'Heavenly Father, we
come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your
direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call
evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our
spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.. We have exploit...ed the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics... We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'
Thursday, December 31, 2009
From MT- story of faith and God manifesting
my 11 year old brother Jazz took two of his non christian friends to the youth group weekend away(2 weeks ago), and during one of the meetings (during worship time probably) Jazz heard one of his friends called Nick pray out loud to God:
"well God how do I know you exist?"
The next thing he knew he had gold dust on his hands, Jazz then got it and so did his other non-christian friend (Alex) and lots of other kids got gold dust on their hands as well.
I was talking to Alex two days ago and he told me that the gold dust stayed all the way till nighttime and had only disappeared when he woke up in the morning, Jazz also told me that he tried to wipe all the gold dust away but it just kept coming back!
As a consequence both of Jazz's non christian friends, both of them only 11 years old decided to give their lives to Jesus and receive His salvation! whoop whoop!
I was browsing through some of the other videos on youtube related to the one you sent and heres a clip with someone with gold dust on their hands, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZBmp6mpgTY&feature=related fast foward to 1:17 to see the gold dust.
God is just sharing His beautiful creation and revealing His glory to the ones who seek Him and have a child-like faith in Him, awesome huh?
"well God how do I know you exist?"
The next thing he knew he had gold dust on his hands, Jazz then got it and so did his other non-christian friend (Alex) and lots of other kids got gold dust on their hands as well.
I was talking to Alex two days ago and he told me that the gold dust stayed all the way till nighttime and had only disappeared when he woke up in the morning, Jazz also told me that he tried to wipe all the gold dust away but it just kept coming back!
As a consequence both of Jazz's non christian friends, both of them only 11 years old decided to give their lives to Jesus and receive His salvation! whoop whoop!
I was browsing through some of the other videos on youtube related to the one you sent and heres a clip with someone with gold dust on their hands, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZBmp6mpgTY&feature=related fast foward to 1:17 to see the gold dust.
God is just sharing His beautiful creation and revealing His glory to the ones who seek Him and have a child-like faith in Him, awesome huh?
Notes from Story times.
Story Time...
Board of Win'sWe believe the best measurement of the effectiveness of what we are doing here are stories... In addition to traditional numbers tracking, we share stories of life change every chance we get. We do this each week at our staff meeting, we do this when we get together, we started our last staff retreat filling up the board to the left with 100+ stories of changed life, of people taking a step or 100 steps toward Christ; of God working in our community. Enjoy, it's Story Time...
* She is a French Christian and was ready to leave France, having given up on God's Kingdom coming to France. But since she has been involved in ICCP she has been challenged, and feels that God has called her to stay in France and bring Jesus to French people.
* They took a few days to paint at Un Toile and this non Christian gal asked him to share about his faith. She described ICCP as "community"!
* They gave cookies to all of their neighbors and invited them to have dinner at their house... And some of them actually agreed! This DOES NOT happen here.
* Their older French neighbor has been reading the Bible a lot - says he has been waiting his whole life for God to reveal Himself to him, and he realizes now that he just needs to take a leap of faith to experience God.
* The French community group was awesome, lots of deep discussion of Scripture and prayer.
* She is having a really hard time, but ICCP has been so good for her kids; watching them all plug in has given her hope that she can find community for herself now too.
* Her French teacher held her after class to ask her about God and they talked for an hour.
* Dom was asked to give part of the Thanksgiving Mass at the Cathédrale.
Board of Win'sWe believe the best measurement of the effectiveness of what we are doing here are stories... In addition to traditional numbers tracking, we share stories of life change every chance we get. We do this each week at our staff meeting, we do this when we get together, we started our last staff retreat filling up the board to the left with 100+ stories of changed life, of people taking a step or 100 steps toward Christ; of God working in our community. Enjoy, it's Story Time...
* She is a French Christian and was ready to leave France, having given up on God's Kingdom coming to France. But since she has been involved in ICCP she has been challenged, and feels that God has called her to stay in France and bring Jesus to French people.
* They took a few days to paint at Un Toile and this non Christian gal asked him to share about his faith. She described ICCP as "community"!
* They gave cookies to all of their neighbors and invited them to have dinner at their house... And some of them actually agreed! This DOES NOT happen here.
* Their older French neighbor has been reading the Bible a lot - says he has been waiting his whole life for God to reveal Himself to him, and he realizes now that he just needs to take a leap of faith to experience God.
* The French community group was awesome, lots of deep discussion of Scripture and prayer.
* She is having a really hard time, but ICCP has been so good for her kids; watching them all plug in has given her hope that she can find community for herself now too.
* Her French teacher held her after class to ask her about God and they talked for an hour.
* Dom was asked to give part of the Thanksgiving Mass at the Cathédrale.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
God centered future, present, past
God has been convicting me more and more how important it is to make him the center of our lives instead of asking God to center around us. Three things He's taught me are:
1) Seek out God in advance for guidance, strength, and conviction. We will loose steam half way through if we are not convinced that this is what we are doing and we will fail to live in God's great plan for us even if we do 'succeed.'
2) Remember that it us who are God's servants and not God who is ours. Do we see ourselves as a simple instruments in the mighty hands of God? Or as someone who at the most, uses God as an instrument to get what we want?"
3) Thank God when what he had called you to do is done. It is too easy in the aftermath to forget that it was God who called us, equipped us and enabled us. Celebrate! It's too easy to look at all that is ahead and forget all that had been produced already. In silence or aloud remember that all good things come from God. Humility is not denying that you have done great things. It is admitting that you would be powerless to have done them without God. For in him we live and move and breathe.
1) Seek out God in advance for guidance, strength, and conviction. We will loose steam half way through if we are not convinced that this is what we are doing and we will fail to live in God's great plan for us even if we do 'succeed.'
2) Remember that it us who are God's servants and not God who is ours. Do we see ourselves as a simple instruments in the mighty hands of God? Or as someone who at the most, uses God as an instrument to get what we want?"
3) Thank God when what he had called you to do is done. It is too easy in the aftermath to forget that it was God who called us, equipped us and enabled us. Celebrate! It's too easy to look at all that is ahead and forget all that had been produced already. In silence or aloud remember that all good things come from God. Humility is not denying that you have done great things. It is admitting that you would be powerless to have done them without God. For in him we live and move and breathe.
Monday, December 21, 2009
God with us today
God gave us his presence on Christmas.
He gave us his presence but he still gives us his presence. There was a time when we were separated and far from God. Now we have access to God. We need to take Christmas. Remember that the first Advent already came. He is here amongst us. He is Immanuel, God with us. Now. Not only 2000 years ago. 2010.
He gave us his presence but he still gives us his presence. There was a time when we were separated and far from God. Now we have access to God. We need to take Christmas. Remember that the first Advent already came. He is here amongst us. He is Immanuel, God with us. Now. Not only 2000 years ago. 2010.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
David's temple. God wanted it clean and set apart for him. He talked to the kings and priests who entered the temple. Now our bodies are temples of the holy spirit. We need to set apart all in our life. I wonder how this means for exercise, food, what we watch, all set apart and sanctified to God. Everything in the temple was purified.
assumption
The unspoken assumption:
In all works based religion, even those who do not acknowledge God, is that there is a God who cares about morality and somehow leading a good moral life will please him in a way that will open up eternal life either through the way God set up the system or God allowing them in.
It doesn't work to say if I'm good enough I'll live forever if there is no God. It doesn't work.
In all works based religion, even those who do not acknowledge God, is that there is a God who cares about morality and somehow leading a good moral life will please him in a way that will open up eternal life either through the way God set up the system or God allowing them in.
It doesn't work to say if I'm good enough I'll live forever if there is no God. It doesn't work.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
YG talk family
What pushes your buttons most (gets you upset -angry, sad) most with your family?
Why?
How can you deal with this in a loving way?
What is the most important thing for your family?
What is most important to you?
What does your family like when you do/ say most? Least?
One trait of a perfect family (on an index card)
Why is it so hard to be a perfect family in real life?
What's the most difficult thing for you personally about contributing to a better family ife in your own home?
Stories of family..
Most surprising thing to learn about your dad
When your mom was a little girl she wanted to be a...
Our best/ worst family vacation
toughest time our family faced
greatest time of joy your family ever had
our family is unique because...
No one's family is perfect. We ALL come from weird family backgrounds. (We may not be able to recognize it yet but it's true) No one's family is normal.
Can you control other people's behaviors? Do people in your family always act the way that you would like them to?
Can't control others in their family but you can control your own actions and attitudes in your family.
We can be a part of God's family. Remember the patterns? We can take on the pattern of heaven instead of the negative patterns we see and experience around us. What ways can you take on the pattern of Jesus?
Colossians 3: 20-25 –The Message
20Children, do what your parents tell you (Obey). This delights the Master no end.
21Parents, don't come down too hard on your children (do not embitter) or you'll crush their spirits (become discouraged)
Q. Does this happen in any of your lives? Do people come down too hard on you? How does God help you to deal with that?
22-25Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. (Students/ Teachers) And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance (This is your motivation. Even when others don’t recognize all your hard work you put into something and your grades don’t reflect your attitudes, God sees it. And he will reward you both in this life and the afterlife). Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ (Do everything for Jesus. Even when people aren’t watching, God is. And his view on who we are is more important than anyone else’s). The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.
If your parents are coming down too hard on you scripture does not say to rebel against them; but it does say to believe the truth and not lies. What lies do you believe?
Ephesians 6
Children and Parents
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[a] 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
Ephesians 5: 1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children (of God)2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Why?
How can you deal with this in a loving way?
What is the most important thing for your family?
What is most important to you?
What does your family like when you do/ say most? Least?
One trait of a perfect family (on an index card)
Why is it so hard to be a perfect family in real life?
What's the most difficult thing for you personally about contributing to a better family ife in your own home?
Stories of family..
Most surprising thing to learn about your dad
When your mom was a little girl she wanted to be a...
Our best/ worst family vacation
toughest time our family faced
greatest time of joy your family ever had
our family is unique because...
No one's family is perfect. We ALL come from weird family backgrounds. (We may not be able to recognize it yet but it's true) No one's family is normal.
Can you control other people's behaviors? Do people in your family always act the way that you would like them to?
Can't control others in their family but you can control your own actions and attitudes in your family.
We can be a part of God's family. Remember the patterns? We can take on the pattern of heaven instead of the negative patterns we see and experience around us. What ways can you take on the pattern of Jesus?
Colossians 3: 20-25 –The Message
20Children, do what your parents tell you (Obey). This delights the Master no end.
21Parents, don't come down too hard on your children (do not embitter) or you'll crush their spirits (become discouraged)
Q. Does this happen in any of your lives? Do people come down too hard on you? How does God help you to deal with that?
22-25Servants, do what you're told by your earthly masters. (Students/ Teachers) And don't just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you'll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance (This is your motivation. Even when others don’t recognize all your hard work you put into something and your grades don’t reflect your attitudes, God sees it. And he will reward you both in this life and the afterlife). Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you're serving is Christ (Do everything for Jesus. Even when people aren’t watching, God is. And his view on who we are is more important than anyone else’s). The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn't cover up bad work.
If your parents are coming down too hard on you scripture does not say to rebel against them; but it does say to believe the truth and not lies. What lies do you believe?
Ephesians 6
Children and Parents
1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."[a] 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Slaves and Masters
5Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
Ephesians 5: 1Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children (of God)2and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
encouragements
"We asked one of our close French friends about what they thought the hope for France was in the future. They paused and then said something close to, "I had pretty much given up on my own country and its relationship with God. I have lived in the UK through my studies and had planned to just move there and leave France. But after the last several weeks, I am reconsidering staying living here to share Jesus with people from my country."
"Today i went on the caroling "flash mob" and an old french lady came up
and started trying to sing in english with me, when we were done she told
me her friend of 30 years had died today and it was nice for her to sing
and pray today. I felt so blessed to be able to help her greive and praise
god for her friends life even if for only a few minutes.
This reminded me of how many times I've felt truly blessed by things
related to ICCP since I've been in Aix. From feeling alone when I first
arrived and being able to meet a group of christians who felt like family
to being able to lead praise worship with you and your band i can't count
how many times i've felt SO blessed by ICCP while being here, and i dont
even make it out every week!
I should see you tomorrow at the caorling service at the cathedral, but
thank you and all the ICCP staff and folks invovled for what you do, its
really great and i really think its making a difference and touching
lives, it has certainly touched mine.
Thanks and god bless,
Emily"
"Today i went on the caroling "flash mob" and an old french lady came up
and started trying to sing in english with me, when we were done she told
me her friend of 30 years had died today and it was nice for her to sing
and pray today. I felt so blessed to be able to help her greive and praise
god for her friends life even if for only a few minutes.
This reminded me of how many times I've felt truly blessed by things
related to ICCP since I've been in Aix. From feeling alone when I first
arrived and being able to meet a group of christians who felt like family
to being able to lead praise worship with you and your band i can't count
how many times i've felt SO blessed by ICCP while being here, and i dont
even make it out every week!
I should see you tomorrow at the caorling service at the cathedral, but
thank you and all the ICCP staff and folks invovled for what you do, its
really great and i really think its making a difference and touching
lives, it has certainly touched mine.
Thanks and god bless,
Emily"
Monday, December 7, 2009
Am I a secret kind of person
Delight
It is a different drive than "should" "duty" "have to" "supposed to"
Desire
All desires can be made good or bad. The same desire that is used to glorify, search after, and love God can be twisted into the desire to lust after things. We try to ignore the desire. Cut it out of our tree. It is wrong. But the desire is not wrong. We do not need less desire. We need more.
Being satisfied in the right places. Delight yourself in the Lord.
He will recognize. He will reward. He see all that is done in secret. He fulfills our desires. Where lust can Not. Ever. Ever. It only gets stronger. But God gives us the desires of our true self. In purity. Richer than any mutated desire ever could.
Let me be as wild with passion and uncontrolled in my need to fulfill them with you and delight in You than I ever could be for anything on Earth!
I wand fire and joy and passion in the right person.
It is a different drive than "should" "duty" "have to" "supposed to"
Desire
All desires can be made good or bad. The same desire that is used to glorify, search after, and love God can be twisted into the desire to lust after things. We try to ignore the desire. Cut it out of our tree. It is wrong. But the desire is not wrong. We do not need less desire. We need more.
Being satisfied in the right places. Delight yourself in the Lord.
He will recognize. He will reward. He see all that is done in secret. He fulfills our desires. Where lust can Not. Ever. Ever. It only gets stronger. But God gives us the desires of our true self. In purity. Richer than any mutated desire ever could.
Let me be as wild with passion and uncontrolled in my need to fulfill them with you and delight in You than I ever could be for anything on Earth!
I wand fire and joy and passion in the right person.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Drivers, Desire, Treasure and Redemption in Chirst's Way.
Drivers, Desire, Treasure and Redemption in Chirst's Way.
There is a difference between deep love for someone and being pleased with what they are doing. Any parent will tell you that they love their children but shortly after we can see that they are not always pleased with the actions they take. Sometimes punishment is the way parents respond but more often we see that a parent's pleasure will drive the behavior of a child who loves them.
I look at my own life and wonder why it is so hard to uphold my duties and why after time has passed and I know that I can succeed in them that my delight in the task is diminished and I am left with feelings of drudgery, zapped energy, and thoughts like "do I have to?". While at the same time I have the energy to do other things that seem more rewarding to me. I can remember coming into the kitchen not long ago and noticing two things that needed to be done; one, the laundry folding was my duty, and the other, washing the dishes was Tasha's duty. Right away I decided that I didn't want to go near the laundry but I could be nice and do something extra for Tasha by doing her dishes. Why is this? Why did I feel zapped thinking about the laundry and energized thinking about the dishes?
I think it is because I knew that Tasha would come in shortly after I was done and be very pleased and happy. She would thank me and I would be the hero. (meanwhile my own duties are not getting done and I am sure that would not be too pleasing to her). While I knew that I would not receive any recognition through folding the laundry. The only acknowledgment I would receive there was acknowledgment that I didn't do my job.
So, I know that this is not a healthy way to be. I can not depend on the thanks and acknowledgment I get from Tasha or other people. It does not come all the time, it gets weaker the more it is said (everyone has met someone who thanks them for everything and eventually this looses it's meaning), and in doing this I am still disregarding my duties. What motivation does God give us to do our jobs?
