not to say that He takes any delight in our suffering or is not sympathetic, but He would be just to do whatever he deems right to do with His rebellious creation. We have broken His holy laws, ruined His paradise, thumbed our nose at Him, and when tragedy strikes we ask why He allowed it to happen.
He asks the same thing of us…“how could you let this happen when I have done so much for you? I gave you my Word to show you how to live and My only Son to redeem you.” Anything we receive in this life is pure grace because we are criminals before a holy and righteous God Who has every right to punish our sin.
Supposition 4: Suffering can lead to repentance
2 Corinthians 7:10 says, “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4)?”
Sometimes breaking our hearts, breaking our self-dependence, helps us to see our need for God. This is the biggest point of all…suffering can result in salvation which is His ultimate goal for us.
Suffering alerts us to our need for help, a cure for our illness when it becomes so acute that it motivates us to go to the doctor. Pain drives us into His arms for solace, answers, and help.
Being flat on our back, our last resort can result in finally looking up to Him. In the film, we see an apparent tragedy in time and space is really an act of God’s mercy for eternity.
Supposition 5: Suffering can lead to a deeper dependence on God
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).”
If you are a Christian, times of trouble can bring you closer to God. It can also be a training ground in character or faith to trust Him more (James 1:2) to be more holy by being pruned and transformed to be more Christ-like (John 15:1), or as a way to comfort others who are now going through a problem you faced already (2 Co 1:4).
God even uses our suffering for His glory and eventual good (Romans 8:28).
Supposition 6: Let’s blame the right guy
“
An elderly man had to endure his wife’s dementia, stroke, and eventually her death. When his son asked him if he blamed God, he said, “God? Why would I blame Him? It’s not His fault we get old and die.”
In short, we ignore that there is a real being who is evil who should take the blame for this messed up world, not God. But how quick others are to blame God for evil, and its resulted death sentences.
God allowed for our free choice to love Him voluntarily and part of that free will choice means some will choose to rebel, as Satan did. It must be so to have true love.
The Bible, however, puts the blame correctly on a rebel named Lucifer, a real spiritual villain who deceived Eve (remember Adam sinned knowingly) by questioning God’s word in order to wreck God’s Paradise, or so Lucifer thought. And so, this world is a broken creation, as are we…spiritually dead…but it was never God’s fault.
Supposition 7: Consider God’s past dealings
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope (Romans 15:4).”
In the Bible there are several tragedies that the people of that time must have wondered our same question, Where is God when life falls apart?
Think about Noah and the flood, the Egyptian enslavement of Israel, the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC, Joseph being sold into slavery, the murder of babies by Herod, and even the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. These were horrendous events that God turned around and used for the ultimate good of mankind.
When we consider past tragedies in the Bible, and how God used our bad choices, we get a glimpse of how His purposes can result for our good. We get a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, and see the Wizard at work.
- - - - - - - -
So after posting all of this information, I think it helps us understand why but it doesn't help our hearts feel better about the junk in the world.
What helped me the most was what I found and shared on Sunday. That we only see dimly, foggy and fuzzy what God's purposes are in this world and that I have to trust God to be who He is when junk happens. He has always been faithful to me. He has always been there when many have emotionally or spiritually fled from me. God was there. Is there. So the answer, at least for me, to the question of "Where is God when things fall apart?" is that God was right there with me all the time. All the time God held me during the junk of life. All the time He carried me, walked beside me, comforted me and cried with me. Just as He did when His Son died on the cross. God is good. All the time.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Person of Interest
On Sunday we talked about and asked the question, Who is the person of interest in our lives? This question is essential when we think about our spiritual condition!
We are called to disciple others. We are called to be discipled by others. These two things are essential to our spiritual life having growth in it. So to ask who is the spiritual person of interest in our lives has to be done.
We can't sit back and not be interested in others and allow others to be interested, spiritually, in us. It is a mandate.
