Sunday, July 16, 2006
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Chasing Daylight - IMPACT - 'Leave a Mark'
1 Sam. 14:8-17
The story turns at this point; over the last several weeks we have looked at the characteristics of different individuals, discovering in their lives how we can take Life to the next level. How we can live out our dreams and seize these
divine moments God lays before us.
We’ve discovered that the choices we make is most likely the most spiritual activity we engage in and that those who want to seize the extraordinary opportunities in life need to take initiative and advance forward. That we also need to take responsibility of what we breath in and who we are
influencing; that life is full of uncertainty and we are to live by faith and move forward.
In all of that there comes this time in life where you realize that there is a whole lot more going on around you that you could possibly take credit for... have you ever had one of those moments?
You know your talent and you know your giftedness and most likely you are under-estimated by people and still there are these moments in life when we think,
“WOW, what’s going on around me is much bigger than I am”
There’s this God-intervention in my life and that’s when it becomes fun! That’s when it become different.
So we see this with Jon - in this moment where he steps out into conflict, danger, of risk - it’s like you were to lay the odds in Vegas or something it’d be like a million to one chance that Jon and his A.B. would actually survive
Remember Jon is heading into this battle w/ one sword against a huge army. Outrageous odds against, forget
success, their survival.
Yet what we see is when Jon steps out into the valley and lets the Phill. see him and moves into the point of no return all of a sudden things begin to happen that were outside of their control.
I think all of us have these moments where we know there are things happening outside of our control.
But most of the time when we feel that things are out of control, that’s not a good thing. But there are moments when OoC and that becomes a wonderful thing
Bigger, better, more extraordinary things that are happening that we could ever trace back to our own, abilities, talent, intelligence, anything...
Jon and A.B. engage the Phill. and do an ExORD thing by defeating 20 Ph. warriors.
Then everything shifts and God sends an earthquake and there is this huge panic - vs. 15 makes sure it is very clear that GOD sent it! So that everyones focus would shift to this moment in life, and Saul and the others began looking around, “Who’s missing? Who’s left the camp?”
They found out it was Jon and AB and I’m telling you this is what happens in life...
As people journey together and do life together the one who begins to connect w/ God, get heart to heart with God begins this new journey that if you do not join them in a similar
journey, years later you find them in a very different place.
I want to talk to you this morning about making an impact - leaving a mark. Not all of us are going to be a ‘Columbus’
or ‘Magellan’ or something... but every1 of us in this room was created by God not only to make an impact, but to long to as well. You can try and hide it all you want, but inside us all there is this incredible fear that our lives wont amount up to what they could have. It’s in us all.
The further you are from living the life God wants and has for for you, the more it just burns away in your soul.
On the other side, the more you begin to live your life for God, the more your life becomes a reflection of the dreams God has for you, you begin to live in this sweet spot, that you know it doesnt matter what any1 else thinks , or says, you don’t have to compare yourself to any1 else b/c you’re living the life God created you to live - that’s good stuff!
Heros
Sometimes I think we’re looking for that big moment in life where we have a huge impact where our name is up in lights
but the reality is w/ most of us when we look back on our lives the most significant times of life are going to be those small moments that we can’t even tell it’s had an effect in that moment on another human being.
I don’t know what Jon was thinking, but I don’t think he thought that his action would create this pivotal moment in Israel’s history that would awaken all those troops that were afraid to go to war and that God would use it as an ExTOrd victory that would remain in the annals of time for all of us to learn from.
How can we Maximize our IMPACT in Life?
How can we make sure we leave a mark?
FOCUS
How do you optimalize your life?
How do you make an impact
It really begins w/ Focus, which is a hard 1 for me b/c I have such a tuff time doing it myself. And what happens is we become OK w/ our lives out of focus. Life is comfortable.
The problem is we may not really know it b/c we don’t have anything to compare it to.
(Jessi needing glasses)
Alot of times I think we don’t even realize our lives are out of focus. We need to have some sort of focus to make an impact
Jonathan had all these choices of where to enter the battle - he had to choose a point of entry
Eventually if you’re gonna make an impact, you have to choose a point of entry... only then can God take over
We have to do our part - God will do His
What do I focus on? On what matters.
Ask yourself some basic questions:
Who do I want to be? What is it I long to accomplish?
What on that path am I able to control? (What can happen is we can have a good idea of who we want to be... want to acc... but we become paralyzed b/c there are some things along the way we cannot control - we then relinquish, we let go of what we do have control over... ahh forget it)
Sometimes we are focusing on all the wrong stuff...
This is what Solomon said in Ecc. 2, If you’re over working, if you’re trying to feed your pleasures it’s all meaningless...
like chasing after the wind - it’s like trying to punch the wind
(handprint in air)
Some of us are living our lives trying to affect the wind - b/c we’re living our lives for things that don’t matter
(millionaire?)
Sometimes we’re not focusing on what matters, but we’re focusing on making an impact on those things that are worthless.
Sometimes instead of affecting the wind we try to affect
water - ever try to make an impact on water?
I’m really important look at how much space I fill.
So we have this sense that we’re making an impact b/c we’re filling a space - the true test comes whenever we move, not necessarily away, just somewhere else even w/in the same area, will there be any evidence you were ever there at all?
If you want to make an impact in life, if you want to leave a mark - then you’re going to have to focus on what matters and even beyond that you need to focus on what’s going to matter - so here’s the tuff ?
What are you doing right now in your life that’s going to matter a year from now? 5...10
We have to re-direct our lives to the stuff that’s at the core of our soul - to the things that really matter.
Focused on eternal matters.
Are you standing at what is ‘the epicenter’ of your effectiveness?
LEVERAGE
If want to make a maximum impact you have to learn how to leverage your life.
You think Jon didn’t know he was son of a King, that he was a prince? He knew if went out to war
it would cause his father to act.
Alot of times in life you can’t force some1 to do something but you sure can be a magnetic pull in a certain direction,
can’t you?
You hated soccer until your little girl started playing soccer
You never had any interest in CheerLeading ever - until your little girl got involved. Or maybe your son playing baseball or the flute or whatever... we end up loving what those we love love?
Jon couldn’t command dad, waste of energy beg him to get him to engage, but if he jumped into the battle, he knew his father loved him enough to go into that battle, and I’m thinking if it was some1 else Saul would be like, ‘Uh let’em die.’
B/c it was his son, there was this magnetic pull into the heat, into the conflict.
If you’re gonna M I - L M - your gonna have to be able to leverage your life -
How can we do that? Simply leverage your Time, Energy, & Resources.
So many people waste their time - I think we have a problem w/ laziness - we have to ask How do I leverage T E & R
How do I leverage my time? Do I waste too much time?
“Who you are tomorrow is your responsibility today”
We need to invest in ourselves today so we have something to give tomorrow.
We have to leverage our E - we sit around not doing much
I think b/c we’re bored - just watching life happen - if we would live life the way God intended we’d be sooo energized
and exhilarated
A part of the way you stay energized is by doing the things you love - remembering that it doesn’t get you out of focus on what matters - healthy balance but have fun!
INVEST
If your going to make a lasting impact on life then you have to invest, but listen you have to invest in people.
How? Invest in people who invest in people
Invest in others who care about others; invest in people who are giving their lives away - that’s what I do - that’s where my time goes in those who want to move forward.
(Pareto Principle)
I love how Jon took his A B - he could have said, ‘this guys is just gonna hold me back. Ever felt that way? Ever thought, ‘I could do so much better if I could get rid of all these people - or atleast my spouse’
(walk too fast for Alli)
Look at what Jon says here, yet so subtle v.11-12
For Israel, what do you mean Is., you mean for Jon. NO Jon is not trying to make a name for himself, or trying to get a promotion for AB, he’s doing it for all the people of God - I love this about him.
He was investing in people who would invest in people - his long term dream was that his life would leave a mark in the lives of others who would leave a mark.
What is the one thing I need to do this week to begin to leave a mark?
(relat. job to pursue, job quit, forgiveness i need to ask, a risk i need to take)
I want you to think about what is the mark that you need to make this week - then move forward with F L I
Something so small, so simple can make a huge impact in the lives of others.
The story turns at this point; over the last several weeks we have looked at the characteristics of different individuals, discovering in their lives how we can take Life to the next level. How we can live out our dreams and seize these
divine moments God lays before us.
We’ve discovered that the choices we make is most likely the most spiritual activity we engage in and that those who want to seize the extraordinary opportunities in life need to take initiative and advance forward. That we also need to take responsibility of what we breath in and who we are
influencing; that life is full of uncertainty and we are to live by faith and move forward.