He says that he acknowledges what is done in secret and rewards us. (MT 6)Jesus tells us about heavenly rewards that are different from earthly rewards. Earthly rewards are to be seen by men while heavenly rewards are to be seen by God who see what we do when no one else is around. People may not take notice when we do our duties, but the LORD does. He is pleased with our actions and will reward us somehow. God calls himself Father and love us more than any Father ever has. But love of who we are is different from being happy or pleased with how we are living. No father would be happy when one child hurts his/her brother or sister or him/herself. God want what's best for all of us in his love and he also is considering other.
Our desires play a big part in this. Jesus asks us "where is our treasure?". Do we desire to be seen by men? Or do we know and trust that God sees us. Hebrews 11 says that "it is impossible to please God without faith." And it says that anyone who wants to come to God must.. "believe that God exists" and "that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Reward is a God given driver. He rewards the people who seek after him (not those who seek reward, but those who seek God). The motivating thing is to get closer to God. Is the reward to get closer to God? Jesus says in John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command." Jesus says that if love for him (a good desire) is our driver we will obey him.
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." If we delight ourselves in the Lord, find joy in him, he will meet the truest desires of our heart. Not the false desires like the consumeristic more that drives so many of us but the God redeemed desires of the deepest part of ourselves, our heart. This sounds similar to what Jesus says in MT 6 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." All these earthly desires (food, clothes, etc) will be met if our first desire it to seeking after God's kingdom and the righteousness that comes from God.
What are drivers? Desires, things that motivate.
How does God motivate?
Rewards- what are they? Some we know will not be seen until we are with the Lord as Paul talks about some rewards being in the future while other rewards are seen in the present. We believe the kingdom is both now and not yet and I think the same can be said for rewards. We are changed as we are molded into Christ's image by the potter Spirit, we experience joy and life that are impossible without obedience and yielding to the Father. Romans 8:5 "those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." If we are delighting ourselves in the Spirit it will be a joy for us to see the Spirit's desires met. (Knowing especially that The Spirit brings life, is trustworthy, and love us, and is looking out for our interest, working out all things for the good of those who love Him).
Knowing him who we love more, visions of the kingdom, our love and delight for God which in turn leads to met desires.
Pleasing God is a reward. I was rewarded when Tasha was pleased that I did the dishes. The pharisees are rewarded when they are seen by men and we are rewarded when we are seen by God.
Let's look at what God has to say about our drivers...
1)pleasing others-
"For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness." 1Thes 2:3-5
Paul talks about motives. His motive is not to please men but God.
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."
A healthy person knows they are love by God and is driven by a desire to please Him.
Hebrews 13:15-17 "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 17Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. "
Does this mean that we don't care about what other people want? Not at all. God tells us to love others. He says to consider their needs about our own. But the difference is the way we are motivated to do good things. Is it for our own salvation? God says that we do not earn our salvation through works, it is a gift. Is it to be seen by men? Or in reaction to the love of God, to please him?
2)Hurry up
Are you worried about not doing enough? What will happen of you stop?
God commands us to rest. To take a sabbath. He will provide, don't worry (Mt 6).
"9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11
Heaven will include rest. If we do not like rest we will not like heaven. Rest is an essential component of the kingdom.
Are you anxiously trying to earn your way into heaven?
Scripture says, Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast."
God wants you to accept his gift (Romans 5:15-17) and stop trying to earn his salvation.
Are you worried about death?
God promises to those who believe in him eternal life. We have all of eternity. There is no need to hurry.
3)Be perfect
John 7:19"Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law?
Is this rooted in pride or fear?
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1peter 5:5
"The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 Jn 4:19
Do we delight in other people's perfection?
"We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection." 2 Cor 13:9
or are you trying to be perfect as the heavenly father is perfect? Mt 5:48. In this God tells us to, "Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you." Mt 5:44
Mt 19:21 "Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." That is the type of perfection Jesus is looking for. Be made perfect in love.
4) Be strong
Who is your hope in? You or God?
"that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us." 2Cor 1:9b-10
Can you be vulnerable in your weaknesses? We all have strengths and weakness. There is not one person who does not need others. If fact, the original sin was independence from God. They no longer trusted in God but in themselves to be their own gods; their own saviors.
Being strong is good if we use it to help other ""Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."" (1Cor 12:7) and know that God set us up so that we will always be reliant on all the other members of the body, "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!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor." (1Cor 12:21-23) .
[See also..
9But 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. 10That 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." 2Cor12: 9-10
"25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." 1Cor 1:25]
5)Try hard/ strive
It is God who changes us from the inside out. We can not earn salvation. We cannot transform ourselves into His image. We need to rely on God.
Run the race, make sure you are going in the right direction. What is the treasure you are trying to get to? Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The kingdom turns things upside-down.
There is a difference between deep love for someone and being pleased with what they are doing. Any parent will tell you that they love their children but shortly after we can see that they are not always pleased with the actions they take. Sometimes punishment is the way parents respond but more often we see that a parent's pleasure will drive the behavior of a child who loves them.
I look at my own life and wonder why it is so hard to uphold my duties and why after time has passed and I know that I can succeed in them that my delight in the task is diminished and I am left with feelings of drudgery, zapped energy, and thoughts like "do I have to?". While at the same time I have the energy to do other things that seem more rewarding to me. I can remember coming into the kitchen not long ago and noticing two things that needed to be done; one, the laundry folding was my duty, and the other, washing the dishes was Tasha's duty. Right away I decided that I didn't want to go near the laundry but I could be nice and do something extra for Tasha by doing her dishes. Why is this? Why did I feel zapped thinking about the laundry and energized thinking about the dishes?
I think it is because I knew that Tasha would come in shortly after I was done and be very pleased and happy. She would thank me and I would be the hero. (meanwhile my own duties are not getting done and I am sure that would not be too pleasing to her). While I knew that I would not receive any recognition through folding the laundry. The only acknowledgment I would receive there was acknowledgment that I didn't do my job.
So, I know that this is not a healthy way to be. I can not depend on the thanks and acknowledgment I get from Tasha or other people. It does not come all the time, it gets weaker the more it is said (everyone has met someone who thanks them for everything and eventually this looses it's meaning), and in doing this I am still disregarding my duties. What motivation does God give us to do our jobs?
He says that he acknowledges what is done in secret and rewards us. (MT 6)Jesus tells us about heavenly rewards that are different from earthly rewards. Earthly rewards are to be seen by men while heavenly rewards are to be seen by God who see what we do when no one else is around. People may not take notice when we do our duties, but the LORD does. He is pleased with our actions and will reward us somehow. God calls himself Father and love us more than any Father ever has. But love of who we are is different from being happy or pleased with how we are living. No father would be happy when one child hurts his/her brother or sister or him/herself. God want what's best for all of us in his love and he also is considering other.
Our desires play a big part in this. Jesus asks us "where is our treasure?". Do we desire to be seen by men? Or do we know and trust that God sees us. Hebrews 11 says that "it is impossible to please God without faith." And it says that anyone who wants to come to God must.. "believe that God exists" and "that he rewards those who sincerely seek him." Reward is a God given driver. He rewards the people who seek after him (not those who seek reward, but those who seek God). The motivating thing is to get closer to God. Is the reward to get closer to God? Jesus says in John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command." Jesus says that if love for him (a good desire) is our driver we will obey him.
Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart." If we delight ourselves in the Lord, find joy in him, he will meet the truest desires of our heart. Not the false desires like the consumeristic more that drives so many of us but the God redeemed desires of the deepest part of ourselves, our heart. This sounds similar to what Jesus says in MT 6 "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." All these earthly desires (food, clothes, etc) will be met if our first desire it to seeking after God's kingdom and the righteousness that comes from God.
What are drivers? Desires, things that motivate.
How does God motivate?
Rewards- what are they? Some we know will not be seen until we are with the Lord as Paul talks about some rewards being in the future while other rewards are seen in the present. We believe the kingdom is both now and not yet and I think the same can be said for rewards. We are changed as we are molded into Christ's image by the potter Spirit, we experience joy and life that are impossible without obedience and yielding to the Father. Romans 8:5 "those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." If we are delighting ourselves in the Spirit it will be a joy for us to see the Spirit's desires met. (Knowing especially that The Spirit brings life, is trustworthy, and love us, and is looking out for our interest, working out all things for the good of those who love Him).
Knowing him who we love more, visions of the kingdom, our love and delight for God which in turn leads to met desires.
Pleasing God is a reward. I was rewarded when Tasha was pleased that I did the dishes. The pharisees are rewarded when they are seen by men and we are rewarded when we are seen by God.
Let's look at what God has to say about our drivers...
1)pleasing others-
"For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness." 1Thes 2:3-5
Paul talks about motives. His motive is not to please men but God.
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."
A healthy person knows they are love by God and is driven by a desire to please Him.
Hebrews 13:15-17 "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. 17Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. "
Does this mean that we don't care about what other people want? Not at all. God tells us to love others. He says to consider their needs about our own. But the difference is the way we are motivated to do good things. Is it for our own salvation? God says that we do not earn our salvation through works, it is a gift. Is it to be seen by men? Or in reaction to the love of God, to please him?
2)Hurry up
Are you worried about not doing enough? What will happen of you stop?
God commands us to rest. To take a sabbath. He will provide, don't worry (Mt 6).
"9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11
Heaven will include rest. If we do not like rest we will not like heaven. Rest is an essential component of the kingdom.
Are you anxiously trying to earn your way into heaven?
Scripture says, Ephesians 2:8-9 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast."
God wants you to accept his gift (Romans 5:15-17) and stop trying to earn his salvation.
Are you worried about death?
God promises to those who believe in him eternal life. We have all of eternity. There is no need to hurry.
3)Be perfect
John 7:19"Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law?
Is this rooted in pride or fear?
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." 1peter 5:5
"The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 Jn 4:19
Do we delight in other people's perfection?
"We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection." 2 Cor 13:9
or are you trying to be perfect as the heavenly father is perfect? Mt 5:48. In this God tells us to, "Love your enemies[i] and pray for those who persecute you." Mt 5:44
Mt 19:21 "Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." That is the type of perfection Jesus is looking for. Be made perfect in love.
4) Be strong
Who is your hope in? You or God?
"that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us." 2Cor 1:9b-10
Can you be vulnerable in your weaknesses? We all have strengths and weakness. There is not one person who does not need others. If fact, the original sin was independence from God. They no longer trusted in God but in themselves to be their own gods; their own saviors.
Being strong is good if we use it to help other ""Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."" (1Cor 12:7) and know that God set us up so that we will always be reliant on all the other members of the body, "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!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor." (1Cor 12:21-23) .
[See also..
9But 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. 10That 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." 2Cor12: 9-10
"25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." 1Cor 1:25]
5)Try hard/ strive
It is God who changes us from the inside out. We can not earn salvation. We cannot transform ourselves into His image. We need to rely on God.
Run the race, make sure you are going in the right direction. What is the treasure you are trying to get to? Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The kingdom turns things upside-down.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Christian Associates Core Values
Core Values
Kingdom focused
We believe that the Kingdom is both now and not yet. We believe that God can and does work in supernatural ways in our lives and in our world. Our goal is to build the kingdom of God, not personal or corporate empires. We believe that the church is God's agent for extending His kingdom.
Biblically based and worshipful
We believe in the authority of scripture. Our approach to the Bible prioritizes transformation over information - we seek to apply God's Word to real life situations. We value experience of God in worship, both individually and in community.
Grace oriented
We believe in the power of God's grace to transform lives, and reject attempts to legislate the Christian life through human rules, especially in gray areas. We embrace diversity, respecting differences of believe in non-essentials. We deal with issues redemptively rather than judicially. We aim at righteousness and emphasize values and principles, avoiding legalism and rule setting.
A dynamic view of the Holy Spirit
We position ourselves between the Pentecostal and anti-Charismatic poles of "everybody has to," and "nobody can." We seek to avoid a theology of excess and a theology of reaction. We hold an evangelical view of the baptism (infilling) of the Holy Spirit. We seek the Holy Spirit's empowering without dictating how that should occur.
Purpose centered and people minded
We are a mission movement with a specific purpose and vision, yet we want to move in a way that values people and relationships. While serious about accomplishing our tasks, we're willing to laugh at ourselves, maintaining a light-hearted element to our relationships and gatherings. We are committed to healthy families and value children, the poor and the vulnerable in our midst.
Developmental and gift based
We believe that each person is a unique contribution to the kingdom of God, and it is our desire to see our people resources develop their God-given potential. We emphasize lifelong development for leaders, encouraging giftedness discovery, decentralized ministry, inclusion of women in leadership, and discovery and fulfillment of life purpose.
Facilitative in leadership
We have a clear mission mandate, vision, philosophy and strategy, yet we are adaptable in how these things are worked out, realizing that there are many cultural and personal variables. We are flexible but focused, seeking to empower our affiliates to fulfill their calling. We are committed to a team approach to ministry.
Entrepreneurial
We recognize that evangelism and church planting requires intuition and gifting; it is both an art and a science. We strive to do things well, but are willing to be innovative and take calculated risks. We step out in faith, trusting God to provide in supernatural ways.
Balancing the strategic and the supernatural
We see both spirituality and practicality. We believe that people's problems could be both demonically inflicted or psychologically induced or a combination of the two. We believe in prayer meetings and planning meetings. We want to be spiritual without over-spiritualizing.
Authentic and Transparent
We value "realness" over performance. We seek to be humble, vulnerable, approachable, open, and teachable.
This statement is extracted from Christian Associates International of Thousand Oaks, California. www.christianassociates.org
Kingdom focused
We believe that the Kingdom is both now and not yet. We believe that God can and does work in supernatural ways in our lives and in our world. Our goal is to build the kingdom of God, not personal or corporate empires. We believe that the church is God's agent for extending His kingdom.
Biblically based and worshipful
We believe in the authority of scripture. Our approach to the Bible prioritizes transformation over information - we seek to apply God's Word to real life situations. We value experience of God in worship, both individually and in community.
Grace oriented
We believe in the power of God's grace to transform lives, and reject attempts to legislate the Christian life through human rules, especially in gray areas. We embrace diversity, respecting differences of believe in non-essentials. We deal with issues redemptively rather than judicially. We aim at righteousness and emphasize values and principles, avoiding legalism and rule setting.
A dynamic view of the Holy Spirit
We position ourselves between the Pentecostal and anti-Charismatic poles of "everybody has to," and "nobody can." We seek to avoid a theology of excess and a theology of reaction. We hold an evangelical view of the baptism (infilling) of the Holy Spirit. We seek the Holy Spirit's empowering without dictating how that should occur.
Purpose centered and people minded
We are a mission movement with a specific purpose and vision, yet we want to move in a way that values people and relationships. While serious about accomplishing our tasks, we're willing to laugh at ourselves, maintaining a light-hearted element to our relationships and gatherings. We are committed to healthy families and value children, the poor and the vulnerable in our midst.
Developmental and gift based
We believe that each person is a unique contribution to the kingdom of God, and it is our desire to see our people resources develop their God-given potential. We emphasize lifelong development for leaders, encouraging giftedness discovery, decentralized ministry, inclusion of women in leadership, and discovery and fulfillment of life purpose.
Facilitative in leadership
We have a clear mission mandate, vision, philosophy and strategy, yet we are adaptable in how these things are worked out, realizing that there are many cultural and personal variables. We are flexible but focused, seeking to empower our affiliates to fulfill their calling. We are committed to a team approach to ministry.
Entrepreneurial
We recognize that evangelism and church planting requires intuition and gifting; it is both an art and a science. We strive to do things well, but are willing to be innovative and take calculated risks. We step out in faith, trusting God to provide in supernatural ways.
Balancing the strategic and the supernatural
We see both spirituality and practicality. We believe that people's problems could be both demonically inflicted or psychologically induced or a combination of the two. We believe in prayer meetings and planning meetings. We want to be spiritual without over-spiritualizing.
Authentic and Transparent
We value "realness" over performance. We seek to be humble, vulnerable, approachable, open, and teachable.
This statement is extracted from Christian Associates International of Thousand Oaks, California. www.christianassociates.org
Friday, November 20, 2009
When does religous freedom turn into opression?
Religious oppression.