One of the questions that was asked is who are we discipling?
And I wonder. Have you answered that question yet? It is Thursday night and most of the week is gone. Have you thought about it some more?
Who is around you that you could disciple? What does that look like for you? My belief is that by the time we have been discipled intentionally for about a year, we know most of what we need to know to disciple someone else.
That means that most of us could have discipled about 20 people by now if we had only discipled one person a year!!
And think. Jesus had 12!
Have you considered this question then? Have you really thought it through? What is keeping you from discipling someone right now?
In small groups, the question is how do we define discipleship?
Here are some verses to help you out:
John 21:15-17
1 Peter 5:2-4
2 Timothy 2:1-2
John 6:45
1 Peter 1:15-16
John 13:15
Ephesians 4:20-5:1
Great Commandment - Mark 12:29-31
Great Commision - Matthew 28:19-20
See what you find in the Bible that defines discipleship.
See you Sunday!!
We are called to disciple others. We are called to be discipled by others. These two things are essential to our spiritual life having growth in it. So to ask who is the spiritual person of interest in our lives has to be done.
We can't sit back and not be interested in others and allow others to be interested, spiritually, in us. It is a mandate.
One of the questions that was asked is who are we discipling?
And I wonder. Have you answered that question yet? It is Thursday night and most of the week is gone. Have you thought about it some more?
Who is around you that you could disciple? What does that look like for you? My belief is that by the time we have been discipled intentionally for about a year, we know most of what we need to know to disciple someone else.
That means that most of us could have discipled about 20 people by now if we had only discipled one person a year!!
And think. Jesus had 12!
Have you considered this question then? Have you really thought it through? What is keeping you from discipling someone right now?
In small groups, the question is how do we define discipleship?
Here are some verses to help you out:
John 21:15-17
1 Peter 5:2-4
2 Timothy 2:1-2
John 6:45
1 Peter 1:15-16
John 13:15
Ephesians 4:20-5:1
Great Commandment - Mark 12:29-31
Great Commision - Matthew 28:19-20
And these are just to get you started!! The Bible has a LOT to say about discipleship!!
See what you find in the Bible that defines discipleship.
See you Sunday!!
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Day Eight 2012
Eight days in. It has been a very hectic week. That's not a moniker to put on my jacket. Just admitting that I'm tired. I didn't get a day off this week so I need to focus better and prioritize. That is to say that I'm going to have to not do some things this week that I would like to do. Or delegate them out. I am also not completing my goal of posting once a day.
We have a couple people in the hospital right now. Remember to pray for Char and Shirley. Char just had her knee operated on for replacement and is doing well. Will probably come home tomorrow. Home is not literal. She will be staying with her sister. Also, her mother just went in to the hospital and Char is concerned about her. If you would like to send Char something, Tom S. has the address. Also, Shirley is in the hospital with an infection, influenza and pneumonia. They are giving her meds and she is recovering. She has good friends and family come see her and seems comfortable.
God has answered our prayers with Char and Shirley as well. Both are doing well and recovering. Char feels really well and is healing. Shirley's cough has improved a lot!
Today we are going to talk about Service. Servanthood. I am applying the text from John 13:1-17. I wanted to list out some things that I can't fit into the sermon. Here is a list of Self-Righteous Service determiners, not Self-Giving Service determiners.
1. Make a Big Deal
2. External Rewards
3. Pick and Choose
4. Moods and Whims
5. Temporary
6. Insensitive
7. Fractures Community
I will briefly explain them.
1. If we make a big deal and draw attention to ourselves then it is about serving yourself not the thing or person you are serving.
2. If there is a reward for you. You get something out of it. A new car. A piece of candy. If the question in your mind is "What am I getting out of this?" then you are not giving with the right heart.
3. When we choose who to help and who or what not to help or do, we are neglecting God's work in our lives and theirs. Walk with God and you will know the right ways to help. Sometimes it is not apparent in what they are saying they need, or the perceived need. God will help. Ask him.