In all of that there comes this time in life where you realize that there is a whole lot more going on around you that you could possibly take credit for... have you ever had one of those moments?
You know your talent and you know your giftedness and most likely you are under-estimated by people and still there are these moments in life when we think,
“WOW, what’s going on around me is much bigger than I am”
There’s this God-intervention in my life and that’s when it becomes fun! That’s when it become different.
So we see this with Jon - in this moment where he steps out into conflict, danger, of risk - it’s like you were to lay the odds in Vegas or something it’d be like a million to one chance that Jon and his A.B. would actually survive
Remember Jon is heading into this battle w/ one sword against a huge army. Outrageous odds against, forget
success, their survival.
Yet what we see is when Jon steps out into the valley and lets the Phill. see him and moves into the point of no return all of a sudden things begin to happen that were outside of their control.
I think all of us have these moments where we know there are things happening outside of our control.
But most of the time when we feel that things are out of control, that’s not a good thing. But there are moments when OoC and that becomes a wonderful thing
Bigger, better, more extraordinary things that are happening that we could ever trace back to our own, abilities, talent, intelligence, anything...
Jon and A.B. engage the Phill. and do an ExORD thing by defeating 20 Ph. warriors.
Then everything shifts and God sends an earthquake and there is this huge panic - vs. 15 makes sure it is very clear that GOD sent it! So that everyones focus would shift to this moment in life, and Saul and the others began looking around, “Who’s missing? Who’s left the camp?”
They found out it was Jon and AB and I’m telling you this is what happens in life...
As people journey together and do life together the one who begins to connect w/ God, get heart to heart with God begins this new journey that if you do not join them in a similar
journey, years later you find them in a very different place.
I want to talk to you this morning about making an impact - leaving a mark. Not all of us are going to be a ‘Columbus’
or ‘Magellan’ or something... but every1 of us in this room was created by God not only to make an impact, but to long to as well. You can try and hide it all you want, but inside us all there is this incredible fear that our lives wont amount up to what they could have. It’s in us all.
The further you are from living the life God wants and has for for you, the more it just burns away in your soul.
On the other side, the more you begin to live your life for God, the more your life becomes a reflection of the dreams God has for you, you begin to live in this sweet spot, that you know it doesnt matter what any1 else thinks , or says, you don’t have to compare yourself to any1 else b/c you’re living the life God created you to live - that’s good stuff!
Heros
Sometimes I think we’re looking for that big moment in life where we have a huge impact where our name is up in lights
but the reality is w/ most of us when we look back on our lives the most significant times of life are going to be those small moments that we can’t even tell it’s had an effect in that moment on another human being.
I don’t know what Jon was thinking, but I don’t think he thought that his action would create this pivotal moment in Israel’s history that would awaken all those troops that were afraid to go to war and that God would use it as an ExTOrd victory that would remain in the annals of time for all of us to learn from.
How can we Maximize our IMPACT in Life?
How can we make sure we leave a mark?
FOCUS
How do you optimalize your life?
How do you make an impact
It really begins w/ Focus, which is a hard 1 for me b/c I have such a tuff time doing it myself. And what happens is we become OK w/ our lives out of focus. Life is comfortable.
The problem is we may not really know it b/c we don’t have anything to compare it to.
(Jessi needing glasses)
Alot of times I think we don’t even realize our lives are out of focus. We need to have some sort of focus to make an impact
Jonathan had all these choices of where to enter the battle - he had to choose a point of entry
Eventually if you’re gonna make an impact, you have to choose a point of entry... only then can God take over
We have to do our part - God will do His
What do I focus on? On what matters.
Ask yourself some basic questions:
Who do I want to be? What is it I long to accomplish?
What on that path am I able to control? (What can happen is we can have a good idea of who we want to be... want to acc... but we become paralyzed b/c there are some things along the way we cannot control - we then relinquish, we let go of what we do have control over... ahh forget it)
Sometimes we are focusing on all the wrong stuff...
This is what Solomon said in Ecc. 2, If you’re over working, if you’re trying to feed your pleasures it’s all meaningless...
like chasing after the wind - it’s like trying to punch the wind
(handprint in air)
Some of us are living our lives trying to affect the wind - b/c we’re living our lives for things that don’t matter
(millionaire?)
Sometimes we’re not focusing on what matters, but we’re focusing on making an impact on those things that are worthless.
Sometimes instead of affecting the wind we try to affect
water - ever try to make an impact on water?
I’m really important look at how much space I fill.
So we have this sense that we’re making an impact b/c we’re filling a space - the true test comes whenever we move, not necessarily away, just somewhere else even w/in the same area, will there be any evidence you were ever there at all?
If you want to make an impact in life, if you want to leave a mark - then you’re going to have to focus on what matters and even beyond that you need to focus on what’s going to matter - so here’s the tuff ?
What are you doing right now in your life that’s going to matter a year from now? 5...10
We have to re-direct our lives to the stuff that’s at the core of our soul - to the things that really matter.
Focused on eternal matters.
Are you standing at what is ‘the epicenter’ of your effectiveness?
LEVERAGE
If want to make a maximum impact you have to learn how to leverage your life.
You think Jon didn’t know he was son of a King, that he was a prince? He knew if went out to war
it would cause his father to act.
Alot of times in life you can’t force some1 to do something but you sure can be a magnetic pull in a certain direction,
can’t you?
You hated soccer until your little girl started playing soccer
You never had any interest in CheerLeading ever - until your little girl got involved. Or maybe your son playing baseball or the flute or whatever... we end up loving what those we love love?
Jon couldn’t command dad, waste of energy beg him to get him to engage, but if he jumped into the battle, he knew his father loved him enough to go into that battle, and I’m thinking if it was some1 else Saul would be like, ‘Uh let’em die.’
B/c it was his son, there was this magnetic pull into the heat, into the conflict.
If you’re gonna M I - L M - your gonna have to be able to leverage your life -
How can we do that? Simply leverage your Time, Energy, & Resources.
So many people waste their time - I think we have a problem w/ laziness - we have to ask How do I leverage T E & R
How do I leverage my time? Do I waste too much time?
“Who you are tomorrow is your responsibility today”
We need to invest in ourselves today so we have something to give tomorrow.
We have to leverage our E - we sit around not doing much
I think b/c we’re bored - just watching life happen - if we would live life the way God intended we’d be sooo energized
and exhilarated
A part of the way you stay energized is by doing the things you love - remembering that it doesn’t get you out of focus on what matters - healthy balance but have fun!
INVEST
If your going to make a lasting impact on life then you have to invest, but listen you have to invest in people.
How? Invest in people who invest in people
Invest in others who care about others; invest in people who are giving their lives away - that’s what I do - that’s where my time goes in those who want to move forward.
(Pareto Principle)
I love how Jon took his A B - he could have said, ‘this guys is just gonna hold me back. Ever felt that way? Ever thought, ‘I could do so much better if I could get rid of all these people - or atleast my spouse’
(walk too fast for Alli)
Look at what Jon says here, yet so subtle v.11-12
For Israel, what do you mean Is., you mean for Jon. NO Jon is not trying to make a name for himself, or trying to get a promotion for AB, he’s doing it for all the people of God - I love this about him.
He was investing in people who would invest in people - his long term dream was that his life would leave a mark in the lives of others who would leave a mark.
What is the one thing I need to do this week to begin to leave a mark?
(relat. job to pursue, job quit, forgiveness i need to ask, a risk i need to take)
I want you to think about what is the mark that you need to make this week - then move forward with F L I
Something so small, so simple can make a huge impact in the lives of others.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Chasing Daylight - ADVANCE - 'GO unless you get a NO'
Story of attempting High Dive at YMCA
Sometimes it seems that the challenges that lay in front of us
seem so overwhelming and I don’t know about you but I don’t have that natural courage DNA where you just step right out there all the time.
But I do think life has a strange way of putting us on this certain course of action where our only option is to move forward or crawl backwards.
I wander how many of us have found ourselves paralyzed
We hear and read these great stories of human courage and heroism and then we find ourselves in this moment of opportunity and we are paralyzed w/ fear and self-doubt.
Sometimes we think people who live extraordinary lives are made of a different material than us, but the truth of the matter is we’re all made of the same material - it’s what we do with that material that matters.