When there is seperation of church and state how big can the state get without shutting down the church because they can't have church influence in school or health care or camps or or or or or on and on because the state runs it.
Making nothing out of something to make everything does not make things better. It is not freedom. Taking away everyone's freedom does make equality. It makes everyone equally oppressed. No one is forced into a religion. Side one. But no one is allowed to have a religion either. Side two.
Why have we traded freedom for spiritual oppression? "No one can" is no more free than "everyone must".
Let us express ourselves. Let us have a camp that has the goal of winning over kids to Christ. Not forcing or pressuring but why is that not a good reason? We want to educate and influence kid in school for their whole lives. Why not in this one category?
Contempt and complaisance are our biggest enemies to the gospel in France
When there is seperation of church and state how big can the state get without shutting down the church because they can't have church influence in school or health care or camps or or or or or on and on because the state runs it.
Making nothing out of something to make everything does not make things better. It is not freedom. Taking away everyone's freedom does make equality. It makes everyone equally oppressed. No one is forced into a religion. Side one. But no one is allowed to have a religion either. Side two.
Why have we traded freedom for spiritual oppression? "No one can" is no more free than "everyone must".
Let us express ourselves. Let us have a camp that has the goal of winning over kids to Christ. Not forcing or pressuring but why is that not a good reason? We want to educate and influence kid in school for their whole lives. Why not in this one category?
Contempt and complaisance are our biggest enemies to the gospel in France
Poem of random thoughts on a day of fasting not
A plant turns toward the sun.
How can I keep my flesh from turning toward?
How do I ward what will not reward in the days of dream?
The plotting one with his schemes hides his face but not his hand.
What's banned? The tanned the delicious the sweet are all of God.
How can I distort them so much in the body of death?
Where is the ref? I out of breath running this race with a back pack the size of France.
All I see I take in it. I hope it does not take in me. How does it effect me?
What are the spiritual kingdom tweaks?
What does it matter if we get drunk or get weak?
Why does it matter if I distort this matter to my own bizarre consequences?
Because you love me and know what is best for me. You love them and know what is best for them. How? Strength in my weakness. Endurance over the storm. Perseverance when the rains come. They drum. They drum. They drum. um um m.
ON and on. SToP. Stop. Stop. op op p. Stop the whaling stop the Top. Stop the constant needs, the hurts the empty open bleeds. Stop the rains the do not flourish. Stop the foods that do not nourish. Encourage. I need some courage. Long ago I felt discouraged. Forgotten, I think not. Rotten, we are rotting but You are restoring. I am adoring the love one renewing. Doing all that we can't. Restoring all our state of being and doing. Making life life again. Not the thing of the past. Long lost and frightened. Hopeless and dreary. I am too much in this world. Not enough in heaven. I have access like the web on my phone. I have a new contract has been made. I fall dark and low. Faded and grey. Like the autumn has passed and the winter is here. Coming, coming Freezing and dull. Slowly fading life away to the infinite nothing. We need to fear this. It is the worst of existence. How Why do we let it in when in Christ we have freedom to keep sunny days and flowers. Colors of the autumn sky and the changing leaves. The bees moving across the meadows and the high grasses of summer. The lives live wild in it and God is at work. Restoring and renewing. Bringing all thing to himself and making all things new.
Turn to him. Life is but a short journey.
How can I keep my flesh from turning toward?
How do I ward what will not reward in the days of dream?
The plotting one with his schemes hides his face but not his hand.
What's banned? The tanned the delicious the sweet are all of God.
How can I distort them so much in the body of death?
Where is the ref? I out of breath running this race with a back pack the size of France.
All I see I take in it. I hope it does not take in me. How does it effect me?
What are the spiritual kingdom tweaks?
What does it matter if we get drunk or get weak?
Why does it matter if I distort this matter to my own bizarre consequences?
Because you love me and know what is best for me. You love them and know what is best for them. How? Strength in my weakness. Endurance over the storm. Perseverance when the rains come. They drum. They drum. They drum. um um m.
ON and on. SToP. Stop. Stop. op op p. Stop the whaling stop the Top. Stop the constant needs, the hurts the empty open bleeds. Stop the rains the do not flourish. Stop the foods that do not nourish. Encourage. I need some courage. Long ago I felt discouraged. Forgotten, I think not. Rotten, we are rotting but You are restoring. I am adoring the love one renewing. Doing all that we can't. Restoring all our state of being and doing. Making life life again. Not the thing of the past. Long lost and frightened. Hopeless and dreary. I am too much in this world. Not enough in heaven. I have access like the web on my phone. I have a new contract has been made. I fall dark and low. Faded and grey. Like the autumn has passed and the winter is here. Coming, coming Freezing and dull. Slowly fading life away to the infinite nothing. We need to fear this. It is the worst of existence. How Why do we let it in when in Christ we have freedom to keep sunny days and flowers. Colors of the autumn sky and the changing leaves. The bees moving across the meadows and the high grasses of summer. The lives live wild in it and God is at work. Restoring and renewing. Bringing all thing to himself and making all things new.
Turn to him. Life is but a short journey.
fasting
Like a drug that we don't know we are addicted to we go about meeting our daily "needs". and they just keep getting bigger. At one point we will have to choose to stop. We can always eat more and the taste will never fully satisfy.
When we are weaning off of it it tells us that we NEed it. We must have that next sandwich. It is hardly a choice. Then we are super charged fleshy and need other things. What I need is contentment.
What I need is grace and knowledge of God's presence.
Is there an easy way to do it? Will it be pure pain? can it be pure joy if I adopt the right mindset?
Where is my desire to overcome? Where is my want for deeper relationship with the LORD? It is there and I am weak. Operate in my weakness to make me strong LORD. Do not let carnality and loneliness spring up. Do not let me be always running to people when I should be running to you.
When we are weaning off of it it tells us that we NEed it. We must have that next sandwich. It is hardly a choice. Then we are super charged fleshy and need other things. What I need is contentment.
What I need is grace and knowledge of God's presence.
Is there an easy way to do it? Will it be pure pain? can it be pure joy if I adopt the right mindset?
Where is my desire to overcome? Where is my want for deeper relationship with the LORD? It is there and I am weak. Operate in my weakness to make me strong LORD. Do not let carnality and loneliness spring up. Do not let me be always running to people when I should be running to you.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Will we know our spiritual hunger if our bellies are full?
don't let your worldly desires and flesh get a hold of you. When I don't exercise, eat too much, and let my flesh rule than it overtakes me. When I satisfy my every fleshly desire than I get less in touch with my spiritual desires. To want in the flesh and choose not to fulfill that desire makes the spirit stronger. lust flows out of lack of exercise and an abundance of food. We don't remember that we don't need these things.
Thinking back to the plane. How afraid I was at the thought of dieing.
How could that be. Where was the peace that God normally give me. I was happy with my worldy life. Lacking little.
I would rather remain earthly secure and comfortable. I felt I had a lot to loose. Why don't I consider it rubbish? If I gain the world I loose the heavens.
I need my daily bread. Man does not live on bread alone but on every word of God. When I find my daily meal each day I am not as hungry for my daily spiritual bread. when the physical is not there to satisfy me I turn to what is not physical to fill me.
Remember. Not every day is a fasting day but when life gets to be too routine and mundaine. When I feel safe and secure and feel like I have it all figured out. When I long for more stuff and bigger things and more posessions for happiness than I am missing something at my core.
Give up what is less for what is great. Temp for eternity.
What is the reward for doing good? Do I get money or earthly recognition? Why is it so much harder to do good and to self sacrifice or to make myself uncomfortable when the answer is no! Why can't I do it when I stand to gain Jesus instead of money. I know that nothing I can do can make you more pleased with me than you are because of Jesus and your love for me doesn't change. But I know that somehow it matters to you. What are these rewards? The type of person I become? The status in heaven? Surely not affection from you. How then should I look at it? Maybe to even ask the question is to miss the point. I can't 'not let the right hand know what the left is doing' if I am thinking about the hands. Maybe I have to let go of me. Get my hands off my mind.
It has been harder to concentrate during qt's. less questions and draw. Am I content? Is that bad, it feels that way. I know you are with me always and in all things I do. Maybe the special time feels unnecessary. But you meet me there in a completely different way. How do you meet me during actions? How do you meet me in life? In scripture.
Bring out your spiritual word to me. Let it be a shining light. My body is a resounding gong
I need your base to hold up all the others. When on the plane I had the extras but I let the foundations get rusty. Don't loose your foundation to build the top floors. They are worthless without what is necessary, a base that is greater than anything on top of it. If the third floor is wider than the basement it will fall from the foundation and hit the ground. Work on the stone. Work on nourishing what is most important, foundational, necessary.
Thinking back to the plane. How afraid I was at the thought of dieing.
How could that be. Where was the peace that God normally give me. I was happy with my worldy life. Lacking little.
I would rather remain earthly secure and comfortable. I felt I had a lot to loose. Why don't I consider it rubbish? If I gain the world I loose the heavens.
I need my daily bread. Man does not live on bread alone but on every word of God. When I find my daily meal each day I am not as hungry for my daily spiritual bread. when the physical is not there to satisfy me I turn to what is not physical to fill me.
Remember. Not every day is a fasting day but when life gets to be too routine and mundaine. When I feel safe and secure and feel like I have it all figured out. When I long for more stuff and bigger things and more posessions for happiness than I am missing something at my core.
Give up what is less for what is great. Temp for eternity.
What is the reward for doing good? Do I get money or earthly recognition? Why is it so much harder to do good and to self sacrifice or to make myself uncomfortable when the answer is no! Why can't I do it when I stand to gain Jesus instead of money. I know that nothing I can do can make you more pleased with me than you are because of Jesus and your love for me doesn't change. But I know that somehow it matters to you. What are these rewards? The type of person I become? The status in heaven? Surely not affection from you. How then should I look at it? Maybe to even ask the question is to miss the point. I can't 'not let the right hand know what the left is doing' if I am thinking about the hands. Maybe I have to let go of me. Get my hands off my mind.
It has been harder to concentrate during qt's. less questions and draw. Am I content? Is that bad, it feels that way. I know you are with me always and in all things I do. Maybe the special time feels unnecessary. But you meet me there in a completely different way. How do you meet me during actions? How do you meet me in life? In scripture.
Bring out your spiritual word to me. Let it be a shining light. My body is a resounding gong
I need your base to hold up all the others. When on the plane I had the extras but I let the foundations get rusty. Don't loose your foundation to build the top floors. They are worthless without what is necessary, a base that is greater than anything on top of it. If the third floor is wider than the basement it will fall from the foundation and hit the ground. Work on the stone. Work on nourishing what is most important, foundational, necessary.
Julie's driver / core identity paper
Core Identity Paper
Julie Jones
Who am I…really? Am I loveable? Am I valuable? Am I worth getting to know…really? We can find ourselves asking these questions from time in our more reflective moments. The trouble is, they are questions that, largely, lie below the surface of our thoughts and more often than not we are largely unaware of them. Yet the way we answer these questions determine so much that deeply impacts our daily existence and the existence of others.
We all have a core identity that serves as a hub, so to speak, to our being. It is like the center of the spokes on a wheel that give centering or balance to the entire bicycle itself. It can also be likened to a central drop of water that when it hits a body of water it sends out various rings and ripples from its center. In both cases the center both shapes and affects its outward parts.
It has been said that all humans are in search of significance and security and that life is a constant pursuit of satisfying our need for both significance and security. I believe there is truth in this understanding and it under girds the thoughts that follow.
Gardening Lessons
We were originally created to have our needs met by God, our Heavenly Father. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve shared a beautiful garden paradise with the God in which all of their needs for security (the garden) and significance (tending the garden and knowing one another and their Father) were met. We know that Adam and Eve succumbed eventually to the temptation to meet their needs themselves rather than remain dependent upon the Father for meeting their needs. The perfection of the Garden was not enough and the course of human history and behavior was forever changed.
Thus our predecessors set the stage for a struggle that we engage in ourselves, everyday of lives; who defines us? This struggle between letting God both define us and be the primary one to meet our needs, and getting our definition of self and our needs met by outside sources, is a struggle as old as time.
Core Question
I believe that each of us has, at our center, a core question; something that we are in pursuit of validating. In my own life this core question has been, “Am I ok?”. This was revealed to me recently, and since that time I have seen how so many thoughts and behaviors in my life point back to the struggle to answer this defining question, “Am I ok?” Someone else may be asking at their center, “Am I good enough?”; another, “Am I loveable?”; and another, “Am I accepted?”.
These questions may come from various experiences, deficits, traumas, etc. that have occurred in our lives. The questions may vary, but the thing that remains the same is that we are all seeking validation. We are all seeking a measure of security and significance in our lives. As humans we are amazingly unique and these questions, therefore, are bound to be as unique as the person asking the question! What is your core question? What do you seem to find yourself in pursuit of answering?
From this core question comes a fork in the road and yet another question, “who is going to answer this question? Who is going to validate this need?”. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden we have a choice. Will we seek to answer this question ourselves? Will we seek validation within our own means? Or will we let our Heavenly Father answer our core question and validate our needs Himself.
Answering our own question our own way
If we choose to answer the question our self and tap into our own resources I would like to propose that we enter the realm of insecurity. We were never meant to meet this need just like Adam and Eve were never meant to partake of the fruit that changed the course of history. Like the pebble that hits a body of still water we have set in motion a serious of actions and behaviors, ripple effects so to speak, that come out of a place of insecurity.
For example, if my core question is “am I ok?” and I must answer that question myself and validate, within my own resources, that fact that indeed I am ok, then I am starting a ripple of responses (out of a place of insecurity) that must be validating to myself.
I am now committed to search for security and significance in any way I can and through any means I can find. This search for security taps into what I call Drivers. These Drivers are what I need to validate my question of “am I ok?”.
Drivers can embody such affirmatives such as :Be Good; Work Hard; Be Strong; Be Perfect; Be Funny; Feel Good; Please Others; Be Positive; Be Logical/Objective and the like.
Now these Drives become the energizing force behind answering the insecurity driven by answering the core question within our own strength and resource base.
These Drivers in turn dictate behavior. For example, with the core question of “am I ok?” and the need to answer that question, one Driver might be Please Others. My belief might be that if I please others they will validate me by liking me and I will feel good about myself and I will be somewhat answering the question of “am I ok?’ because, yes I am ok. So and so likes me and that makes me ok.
Another response to answering the question might be accessing the Driver Work Harder. My belief might be that if I work harder than everyone else, if I stay in the office until 3 am finishing projects, if I get the highest score in the class, then I am ok. Then I am secure.
Do you see how these Drivers become the energizing force behind answering what defines us? Unfortunately, more often than not and especially in Christian circles, these Drivers include socially acceptable behavior.
If I am seeking self-validation and access the Driver of Please Others then I can be seen as the model Christian because I never rock the boat, never cause pain or trouble for anyone and seem to exemplify the picture of the Peacemaker. The trouble is that this “good” behavior is coming out of a desire to be validated by man and not God. It is extremely difficult to extricate ourselves from such unhealthy drivers because they are validated by society – regardless of whether it is coming from a healthy place or not.
Did you have trouble identifying your core question? Often if we struggle to see what our Core Question is, we can look at our behaviors and what particularDrivers are energizing our behaviors.
If we work from the outside of the rings formed or the ripple effect from the Core Question we might have insight into that Core Question. For example, using the above illustration, we can look at our behavior of keeping the peace. Why do we always keep the peace? What is driving that? Am I seeking to please others? What is driving that need to please? Am I asking a deeper question and if so what might that be? Who at this point is answering this question?
These behaviors can generally be categorized into areas like Self Destructive behavior, Self Righteous behavior or Self Disciplined type behavior.
A God defined identity
Let’s now look at this from the perspective of our Core Question being addressed in light of letting God into the mix. Let’s say my Core Question is “Am I accepted”. As I ask that question of myself, I have the opportunity to let my Heavenly Father answer that question. What does He say about me?
This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
who rely on human strength
and turn their hearts away from the Lord.
They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
in an uninhabited salty land.
7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.
The Message
“Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans,who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets God aside as dead weight.
He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in a land where nothing grows.
But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They’re like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers – Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.”