4. "I don't feel like it." Many are those that receive no help or do not receive the gift of love through service from others because of this attitude.
5. "True service is a lifestyle." It isn't something that is orchestrated necessarily (out of necessity via laxity). It comes from within and floods others.
6. Self-giving love is sensitive to staying tuned in to others. Sometimes the best service is listening. Doing nothing. Being there.
7. Self-serving is all about the one person. Or the group. It divides some or one from others. The thought is that I did this and I am better than them. Even if we don't say it. We think it.
If you find yourselves serving others and one of these thoughts goes through you mind, it needs to be expunged. It is not from God. It is either the evil one spurring you or your human self coming through. Ask God to remove this spirit from you. Ask him to cleanse you from it and give it over to Him. He is a God that sanctifies.
We have a couple people in the hospital right now. Remember to pray for Char and Shirley. Char just had her knee operated on for replacement and is doing well. Will probably come home tomorrow. Home is not literal. She will be staying with her sister. Also, her mother just went in to the hospital and Char is concerned about her. If you would like to send Char something, Tom S. has the address. Also, Shirley is in the hospital with an infection, influenza and pneumonia. They are giving her meds and she is recovering. She has good friends and family come see her and seems comfortable.
God has answered our prayers with Char and Shirley as well. Both are doing well and recovering. Char feels really well and is healing. Shirley's cough has improved a lot!
Today we are going to talk about Service. Servanthood. I am applying the text from John 13:1-17. I wanted to list out some things that I can't fit into the sermon. Here is a list of Self-Righteous Service determiners, not Self-Giving Service determiners.
1. Make a Big Deal
2. External Rewards
3. Pick and Choose
4. Moods and Whims
5. Temporary
6. Insensitive
7. Fractures Community
I will briefly explain them.
1. If we make a big deal and draw attention to ourselves then it is about serving yourself not the thing or person you are serving.
2. If there is a reward for you. You get something out of it. A new car. A piece of candy. If the question in your mind is "What am I getting out of this?" then you are not giving with the right heart.
3. When we choose who to help and who or what not to help or do, we are neglecting God's work in our lives and theirs. Walk with God and you will know the right ways to help. Sometimes it is not apparent in what they are saying they need, or the perceived need. God will help. Ask him.
4. "I don't feel like it." Many are those that receive no help or do not receive the gift of love through service from others because of this attitude.
5. "True service is a lifestyle." It isn't something that is orchestrated necessarily (out of necessity via laxity). It comes from within and floods others.
6. Self-giving love is sensitive to staying tuned in to others. Sometimes the best service is listening. Doing nothing. Being there.
7. Self-serving is all about the one person. Or the group. It divides some or one from others. The thought is that I did this and I am better than them. Even if we don't say it. We think it.
If you find yourselves serving others and one of these thoughts goes through you mind, it needs to be expunged. It is not from God. It is either the evil one spurring you or your human self coming through. Ask God to remove this spirit from you. Ask him to cleanse you from it and give it over to Him. He is a God that sanctifies.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Dirty Little Secret Lyrics
Hello all!