If our birth is like the sunrise and our death like the sunset, then in-between we’re all just chasing daylight. And one of the characteristics of a person who seizes the power of every moment, who unleashes their full potential of their life
is that they have an ‘Advance Mentality’
They Go until they get a No
and no matter how much self-doubt... fear... or how overwhelmed they are by the obstacles and circumstances,
they still move forward and jump!
This is where Jonathan was, standing on the diving board
1 Sam. 14:6-13
If you’re reading this story with just simple objectivity you’re thinking these guys are insane, what do you mean let them see you?! That’s not really a good idea.
Let’s not do that - let’s attack while their asleep, or drunk, or less motivated - let’s do everything we can to leverage our advantage, let’s use some sort of military strategy.
But not Jonathan - let’s move out of the invisible into the visible, let’s go to the point of no return.
B/c if we’re really going to seize this moment we need to get to a place where only God can see us thru.
And then he adds to the insanity by saying, “If they say stay where you are, then we’ll stay here and die like men.
But if they say, “Come up to us” then that will be sign to us that the Lord has delivered them into out hands.
And that’s what happens - go out - they see- they call them up - and Jon says there it is man, there it is, that’s what we’ve been looking for.
You’re thinking the A.B. must think he’s nuts but not at all -
Jon has this ‘Advance Mentality’ to move forward -
He says, if were called UP into the danger.
You move forward unless God tells you to stop.
You advance unless God tells you to wait.
There are certain things that you do not not need permission to do them. You’ve already been commissioned to do them. There are certain things you do not need a calling to do. You’ve already been commanded to do them.
What are some of those things? (groups)
Much of our religious language has been focused on the don’ts rather than the do’s. In the same way we act as if the primary word from God is stop when it’s actually GO.
By the way, what’s the 1st word of the Great Comm.
Too many divine opportunities are lost b/c we keep waiting for a word when the word has already been given.
For Jon wait was the kiss of death, and come was the sign of God. Wait made much more sense & took much less effort.
Come implied increased effort and danger. Which leads to an important question, ‘What kind of sign are u looking 4?’
Jon was moving forward in alignment w/ the purpose of God, and the challenge to advance was the affirmation of God’s hand and blessing. He wasn’t sitting around waiting for a sign. He moved forward in everything he knew to do.
Remember a couple of weeks ago we talked about, ‘most of the time FAITH is moving forward in what we already know”
remember school dances - getting turned down, or asking for girls phone # and being told no - remember all those times you’ve been turned down or told NO?
I think alot of us have this ‘Spiritual Muscle Memory’ of failures, and disappointments, humiliations, and rejections of the GIANT NO’s of life... and when we enter into this relationship w/ Christ and we try to put all the pieces back together of what our lives are supposed to look like and what it means to follow Christ -
we think God is up there monitoring us saying, NO, NO, NO
But He’s really saying, GO - I want you to move forward.
It’s not about permission, it’s about our mission.
Once you have a mission, you don’t need permission, b/c you have a mandate. God has it built in.
It’s an included upgrade. (ei by the Lord...)
Jon was a taunting Phill. warrior. The only sign he needed was that God’s will be done, and he was in position to do it.
What would happen if we changed our way of thinking?
If we heard the 1st word in the Great Comm., GO, as all the permission we needed to do the will of God.
How would life be different if we worked from a giant YES, rather than a giant NO?
Every Christ follower has the prime directive of representing HIM on this earth. We are all called to be witnesses. We are all commissioned to make disciples. We are given the assignment of serving. We are all commanded to love not only God, but our neighbors as ourselves. (not about, mission)
Ever been stuck in traffic? Maybe in a hurry, running late. There’s just one car in front of you and the light. You’re watching the light with this amazing intensity waiting for it to change from red to green - it seems to take forever, but it does and you let your foot off the brake and are ready to punch the gas when you notice the car in front of you is
totally unaware that she has permission to go.
Instead of looking forward, she is fixed on her own image in the rearview mirror. Remember what you were thinking?
(Don’t say that out loud) ‘Move lady, you waiting for me to turn green?’ ‘It doesn’t get any greener than this’
Do you ever wander if that’s what God is thinking about us sometimes?
B/c sometimes we waste precious time, precious moments, extraordinary opportunities b/c we keep waiting for God to invite us when He has already made it quite clear to GO.
In the whole description of this battle, there’s got to be one verse that’s so important, so critical there’s no way it could be omitted from the scriptures.
I know sometimes this Book seems really big, but if you think about it, if this is the primary document of God’s conversation w/ humanity it’s really small - so every line, every verse,
every space, every word would be so important.
So then you have v.13 - one of the most profound and insightful verses in all the bible -
“Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet”
That’s really helpful, aren’t you glad God took space up to tell us that? You know b/c w/out that I would’ve imagined Jon
climbed up using his upper lip.
“Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet”
Thank you Samuel, that was very important -
or well maybe it is?
When we want to move forward and allow God to use us in extraordinary ways we expect God to sorta be the wind beneath our wings - the only problem is, we don’t have wings. So it just becomes a wind beneath.
See what we don’t realize many times is what God is really wanting us to do is to start climbing w/ our hands and feet.
The life God calls us to doesn’t just happen magically, that God calls us to advance, and sometimes it’s a painful, difficult struggle of climbing upward.
To move to that place where God can do His greatest work
in and thru our lives.
What signs are you looking for?
I think quite often we look for the easiest sign - you know
This must be a sign b/c it’s more money, this must be a sign b/c she said YES, it’s gotta be God’s will b/c this is the path that’s working the easiest.
And yet sometimes that’s the very path God wants us to walk away from - He wants us to choose the path that makes us climb up with our hands and feet - it can be difficult, and challenging, and hard, and some suffering, and maybe
sacrifice. Have you ever gone thru a difficult trial or tragedy, or some sort of misfortune in life and come out of it on the other side just amazed and in AWE of how incredible, and loving and merciful God really is.
Jonathan’s sign came in the midst of action.
We’ve got it all mixed up. We think our signs that God is w/ us is that we’ve got safety. So we sit around and wait.
I think alot of us have a ‘retreat mentality’
Think about it - how far away are you from people who may need you tomorrow? What is the relational distance between you and your co-workers or family or friends?
What if we took on an ‘Advance mentality’ in relationship to our relationships? It’s not about trying to shove Jesus down people’s throat or preaching to them all the time.
It’s just about caring about people enough that whether they believe in God or not you would be in close proximity for the moments they need someone - and that someone would be you.
And if we are there to love and to serve and to help, then maybe, just maybe that might be the best proof of God in their life.
What would happen if all of us in here took on an ‘Advance mentality’ in every arena of our lives and understood that God was saying, GO rather than NO.
Have you ever read Is. 6 - it’s a conversation between God and Is., but it’s even bigger than that - it’s a convo between God and humanity:
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said,
"Here am I. Send me!" Is. 6:8
Alot of us keep hoping or thinking God might pick us (like Amer. Idol or something) when God has already invited us.
You may be here today and all your life you’ve heard NO
and if you’re gonna listen to everyone around you you’re gonna think you have no capacity to accomplish anything extraordinary - that’s why it’d be better to listen to GOD.
Even though He’s the One that sees us in our worst moments, He’s the One that sees us in our most greedy, self-centered, Self-indulgent moments. He’s the One that sees us in our most broken, shattered, devastated moments, He’s the One that sees us in our most sinful and destructive moments. He’s also the One who sees us with all the capacity within each of us. And He knows how to nurture that, and grow it, and unleash it!
Maybe you’re tired of waiting to be picked and it’s time to volunteer.
God sees us when everyone else overlooks us, and everyone else under-estimates our God given capacity, God never does. He chooses us, on top of that, He makes this blanket call, “Who will go for us” and God is waiting for us to say,
“Ahhh, Me, if You would take me as a volunteer, I’d love to be a part of something much bigger than me.”
God wants us to take on an, ‘Advance mentality’
Sometimes it seems that the challenges that lay in front of us
seem so overwhelming and I don’t know about you but I don’t have that natural courage DNA where you just step right out there all the time.
But I do think life has a strange way of putting us on this certain course of action where our only option is to move forward or crawl backwards.
I wander how many of us have found ourselves paralyzed
We hear and read these great stories of human courage and heroism and then we find ourselves in this moment of opportunity and we are paralyzed w/ fear and self-doubt.
Sometimes we think people who live extraordinary lives are made of a different material than us, but the truth of the matter is we’re all made of the same material - it’s what we do with that material that matters.