Jeremiah 17:5-8 talks about the “blessed” man who puts his hope and trust in the Lord and has made Him his hope and confidence. This man is like a tree planted by riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing fruit
With this in mind, I know that my security (roots) and significance (fruit) comes from the Lord. As I let Him address my Core Question of am I accepted I have the opportunity to operate from a secure place. Like in the Garden, I was designed to have the Heavenly Father meet my needs…all of them. I am operating in a manner consistent with my creation and calling and have the opportunity to work from an arena of strength, energized by God’s Spirit.
At this point I am inviting the Holy Spirit to become the Driver. He is the energizing force behind my Core Question. He is then free to empower me. If I know I am accepted He then can empower me, out of a place of fullness and security, to not only answer that question for myself but to be a blessing to others.
My behaviors then can come out of a place energized by the Holy Spirit who Himself is validating me and my Core Question.
For example, with my Core Question of “Am I accepted” being answered by God as yes and as the Holy Spirit is given freedom to energize me I am operating from a place of security. As I operate from a place of security, I am able to be a blessing to others. I may even be able to validate them in the question of their acceptability. Because I am secure at that moment, I am not striving to get my own question answered but can focus on another to validate them and encourage them. This encouragement does not come from striving within myself, but from the energizing power of the Holy Spirit.
This is an entirely different story, is it not? As I approach my day and I feel insecure about something I have the option to go to God and ask to see myself as He sees me. This can be as simple as a breath prayer prayed in the moment you are aware of who is taking control. “Lord, I am nervous walking into this classroom. These kids are going to eat me alive and I feel unsure of my ability as a teacher. I trust that you say I am ok. Will you empower me to teach well. I trust you in this moment. Amen.”
As I tap into that perspective, I can access the Holy Spirit to energize. He has been given space to move; an invitation to empower. What flows from there is His. Then my behavior has the opportunity to be a blessing to others rather than self-serving and a desperate attempt to meet my own needs for security and significance. See the difference?
When I am validated by God and energized by His Spirit I can steer away from needing to meet my own needs in either self destructive, self righteous or self disciplined ways.
I see this as a moment by moment choice and an absolute retraining of the mind. I must either look at my question or behavior to guide me as to whether I am tapping into the strength that God seeks to provide or my own strength which, in the Jeremiah verses leave me like a “stunted shrub in the dessert with no hope for the future.”
I want to flourish, how about you?
Julie Jones
Who am I…really? Am I loveable? Am I valuable? Am I worth getting to know…really? We can find ourselves asking these questions from time in our more reflective moments. The trouble is, they are questions that, largely, lie below the surface of our thoughts and more often than not we are largely unaware of them. Yet the way we answer these questions determine so much that deeply impacts our daily existence and the existence of others.
We all have a core identity that serves as a hub, so to speak, to our being. It is like the center of the spokes on a wheel that give centering or balance to the entire bicycle itself. It can also be likened to a central drop of water that when it hits a body of water it sends out various rings and ripples from its center. In both cases the center both shapes and affects its outward parts.
It has been said that all humans are in search of significance and security and that life is a constant pursuit of satisfying our need for both significance and security. I believe there is truth in this understanding and it under girds the thoughts that follow.
Gardening Lessons
We were originally created to have our needs met by God, our Heavenly Father. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve shared a beautiful garden paradise with the God in which all of their needs for security (the garden) and significance (tending the garden and knowing one another and their Father) were met. We know that Adam and Eve succumbed eventually to the temptation to meet their needs themselves rather than remain dependent upon the Father for meeting their needs. The perfection of the Garden was not enough and the course of human history and behavior was forever changed.
Thus our predecessors set the stage for a struggle that we engage in ourselves, everyday of lives; who defines us? This struggle between letting God both define us and be the primary one to meet our needs, and getting our definition of self and our needs met by outside sources, is a struggle as old as time.
Core Question
I believe that each of us has, at our center, a core question; something that we are in pursuit of validating. In my own life this core question has been, “Am I ok?”. This was revealed to me recently, and since that time I have seen how so many thoughts and behaviors in my life point back to the struggle to answer this defining question, “Am I ok?” Someone else may be asking at their center, “Am I good enough?”; another, “Am I loveable?”; and another, “Am I accepted?”.
These questions may come from various experiences, deficits, traumas, etc. that have occurred in our lives. The questions may vary, but the thing that remains the same is that we are all seeking validation. We are all seeking a measure of security and significance in our lives. As humans we are amazingly unique and these questions, therefore, are bound to be as unique as the person asking the question! What is your core question? What do you seem to find yourself in pursuit of answering?
From this core question comes a fork in the road and yet another question, “who is going to answer this question? Who is going to validate this need?”. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden we have a choice. Will we seek to answer this question ourselves? Will we seek validation within our own means? Or will we let our Heavenly Father answer our core question and validate our needs Himself.
Answering our own question our own way
If we choose to answer the question our self and tap into our own resources I would like to propose that we enter the realm of insecurity. We were never meant to meet this need just like Adam and Eve were never meant to partake of the fruit that changed the course of history. Like the pebble that hits a body of still water we have set in motion a serious of actions and behaviors, ripple effects so to speak, that come out of a place of insecurity.
For example, if my core question is “am I ok?” and I must answer that question myself and validate, within my own resources, that fact that indeed I am ok, then I am starting a ripple of responses (out of a place of insecurity) that must be validating to myself.
I am now committed to search for security and significance in any way I can and through any means I can find. This search for security taps into what I call Drivers. These Drivers are what I need to validate my question of “am I ok?”.
Drivers can embody such affirmatives such as :Be Good; Work Hard; Be Strong; Be Perfect; Be Funny; Feel Good; Please Others; Be Positive; Be Logical/Objective and the like.
Now these Drives become the energizing force behind answering the insecurity driven by answering the core question within our own strength and resource base.
These Drivers in turn dictate behavior. For example, with the core question of “am I ok?” and the need to answer that question, one Driver might be Please Others. My belief might be that if I please others they will validate me by liking me and I will feel good about myself and I will be somewhat answering the question of “am I ok?’ because, yes I am ok. So and so likes me and that makes me ok.
Another response to answering the question might be accessing the Driver Work Harder. My belief might be that if I work harder than everyone else, if I stay in the office until 3 am finishing projects, if I get the highest score in the class, then I am ok. Then I am secure.
Do you see how these Drivers become the energizing force behind answering what defines us? Unfortunately, more often than not and especially in Christian circles, these Drivers include socially acceptable behavior.
If I am seeking self-validation and access the Driver of Please Others then I can be seen as the model Christian because I never rock the boat, never cause pain or trouble for anyone and seem to exemplify the picture of the Peacemaker. The trouble is that this “good” behavior is coming out of a desire to be validated by man and not God. It is extremely difficult to extricate ourselves from such unhealthy drivers because they are validated by society – regardless of whether it is coming from a healthy place or not.
Did you have trouble identifying your core question? Often if we struggle to see what our Core Question is, we can look at our behaviors and what particularDrivers are energizing our behaviors.
If we work from the outside of the rings formed or the ripple effect from the Core Question we might have insight into that Core Question. For example, using the above illustration, we can look at our behavior of keeping the peace. Why do we always keep the peace? What is driving that? Am I seeking to please others? What is driving that need to please? Am I asking a deeper question and if so what might that be? Who at this point is answering this question?
These behaviors can generally be categorized into areas like Self Destructive behavior, Self Righteous behavior or Self Disciplined type behavior.
A God defined identity
Let’s now look at this from the perspective of our Core Question being addressed in light of letting God into the mix. Let’s say my Core Question is “Am I accepted”. As I ask that question of myself, I have the opportunity to let my Heavenly Father answer that question. What does He say about me?
This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
who rely on human strength
and turn their hearts away from the Lord.
They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
in an uninhabited salty land.
7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.
The Message
“Cursed is the strong one who depends on mere humans,who thinks he can make it on muscle alone and sets God aside as dead weight.
He’s like a tumbleweed on the prairie, out of touch with the good earth. He lives rootless and aimless in a land where nothing grows.
But blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God. They’re like trees replanted in Eden, putting down roots near the rivers – Never a worry through the hottest of summers, never dropping a leaf, Serene and calm through droughts, bearing fresh fruit every season.”
Jeremiah 17:5-8 talks about the “blessed” man who puts his hope and trust in the Lord and has made Him his hope and confidence. This man is like a tree planted by riverbank with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they never stop producing fruit
With this in mind, I know that my security (roots) and significance (fruit) comes from the Lord. As I let Him address my Core Question of am I accepted I have the opportunity to operate from a secure place. Like in the Garden, I was designed to have the Heavenly Father meet my needs…all of them. I am operating in a manner consistent with my creation and calling and have the opportunity to work from an arena of strength, energized by God’s Spirit.
At this point I am inviting the Holy Spirit to become the Driver. He is the energizing force behind my Core Question. He is then free to empower me. If I know I am accepted He then can empower me, out of a place of fullness and security, to not only answer that question for myself but to be a blessing to others.
My behaviors then can come out of a place energized by the Holy Spirit who Himself is validating me and my Core Question.
For example, with my Core Question of “Am I accepted” being answered by God as yes and as the Holy Spirit is given freedom to energize me I am operating from a place of security. As I operate from a place of security, I am able to be a blessing to others. I may even be able to validate them in the question of their acceptability. Because I am secure at that moment, I am not striving to get my own question answered but can focus on another to validate them and encourage them. This encouragement does not come from striving within myself, but from the energizing power of the Holy Spirit.
This is an entirely different story, is it not? As I approach my day and I feel insecure about something I have the option to go to God and ask to see myself as He sees me. This can be as simple as a breath prayer prayed in the moment you are aware of who is taking control. “Lord, I am nervous walking into this classroom. These kids are going to eat me alive and I feel unsure of my ability as a teacher. I trust that you say I am ok. Will you empower me to teach well. I trust you in this moment. Amen.”
As I tap into that perspective, I can access the Holy Spirit to energize. He has been given space to move; an invitation to empower. What flows from there is His. Then my behavior has the opportunity to be a blessing to others rather than self-serving and a desperate attempt to meet my own needs for security and significance. See the difference?
When I am validated by God and energized by His Spirit I can steer away from needing to meet my own needs in either self destructive, self righteous or self disciplined ways.
I see this as a moment by moment choice and an absolute retraining of the mind. I must either look at my question or behavior to guide me as to whether I am tapping into the strength that God seeks to provide or my own strength which, in the Jeremiah verses leave me like a “stunted shrub in the dessert with no hope for the future.”
I want to flourish, how about you?
Thoughts on All Saints from Biblos etc.
In many Protestant churches, the word "saint" is used more generally to refer to anyone who is a Christian. This is similar in usage to Paul's numerous references in the New Testament of the Bible. In this sense, anyone who is within the Body of Christ (i.e., a professing Christian) is a 'saint' because of their relationship with Christ Jesus. Because of this, many Protestants consider prayers to the saints to be idolatry or even necromancy. Dead Christians are awaiting resurrection, and are not able to do anything for the living saint.
First Epistle of Peter, 2:9: But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light
In ancient Israel, priests acted as mediators between God and people. They ministered according to God's instruction and they offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. Once a year, the high priest would enter the holiest part of the temple and offer a sacrifice for the sins of all the people, including all the priests.
Although many religions use priests, most Protestant faiths reject the idea of a priesthood as a group that is spiritually distinct from lay people.
Most Protestants today recognize only one mediator between them and God the Father, and that is God the Son, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5). The Epistle to the Hebrews calls Jesus the supreme "high priest," who offered himself as a perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 7:23-28). Protestants believe that through Christ they have been given direct access to God, just like a priest; thus the doctrine is called the priesthood of all believers. God is equally accessible to all the faithful, and every Christian has equal potential to minister for God. This doctrine stands in opposition to the concept of a spiritual aristocracy or hierarchy within Christianity. ( The idea of this does not preclude order, authority or discipline within congregations or denominational organizations)
This is accompanied by a remarkable faith in and relationship with God. The status "saint
The traditional use of the term saint is used in religious traditions to refer to one who is holy or revered. It is referred to in the bible as one who is sanctified. T
halos around their heads
Although the typical western usage of the term saint refers to any individual who might be regarded as Holy, Consecrated, Revered or of having a high religious or spiritual rank is a correct one from the point of view of Westernized thought I would argue that this word is wrongly used in western society in general because the true essence of Sainthood and how it might be brought about is little understood.
From an Etymological perspective the word Saint comes from the Latin word Sanctus which meant ''Holy''.
Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language
1. (superl.) Set apart to the service or worship of God; hallowed; sacred; reserved from profane or common use; holy vessels; a holy priesthood.
2. (superl.) Spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly; pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God.
2 Cor 3; 14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflecta the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
First Epistle of Peter, 2:9: But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light
In ancient Israel, priests acted as mediators between God and people. They ministered according to God's instruction and they offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. Once a year, the high priest would enter the holiest part of the temple and offer a sacrifice for the sins of all the people, including all the priests.
Although many religions use priests, most Protestant faiths reject the idea of a priesthood as a group that is spiritually distinct from lay people.
Most Protestants today recognize only one mediator between them and God the Father, and that is God the Son, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5). The Epistle to the Hebrews calls Jesus the supreme "high priest," who offered himself as a perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 7:23-28). Protestants believe that through Christ they have been given direct access to God, just like a priest; thus the doctrine is called the priesthood of all believers. God is equally accessible to all the faithful, and every Christian has equal potential to minister for God. This doctrine stands in opposition to the concept of a spiritual aristocracy or hierarchy within Christianity. ( The idea of this does not preclude order, authority or discipline within congregations or denominational organizations)
This is accompanied by a remarkable faith in and relationship with God. The status "saint
The traditional use of the term saint is used in religious traditions to refer to one who is holy or revered. It is referred to in the bible as one who is sanctified. T
halos around their heads
Although the typical western usage of the term saint refers to any individual who might be regarded as Holy, Consecrated, Revered or of having a high religious or spiritual rank is a correct one from the point of view of Westernized thought I would argue that this word is wrongly used in western society in general because the true essence of Sainthood and how it might be brought about is little understood.
From an Etymological perspective the word Saint comes from the Latin word Sanctus which meant ''Holy''.
Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language
1. (superl.) Set apart to the service or worship of God; hallowed; sacred; reserved from profane or common use; holy vessels; a holy priesthood.
2. (superl.) Spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly; pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God.
2 Cor 3; 14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflecta the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Monday, October 12, 2009
vv outline plus 1
VV Talk Ouline
Intro: We are really happy to be with you all today. For those of you who don’t know us, we are… little introduction. Who we are? What is Christian Associates? What are we doing?
We are grateful for the time that you give us to share with you what God is doing. We wanted to do something a little different this time at Valley View. We want to share with you some of the awesome things God has been doing in us and around us. Our time in France has been rich and we can honestly say that we have fallen deeper in love with Christ through the ups and downs.
1An Importance in church is community- people make the church.
"most of us still feel that, if we have anything at all to show, it is something we have to do solo." -Nouwen In the name of Jesus
People and community is what you can't get online. You can get great teaching or good worship on the computer in the private isolation of your own home but we can not get that sense of belonging. To truly belong we need real human interactions. in our times today the thing we need most out of the church is the people. (which i think is a really good thing) we can basically have our own little church service from the isolation of our own homes but in this we never belong anywhere except on the web by ourselves. All the information and even the artistry are available to us outside of our local church but The one thing that we can't replace is the sense of belonging in community
B- importance- Why is that so important? Because man was not meant to be alone. We have struggled with it since the garden. Sometimes we think that God is all we need. And that is true, but God himself said that it is not good. Genesis 2:18 Adam had God's company in the garden but he did not have the company of the church. He was alone. The next Eden will be different. It will not be one man in relationship with God it will be one bride in relationship with Jesus. And this one bride is made up of many body parts. Each part has their own function and all are important. This is the way it will be when Christ sets up his new eden. (Rev 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.) Jesus is ready to meet this whole group of people, 'his people, as vs 3 says. This is what Jesus is looking forward to.
This time we are many united in one body.
ATwo ways we need each-other in community
One of the biggest parts of our role in church work is to create spaces. Spaces for people to grow closer and connect to God and to each other. We create spaces.