This song is performed by The All-American Rejects. Here are the lyrics:
Let me know that I've done wrong
When I've known this all along
I go around a time or two
Just to waste my time with you
Tell me all that you've thrown away
Find out games you don't wanna play
You are the only one that needs to know
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret
Who has to know
When we live such fragile lives
It's the best way we survive
I go around a time or two
Just to waste my time with you
Tell me all that you've thrown away
Find out games you don't wanna play
You are the only one that needs to know
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret
Who has to know
The way she feels inside (inside)
Those thoughts I can't deny (deny)
These sleeping thoughts won't lie (won't lie)
And all I've tried to hide
It's eating me apart
Trace this life out
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret)
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret
Dirty little secret
Dirty little secret
Who has to know
Who has to know
This song is performed by The All-American Rejects. Here are the lyrics:
Let me know that I've done wrong
When I've known this all along
I go around a time or two
Just to waste my time with you
Tell me all that you've thrown away
Find out games you don't wanna play
You are the only one that needs to know
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret
Who has to know
When we live such fragile lives
It's the best way we survive
I go around a time or two
Just to waste my time with you
Tell me all that you've thrown away
Find out games you don't wanna play
You are the only one that needs to know
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret
Who has to know
The way she feels inside (inside)
Those thoughts I can't deny (deny)
These sleeping thoughts won't lie (won't lie)
And all I've tried to hide
It's eating me apart
Trace this life out
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret)
I'll keep you my dirty little secret
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret
Dirty little secret
Dirty little secret
Who has to know
Who has to know
Monday, March 5, 2012
Celebration of Fasting
I thought I would post some more information about Fasting.
Here are all the references I found in the Bible. I know there are more in there, so feel free to add them in the comments!
I thought it might help to see how pervasive fasting is in the Bible. I think I have a couple of these duplicated because they had to do with fasting and with corporate fasting both.
Have a great week!
Here are all the references I found in the Bible. I know there are more in there, so feel free to add them in the comments!
Scripture
|
Fasting Content
|
Nehemiah 1:4
|
Confessing, mourning, petitioning
|
Daniel 9:3
|
Seek Answer, petitioning, sackcloth and ashes
|
Isaiah 58:1-14
|
Fasting as Duty- True Worship!
|
Zechariah 7:1-7 and 8:18-19
|
Fast for God, No Hypocritical Fasting!
Joy Filled Fast
|
Deuteronomy 9:9
|
God sustained Moses
|
1 Kings 19:8
|
Elijah was sustained by God and went 40days/n
|
Esther 4:16
|
Consecrate, Esther and People
|
Luke 5:33-35
|
Bridegroom is here, Feast! Fast later.
|
Acts 14:23
|
Consecrated to the Lord, church
|
Acts 13:2
|
Holy Spirit Answered, Paul and Barnabas consecrated
|
Acts 9:9
|
Saul fasted after Damascus
|
2 Corinthians 11:27
|
Suffering for Christ, Paul, fasting often.
|
Matthew 9:15
|
Parallel to Luke 5:33
|
Scripture
|
Corporate Fasting Content
|
Joel 2:12-15
|
Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Set apart yourself for a fast. Sanctify the congregation!
|
Leviticus 23:27
|
Day of Atonement Fast! Commandment.
|
2 Chronicles 20:1-4
|
Jehoshaphat proclaimed a corporate fast to seek help from God!
|
Jonah 3:4-10
|
Repentance. Petition.
|
Ezra 8:21-23
|
Corporate Fast, Petitioning God for safety.
|
Luke 2:37
|
Anna living in temple. Way of life. Presented to God.
|
Acts 13:2
|
Consecrated for service. Paul and Barnabas
|
Zechariah 7:5
|
Fast for the people’s relationship with God. Don’t fast for God. Fast for yourself.
|
Psalm 69:10
|
Petitioning God. Humbled my soul.
|
John 4:32,34
|
My food is the will of God who sent me. Complete his work. God sustains. Food does not.
|
I thought it might help to see how pervasive fasting is in the Bible. I think I have a couple of these duplicated because they had to do with fasting and with corporate fasting both.
Have a great week!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Celebration of Prayer
This morning the topic was prayer. Even though the sermon was longer than I had planned on talking about it, I can't help but feel that I was unable to even touch the surface. I thought I would do a brief recap here with some other thoughts later.
The number one thing I wanted to get across this morning was that God wants an intimate relationship with us and that requires us to talk with him. Not only that, but further, is that he wants it to meaningful.
This doesn't mean that it should be difficult or that we should be scared about what we are telling our Father in heaven. That is not the goal. The goal is that we become comfortable talking and sharing with him in such a way that it becomes like we are talking with our most trusted friend. And that is mainly because you are!