If our birth is like the sunrise and our death like the sunset, then in-between we’re all just chasing daylight. And one of the characteristics of a person who seizes the power of every moment, who unleashes their full potential of their life
is that they have an ‘Advance Mentality’
They Go until they get a No
and no matter how much self-doubt... fear... or how overwhelmed they are by the obstacles and circumstances,
they still move forward and jump!
This is where Jonathan was, standing on the diving board
1 Sam. 14:6-13
If you’re reading this story with just simple objectivity you’re thinking these guys are insane, what do you mean let them see you?! That’s not really a good idea.
Let’s not do that - let’s attack while their asleep, or drunk, or less motivated - let’s do everything we can to leverage our advantage, let’s use some sort of military strategy.
But not Jonathan - let’s move out of the invisible into the visible, let’s go to the point of no return.
B/c if we’re really going to seize this moment we need to get to a place where only God can see us thru.
And then he adds to the insanity by saying, “If they say stay where you are, then we’ll stay here and die like men.
But if they say, “Come up to us” then that will be sign to us that the Lord has delivered them into out hands.
And that’s what happens - go out - they see- they call them up - and Jon says there it is man, there it is, that’s what we’ve been looking for.
You’re thinking the A.B. must think he’s nuts but not at all -
Jon has this ‘Advance Mentality’ to move forward -
He says, if were called UP into the danger.
You move forward unless God tells you to stop.
You advance unless God tells you to wait.
There are certain things that you do not not need permission to do them. You’ve already been commissioned to do them. There are certain things you do not need a calling to do. You’ve already been commanded to do them.
What are some of those things? (groups)
Much of our religious language has been focused on the don’ts rather than the do’s. In the same way we act as if the primary word from God is stop when it’s actually GO.
By the way, what’s the 1st word of the Great Comm.
Too many divine opportunities are lost b/c we keep waiting for a word when the word has already been given.
For Jon wait was the kiss of death, and come was the sign of God. Wait made much more sense & took much less effort.
Come implied increased effort and danger. Which leads to an important question, ‘What kind of sign are u looking 4?’
Jon was moving forward in alignment w/ the purpose of God, and the challenge to advance was the affirmation of God’s hand and blessing. He wasn’t sitting around waiting for a sign. He moved forward in everything he knew to do.
Remember a couple of weeks ago we talked about, ‘most of the time FAITH is moving forward in what we already know”
remember school dances - getting turned down, or asking for girls phone # and being told no - remember all those times you’ve been turned down or told NO?
I think alot of us have this ‘Spiritual Muscle Memory’ of failures, and disappointments, humiliations, and rejections of the GIANT NO’s of life... and when we enter into this relationship w/ Christ and we try to put all the pieces back together of what our lives are supposed to look like and what it means to follow Christ -
we think God is up there monitoring us saying, NO, NO, NO
But He’s really saying, GO - I want you to move forward.
It’s not about permission, it’s about our mission.
Once you have a mission, you don’t need permission, b/c you have a mandate. God has it built in.
It’s an included upgrade. (ei by the Lord...)
Jon was a taunting Phill. warrior. The only sign he needed was that God’s will be done, and he was in position to do it.
What would happen if we changed our way of thinking?
If we heard the 1st word in the Great Comm., GO, as all the permission we needed to do the will of God.
How would life be different if we worked from a giant YES, rather than a giant NO?
Every Christ follower has the prime directive of representing HIM on this earth. We are all called to be witnesses. We are all commissioned to make disciples. We are given the assignment of serving. We are all commanded to love not only God, but our neighbors as ourselves. (not about, mission)
Ever been stuck in traffic? Maybe in a hurry, running late. There’s just one car in front of you and the light. You’re watching the light with this amazing intensity waiting for it to change from red to green - it seems to take forever, but it does and you let your foot off the brake and are ready to punch the gas when you notice the car in front of you is
totally unaware that she has permission to go.
Instead of looking forward, she is fixed on her own image in the rearview mirror. Remember what you were thinking?
(Don’t say that out loud) ‘Move lady, you waiting for me to turn green?’ ‘It doesn’t get any greener than this’
Do you ever wander if that’s what God is thinking about us sometimes?
B/c sometimes we waste precious time, precious moments, extraordinary opportunities b/c we keep waiting for God to invite us when He has already made it quite clear to GO.
In the whole description of this battle, there’s got to be one verse that’s so important, so critical there’s no way it could be omitted from the scriptures.
I know sometimes this Book seems really big, but if you think about it, if this is the primary document of God’s conversation w/ humanity it’s really small - so every line, every verse,
every space, every word would be so important.
So then you have v.13 - one of the most profound and insightful verses in all the bible -
“Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet”
That’s really helpful, aren’t you glad God took space up to tell us that? You know b/c w/out that I would’ve imagined Jon
climbed up using his upper lip.
“Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet”
Thank you Samuel, that was very important -
or well maybe it is?
When we want to move forward and allow God to use us in extraordinary ways we expect God to sorta be the wind beneath our wings - the only problem is, we don’t have wings. So it just becomes a wind beneath.
See what we don’t realize many times is what God is really wanting us to do is to start climbing w/ our hands and feet.
The life God calls us to doesn’t just happen magically, that God calls us to advance, and sometimes it’s a painful, difficult struggle of climbing upward.
To move to that place where God can do His greatest work
in and thru our lives.
What signs are you looking for?
I think quite often we look for the easiest sign - you know
This must be a sign b/c it’s more money, this must be a sign b/c she said YES, it’s gotta be God’s will b/c this is the path that’s working the easiest.
And yet sometimes that’s the very path God wants us to walk away from - He wants us to choose the path that makes us climb up with our hands and feet - it can be difficult, and challenging, and hard, and some suffering, and maybe
sacrifice. Have you ever gone thru a difficult trial or tragedy, or some sort of misfortune in life and come out of it on the other side just amazed and in AWE of how incredible, and loving and merciful God really is.
Jonathan’s sign came in the midst of action.
We’ve got it all mixed up. We think our signs that God is w/ us is that we’ve got safety. So we sit around and wait.
I think alot of us have a ‘retreat mentality’
Think about it - how far away are you from people who may need you tomorrow? What is the relational distance between you and your co-workers or family or friends?
What if we took on an ‘Advance mentality’ in relationship to our relationships? It’s not about trying to shove Jesus down people’s throat or preaching to them all the time.
It’s just about caring about people enough that whether they believe in God or not you would be in close proximity for the moments they need someone - and that someone would be you.
And if we are there to love and to serve and to help, then maybe, just maybe that might be the best proof of God in their life.
What would happen if all of us in here took on an ‘Advance mentality’ in every arena of our lives and understood that God was saying, GO rather than NO.
Have you ever read Is. 6 - it’s a conversation between God and Is., but it’s even bigger than that - it’s a convo between God and humanity:
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said,
"Here am I. Send me!" Is. 6:8
Alot of us keep hoping or thinking God might pick us (like Amer. Idol or something) when God has already invited us.
You may be here today and all your life you’ve heard NO
and if you’re gonna listen to everyone around you you’re gonna think you have no capacity to accomplish anything extraordinary - that’s why it’d be better to listen to GOD.
Even though He’s the One that sees us in our worst moments, He’s the One that sees us in our most greedy, self-centered, Self-indulgent moments. He’s the One that sees us in our most broken, shattered, devastated moments, He’s the One that sees us in our most sinful and destructive moments. He’s also the One who sees us with all the capacity within each of us. And He knows how to nurture that, and grow it, and unleash it!
Maybe you’re tired of waiting to be picked and it’s time to volunteer.
God sees us when everyone else overlooks us, and everyone else under-estimates our God given capacity, God never does. He chooses us, on top of that, He makes this blanket call, “Who will go for us” and God is waiting for us to say,
“Ahhh, Me, if You would take me as a volunteer, I’d love to be a part of something much bigger than me.”
God wants us to take on an, ‘Advance mentality’
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Chasing Daylight - Influence - 'Breath In, Breath Out'
Read 1 Samuel 14:1-7
What a strange response, “Do all that you have in mind, I am w/ you heart and soul”
Is there anyone that you would say that to in your life right now, if they woke you up in the middle of the night?
What if you're day-dreaming or sitting in front of the tube and someone pitches this outlandish idea, this pursuit, this dream, this ambition, but they need you to succeed, how would you respond?
“You’re out-of-mind or do all that you have in mind”
What if they tell you absolutely God can do it, there’s no doubt He can pull it off, this is a BIG dream,
but God is bigger. Then they throw in, ‘maybe God’ll Help”
You see, all of us are influenced, and all of us are influencers. We’re created as creatures of influence.