1Belonging
Public- Eagles, big church gathering (almost a culture)
Social- coffee at church, serving together, neighbors
Private- small groups, dinners
Intimate- only a few people in this group
Each space has its own unique way in which belonging is expressed and experienced. Confusion arises when we expect belonging to be expressed and experienced the same way in all four spaces. Each space provides its own unique way of experiencing community. To expect otherwise is to invite frustration. Following are the four spaces with a short description highlighting the distinct way belonging is experienced in each space:
* "Public belonging happens when we connect through outside influences. It isn't about connecting person to person; it is about sharing a common experience. Think of fans at a football game, members of the PTA, shoppers at a grocery store. In each case an outside influence brings these people into a common grouping. They connect because of the outside influence, not because of shared personal information" (p. 41).
Ex. of public; [Christmas Carol Service, Sunday service]
* Social belonging is often denigrated as superficial, but it is vitally important. "In many ways, social belonging is the 'small talk' of our relationships" (p. 45). The neighbor relationships of social belonging allow us to "share snapshots" of who we are with others. A shared social space also "provides a safe selection space for us to decide with whom we would like to grow a 'deeper' relationship" (p. 46).
Guarded communication. Politenesses. What is appropriate to share with one group may not be appropriate to share with another. Men, women, strangers etc. Authenticity doesn’t mean we till everybody everything about us. Ex, how are you doing and dump when someone is not really asking how we are doing. There is a place for guarded communication. We can’t be too quick to share something personal with someone you don’t know or someone you can’t trust. There is a place for polite surface conversations. We all need that and this a level of community. We were meant to go deeper too. We can’t be fine, great, awesome with everyone. The truth is, “You can’t trust everybody, but you can trust somebody.”
Ex. of Social in ICCP [Thanksgiving, Cevennes, Rentree, Easter picnic, coffee at church, ok coral]
* Personal belonging involves the sharing of private information. It takes place in a safe setting where trustworthy confidences are built. "[W]e connect through sharing private - although not 'naked' - experiences, feelings, and thoughts" (p. 47). The people to whom we belong are friends or "close friends" rather than acquaintances.
Appropriate self disclosure- small groups may start as social but are meant for personal. This is where we take risks and reveal our ‘as is tags’. By revealing ourselves. This includes our failures, embarrassments, and vulnerabilities. It goes beyond clichés and opens up the heart.
Ex of Personal [Alpha, youth group]
* "In intimate space, we share 'naked' experiences, feelings, and thoughts. Very few relationships are intimate. Intimate relationships are those in which another person knows the 'naked truth' about us and yet the two of us are 'not ashamed'" (p. 50).
Includes confession and self disclosure. Not only do we share things about ourselves, things that happened to us, we share things that we’ve don and things that we are in need of repentance and reconciliation for.
Ex of Intimate [prayer breakfasts, Sunday youth groups, E100, cabin times]
2 Belonging in Church- as a body- As a church, in order to belong we do not need to be all the same personalities but we should all have the same Spirit.
A-Personalities What Christ’s image is not [cultural differences]
Personalities We are unique and incomplete
We have different passions, gifting kinds of services, manifestations of the spirit, natural talents, personalities, callings, and we are all in different worlds.
All the parts of the body need each other. All the members make up one.
Independence from God is what moved man from God in the garden. Independence from each other is what is moving man from himself. It is what either shows the world what following Christ is all about or give the world another reason to turn their backs on God and go their own way.
(Unique in personality, function, yet all called to bear the same image)
Yet, we are all called to be in Christ's image. There are certain things that bond us together. Christ calls for unity. Paul calls it fellowship and a united body and one people. But what is being in Christ's image. If we are all in Christ's image does that mean that we should all look the same? Act the same? Make the same jokes, watch the same movies, dress the same way, listen to the same music, and like the same speaker? How can we all be in the same image of one man and still be individuals?
(what christ's image is not)
[Cultural differences in Christianity, Things that we take for granted that you do if you are a Christian, what t-shirts you wear, certain words or vocabulary you use, how you greet one another,
How the church is perceived, need to fit in this box, very high and very closed. More of an institution. Based on behavior changes and fitting into the system. This is not Christ’s image. This is not always true either there are many good things about the churches if France, but this is the perception and it is the history they are coming from.]
First let's take a look at what Christ's image is described as in the bible. We know that it can't refer to his physical image because they never tell us what Jesus looks like. We know it is not referring to what jobs we have because Paul says to some they are called to be apostles, some evan, some etc. And he says to new converts to stay in their current job. They don't all need to drop their job as tax collector like Zaccieus, or roman soldier like ? or
It is not a matter of what music we listen to. Scripture describes these things as unimportant. It is a matter of taste. Not of Christ. Special days, what foods we eat, books full of rules. These are not the things that determine if we are in Christ's image.
B-All called to same image of Christ- bonds us in unity of love
“4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” Ephesians 4: 4-7
Our transformation into Christ’s image comes from the Spirit.
“17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflecta the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2cor 3
What that will look like that we can see is the fruit:
Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, Humility, Bearing with each other and forgive each-other’s grievances, and of coarse love.
3 Community Outside of the church
A Primary truth is we bear Christ’s image, secondary fallen [Collette and Joe]
Primary truth is that we were created in Christ’s image. Then after being created in Christ’s image we fell. And, though it is true that we are all distorted images of Christ now, works in process, when I walk around and look at the people I meet, that God puts in my life, I have a choice, I can see a sinner in need of salvation, or I can see someone who was created in Christ’s image and lives in a fallen world so that image has been smudged and changed but somewhere underneath they still bear the marks, even if ever so faint, of his fingerprints. God can help me to see that. Underneath all the distortions lies his image. (Gen 9: 6“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” this is even after man has fallen.)
[Collette and Joe, are displaying godly attributes; generosity, sharing meals with anyone who comes over, love; they genuinely love us, kindness etc. Still missing the truth and to know what Godliness is by knowing God. They are able to hear us because we can hear from them. To learn from them allows us to grow in Christ even around those who do not yet know him and it makes it a relationship. In relationships we learn from each other and we listen to each other. It is not one person who knows it all and one who knows nothing. They have lived life and challenge us in their generosity and hospitality.
Youth group kids, I try to give them apologetics but many just have faith and believe. That is challenging.]
B In need of peace and truth and hope [Joe, wants to believe] [lonely people shan, old lady]
- COMMUNITY…living in community. We experience that now with our neighbors. We had a fire… many many conversations with them about faith, now going to Alpha in French. We now have Christian neighbors who are just infiltrating the neighborhood.
4 Community needs communion with Christ first
Christ is the head of every man. So we need him. In fact, everything I say about community will be basicly worthless without a real vital relationship with Jesus. (you can ignore all that is above if without this next part because is is the foundation of our faith and the rock we stand on.
Henri Nouwen puts it like this,
‘If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we're going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They cannot. We'll expect someone to give us that perfect, unconditional love. But community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: "I'm so lonely, and you're so lonely.’ It's beloved grabbing onto beloved.
We need to draw from Christ first. Our love and our daily bread. He is all that we need and the satisfier of our souls. Not the people around us. They are will never fulfill us like Christ can.
Community without Christ is like Babble. God know that it is not good to have great community without communion with Him. If we try to save ourselves and forget that we have a need for a savior. We cannot live the lives we are called to live without God. It is impossible. We cannot resurrect ourselves, we cannot save ourselves from sin. It will always twist itself into new types of sin like pride or selfishness with out being rooted in Christ. He says, 'you can do nothing apart from me.' Nothing of kingdom worth that is.
A Nouwen quote [story of coming to France, prism of pure light]
- “The Layers of Christ.” The depth of Jesus is astounding and we have come to know how we have only scratched the surface of His awesomeness.
“Nothing with out me” John
For in him we live and move and have our being.
He gives us strength, transforms us, all love comes from God, life is found in him, He is the way, he is our hope, he is truth, He is love, our guide, our redeemer, He is our daily bread, our nourishment, knowing him is eternal life. Nothing without. Fountain of life
Yet God calls us to community. In our solitude, our quiet times spent with God, He will always calls us to reach out to other people, to be in community with them
5 Church is not top down it is each of you
A willing people who follow his call in faith [Adam P, Morees, Susie]
Each one of us has a special part to play. No one is useless and no one is any more essential than any other part of the body.
(how we get there- holy spirit, connecting with God)[Story about prism and being away from family and needing to cling to God instead of man.]
B God equips those he calls [never felt prepared to lead a youth group, thought they were monsters in middle school, God changed our heart and equipped us. Equips for public speaking and other things that are part of the call.]
- One of the things God has shown us is our dependence upon Him. We had read verses like: …….. but they took on a whole new meaning after moving to France. We put ourselves in a position to depend on Him. Quote from a book… depending upon Christ. I get sad when I hear people say things like “I could never do what you do…” The reason that it makes me sad is because, “You can!” God wants us to depend on Him…to trust Him… to break out of our comfort zones and give Him a chance to show you how capable He is. American Christianity is safe… One of the things I love about French Christians is how passionate they are… sold out. Friend named Clement… or Melissa…
(Call to ownership.) Can be grumblers and complain that where we are is not where we want to be. Like the Israelites did in the desert of Sin, or we can be agents of change in this broken body. In this broken and lonely world. We can be gateways of the invisible love of God pouring out into our physical world. All that we need to do every good work is available to us right now. Not tomorrow or next year, right now. God equips those he calls. And he calls us all to be united in love in a world of division.
[We have Morees in com who jumped in and started a small group, ordered the books and video, gathered people and welcomed them into their home. They are facilitating community. Or Susie who took the women’s ministry or
Adam P who hopped into youth min with us even though he only knew Christ for a year himself and was a young believer. He jumped right into games and hanging out with the kids and he has a lot to say. The students listened to him when he talked because God gave him a message of his love and grace. He didn’t have all the answers but he was willing. He was willing to share what God had taught him so far in the journey and give back to these kids.]
Intro: We are really happy to be with you all today. For those of you who don’t know us, we are… little introduction. Who we are? What is Christian Associates? What are we doing?
We are grateful for the time that you give us to share with you what God is doing. We wanted to do something a little different this time at Valley View. We want to share with you some of the awesome things God has been doing in us and around us. Our time in France has been rich and we can honestly say that we have fallen deeper in love with Christ through the ups and downs.
1An Importance in church is community- people make the church.
"most of us still feel that, if we have anything at all to show, it is something we have to do solo." -Nouwen In the name of Jesus
People and community is what you can't get online. You can get great teaching or good worship on the computer in the private isolation of your own home but we can not get that sense of belonging. To truly belong we need real human interactions. in our times today the thing we need most out of the church is the people. (which i think is a really good thing) we can basically have our own little church service from the isolation of our own homes but in this we never belong anywhere except on the web by ourselves. All the information and even the artistry are available to us outside of our local church but The one thing that we can't replace is the sense of belonging in community
B- importance- Why is that so important? Because man was not meant to be alone. We have struggled with it since the garden. Sometimes we think that God is all we need. And that is true, but God himself said that it is not good. Genesis 2:18 Adam had God's company in the garden but he did not have the company of the church. He was alone. The next Eden will be different. It will not be one man in relationship with God it will be one bride in relationship with Jesus. And this one bride is made up of many body parts. Each part has their own function and all are important. This is the way it will be when Christ sets up his new eden. (Rev 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.) Jesus is ready to meet this whole group of people, 'his people, as vs 3 says. This is what Jesus is looking forward to.
This time we are many united in one body.
ATwo ways we need each-other in community
One of the biggest parts of our role in church work is to create spaces. Spaces for people to grow closer and connect to God and to each other. We create spaces.
1Belonging
Public- Eagles, big church gathering (almost a culture)
Social- coffee at church, serving together, neighbors
Private- small groups, dinners
Intimate- only a few people in this group
Each space has its own unique way in which belonging is expressed and experienced. Confusion arises when we expect belonging to be expressed and experienced the same way in all four spaces. Each space provides its own unique way of experiencing community. To expect otherwise is to invite frustration. Following are the four spaces with a short description highlighting the distinct way belonging is experienced in each space:
* "Public belonging happens when we connect through outside influences. It isn't about connecting person to person; it is about sharing a common experience. Think of fans at a football game, members of the PTA, shoppers at a grocery store. In each case an outside influence brings these people into a common grouping. They connect because of the outside influence, not because of shared personal information" (p. 41).
Ex. of public; [Christmas Carol Service, Sunday service]
* Social belonging is often denigrated as superficial, but it is vitally important. "In many ways, social belonging is the 'small talk' of our relationships" (p. 45). The neighbor relationships of social belonging allow us to "share snapshots" of who we are with others. A shared social space also "provides a safe selection space for us to decide with whom we would like to grow a 'deeper' relationship" (p. 46).
Guarded communication. Politenesses. What is appropriate to share with one group may not be appropriate to share with another. Men, women, strangers etc. Authenticity doesn’t mean we till everybody everything about us. Ex, how are you doing and dump when someone is not really asking how we are doing. There is a place for guarded communication. We can’t be too quick to share something personal with someone you don’t know or someone you can’t trust. There is a place for polite surface conversations. We all need that and this a level of community. We were meant to go deeper too. We can’t be fine, great, awesome with everyone. The truth is, “You can’t trust everybody, but you can trust somebody.”
Ex. of Social in ICCP [Thanksgiving, Cevennes, Rentree, Easter picnic, coffee at church, ok coral]
* Personal belonging involves the sharing of private information. It takes place in a safe setting where trustworthy confidences are built. "[W]e connect through sharing private - although not 'naked' - experiences, feelings, and thoughts" (p. 47). The people to whom we belong are friends or "close friends" rather than acquaintances.
Appropriate self disclosure- small groups may start as social but are meant for personal. This is where we take risks and reveal our ‘as is tags’. By revealing ourselves. This includes our failures, embarrassments, and vulnerabilities. It goes beyond clichés and opens up the heart.
Ex of Personal [Alpha, youth group]
* "In intimate space, we share 'naked' experiences, feelings, and thoughts. Very few relationships are intimate. Intimate relationships are those in which another person knows the 'naked truth' about us and yet the two of us are 'not ashamed'" (p. 50).
Includes confession and self disclosure. Not only do we share things about ourselves, things that happened to us, we share things that we’ve don and things that we are in need of repentance and reconciliation for.
Ex of Intimate [prayer breakfasts, Sunday youth groups, E100, cabin times]
2 Belonging in Church- as a body- As a church, in order to belong we do not need to be all the same personalities but we should all have the same Spirit.
A-Personalities What Christ’s image is not [cultural differences]
Personalities We are unique and incomplete
We have different passions, gifting kinds of services, manifestations of the spirit, natural talents, personalities, callings, and we are all in different worlds.
All the parts of the body need each other. All the members make up one.
Independence from God is what moved man from God in the garden. Independence from each other is what is moving man from himself. It is what either shows the world what following Christ is all about or give the world another reason to turn their backs on God and go their own way.
(Unique in personality, function, yet all called to bear the same image)
Yet, we are all called to be in Christ's image. There are certain things that bond us together. Christ calls for unity. Paul calls it fellowship and a united body and one people. But what is being in Christ's image. If we are all in Christ's image does that mean that we should all look the same? Act the same? Make the same jokes, watch the same movies, dress the same way, listen to the same music, and like the same speaker? How can we all be in the same image of one man and still be individuals?
(what christ's image is not)
[Cultural differences in Christianity, Things that we take for granted that you do if you are a Christian, what t-shirts you wear, certain words or vocabulary you use, how you greet one another,
How the church is perceived, need to fit in this box, very high and very closed. More of an institution. Based on behavior changes and fitting into the system. This is not Christ’s image. This is not always true either there are many good things about the churches if France, but this is the perception and it is the history they are coming from.]
First let's take a look at what Christ's image is described as in the bible. We know that it can't refer to his physical image because they never tell us what Jesus looks like. We know it is not referring to what jobs we have because Paul says to some they are called to be apostles, some evan, some etc. And he says to new converts to stay in their current job. They don't all need to drop their job as tax collector like Zaccieus, or roman soldier like ? or
It is not a matter of what music we listen to. Scripture describes these things as unimportant. It is a matter of taste. Not of Christ. Special days, what foods we eat, books full of rules. These are not the things that determine if we are in Christ's image.
B-All called to same image of Christ- bonds us in unity of love
“4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” Ephesians 4: 4-7
Our transformation into Christ’s image comes from the Spirit.
“17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflecta the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2cor 3
What that will look like that we can see is the fruit:
Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, Humility, Bearing with each other and forgive each-other’s grievances, and of coarse love.