God doesn't want us to be anything but authentic with him. He wants the real stuff!! He already knows what we are going through and he already knows everything about our situations! He wants you to know that he cares about that stuff. He cares about it all. He cares that you live your faith out at work or at school.
He wants to share in live with you. Not only that, he wants to guide you and help you go through your life.
The challenge this morning was that we add a more intense focus on prayer to our life over the next six weeks. Get somebody you trust and partner up to hold each other accountable to pray on a daily basis.
Get real with God in your prayer! Praise God in your prayers!
You know how it is when you talk with someone you don't trust? They ask how you are and you say, "Fine." Well, God is not that person! He is a person you can trust. You can share everything with him. You can trust him. He cares about it and wants his best for you. God doesn't want to hear that you are "fine." He wants to hear the real stuff! "God I was so mad at ________ today! _______ made me want to scream!" Because out of this admittance, just as an example, God can begin to help you see what he wants you to grow in. He can help transform who you are by helping you see what he sees! Whether it is in you that he sees it or whether it is in them that you need to see it.
One of the goals this morning was for all of us to see that God wants us to share our very real selves with him.
Of course it is okay to thank God for this day. But for many, that is not really what is going on. "Thank you for this day," is not truly what is going on within you. "Thank you for this day," is a way of gathering your thoughts before you actually get truly real and serious about the prayer you are about to pray. What would happen if every time you talked to a trusted friend you started out with "I feel fine." I don't think that the friend would think you were being very real with them. I don't think that they would find a lot of meaning in that phrase.
We need to get serious about prayer. We need to get serious about what our God has done in our lives and our relationship with him. We need to get real with God.
Then we will see growth. Then we will see change. Then we will be made new through the incredible work of our Savior, Jesus.
The number one thing I wanted to get across this morning was that God wants an intimate relationship with us and that requires us to talk with him. Not only that, but further, is that he wants it to meaningful.
This doesn't mean that it should be difficult or that we should be scared about what we are telling our Father in heaven. That is not the goal. The goal is that we become comfortable talking and sharing with him in such a way that it becomes like we are talking with our most trusted friend. And that is mainly because you are!
God doesn't want us to be anything but authentic with him. He wants the real stuff!! He already knows what we are going through and he already knows everything about our situations! He wants you to know that he cares about that stuff. He cares about it all. He cares that you live your faith out at work or at school.
He wants to share in live with you. Not only that, he wants to guide you and help you go through your life.
The challenge this morning was that we add a more intense focus on prayer to our life over the next six weeks. Get somebody you trust and partner up to hold each other accountable to pray on a daily basis.
Get real with God in your prayer! Praise God in your prayers!
You know how it is when you talk with someone you don't trust? They ask how you are and you say, "Fine." Well, God is not that person! He is a person you can trust. You can share everything with him. You can trust him. He cares about it and wants his best for you. God doesn't want to hear that you are "fine." He wants to hear the real stuff! "God I was so mad at ________ today! _______ made me want to scream!" Because out of this admittance, just as an example, God can begin to help you see what he wants you to grow in. He can help transform who you are by helping you see what he sees! Whether it is in you that he sees it or whether it is in them that you need to see it.
One of the goals this morning was for all of us to see that God wants us to share our very real selves with him.
Of course it is okay to thank God for this day. But for many, that is not really what is going on. "Thank you for this day," is not truly what is going on within you. "Thank you for this day," is a way of gathering your thoughts before you actually get truly real and serious about the prayer you are about to pray. What would happen if every time you talked to a trusted friend you started out with "I feel fine." I don't think that the friend would think you were being very real with them. I don't think that they would find a lot of meaning in that phrase.
We need to get serious about prayer. We need to get serious about what our God has done in our lives and our relationship with him. We need to get real with God.