Those that influence us the most are the ones we give our heart and soul to.
Everybody inhale - deep breath (don’t pass out)
All of us are created to influence others
Everybody exhale - we are all created to influence others
Inhale - we’re all shaped by the lives around us, other values and passions, and their character
Exhale - We all affect the lives around us by our values, passions, and character.
Life is about inhaling and exhaling - life is about influence
We are influenced by others and we influence others
Sometimes that can be a wonderful thing and sometimes that can be a destructive thing, depending on who we are and who they are - let that sink in - who is influencing you - Who are you hanging out with?
Where are you hanging out? Who and where do you spend your extra time?
Who are you influencing?
Sometimes we’re unaware of how much we’ve been
influenced by others until we realize just how much we’re
like them. Some of us have grown up with a relationship of someone we despise. And we said, “I’m never gonna be like him or her” - such as parents maybe, "never gonna be like" -
But you’re still influenced by them b/c you’re running in the polar opposite direction.
In our pursuit to not be like them we still these little tidbits of that person in our lives.
Sick people influence us - their breathing out - we’re breathing in
We exhale into people’s lives and vice-versa, and we are
influenced by those we are in close proximity to - I guess
you could say we all have our own unique aroma
My wife has a nose like a basset hound, not in shape, but by the way she can smell things. We can walk into the house, and she’ll say, ‘What’s that smell?” I dont know -
“Something’s burning” I thought that was dinner, I dont know.
CANDLES
As we live our lives, we spend our lives inhaling.
Sometimes we have no idea what we’re breathing in, we’re oblivious to what is affecting our lives.
Jonathan had a moment where he knew he could not
influence his father, but he could influence a friend.
Have you ever felt you lacked the power to bring change?
That’s how Jonathan felt. He could not change or sway his father so it says he didn’t tell him. Now,
this is not a passage of disrespect, “I don’t have to listen to authority”
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
- but the bible is clear that living a life for God may mean going against the norm, to walk away from all the influences may be holding you back,
causing you to live a life that is less than God would have for you.
That’s where Jonathan was, so he asked his A.B. - you may think that’s not much, you may feel the same way, I don’t have much, I have a limited amount of influence.
So we need to ask ourselves, “Who in your life are you investing in?”
In that critical moment that you need help, you need others to join you in this incredible journey that God has for you.
Who would look at you and say, “Do all that you have in mind, I am w/ you heart and soul”
Ironically this is one of those places where if you chose to be neutral you lose your potential. (initiative)
You may not be a bad person, you may be a pretty good guy, you might be a very nice human being, you may be one of those who has no known enemies in the world.
But ironically that may the very same description of a person who has no influence.
Hitler had great influence - a person in this world right now who holds no office, has no nation to lead and yet Osama Bin Laden is shaping the course of present times.
If only influence was restricted to those wanting to do good, but it’s not. So here’s the dilemma, so many of us want to live in character neutral.
Which is exactly where those 600 unnamed indiv. in 1 Sam. 14 chose to live.
There are a number of Christ-followers, Christians, who are in character-neutral.
We don’t want to do anything bad, and yet we are not putting forth this effort to influence the world with any good either.
I’m not talking about shaping political systems or institutions, but I’m talking about having the kind of character that
illuminates and draws other people to your life and reshapes their values and life course by who you are.
Alot of us Christ-followers can find ourselves as just inhalers.
We’re always breathing in - church, worship, study the word, around other believers, just taking in.
Just take a deep breath and hold it.... breath and hold it...
breath and hold it... eventually just breathing in becomes unhealthy.
story: airplane - what to do in case of loss of cabin pressure.
(mask doesn’t drop - asks wife - she says, ‘get your own’ - He says, ‘share’ - ‘No, you’ll be alright’)
This is the way so many of us are in way of relationship to J.C. - If Jesus is everything we say He is, how is it we can spend our lives just inhaling and when there are people all around us suffocating to death
w/out life, w/out love. w/out hope, w/out God, we say, ‘get your own’.
Everybody inhale, now exhale -
Jonathan leans over to his A.B., ‘let’s go’ - the response,
‘do all that you have in mind, I am w/ you heart & soul’
This is where it begins - by making a conscious decision of letting God become the primary Influencer of your life.
Where you’re breathing in Jesus
This is how Paul told it to Timothy:
Here is just one good reason to spend time inhaling the scriptures - this is the primary way God influences us
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Ti. 3:16
You see it not meeting some sort of quota, God is not checking to see if you spent enough time reading, it is not that you are fulfilling some kind of mandate -
It is that God is longing to breath into your life and mine.
As we inhale Him it changes our character...
How did God put life into Adam? Gen. 2:7 says, ‘God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and the man became a living being.’
Ezekiel 37 - dry bones
Job said in ch. 33, ‘the breath of the Almighty gives me life.’
As we inhale Him it changes our character...
and then we can exhale God to the lives of others.
Everybody inhale, now exhale -
So who’s life are you investing in right now?
Who would look to you and say, ‘do all that you have in mind, I am w/ you heart and soul?
None of us are powerless. We are all influenced by others and we all have the capacity to influence others.
When we allow God to change our lives, to shape our
character, to influence us, when we breath in deeply of God, the natural response when you inhale is to exhale.
Sometimes we feel apprehensive b/c well you don’t want to impose your beliefs or life on other people - but consider this
Is it possible that you’re gonna run into this week, that your life will intersect w/ someone who has just hit bottom?
They can’t find enough strength, energy, or enthusiasm to continue, someone who’s questioning everything.
It is not about trying to impose your beliefs or God, listen, never try to force anyone into anything.
How about we allow God to shape us in such a way that others want to inhale of our lives.
Jon. to A.B. A.B. to Jon.
Let’s begin to live our lives in such a way that others are compelled to go wherever we might be going.
Everybody inhale, now exhale -
Everybody inhale, now exhale -
It’s something we do every minute of everyday, maybe it’s something we need to do more consciously so we can begin to give our lives away.
What a strange response, “Do all that you have in mind, I am w/ you heart and soul”
Is there anyone that you would say that to in your life right now, if they woke you up in the middle of the night?
What if you're day-dreaming or sitting in front of the tube and someone pitches this outlandish idea, this pursuit, this dream, this ambition, but they need you to succeed, how would you respond?
“You’re out-of-mind or do all that you have in mind”
What if they tell you absolutely God can do it, there’s no doubt He can pull it off, this is a BIG dream,
but God is bigger. Then they throw in, ‘maybe God’ll Help”
You see, all of us are influenced, and all of us are influencers. We’re created as creatures of influence.
Those that influence us the most are the ones we give our heart and soul to.
Everybody inhale - deep breath (don’t pass out)
All of us are created to influence others
Everybody exhale - we are all created to influence others
Inhale - we’re all shaped by the lives around us, other values and passions, and their character
Exhale - We all affect the lives around us by our values, passions, and character.
Life is about inhaling and exhaling - life is about influence
We are influenced by others and we influence others
Sometimes that can be a wonderful thing and sometimes that can be a destructive thing, depending on who we are and who they are - let that sink in - who is influencing you - Who are you hanging out with?
Where are you hanging out? Who and where do you spend your extra time?
Who are you influencing?
Sometimes we’re unaware of how much we’ve been
influenced by others until we realize just how much we’re
like them. Some of us have grown up with a relationship of someone we despise. And we said, “I’m never gonna be like him or her” - such as parents maybe, "never gonna be like" -
But you’re still influenced by them b/c you’re running in the polar opposite direction.
In our pursuit to not be like them we still these little tidbits of that person in our lives.
Sick people influence us - their breathing out - we’re breathing in
We exhale into people’s lives and vice-versa, and we are
influenced by those we are in close proximity to - I guess
you could say we all have our own unique aroma
My wife has a nose like a basset hound, not in shape, but by the way she can smell things. We can walk into the house, and she’ll say, ‘What’s that smell?” I dont know -
“Something’s burning” I thought that was dinner, I dont know.
CANDLES
As we live our lives, we spend our lives inhaling.
Sometimes we have no idea what we’re breathing in, we’re oblivious to what is affecting our lives.
Jonathan had a moment where he knew he could not
influence his father, but he could influence a friend.
Have you ever felt you lacked the power to bring change?
That’s how Jonathan felt. He could not change or sway his father so it says he didn’t tell him. Now,
this is not a passage of disrespect, “I don’t have to listen to authority”
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
- but the bible is clear that living a life for God may mean going against the norm, to walk away from all the influences may be holding you back,
causing you to live a life that is less than God would have for you.