3 Community Outside of the church
A Primary truth is we bear Christ’s image, secondary fallen [Collette and Joe]
Primary truth is that we were created in Christ’s image. Then after being created in Christ’s image we fell. And, though it is true that we are all distorted images of Christ now, works in process, when I walk around and look at the people I meet, that God puts in my life, I have a choice, I can see a sinner in need of salvation, or I can see someone who was created in Christ’s image and lives in a fallen world so that image has been smudged and changed but somewhere underneath they still bear the marks, even if ever so faint, of his fingerprints. God can help me to see that. Underneath all the distortions lies his image. (Gen 9: 6“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” this is even after man has fallen.)
[Collette and Joe, are displaying godly attributes; generosity, sharing meals with anyone who comes over, love; they genuinely love us, kindness etc. Still missing the truth and to know what Godliness is by knowing God. They are able to hear us because we can hear from them. To learn from them allows us to grow in Christ even around those who do not yet know him and it makes it a relationship. In relationships we learn from each other and we listen to each other. It is not one person who knows it all and one who knows nothing. They have lived life and challenge us in their generosity and hospitality.
Youth group kids, I try to give them apologetics but many just have faith and believe. That is challenging.]
B In need of peace and truth and hope [Joe, wants to believe] [lonely people shan, old lady]
- COMMUNITY…living in community. We experience that now with our neighbors. We had a fire… many many conversations with them about faith, now going to Alpha in French. We now have Christian neighbors who are just infiltrating the neighborhood.
4 Community needs communion with Christ first
Christ is the head of every man. So we need him. In fact, everything I say about community will be basicly worthless without a real vital relationship with Jesus. (you can ignore all that is above if without this next part because is is the foundation of our faith and the rock we stand on.
Henri Nouwen puts it like this,
‘If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we're going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They cannot. We'll expect someone to give us that perfect, unconditional love. But community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: "I'm so lonely, and you're so lonely.’ It's beloved grabbing onto beloved.
We need to draw from Christ first. Our love and our daily bread. He is all that we need and the satisfier of our souls. Not the people around us. They are will never fulfill us like Christ can.
Community without Christ is like Babble. God know that it is not good to have great community without communion with Him. If we try to save ourselves and forget that we have a need for a savior. We cannot live the lives we are called to live without God. It is impossible. We cannot resurrect ourselves, we cannot save ourselves from sin. It will always twist itself into new types of sin like pride or selfishness with out being rooted in Christ. He says, 'you can do nothing apart from me.' Nothing of kingdom worth that is.
A Nouwen quote [story of coming to France, prism of pure light]
- “The Layers of Christ.” The depth of Jesus is astounding and we have come to know how we have only scratched the surface of His awesomeness.
“Nothing with out me” John
For in him we live and move and have our being.
He gives us strength, transforms us, all love comes from God, life is found in him, He is the way, he is our hope, he is truth, He is love, our guide, our redeemer, He is our daily bread, our nourishment, knowing him is eternal life. Nothing without. Fountain of life
Yet God calls us to community. In our solitude, our quiet times spent with God, He will always calls us to reach out to other people, to be in community with them
5 Church is not top down it is each of you
A willing people who follow his call in faith [Adam P, Morees, Susie]
Each one of us has a special part to play. No one is useless and no one is any more essential than any other part of the body.
(how we get there- holy spirit, connecting with God)[Story about prism and being away from family and needing to cling to God instead of man.]
B God equips those he calls [never felt prepared to lead a youth group, thought they were monsters in middle school, God changed our heart and equipped us. Equips for public speaking and other things that are part of the call.]
- One of the things God has shown us is our dependence upon Him. We had read verses like: …….. but they took on a whole new meaning after moving to France. We put ourselves in a position to depend on Him. Quote from a book… depending upon Christ. I get sad when I hear people say things like “I could never do what you do…” The reason that it makes me sad is because, “You can!” God wants us to depend on Him…to trust Him… to break out of our comfort zones and give Him a chance to show you how capable He is. American Christianity is safe… One of the things I love about French Christians is how passionate they are… sold out. Friend named Clement… or Melissa…
(Call to ownership.) Can be grumblers and complain that where we are is not where we want to be. Like the Israelites did in the desert of Sin, or we can be agents of change in this broken body. In this broken and lonely world. We can be gateways of the invisible love of God pouring out into our physical world. All that we need to do every good work is available to us right now. Not tomorrow or next year, right now. God equips those he calls. And he calls us all to be united in love in a world of division.
[We have Morees in com who jumped in and started a small group, ordered the books and video, gathered people and welcomed them into their home. They are facilitating community. Or Susie who took the women’s ministry or
Adam P who hopped into youth min with us even though he only knew Christ for a year himself and was a young believer. He jumped right into games and hanging out with the kids and he has a lot to say. The students listened to him when he talked because God gave him a message of his love and grace. He didn’t have all the answers but he was willing. He was willing to share what God had taught him so far in the journey and give back to these kids.]
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Talk ideas for VV
People and community is what you can't get online. You can get great teaching or good worship on the computer in the private isolation of your own home but we can not get that sense of belonging in any of the four spheres.
Even in the public and social we cannot truly belong without real human interaction. Social networks help us to sustain relationships and to launch or relaunch friendships but only as a starting place. It never makes it into what Jesus would describe as community.
Bruce did a teaching on this a few years ago http://hoowhat.blogspot.com/search?q=community
I was talking to a friend the other day about church and what's important in church, he was sharing why he goes and what he looks for in a church. So he said that he loves to worship but it is less important to him than the teaching because he can go onto itunes and listen to worship any time. And then I asked if he goes onto itunes and listens to sermons at all. he said yes, he was not growing through the local church that he was attending's teaching and he did go online for those too. So as we were talking we stared to realize that in our times today the thing we need most out of the church is the people. (which i think is a really good thing) we can basically have our own little church service from the isolation of our own homes but in this we never belong anywhere except on the web by ourselves. All the information and even the artistry are available to us outside of our local church but The one thing that we can't replace is the sense of belonging. Life is more than information and artistry. Those things are important but they are not real people. They are not community.
A sermon I was listening to,.. online, had an interview with a man who was talking about a community outreach program that this church body initiated. He said that even if the government can help, "you can't get a sense of community from the government." Why is that so important? Because man was not meant to be alone. We have struggled with it since the garden. Sometimes we think that God is all we need. And that is true, but God himself said that it is not good. Genesis 2:18 Adam had God's company in the garden but he did not have the company of the church. He was alone. The next Eden will be different. It will not be one man in relationship with God it will be one bride in relationship with Jesus. And this one bride is made up of many body parts. Each part has their own function and all are important. This is the way it will be when Christ sets up his new eden. (Rev 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.) Jesus is ready to meet this whole group of people, 'his people, as vs 3 says. This is what Jesus is looking forward to.
This time we are many united in one body. Each one of us has a special part to play. No one is useless and no one is any more essential than any other part.
We need each other. No man is an island.
"most of us still feel that, if we have anything at all to show, it is something we have to do solo." -Nouwen In the name of Jesus
Two ways we need each other: (belonging and as a body)
Belonging to community
public
social
private
intimate
Henri nouwen talks about some of the ideas here in moving from sol-com-min.
talks about jesus praying on the mt alone, so we know solitude is necessary. And a quote that I love from that talk is
Personality and giftings.
Every good gift comes from God. He gives gifts such as wisdom and discernment to anyone, anyone, who asks. Other gifts are unique and serve special functions.
Hud says we all have a life purpose and statement. All of ours is different.
We have different passions, giftings, natural talents, personalities, and we are all in different worlds. No one else lives your life. No one else is in connection with all of your friends and has the opportunities you do. No one else sees the same hurts and needs that God exposes each one of us to. We are unique.
And our uniquness is what makes us depend on each other. God made it purposely so that we could not be independent. Independence from God is what moved man from God in the garden. Independence from each other is what is moving man from himself.
It is what either shows the world what following Christ is all about or give the world another reason to turn their backs on God and go their own way.
(Unique in personality,function, yet all called to bear the same image)
Yet, we are all called to be in Christ's image. There are certain things that bond us together. Christ calls for unity. Paul calls it fellowship and a united body and one people. But what is being in Christ's image. If we are all in Christ's image does that mean that we should all look the same? Act the same? Make the same jokes, watch the same movies, dress the same way, listen to the same music, and like the same speaker? How can we all be in the same image of one man and still be individuals?
(what christ's image is not)
First let's take a look at what Christ's image is described as in the bible. We know that it can't refer to his physical image because they never tell us what Jesus looks like. We know it is not referring to what jobs we have because Paul says to some they are called to be apostles, some evan, some etc. And he says to new converts to stay in their current job. They don't all need to drop their job as tax collector like Zaccieus, or roman soldier like ? or
It is not a matter of what music we listen to. Scripture describes these things as unimportant. It is a matter of taste. Not of Christ. Special days, what foods we eat, books full of rules. These are not the things that determine if we are in Christ's image.
(What being is Christ's image is)
Being in christ' image is a
(how we get there- holy spirit, connecting with God)(Story about prism and being away from family and needing to cling to God instead of man.)
Christ is the head of every man. So we need him. In fact, everything I say about community will be basicly worthless without a real vital relationship with Jesus. (you can ignore all that is above if without this next part because is is the foundation of our faith and the rock we stand on.
Henri Nouwen puts it like this,
‘If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we're going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They cannot. We'll expect someone to give us that perfect, unconditional love. But community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: "I'm so lonely, and you're so lonely.’ It's beloved grabbing onto beloved.
We need to draw from Christ first. Our love and our daily bread. He is all that we need and the satisfier of our souls. Not the people around us. They are will never fulfill us like Christ can.
Community without Christ is like Babble. God know that it is not good to have great community without communion with Him. If we try to save ourselves and forget that we have a need for a savior. We cannot live the lives we are called to live without God. It is impossible. We cannot resurrect ourselves, we cannot save ourselves from sin. It will always twist itself into new types of sin like pride or selfishness with out being rooted in Christ. He says, 'you can do nothing apart from me.' Nothing of kingdom worth that is.
Yet God calls us to community. In our solitude, our quiet times spent with God, He will always calls us to reach out to other people, to be in community with them
(Call to ownership.) Can be grumblers and complain that where we are is not where we want to be. Like the Israelites did in the desert of Sin, or we can be agents of change in this broken body. In this broken and lonely world. We can be gateways of the invisible love of God pouring out into our physical world. All that we need to do every good work is available to us right now.
"20May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." -Hebrews 13
This God who raised Jesus from the dead, he has that much power, has the ability to equip us for good works. And he has the power to work within us to change mature us and purify us and grow us.
Not tomorrow or next year, right now. God equips those he calls. And he calls us all to be united in love in a world of division.
Don't
It is not a matter of what job we have. It is a matter of what we do in the job we have. Will we be like zaccieus before he encounters jesus or z after he encounters Jesus.
Even in the public and social we cannot truly belong without real human interaction. Social networks help us to sustain relationships and to launch or relaunch friendships but only as a starting place. It never makes it into what Jesus would describe as community.
Bruce did a teaching on this a few years ago http://hoowhat.blogspot.com/search?q=community
I was talking to a friend the other day about church and what's important in church, he was sharing why he goes and what he looks for in a church. So he said that he loves to worship but it is less important to him than the teaching because he can go onto itunes and listen to worship any time. And then I asked if he goes onto itunes and listens to sermons at all. he said yes, he was not growing through the local church that he was attending's teaching and he did go online for those too. So as we were talking we stared to realize that in our times today the thing we need most out of the church is the people. (which i think is a really good thing) we can basically have our own little church service from the isolation of our own homes but in this we never belong anywhere except on the web by ourselves. All the information and even the artistry are available to us outside of our local church but The one thing that we can't replace is the sense of belonging. Life is more than information and artistry. Those things are important but they are not real people. They are not community.
A sermon I was listening to,.. online, had an interview with a man who was talking about a community outreach program that this church body initiated. He said that even if the government can help, "you can't get a sense of community from the government." Why is that so important? Because man was not meant to be alone. We have struggled with it since the garden. Sometimes we think that God is all we need. And that is true, but God himself said that it is not good. Genesis 2:18 Adam had God's company in the garden but he did not have the company of the church. He was alone. The next Eden will be different. It will not be one man in relationship with God it will be one bride in relationship with Jesus. And this one bride is made up of many body parts. Each part has their own function and all are important. This is the way it will be when Christ sets up his new eden. (Rev 21:2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.) Jesus is ready to meet this whole group of people, 'his people, as vs 3 says. This is what Jesus is looking forward to.
This time we are many united in one body. Each one of us has a special part to play. No one is useless and no one is any more essential than any other part.
We need each other. No man is an island.
"most of us still feel that, if we have anything at all to show, it is something we have to do solo." -Nouwen In the name of Jesus
Two ways we need each other: (belonging and as a body)
Belonging to community
public
social
private
intimate
Henri nouwen talks about some of the ideas here in moving from sol-com-min.
talks about jesus praying on the mt alone, so we know solitude is necessary. And a quote that I love from that talk is
Personality and giftings.
Every good gift comes from God. He gives gifts such as wisdom and discernment to anyone, anyone, who asks. Other gifts are unique and serve special functions.
Hud says we all have a life purpose and statement. All of ours is different.
We have different passions, giftings, natural talents, personalities, and we are all in different worlds. No one else lives your life. No one else is in connection with all of your friends and has the opportunities you do. No one else sees the same hurts and needs that God exposes each one of us to. We are unique.
And our uniquness is what makes us depend on each other. God made it purposely so that we could not be independent. Independence from God is what moved man from God in the garden. Independence from each other is what is moving man from himself.
It is what either shows the world what following Christ is all about or give the world another reason to turn their backs on God and go their own way.
(Unique in personality,function, yet all called to bear the same image)
Yet, we are all called to be in Christ's image. There are certain things that bond us together. Christ calls for unity. Paul calls it fellowship and a united body and one people. But what is being in Christ's image. If we are all in Christ's image does that mean that we should all look the same? Act the same? Make the same jokes, watch the same movies, dress the same way, listen to the same music, and like the same speaker? How can we all be in the same image of one man and still be individuals?
(what christ's image is not)
First let's take a look at what Christ's image is described as in the bible. We know that it can't refer to his physical image because they never tell us what Jesus looks like. We know it is not referring to what jobs we have because Paul says to some they are called to be apostles, some evan, some etc. And he says to new converts to stay in their current job. They don't all need to drop their job as tax collector like Zaccieus, or roman soldier like ? or
It is not a matter of what music we listen to. Scripture describes these things as unimportant. It is a matter of taste. Not of Christ. Special days, what foods we eat, books full of rules. These are not the things that determine if we are in Christ's image.
(What being is Christ's image is)
Being in christ' image is a
(how we get there- holy spirit, connecting with God)(Story about prism and being away from family and needing to cling to God instead of man.)
Christ is the head of every man. So we need him. In fact, everything I say about community will be basicly worthless without a real vital relationship with Jesus. (you can ignore all that is above if without this next part because is is the foundation of our faith and the rock we stand on.
Henri Nouwen puts it like this,
‘If we do not know we are the beloved sons and daughters of God, we're going to expect someone in the community to make us feel that way. They cannot. We'll expect someone to give us that perfect, unconditional love. But community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: "I'm so lonely, and you're so lonely.’ It's beloved grabbing onto beloved.
We need to draw from Christ first. Our love and our daily bread. He is all that we need and the satisfier of our souls. Not the people around us. They are will never fulfill us like Christ can.
Community without Christ is like Babble. God know that it is not good to have great community without communion with Him. If we try to save ourselves and forget that we have a need for a savior. We cannot live the lives we are called to live without God. It is impossible. We cannot resurrect ourselves, we cannot save ourselves from sin. It will always twist itself into new types of sin like pride or selfishness with out being rooted in Christ. He says, 'you can do nothing apart from me.' Nothing of kingdom worth that is.
Yet God calls us to community. In our solitude, our quiet times spent with God, He will always calls us to reach out to other people, to be in community with them
(Call to ownership.) Can be grumblers and complain that where we are is not where we want to be. Like the Israelites did in the desert of Sin, or we can be agents of change in this broken body. In this broken and lonely world. We can be gateways of the invisible love of God pouring out into our physical world. All that we need to do every good work is available to us right now.