Then we will see growth. Then we will see change. Then we will be made new through the incredible work of our Savior, Jesus.
Posted with BlogsySaturday, February 11, 2012
Celebration of Prayer
This morning the topic was prayer. Even though the sermon was longer than I had planned on talking about it, I can't help but feel that I was unable to even touch the surface. I thought I would do a brief recap here with some other thoughts later.
The number one thing I wanted to get across this morning was that God wants an intimate relationship with us and that requires us to talk with him. Not only that, but further, is that he wants it to meaningful.
This doesn't mean that it should be difficult or that we should be scared about what we are telling our Father in heaven. That is not the goal. The goal is that we become comfortable talking and sharing with him in such a way that it becomes like we are talking with our most trusted friend. And that is mainly because you are!
God doesn't want us to be anything but authentic with him. He wants the real stuff!! He already knows what we are going through and he already knows everything about our situations! He wants you to know that he cares about that stuff. He cares about it all. He cares that you live your faith out at work or at school.
He wants to share in live with you. Not only that, he wants to guide you and help you go through your life.
The challenge this morning was that we add a more intense focus on prayer to our life over the next six weeks. Get somebody you trust and partner up to hold each other accountable to pray on a daily basis.
Get real with God in your prayer! Praise God in your prayers!
You know how it is when you talk with someone you don't trust? They ask how you are and you say, "Fine." Well, God is not that person! He is a person you can trust. You can share everything with him. You can trust him. He cares about it and wants his best for you. God doesn't want to hear that you are "fine." He wants to hear the real stuff! "God I was so mad at ________ today! _______ made me want to scream!" Because out of this admittance, just as an example, God can begin to help you see what he wants you to grow in. He can help transform who you are by helping you see what he sees! Whether it is in you that he sees it or whether it is in them that you need to see it.
One of the goals this morning was for all of us to see that God wants us to share our very real selves with him.
Of course it is okay to thank God for this day. But for many, that is not really what is going on. "Thank you for this day," is not truly what is going on within you. "Thank you for this day," is a way of gathering your thoughts before you actually get truly real and serious about the prayer you are about to pray. What would happen if every time you talked to a trusted friend you started out with "I feel fine." I don't think that the friend would think you were being very real with them. I don't think that they would find a lot of meaning in that phrase.
We need to get serious about prayer. We need to get serious about what our God has done in our lives and our relationship with him. We need to get real with God.
Then we will see growth. Then we will see change. Then we will be made new through the incredible work of our Savior, Jesus.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Last Question
When you love others, you're quick to forgive.
Who is a person you need to forgive?
Interesting enough, these were dominated by brother and sisters that needed to be forgiven. Although one did put:
One other one that made me think of about how I treat my child was the one that simply said, "my Dad."
I don't know who that child was or what needed to be forgiven, but have prayed that that there is healing and forgiveness there.
Kid's are awesome aren't they?
Question Three
Some highlights:
Brother
Sister
Brothers and sisters
Lots of friends listed
Here is one of them:
In case you can't read it, it says something along the lines of "I think God can help me love the people who aren't being nice to me like someone who can be difficult to my sister."
Question Two
Who is someone you need to spend more time with?
Some highlights are:
My friend (6)
My brother (6)
My sister (5)
God (2)
My mom (4)
My dad (7)
One of the God one's said this, "God. I need to spend more time with him praying and reading the Bible."
They were supposed to then pray for what each page said to pray for.
The Love of Jesus and One Thing
Last Sunday I asked the 3-5th graders to write on post-it notes and answer the four questions that I am about to post. Their responses to each question will be in each post. I hope you find them as interesting as I did.
Just to highlight a few:
Forgive people
Sit with them and talk with them about God
Be their friend
Play with them
Make the feel better
Read the Bible to them
Listen to your parents
When someone is by yourself, you sit
If someone didn't have a home, you give them one
-- an iPhone post
-- an iPhone post
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