That’s where Jonathan was, so he asked his A.B. - you may think that’s not much, you may feel the same way, I don’t have much, I have a limited amount of influence.
So we need to ask ourselves, “Who in your life are you investing in?”
In that critical moment that you need help, you need others to join you in this incredible journey that God has for you.
Who would look at you and say, “Do all that you have in mind, I am w/ you heart and soul”
Ironically this is one of those places where if you chose to be neutral you lose your potential. (initiative)
You may not be a bad person, you may be a pretty good guy, you might be a very nice human being, you may be one of those who has no known enemies in the world.
But ironically that may the very same description of a person who has no influence.
Hitler had great influence - a person in this world right now who holds no office, has no nation to lead and yet Osama Bin Laden is shaping the course of present times.
If only influence was restricted to those wanting to do good, but it’s not. So here’s the dilemma, so many of us want to live in character neutral.
Which is exactly where those 600 unnamed indiv. in 1 Sam. 14 chose to live.
There are a number of Christ-followers, Christians, who are in character-neutral.
We don’t want to do anything bad, and yet we are not putting forth this effort to influence the world with any good either.
I’m not talking about shaping political systems or institutions, but I’m talking about having the kind of character that
illuminates and draws other people to your life and reshapes their values and life course by who you are.
Alot of us Christ-followers can find ourselves as just inhalers.
We’re always breathing in - church, worship, study the word, around other believers, just taking in.
Just take a deep breath and hold it.... breath and hold it...
breath and hold it... eventually just breathing in becomes unhealthy.
story: airplane - what to do in case of loss of cabin pressure.
(mask doesn’t drop - asks wife - she says, ‘get your own’ - He says, ‘share’ - ‘No, you’ll be alright’)
This is the way so many of us are in way of relationship to J.C. - If Jesus is everything we say He is, how is it we can spend our lives just inhaling and when there are people all around us suffocating to death
w/out life, w/out love. w/out hope, w/out God, we say, ‘get your own’.
Everybody inhale, now exhale -
Jonathan leans over to his A.B., ‘let’s go’ - the response,
‘do all that you have in mind, I am w/ you heart & soul’
This is where it begins - by making a conscious decision of letting God become the primary Influencer of your life.
Where you’re breathing in Jesus
This is how Paul told it to Timothy:
Here is just one good reason to spend time inhaling the scriptures - this is the primary way God influences us
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 2 Ti. 3:16
You see it not meeting some sort of quota, God is not checking to see if you spent enough time reading, it is not that you are fulfilling some kind of mandate -
It is that God is longing to breath into your life and mine.
As we inhale Him it changes our character...
How did God put life into Adam? Gen. 2:7 says, ‘God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and the man became a living being.’
Ezekiel 37 - dry bones
Job said in ch. 33, ‘the breath of the Almighty gives me life.’
As we inhale Him it changes our character...
and then we can exhale God to the lives of others.
Everybody inhale, now exhale -
So who’s life are you investing in right now?
Who would look to you and say, ‘do all that you have in mind, I am w/ you heart and soul?
None of us are powerless. We are all influenced by others and we all have the capacity to influence others.
When we allow God to change our lives, to shape our
character, to influence us, when we breath in deeply of God, the natural response when you inhale is to exhale.
Sometimes we feel apprehensive b/c well you don’t want to impose your beliefs or life on other people - but consider this
Is it possible that you’re gonna run into this week, that your life will intersect w/ someone who has just hit bottom?
They can’t find enough strength, energy, or enthusiasm to continue, someone who’s questioning everything.
It is not about trying to impose your beliefs or God, listen, never try to force anyone into anything.
How about we allow God to shape us in such a way that others want to inhale of our lives.
Jon. to A.B. A.B. to Jon.
Let’s begin to live our lives in such a way that others are compelled to go wherever we might be going.
Everybody inhale, now exhale -
Everybody inhale, now exhale -
It’s something we do every minute of everyday, maybe it’s something we need to do more consciously so we can begin to give our lives away.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Chasing Daylight - Uncertainity - 'Know you don't Know'
We continue together remembering that if our birth is like the sunrise, and our death like the sunset,
then in-between were all just chasing daylight.
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4
1 Samuel 14:2-6
I love the 2nd half of Jonathan's encouragement to his armor
“The Lord is able to save whether we are many or few”
Summarized: Me and God are a majority - If God is for you who can be against you -
It’s the stuff we love to put on t-shirts, bumper stickers, frig. magnets... encouragement's - the kind of sayings that inspire us - but Jonathan says something just b4 that incredible encouragement - he says something I think we like to pass right by - “Perhaps the Lord will save us”
That’s not that encouraging is it?
You'd think the Armor bearer's response would be:
“Wake me when you know” “I’m with you when HE’S w/ you”
( so often we seek out this security from God that we believe is necessary to live life to the fullest. Sometimes it can
actually become the greatest deterrent to seizing our divine moments)
Have you ever been around someone who knows everything
They know all the answers, they have an opinion about everything, they’re always right, have you ever been around a know it all? Do you like those people? Probably don’t enjoy them that much, unless ofcourse you are that people.
Now it’s funny how we don’t like people who think they know it all yet sometimes in relationship to J.C. we think were
supposed to act like we know it all.
Alot of people out there are searching for God - is it possible they don’t like us b/c we come across as know-it-alls.
We do this I think b/c we want to let them in on what we know FOR CERTAIN, when in reality the greatest convo’s come when we let them in on what we don’t know.
Life is filled w/ Uncertainty -
(keys - bathroom key w/ handle -
have some keys don’t know what door or lock it goes to - doors in life we’re uncertain where the key is to open it -)
We really have no idea what we’re going to face each day - we have a schedule laid out for the day, and the in-suing days and weeks, but that doesn’t tell us we’re getting in a car crash at 11:03am or 9/11 -
We have no control over when or how we’re going to die,
but we do have control over how we live.
Jonathan was certain about some things, and yet at the same time he was able to operate in the realm of uncertainity - he called to to A.B., “"Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf.” - You gotta love it - basically he was saying, ‘Let’s go pick a fight. Maybe God will help.’
Jonathan understood that not everything was guaranteed.
That you don’t have to wait til all the money is in the bank.
There are some things that you can know and some things that you will not know. So he says,
“Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few."
He had such a clear perspective on reality.
What he knew for certain was that God was powerful enough to get the job done, as difficult the odds appeared to be,
he would still move in line w/ God’s mission for them.
Long b4 God had spoken to Israel thru Samuel,
“And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will
deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." 1 Sam. 7:3
Jonathan knew for certain that God was going to deliver,
his focus was not, ‘what is God’s will for my life? but...
‘how can i give my life to fulfill God’s will?’
He had no certainty of his own well being, only that he was moving in line with will and heart of God.
How about you? (prayer - do what God is blessing)
Are there times in life when we chose not to move forward,
not to seize a moment b/c we are uncertain how it will play out for ourselves?
Sure God is a BIG God, I have no doubt He can and will handle anything for you, but not for me...
Are there times in life when you chose to go back to sleep under the pomegranate tree, willing to set out once
everything is certain? (Chasing Daylight - Initiative)
(contingency plan)
Often we look to the Bible for comfort, assurance, and kind of a ‘how to’ guide, but not courage - we’re willing to engage in the battle if we believe that God has promised ultimate
victory. We have somehow convinced ourselves that God has signed a contract w/ us, promising that we will never fail. Implied that we will never suffer, or go thru disappointment, or even be inconvenienced in the journey.
With our church, I have no doubt that God is calling us to impact this city - it is absolutely clear that Jesus came so He could save the lost. And absolutely God is calling our church to join Him in declaring the gospel to the nations. I know that God is pleased w/ our action - now let’s see what He is going to do in and thru us.
How about in your life?
Jonathan understood that to move w/ God is to accept a life of uncertainties.
The Jonathan factor is expressed when we have absolute confidence in God in the midst of uncertainty
and are willing to move w/ God even w/out a guarantee of personal success.
Uncertainty invigorates Life
One of the wonderful things about about living in the realm of uncertainty is that you find the journey w/ God is full of
surprises. And that’s a Good Thing!
You may think that’s not what you want, “I don’t like surpr..”
But think about this - wouldn’t it be horrible if you knew everything that was going to happen in your life? Movie... no surprise. It’s utterly boring isn’t it - how many times can you laugh at a rerun? Some of you, many.