"20May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." -Hebrews 13
This God who raised Jesus from the dead, he has that much power, has the ability to equip us for good works. And he has the power to work within us to change mature us and purify us and grow us.
Not tomorrow or next year, right now. God equips those he calls. And he calls us all to be united in love in a world of division.
Don't
It is not a matter of what job we have. It is a matter of what we do in the job we have. Will we be like zaccieus before he encounters jesus or z after he encounters Jesus.
Friday, October 2, 2009
personality,
Our individual personalities are important and necessary, but let them be tempered by the presence of Jesus in our lives.
In Christ's image. Still us, just a redeemed new us made in his image. Not all eyes or mouths. We are all personal and individual who come together as a part of the larger body. Both are our identity. I am a muscle and I am a man. We are gifted and we are the bride of Christ.
In Christ's image. Still us, just a redeemed new us made in his image. Not all eyes or mouths. We are all personal and individual who come together as a part of the larger body. Both are our identity. I am a muscle and I am a man. We are gifted and we are the bride of Christ.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
YG talk ideas
Topics for Youth Group
How do we live as citizens of the Kingdom?
1) Sex
2) Self Image
3) Environment
4) Drugs
5) Family
6) Outward Appearances
7) Money
8) Relationships
9) Security
10) Plans/Future
11) Humility
12) Making Decisions
13) Time
14) Hospitality
15) Parties/Social Situations
16) Conflict
17) Friendships
18) Community 19SEP
See also Deb Hirch's ideas on post last week.
Magazine ananysis to see what the world is saying. They pay money-why?
How do we live as citizens of the Kingdom?
1) Sex
2) Self Image
3) Environment
4) Drugs
5) Family
6) Outward Appearances
7) Money
8) Relationships
9) Security
10) Plans/Future
11) Humility
12) Making Decisions
13) Time
14) Hospitality
15) Parties/Social Situations
16) Conflict
17) Friendships
18) Community 19SEP
See also Deb Hirch's ideas on post last week.
Magazine ananysis to see what the world is saying. They pay money-why?
I believe it is better, a better truer fuller life. He is life.
Great commission of Love
my love to be the gateway to the unconditional love of God is better by far. I can't love you the way that you want to be loved; but God can.
If I withheld that love and did not want others to receive that unconditional love of God than I would be like Jonah to the Ninivaties, witholding the good news.
my love to be the gateway to the unconditional love of God is better by far. I can't love you the way that you want to be loved; but God can.
If I withheld that love and did not want others to receive that unconditional love of God than I would be like Jonah to the Ninivaties, witholding the good news.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
life management stuff web site links
http://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/
http://www.echoprayer.com/front/welcome.php
http://mymemorizer.com/
www.mvelopes.com
www.simpleology.com
Book recomendations for different areas of life- 360
Crazy l-neil
http://www.echoprayer.com/front/welcome.php
http://mymemorizer.com/
www.mvelopes.com
www.simpleology.com
Book recomendations for different areas of life- 360
Crazy l-neil
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
deb H and kingdom ways
http://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/
We get immersed in the world.
What I want to talk about is what it is to live as kingdom people.
Discipleship.
Critique and see some of the obstacles that keep us from living like kingdom people.
Challenge ourselves to be more christ-like and more free.
There ought to be a quality about us who follow Jesus that make people look twice at our lives.
1) Distorted views of Jesus
God created man in His image and then man returned the favor."
Not "nice" but loving all the time. Real. We have domesticated him. Trapped inside a church. Sanitized. Rubbed people the wrong way. Not all the social graces. not smiley happy and say nice things to each other. Jesus was authentic and real. HOLIEST MAN on earth. But he was deeply loving. All the unholy were drawn to him even though they ran from the religious.
Holiness is inside out. Moralism is outside. You are... Embrace those images and remove the unhelpful ones. Self image is attached to purpose. If you think purpose is 'ahole' then that is how you will act. Or if your identity is something good you will live in that and aim at that.
2) View of Self- deeply impacts us as people. Can limit our freedom. Replace old negative labels or identities with things that God says about us.
3) View of Others
"First thing you can say about any human being on the planet?"
Do we think of others as sinners who need to be saved first or As people who have been made in the image of God had have fallen short and need to be saved. It is a primary truth. In God's image first before the fall. Then the sin.
4)Romantic love- different types of love (4 loves)
Permeates our society. For good and for bad. Fed to us through all the media; movies, books, music. Good feeling type of love. Consumeristic type of love. Problem is that it has so saturated our society that it is the love that we hold as the ideal love.
Romantic love will get you to the alter but it is not romantic love that will take you the distance. We need another type of love for this. ex "after three years 'we're out of love. We're thinking of divorcing. We've fallen out of love.' They had fallen out of romantic love. But the sad thing is that this is exactly the time that real love can be expressed.
EX. Dogs are abandoned 6-8 weeks after Christmas. They had this romantic, lovely image of a puppy and they go and poo all over the place. When the reality hits we freak out. Isn't that terrible?
(Sacrificial or)faithful love. Will keep us in relationships. Foundational of all love. The type of love that Jesus loves us with. We need to receive this love from him. He asks us to love other in this love. How does this work? There is no situation in which you can not love someone. You can always love.
5) How we spend our money
Stewardship. Trust in money or in the Father.
See Foster- Money, Sex, and power.
2nd most talked about topic by Jesus is money. Do we attach value to it beyond it's worth. Observe Rich don't have any more to gain by getting more money. More cars, clothes, etc than we need. We are consumers. It is a blind spot. Seductive.
*Identity, purpose, meaning, and belonging now make consumerism an official religion. "She was worked to death making things that we try not to call shit."
6)Status Anxiety- Everyone wants to be noticed, to get attention. we begin to measure our self worth against one another. We climb over each other to get noticed. When we are on the same level we are happy but we are not satisfied with being the same or having enough. We get status anxiety.
7)Family- nuclear family as an idol- if only we could get back to that everything would be alright. If we are 1st concerned with this unit we can loose the social justice that we are called to. Safety and comfort over calling and looking after than more than your own. There are a lot of lost out there with no family to call their own. Let your family be a reflection of the kingdom and of heaven.
Peace- Not just the antonym of war. Shalom. "So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace." Judges 6:24 "Yahweh-shalom"
Colossians 3:1-17
Scripture
"Rules for Holy Living
1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is youra life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.b 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let 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. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Story
Principle
Challenge
What would it be like to encounter God?
Question
We get immersed in the world.
What I want to talk about is what it is to live as kingdom people.
Discipleship.
Critique and see some of the obstacles that keep us from living like kingdom people.
Challenge ourselves to be more christ-like and more free.
There ought to be a quality about us who follow Jesus that make people look twice at our lives.
1) Distorted views of Jesus
God created man in His image and then man returned the favor."
Not "nice" but loving all the time. Real. We have domesticated him. Trapped inside a church. Sanitized. Rubbed people the wrong way. Not all the social graces. not smiley happy and say nice things to each other. Jesus was authentic and real. HOLIEST MAN on earth. But he was deeply loving. All the unholy were drawn to him even though they ran from the religious.
Holiness is inside out. Moralism is outside. You are... Embrace those images and remove the unhelpful ones. Self image is attached to purpose. If you think purpose is 'ahole' then that is how you will act. Or if your identity is something good you will live in that and aim at that.
2) View of Self- deeply impacts us as people. Can limit our freedom. Replace old negative labels or identities with things that God says about us.
3) View of Others
"First thing you can say about any human being on the planet?"
Do we think of others as sinners who need to be saved first or As people who have been made in the image of God had have fallen short and need to be saved. It is a primary truth. In God's image first before the fall. Then the sin.
4)Romantic love- different types of love (4 loves)
Permeates our society. For good and for bad. Fed to us through all the media; movies, books, music. Good feeling type of love. Consumeristic type of love. Problem is that it has so saturated our society that it is the love that we hold as the ideal love.
Romantic love will get you to the alter but it is not romantic love that will take you the distance. We need another type of love for this. ex "after three years 'we're out of love. We're thinking of divorcing. We've fallen out of love.' They had fallen out of romantic love. But the sad thing is that this is exactly the time that real love can be expressed.
EX. Dogs are abandoned 6-8 weeks after Christmas. They had this romantic, lovely image of a puppy and they go and poo all over the place. When the reality hits we freak out. Isn't that terrible?
(Sacrificial or)faithful love. Will keep us in relationships. Foundational of all love. The type of love that Jesus loves us with. We need to receive this love from him. He asks us to love other in this love. How does this work? There is no situation in which you can not love someone. You can always love.
5) How we spend our money
Stewardship. Trust in money or in the Father.
See Foster- Money, Sex, and power.
2nd most talked about topic by Jesus is money. Do we attach value to it beyond it's worth. Observe Rich don't have any more to gain by getting more money. More cars, clothes, etc than we need. We are consumers. It is a blind spot. Seductive.
*Identity, purpose, meaning, and belonging now make consumerism an official religion. "She was worked to death making things that we try not to call shit."
6)Status Anxiety- Everyone wants to be noticed, to get attention. we begin to measure our self worth against one another. We climb over each other to get noticed. When we are on the same level we are happy but we are not satisfied with being the same or having enough. We get status anxiety.
7)Family- nuclear family as an idol- if only we could get back to that everything would be alright. If we are 1st concerned with this unit we can loose the social justice that we are called to. Safety and comfort over calling and looking after than more than your own. There are a lot of lost out there with no family to call their own. Let your family be a reflection of the kingdom and of heaven.
Peace- Not just the antonym of war. Shalom. "So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace." Judges 6:24 "Yahweh-shalom"
Colossians 3:1-17
Scripture
"Rules for Holy Living
1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is youra life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.b 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let 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. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Story
Principle
Challenge
What would it be like to encounter God?
Question
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Prayer from FO
God,
Thank you for the worthiness you have given me to pray to you brought to me through the mercy displayed in your Son's sacrifice on the cross and the grace of the resurrection of me in the Spirit that you have given me access to.
Thank you for the creative way you make each one of us and the way you uniquely knit me in love. I ask you to give me security in the way you made me. To have peace and joy for the gifts of questioning and truth seeking and caring for people. I am sorry for the times I doubted the gifts you put in me and did not use them to love others. I am sorry for the times that I used them to prove my worth and identity to myself and others. I thank you for putting in me the pursuit of truth which comes from you. Thanks for showing me a perfect love that I can imperfectly love others with.
Please show me more clearly how you made me and give me eyes and ears to your spirit with discernment of when and how to act.
Amen
Adam
Thank you for the worthiness you have given me to pray to you brought to me through the mercy displayed in your Son's sacrifice on the cross and the grace of the resurrection of me in the Spirit that you have given me access to.
Thank you for the creative way you make each one of us and the way you uniquely knit me in love. I ask you to give me security in the way you made me. To have peace and joy for the gifts of questioning and truth seeking and caring for people. I am sorry for the times I doubted the gifts you put in me and did not use them to love others. I am sorry for the times that I used them to prove my worth and identity to myself and others. I thank you for putting in me the pursuit of truth which comes from you. Thanks for showing me a perfect love that I can imperfectly love others with.
Please show me more clearly how you made me and give me eyes and ears to your spirit with discernment of when and how to act.
Amen
Adam
Friday, September 11, 2009
unity- one body
Start- story of my faith;
Jesus, Lord and Savior. Isa43:11 "I, even I, am the Lord,and apart from me there is no savior.12I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you."
Division in family over Catholic /Christian.
But miss Jesus in their traditions. Adventures in missing the point.
It breaks my heart to see people loose Jesus in the details or the form. Don't you get it? It's not about
John 17:23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.
Ephesians 4:3-5 "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
How many hopes do we have? Does youth group have a different hope than ICCP?
Does the Catholic church have a different Spirit than the Christian church? Are we many bodies because there is one head and that is Jesus.
Will people tune me out when I mention a certain author or use a line from his book like adventure of missing the point? Will we turn against each other?
Will we keep the relationships in mind? Keep Jesus in mind? How many men do we have faith in? ONE
One God and Father of all.
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Exodus 20:2-6 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3“You shall have no other gods beforea me.
4“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. (What are we putting before Jesus? Why are we not thinking of the kingdom? He is one)
One body
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Find Christ is the head of the church
1 Corinthians 12- we as one body
This is how they will know you are mine is that you love one another.
Prayer in the garden. Blood dripping out his pours about to be crucified and three times he prayes for unity.
"10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephasa”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized intob the name of Paul? 14I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”c
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. " 1Cor 1:10-24
And What is the wisdom of our age? Do we follow a type of church model? A book? an insight as accurate as it might be
Jesus, Lord and Savior. Isa43:11 "I, even I, am the Lord,and apart from me there is no savior.12I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you."
Division in family over Catholic /Christian.
But miss Jesus in their traditions. Adventures in missing the point.
It breaks my heart to see people loose Jesus in the details or the form. Don't you get it? It's not about
John 17:23 I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that you sent me, and loved them, even as you loved me.
Ephesians 4:3-5 "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
How many hopes do we have? Does youth group have a different hope than ICCP?
Does the Catholic church have a different Spirit than the Christian church? Are we many bodies because there is one head and that is Jesus.
Will people tune me out when I mention a certain author or use a line from his book like adventure of missing the point? Will we turn against each other?
Will we keep the relationships in mind? Keep Jesus in mind? How many men do we have faith in? ONE
One God and Father of all.
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Exodus 20:2-6 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3“You shall have no other gods beforea me.
4“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments. (What are we putting before Jesus? Why are we not thinking of the kingdom? He is one)
One body
From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Find Christ is the head of the church
1 Corinthians 12- we as one body
This is how they will know you are mine is that you love one another.
Prayer in the garden. Blood dripping out his pours about to be crucified and three times he prayes for unity.
"10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephasa”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized intob the name of Paul? 14I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”c
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength. " 1Cor 1:10-24
And What is the wisdom of our age? Do we follow a type of church model? A book? an insight as accurate as it might be
Monday, September 7, 2009
ICCP Testamonies of change in their lives, grace and abiding
Natalie Cunningham (Murray State KY) wroteon August 13, 2007 at 5:10am
Some of the staff may have remembered me when I first came to France, I thought I was going to change the world. I was going to revalutionize my study abroad program, people were going to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit left and right. I never expected that I was going to be the one doing the changing. This seems like a story that I've relived over and over again, but I geuss until now that I have never learned my lesson.
The first thing I remember thinking about ICCP was, "well it'll be good to worship in english from time to time, but I probebly wont be challenged here, its one of those 'Grace Churches." Oh how the righteous fall and how God can humble those who chose not to humble themselves.
I believe I can honestly say that my semester in Aix was by far my most spiritally challenging semester of my college career. In a different country away from my church culture I was left to question EVERYTHING!!! If I was made to do it alone I don't know what I would have done. I look back on it now and I see every step of the way ICCP was there for me if i would only ask.
I realize now that this church, that I expected to be this small part of my study abroad experience, has become the one body of people that have taught me the most. It's all I talk about here at home. Uganda, how my ideas have changed, the fun we've had, etc.
EXAMPLE OF WISDOM:
Last night I had a friend over who I haven't spoken to in quiet a while. She moved in with her boyfriend and fell off the face of the earth. I found that the reason she refused to talk to people was because of her fear of what they would think. On one of my last days in France I had an amazing coffee with Tasha. There she told me many things, but one that I was able to use to help my friend. She told me "You never have to apologize to anyone for your sin. It is between you and God." Once I told my friend that you could just see the wheels in her head turning. SHe had never thought about it in that way. We were both brought up in a world were perfection was the goal and anything less was a disapointment to your elders and spiritual authorities.
If people take there sin and run, becasue they fear the response of their peers then no healing or repentence can happen. I fully believe in confession of sins, but it shouldn't result in disappointment but love and mourning together for sin.
That was just one thing, not to mention the Pettyjohns taking me in last minute when I got kicked out of my apartment, or the countless fun times; on the roof of the castle, on the roof of Dom's, at Apryl and Tim's
It really did make a difference for me, it was the difference of sitting home watching the clock till I could go to sleep and feeling like i had something to do and people to hang out with.
This was my long drawn out way to say that everyone at ICCP has changed me, soften me and shown me what Grace was all about.