If you knew everything about your life it would become
tedious, mundane, boring you’d want to kill yourself.
Part of what keeps us alive is the sense of surprise...
anticipation... a sense of AWE.. a sense of mystery, a part of what keeps us alive is the uncertainty that we live in.
We are to live by Faith
The book of Hebrews tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
It doesn’t mean we are presumptuous about God, it means we believe God for everything He promised.
So it’s important to note what God does promise and what He doesn’t. He promises we can be certain about who He is & we can be certain about our relationship in Him, but how the journey plays out is full of uncertainties - the end of the story is not though -
The last chapter of human history has already been written.
Jesus Wins!
And all who follow Him find that they are more than conquerers in Christ Jesus. He defeats death, suffering, evil, sorrow, loneliness, and despair, not to mention the leader of all evil, Satan.
And Jesus told us, “If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.”
He was not saying that you need more faith. He was saying that it takes very little faith to accomplish great things.
In most cases faith is about obeying what God has already spoken.
It is about building our lives and moving forward w/
confidence fueled by a commitment to God’s truth.
At the same time shift our prayers from what can you do for me
to and ask God to give us the courage to do what we already know.
4 This is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: "Seek me and live;5 do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exil, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing."
6 Seek the LORD and live, Amos 5:4-6
Here’s the thing about Jonathan - he had no idea whether God would act on his behalf in that particular engagement;
he just knew who God was.
He knew if he would seek God he would live even if he died trying -
Isn’t it ironic that we run to God to keep us safe when He calls us to a dangerous faith.
There is only ONE who is certain; everything else exists in the realm of uncertainty.
Listen, to place our trust in anything other than God is
nothing less than superstition.
(Rac, Shac, & Benny)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
Daniel 3:16-18
The door we fear going thru the most may be the very one where we will meet God most profoundly.
We are to Live by Faith
Life is full of uncertainty, which comes mystery... adventure... & wonder.
The J.F. moves us confidently forward into the future when you know that you don’t know.
then in-between were all just chasing daylight.
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4
1 Samuel 14:2-6
I love the 2nd half of Jonathan's encouragement to his armor
“The Lord is able to save whether we are many or few”
Summarized: Me and God are a majority - If God is for you who can be against you -
It’s the stuff we love to put on t-shirts, bumper stickers, frig. magnets... encouragement's - the kind of sayings that inspire us - but Jonathan says something just b4 that incredible encouragement - he says something I think we like to pass right by - “Perhaps the Lord will save us”
That’s not that encouraging is it?
You'd think the Armor bearer's response would be:
“Wake me when you know” “I’m with you when HE’S w/ you”
( so often we seek out this security from God that we believe is necessary to live life to the fullest. Sometimes it can
actually become the greatest deterrent to seizing our divine moments)
Have you ever been around someone who knows everything
They know all the answers, they have an opinion about everything, they’re always right, have you ever been around a know it all? Do you like those people? Probably don’t enjoy them that much, unless ofcourse you are that people.
Now it’s funny how we don’t like people who think they know it all yet sometimes in relationship to J.C. we think were
supposed to act like we know it all.
Alot of people out there are searching for God - is it possible they don’t like us b/c we come across as know-it-alls.
We do this I think b/c we want to let them in on what we know FOR CERTAIN, when in reality the greatest convo’s come when we let them in on what we don’t know.
Life is filled w/ Uncertainty -
(keys - bathroom key w/ handle -
have some keys don’t know what door or lock it goes to - doors in life we’re uncertain where the key is to open it -)
We really have no idea what we’re going to face each day - we have a schedule laid out for the day, and the in-suing days and weeks, but that doesn’t tell us we’re getting in a car crash at 11:03am or 9/11 -
We have no control over when or how we’re going to die,
but we do have control over how we live.
Jonathan was certain about some things, and yet at the same time he was able to operate in the realm of uncertainity - he called to to A.B., “"Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf.” - You gotta love it - basically he was saying, ‘Let’s go pick a fight. Maybe God will help.’
Jonathan understood that not everything was guaranteed.
That you don’t have to wait til all the money is in the bank.
There are some things that you can know and some things that you will not know. So he says,
“Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few."
He had such a clear perspective on reality.
What he knew for certain was that God was powerful enough to get the job done, as difficult the odds appeared to be,
he would still move in line w/ God’s mission for them.
Long b4 God had spoken to Israel thru Samuel,
“And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will
deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." 1 Sam. 7:3
Jonathan knew for certain that God was going to deliver,
his focus was not, ‘what is God’s will for my life? but...
‘how can i give my life to fulfill God’s will?’
He had no certainty of his own well being, only that he was moving in line with will and heart of God.
How about you? (prayer - do what God is blessing)
Are there times in life when we chose not to move forward,
not to seize a moment b/c we are uncertain how it will play out for ourselves?
Sure God is a BIG God, I have no doubt He can and will handle anything for you, but not for me...
Are there times in life when you chose to go back to sleep under the pomegranate tree, willing to set out once
everything is certain? (Chasing Daylight - Initiative)
(contingency plan)
Often we look to the Bible for comfort, assurance, and kind of a ‘how to’ guide, but not courage - we’re willing to engage in the battle if we believe that God has promised ultimate
victory. We have somehow convinced ourselves that God has signed a contract w/ us, promising that we will never fail. Implied that we will never suffer, or go thru disappointment, or even be inconvenienced in the journey.
With our church, I have no doubt that God is calling us to impact this city - it is absolutely clear that Jesus came so He could save the lost. And absolutely God is calling our church to join Him in declaring the gospel to the nations. I know that God is pleased w/ our action - now let’s see what He is going to do in and thru us.
How about in your life?
Jonathan understood that to move w/ God is to accept a life of uncertainties.
The Jonathan factor is expressed when we have absolute confidence in God in the midst of uncertainty
and are willing to move w/ God even w/out a guarantee of personal success.
Uncertainty invigorates Life
One of the wonderful things about about living in the realm of uncertainty is that you find the journey w/ God is full of
surprises. And that’s a Good Thing!
You may think that’s not what you want, “I don’t like surpr..”
But think about this - wouldn’t it be horrible if you knew everything that was going to happen in your life? Movie... no surprise. It’s utterly boring isn’t it - how many times can you laugh at a rerun? Some of you, many.
If you knew everything about your life it would become
tedious, mundane, boring you’d want to kill yourself.
Part of what keeps us alive is the sense of surprise...
anticipation... a sense of AWE.. a sense of mystery, a part of what keeps us alive is the uncertainty that we live in.
We are to live by Faith
The book of Hebrews tells us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
It doesn’t mean we are presumptuous about God, it means we believe God for everything He promised.
So it’s important to note what God does promise and what He doesn’t. He promises we can be certain about who He is & we can be certain about our relationship in Him, but how the journey plays out is full of uncertainties - the end of the story is not though -
The last chapter of human history has already been written.
Jesus Wins!
And all who follow Him find that they are more than conquerers in Christ Jesus. He defeats death, suffering, evil, sorrow, loneliness, and despair, not to mention the leader of all evil, Satan.
And Jesus told us, “If you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.”
He was not saying that you need more faith. He was saying that it takes very little faith to accomplish great things.
In most cases faith is about obeying what God has already spoken.
It is about building our lives and moving forward w/
confidence fueled by a commitment to God’s truth.
At the same time shift our prayers from what can you do for me
to and ask God to give us the courage to do what we already know.
4 This is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: "Seek me and live;5 do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exil, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing."
6 Seek the LORD and live, Amos 5:4-6
Here’s the thing about Jonathan - he had no idea whether God would act on his behalf in that particular engagement;
he just knew who God was.
He knew if he would seek God he would live even if he died trying -
Isn’t it ironic that we run to God to keep us safe when He calls us to a dangerous faith.
There is only ONE who is certain; everything else exists in the realm of uncertainty.
Listen, to place our trust in anything other than God is
nothing less than superstition.
(Rac, Shac, & Benny)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
Daniel 3:16-18
The door we fear going thru the most may be the very one where we will meet God most profoundly.
We are to Live by Faith
Life is full of uncertainty, which comes mystery... adventure... & wonder.
The J.F. moves us confidently forward into the future when you know that you don’t know.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Unlocking the Da Vinci Code - "Who is Jesus"
This week and last week we are tackling two very important issues brought up in the new movie ‘The Da Vinci Code’.