Darren, Julie, Dom, Andy, Keri, Lindsey, Pat, Tasha, Adam, April, Tim, Teal, Meagan, and the Bates family who also loved me while I was there
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you are doing. You are making a difference and world will feel a change from all the work you are doing.
(p.s. please don't be offended if i happened to misspell your name, obviously spelling has never been my strong point)Report
Post #2Darrin Jones (France) replied to Natalie's poston August 27, 2007 at 12:48am
Natalie - thank you for your encouragement...
Amazing what God can do in a "Grace Church" isn't it??
After all, it's only in an atmosphere of grace that we can honestly deal with our real stuff.
Keep spreading the "infection" girl - you are awesome!!Report
Post #3Lindsey Pettyjohn (Indiana) replied to Natalie's poston August 31, 2007 at 10:30am
natalie,
that part where you said: "We were both brought up in a world were perfection was the goal and anything less was a disapointment to your elders and spiritual authorities."?...
i can totally relate...and the sad part is that that's totally what Jesus was NOT about...look at all the people he hung out with...the "unperfects". i think it's great that you can be there for your friend. keep on doing it. and remember that our goal is Jesus and living for him, not just pleasing our elders and spiritual leaders--'cause they're just as messed up as the rest of us. ;O)
Report
Post #4Rebecca Pearson Rudy (Eastern) wroteon September 29, 2008 at 2:43pm
My husband and I are going through a struggle of grace at our church and I am constantly encouraged remembering my experience at ICCP as well. The message of grace and "abiding in Christ" has been one point that keeps me moving forward in my own church. I have shared podcasts with my husband who is equally encouraged depsite that he has never been in fellowship at ICCP. I just want to second the complement to ICCP of being spiritually challenging and want to pray blessings to rain down in Aix.
Some of the staff may have remembered me when I first came to France, I thought I was going to change the world. I was going to revalutionize my study abroad program, people were going to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit left and right. I never expected that I was going to be the one doing the changing. This seems like a story that I've relived over and over again, but I geuss until now that I have never learned my lesson.
The first thing I remember thinking about ICCP was, "well it'll be good to worship in english from time to time, but I probebly wont be challenged here, its one of those 'Grace Churches." Oh how the righteous fall and how God can humble those who chose not to humble themselves.
I believe I can honestly say that my semester in Aix was by far my most spiritally challenging semester of my college career. In a different country away from my church culture I was left to question EVERYTHING!!! If I was made to do it alone I don't know what I would have done. I look back on it now and I see every step of the way ICCP was there for me if i would only ask.
I realize now that this church, that I expected to be this small part of my study abroad experience, has become the one body of people that have taught me the most. It's all I talk about here at home. Uganda, how my ideas have changed, the fun we've had, etc.
EXAMPLE OF WISDOM:
Last night I had a friend over who I haven't spoken to in quiet a while. She moved in with her boyfriend and fell off the face of the earth. I found that the reason she refused to talk to people was because of her fear of what they would think. On one of my last days in France I had an amazing coffee with Tasha. There she told me many things, but one that I was able to use to help my friend. She told me "You never have to apologize to anyone for your sin. It is between you and God." Once I told my friend that you could just see the wheels in her head turning. SHe had never thought about it in that way. We were both brought up in a world were perfection was the goal and anything less was a disapointment to your elders and spiritual authorities.
If people take there sin and run, becasue they fear the response of their peers then no healing or repentence can happen. I fully believe in confession of sins, but it shouldn't result in disappointment but love and mourning together for sin.
That was just one thing, not to mention the Pettyjohns taking me in last minute when I got kicked out of my apartment, or the countless fun times; on the roof of the castle, on the roof of Dom's, at Apryl and Tim's
It really did make a difference for me, it was the difference of sitting home watching the clock till I could go to sleep and feeling like i had something to do and people to hang out with.
This was my long drawn out way to say that everyone at ICCP has changed me, soften me and shown me what Grace was all about.
Darren, Julie, Dom, Andy, Keri, Lindsey, Pat, Tasha, Adam, April, Tim, Teal, Meagan, and the Bates family who also loved me while I was there
I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you are doing. You are making a difference and world will feel a change from all the work you are doing.
(p.s. please don't be offended if i happened to misspell your name, obviously spelling has never been my strong point)Report
Post #2Darrin Jones (France) replied to Natalie's poston August 27, 2007 at 12:48am
Natalie - thank you for your encouragement...
Amazing what God can do in a "Grace Church" isn't it??
After all, it's only in an atmosphere of grace that we can honestly deal with our real stuff.
Keep spreading the "infection" girl - you are awesome!!Report
Post #3Lindsey Pettyjohn (Indiana) replied to Natalie's poston August 31, 2007 at 10:30am
natalie,
that part where you said: "We were both brought up in a world were perfection was the goal and anything less was a disapointment to your elders and spiritual authorities."?...
i can totally relate...and the sad part is that that's totally what Jesus was NOT about...look at all the people he hung out with...the "unperfects". i think it's great that you can be there for your friend. keep on doing it. and remember that our goal is Jesus and living for him, not just pleasing our elders and spiritual leaders--'cause they're just as messed up as the rest of us. ;O)
Report
Post #4Rebecca Pearson Rudy (Eastern) wroteon September 29, 2008 at 2:43pm
My husband and I are going through a struggle of grace at our church and I am constantly encouraged remembering my experience at ICCP as well. The message of grace and "abiding in Christ" has been one point that keeps me moving forward in my own church. I have shared podcasts with my husband who is equally encouraged depsite that he has never been in fellowship at ICCP. I just want to second the complement to ICCP of being spiritually challenging and want to pray blessings to rain down in Aix.
Hil's notes on Morris
Download the original attachment
Hil & Dom breakfast with Linus & Sharron Morris:
-for ICCP, how do we reach more people than we’re losing?
(gradually build up the core of people staying)
-In MINISTRY, Linus and Sharron learned to set boundaries the hard way. Here are their examples:
*turn off phones at dinner
*email and make phone calls in one or two blocks of time a day, and that’s it- this allows you to have more emotional and relational time/creates space
*take days off
-In MINISTRY over the years, Linus & Sharron saw each other as a team…”we are in ministry together”
STAFF MEETING WITH LINUS & SHARRON:
-view transient community as an opportunity- NOT a future loss…view it as if you are making a “deposit” into these people’s lives
-ask God to always make what I am doing “fresh”
-Linus talked for a bit about Corey Ten Boom (look her up...the movie “The Hiding Place” was made from her autobiography)
-God uses friction!!
When there is friction in someone’s life, it is a sign that it is the beginning of God trying to do something in their life. The person has probably been pushing it away for a while. If you don’t deal with it/lean into it, then it will just cycle back. The person is only delaying the inevitable and ultimately, making life harder on themselves.
-Linus talked about how Christians can be ”crazy making” – a person who is not self-reflective, open to learn and to be taught and hear the ‘hard stuff’ (truth) often starts feeling “crazy” when we talk with them because what we are pushing doesn’t fit into their life’s perspective.
-PARENTING IN MINISTRY.
With parenting, view the entire family as being in ministry- kids, too. Bring the kids into it, do not try and protect them and have them off to the side away from adults and ministry (struggles and pain are a part of life!)
-----LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT-----
*Ask “in 5 years from now, what do we want to see?”
1) Continue to look out, reach out, and draw people in
2) Build a strong community
3) Watch for who will potentially rise up into leadership positions to help sustain (mixed marriages, French people, long term stays)
-develop them so that they take responsibility for some part of the ministry
-have the perspective of “WHAT WILL OUTLIVE US? Continue on without us?”
4) Ask “How do you develop those people along the way (in both organic and linear ways)?”
-last step…those people mature into leadership
-----5 OLYMIC RINGS-----
1) Ministry Development: understand passions, spiritual gifts, etc.
2) strategic Development: having some goals and outcomes in view (steps)…from coaching use the
S=
M=measurable
A=attainable
R=
T=
3) Character Development: the alignment of what we profess and project on the outside VS. what we have going on inside
-DO THE WORK, you’ve got yourself on your hands
-LEAN INTO IT!
-irritants (Hud keeps poking away at stuff we don’t even realize are issues)
4) Emotional Development (E.Q. not I.Q.)
-Ask “What is my intent?” and “What is my impact?”
5) Spiritual Development: being consistently connected with God- not mechanically either (being open to sensing His love, be out in nature, etc.)
<>
---------------
-do not ignore your spiritual conscience, spiritually CHECK-IN, if it doesn’t feel right, then listen to that
*example: Linus having to apologize in front of a large group…a few years ago he was at a conference and he felt that he should not get up and talk, then was pushed into it by one of the other speakers and while he was speaking, seriously put his foot in his mouth and ended up making people really angry, so he had to come back later and apologize- if only he has listened to the initial inner nagging telling him to not get up and speak in front of that group)
-read “Spiritual Leadership” by Sanders
-Ask yourself what you need to KEEP doing,
Ask yourself what you need to STOP doing,
And ask what you need to START doing.
-USE post-its, everyone write down 3 expectations & then put them on the wall…go through them together
-key words for a team: collaborative, humility, graciousness
-read “The Search To Belong” by Myers, we need a combination of the following four spaces…
1) PUBLIC space (ex: a lot of people gathered at a football game)
2) SOCIAL sPACE (small talk, snippets of catch up, serve the city)
3) PERSONAL sPACE (small groups, Alpha course, asking “How did the Connect conference go? What were some highlights?” etc.)
4) INTIMATE space- only a few select people, there’s more safety
*PERSONAL space and INTIMATE space often get confused!!
-Create ‘social space’ before and after the Sunday service or whatever event the church is putting on (a lot of church offer a coffee hour before, or the option of have dinner together afterwards, etc.)
-with serve the city, have a musical concert at the end
-----SINGLE PEOPLE/Women in CA-----
-CA values women in ministry and leadership
(Melinda, Katharine, Ruth Craig, Deb Hirsh, Rita, etc.)
-Singles, let couples be couples & Couples, let singles be singles
-----Tying Shoe Laces VS. Stretching Rubber-Bands-----
-TYING shoe laces (connecting others together) VS. Stretching rubber-bands (when people need to step up and take responsibility: example of child care- “Ok, everyone with a child- both father and mother- need to help out once a month with our Kids Program- then they are getting stretched)
-At a team meeting, check-in with each other about who might have a situation where someone is glomming on/needy, etc. (where you feel trapped)
*Some counselors/churches have an “ONLY 3 MEETINGS” rule, only 3 sessions so you don’t get absorbed by just a few community members (needy, clingy, etc.)
-Constantly communicate your vision- keep it visible!! Vision leaks!
Every message should have an element or reminder of vision
Definition: Vision is a picture of a preferable future
---------
-Why are we different? “we re-engage people”!
-we initiate, some people cannott handle it, they don’t know what to do with it, we’re on the offensive here…it’s a rare thing, most people just react/are defensive
-“AS YOU GO” DISCIPLEHSIP
-1 good purpose I wrote down that Linus said (he mentioned several): “equipping believers for effective ministry”
Hil & Dom breakfast with Linus & Sharron Morris:
-for ICCP, how do we reach more people than we’re losing?
(gradually build up the core of people staying)
-In MINISTRY, Linus and Sharron learned to set boundaries the hard way. Here are their examples:
*turn off phones at dinner
*email and make phone calls in one or two blocks of time a day, and that’s it- this allows you to have more emotional and relational time/creates space
*take days off
-In MINISTRY over the years, Linus & Sharron saw each other as a team…”we are in ministry together”
STAFF MEETING WITH LINUS & SHARRON:
-view transient community as an opportunity- NOT a future loss…view it as if you are making a “deposit” into these people’s lives
-ask God to always make what I am doing “fresh”
-Linus talked for a bit about Corey Ten Boom (look her up...the movie “The Hiding Place” was made from her autobiography)
-God uses friction!!
When there is friction in someone’s life, it is a sign that it is the beginning of God trying to do something in their life. The person has probably been pushing it away for a while. If you don’t deal with it/lean into it, then it will just cycle back. The person is only delaying the inevitable and ultimately, making life harder on themselves.
-Linus talked about how Christians can be ”crazy making” – a person who is not self-reflective, open to learn and to be taught and hear the ‘hard stuff’ (truth) often starts feeling “crazy” when we talk with them because what we are pushing doesn’t fit into their life’s perspective.
-PARENTING IN MINISTRY.
With parenting, view the entire family as being in ministry- kids, too. Bring the kids into it, do not try and protect them and have them off to the side away from adults and ministry (struggles and pain are a part of life!)
-----LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT-----
*Ask “in 5 years from now, what do we want to see?”
1) Continue to look out, reach out, and draw people in
2) Build a strong community
3) Watch for who will potentially rise up into leadership positions to help sustain (mixed marriages, French people, long term stays)
-develop them so that they take responsibility for some part of the ministry
-have the perspective of “WHAT WILL OUTLIVE US? Continue on without us?”
4) Ask “How do you develop those people along the way (in both organic and linear ways)?”
-last step…those people mature into leadership
-----5 OLYMIC RINGS-----
1) Ministry Development: understand passions, spiritual gifts, etc.
2) strategic Development: having some goals and outcomes in view (steps)…from coaching use the
S=
M=measurable
A=attainable
R=
T=
3) Character Development: the alignment of what we profess and project on the outside VS. what we have going on inside
-DO THE WORK, you’ve got yourself on your hands
-LEAN INTO IT!
-irritants (Hud keeps poking away at stuff we don’t even realize are issues)
4) Emotional Development (E.Q. not I.Q.)
-Ask “What is my intent?” and “What is my impact?”
5) Spiritual Development: being consistently connected with God- not mechanically either (being open to sensing His love, be out in nature, etc.)
<
---------------
-do not ignore your spiritual conscience, spiritually CHECK-IN, if it doesn’t feel right, then listen to that
*example: Linus having to apologize in front of a large group…a few years ago he was at a conference and he felt that he should not get up and talk, then was pushed into it by one of the other speakers and while he was speaking, seriously put his foot in his mouth and ended up making people really angry, so he had to come back later and apologize- if only he has listened to the initial inner nagging telling him to not get up and speak in front of that group)
-read “Spiritual Leadership” by Sanders
-Ask yourself what you need to KEEP doing,
Ask yourself what you need to STOP doing,
And ask what you need to START doing.
-USE post-its, everyone write down 3 expectations & then put them on the wall…go through them together
-key words for a team: collaborative, humility, graciousness
-read “The Search To Belong” by Myers, we need a combination of the following four spaces…
1) PUBLIC space (ex: a lot of people gathered at a football game)
2) SOCIAL sPACE (small talk, snippets of catch up, serve the city)
3) PERSONAL sPACE (small groups, Alpha course, asking “How did the Connect conference go? What were some highlights?” etc.)
4) INTIMATE space- only a few select people, there’s more safety
*PERSONAL space and INTIMATE space often get confused!!
-Create ‘social space’ before and after the Sunday service or whatever event the church is putting on (a lot of church offer a coffee hour before, or the option of have dinner together afterwards, etc.)
-with serve the city, have a musical concert at the end
-----SINGLE PEOPLE/Women in CA-----
-CA values women in ministry and leadership
(Melinda, Katharine, Ruth Craig, Deb Hirsh, Rita, etc.)
-Singles, let couples be couples & Couples, let singles be singles
-----Tying Shoe Laces VS. Stretching Rubber-Bands-----
-TYING shoe laces (connecting others together) VS. Stretching rubber-bands (when people need to step up and take responsibility: example of child care- “Ok, everyone with a child- both father and mother- need to help out once a month with our Kids Program- then they are getting stretched)
-At a team meeting, check-in with each other about who might have a situation where someone is glomming on/needy, etc. (where you feel trapped)
*Some counselors/churches have an “ONLY 3 MEETINGS” rule, only 3 sessions so you don’t get absorbed by just a few community members (needy, clingy, etc.)
-Constantly communicate your vision- keep it visible!! Vision leaks!
Every message should have an element or reminder of vision
Definition: Vision is a picture of a preferable future
---------
-Why are we different? “we re-engage people”!
-we initiate, some people cannott handle it, they don’t know what to do with it, we’re on the offensive here…it’s a rare thing, most people just react/are defensive
-“AS YOU GO” DISCIPLEHSIP
-1 good purpose I wrote down that Linus said (he mentioned several): “equipping believers for effective ministry”
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