They are:
1. Can we trust the Bible?
2. Who is Jesus?
Last week we addressed whether or not we could trust the Bible and we investigated some history and archeology to demonstrate the accuracy of the Bible. Based off of what we learned last week, I think it is clear that the Bible is truly God’s un-compromised Word to humankind. Having this understanding, today we are going to address who Jesus was/is according to what we find in the Bible. We are going to have somewhat of a history lesson. I am going to give you information you’ve probably never heard about two stories you may have heard many times. Let’s dive right in.
The Bible refers to a city by the name of Caesarea Philippi. see map
Caesarea Philippi stood only twenty-five miles from the religious communities of Galilee, but the city’s religious practices were vastly different from those of the nearby Jewish towns. The city stood in a lush area near the foot of Mount Hermon. and was the religious center of worship of the Greek god,
Pan. Pan was a fertility God. Originally, the city was actually named Panias in Pan’s honor. In the city there was tall cliff where local people built shrines and temples to Pan.
These shrines, as you see, are still present in the hillside to this day. If you were to travel in this region you could tour the area and actually visit this particular location.
Prior to the time of Christ, the Romans conquered this Greek territory, Pan. The city was quite damaged during it’s capture by the Romans and consequently needed rebuilding. Herod Philip, son to Herod the Great, actually oversaw the rebuilding of the city and at that time named it after himself, which is where we got Caesarea Philippi. Even though the city was then ruled by the Romans, it continued to focus on worship of the Greek gods.
Caesarea Philippi’s location was especially unique because it stood at the base of a cliff where spring water flowed.
Now that is important because at one time, the water ran directly from the mouth of a cave set in the bottom of the cliff. The spring has since stopped flowing, but again, if you tour the cliffside, you can actually explore the cave where the river once flowed from.
The pagans of Jesus’ day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves.
To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld—the gates of hell. In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats.
Interestingly, Jesus chose to take His disciples to this pagan setting. It was toward the end of His time, not long before His arrest when He took his disciples on a trip to Caesarea Philippi. You have to imagine that his disciples were probably pretty shocked that Jesus was taking them to such a place. Any good Jew didn’t travel to this region if at all possible. And here they were, with their Rabbi, following him to a despicable place. Jesus, however, chose this location to challenge His disciples to answer the very question we are asking today.
Matthew 16:13-14
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
The disciples were up on societies ‘buzz’ about Jesus. They were able to answer his question about what people were saying about him. The ‘Da Vinci Code’ has a lot to say about Jesus.
pg 232 - Nothing in Christianity is original
pg 233 - referring to the council of Nicea, the character Teabing states: Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet....a great powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal.
pg 233 - It’s all about power, Teabing continued. Christ as Messiah was critical to the functioning of the Church and state. Many scholars claim that the early church literally stole Jesus from his early followers, hijacking his human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power.
pg 234 - The twist is this, Teabing sais, talking faster now. “....Constantine upgraded Jesus’ status almost four centuries after his death.
pg 235 - ‘What I mean’, Teabing countered, ‘is that almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.’
So with this book and movie having so much to say about Christ, the question remains the same as it was when Christ himself uttered it. It is a two part question:
1. Who do people say that I am?
You must be familiar with what current culture says about Christ if you want to be a voice of truth to that culture.
2. (and most important) Who do you say that I am?
Matthew 16:15-16
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ,[a] the Son of the living God."
Based on Peter’s confession, Jesus’ responded with a statement that has great significance. He said ‘on this rock I will build my church’. That has always been understood as on the rock or foundation of Peter’s confession. On his faith and proclamation of Christ as Messiah, on that foundation, Christ would build his church. But look at where they were as Christ spoke these words. They were at a place known for it’s shrines, cut into the rock wall at the side of the cliff.
There is great significance in the fact that they were at Caesarea Phillipi when Jesus made this statement. Ray Vander Laan, a Christian Jewish Historian, contends that Jesus was also saying, ‘on this rock, the place that reveres all sorts of evil, even at this place, where humanity is at it’s worst, I won’t turn my back, instead I will build my church and the gates of hell (where the pagan mind believed they were standing) will not prevail against it.’ See Christ didn’t come just for those hanging out in the synagogues and following the appropriate codes of conduct, Christ came for the sinners.
Mark 2:16-18 (The Message)
15-16 ...Jesus and his disciples were at home having supper with a collection of disreputable guests. Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become followers. The religion scholars and Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company and lit into his disciples: "What kind of example is this, acting cozy with the riffraff?"
17Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually-fit."
Jesus came for those represented at the rock and proclaimed, ‘on this rock I will build my church.’
So, in response to the question, ‘who is Jesus?’ I must answer he is the lover of my soul, the One who loves my just as I am. But there is more to that answer. The correct response demands that we have one more quick history lesson.
Just before Jesus’ crucifixion, he rode into Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. This trip into Jerusalem is referred to as his triumphal entry. People laid their own clothes and palm branches on the ground and shouted,
Matthew 21:9 "Hosanna[a] to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"[b] "Hosanna[c] in the highest!
Hosanna simply meaning highest adoration. Also, Jesus rode in on a donkey, a symbol at that time, of royalty. So already, symbolically, the stage is being set to receive Jesus as the Messiah/Savior to the Jews during the Feast of the Passover. What you may not know about the timing of his triumphal entry is that he actually rode into town on the traditional day that the priests were choosing the lamb (picture of lamb) to be sacrificed for the atonement of their sins during passover. Lastly, this very lamb was to be sacrificed at the appointed hour, which for more than a millennium, had been at exactly three in the afternoon. Scripture tells us that Jesus hung on his cross for 6 hours before he finally died. His time of death is noted in three of the four Gospels as being three in the afternoon. So at the same moment that the priests were sacrificing the lamb for the forgiveness of sins of the people, Christ was being sacrificed for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. Coincidence? Not a chance. God did not want there to be a doubt who Jesus was. So now, in response to the question, who is Jesus? I must answer he is the lover of my soul, the One who loves me just as I am, the forgiver of my sins. He is my redeemer, my hope, my joy, my eternal God who grants me the opportunity of eternal life with Him. He is my everything.
John 1:3-5 (The Message)
Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out.
He is life to me. Absolute life. Who is he to you? Is this Jesus the Jesus that you know? The Jesus who is your all, your very source of life itself? It’s who he wants to be for you. It’s who he died to be for you. Your everything. Your answers, your peace, your purpose, your greatest love. That’s who Jesus is to me.
Matthew 16:15-16
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
They are:
1. Can we trust the Bible?
2. Who is Jesus?
Last week we addressed whether or not we could trust the Bible and we investigated some history and archeology to demonstrate the accuracy of the Bible. Based off of what we learned last week, I think it is clear that the Bible is truly God’s un-compromised Word to humankind. Having this understanding, today we are going to address who Jesus was/is according to what we find in the Bible. We are going to have somewhat of a history lesson. I am going to give you information you’ve probably never heard about two stories you may have heard many times. Let’s dive right in.
The Bible refers to a city by the name of Caesarea Philippi. see map
Caesarea Philippi stood only twenty-five miles from the religious communities of Galilee, but the city’s religious practices were vastly different from those of the nearby Jewish towns. The city stood in a lush area near the foot of Mount Hermon. and was the religious center of worship of the Greek god,
Pan. Pan was a fertility God. Originally, the city was actually named Panias in Pan’s honor. In the city there was tall cliff where local people built shrines and temples to Pan.
These shrines, as you see, are still present in the hillside to this day. If you were to travel in this region you could tour the area and actually visit this particular location.
Prior to the time of Christ, the Romans conquered this Greek territory, Pan. The city was quite damaged during it’s capture by the Romans and consequently needed rebuilding. Herod Philip, son to Herod the Great, actually oversaw the rebuilding of the city and at that time named it after himself, which is where we got Caesarea Philippi. Even though the city was then ruled by the Romans, it continued to focus on worship of the Greek gods.
Caesarea Philippi’s location was especially unique because it stood at the base of a cliff where spring water flowed.
Now that is important because at one time, the water ran directly from the mouth of a cave set in the bottom of the cliff. The spring has since stopped flowing, but again, if you tour the cliffside, you can actually explore the cave where the river once flowed from.
The pagans of Jesus’ day commonly believed that their fertility gods lived in the underworld during the winter and returned to earth each spring. They saw water as a symbol of the underworld and thought that their gods traveled to and from that world through caves.
To the pagan mind, then, the cave and spring water at Caesarea Philippi created a gate to the underworld. They believed that their city was literally at the gates of the underworld—the gates of hell. In order to entice the return of their god, Pan, each year, the people of Caesarea Philippi engaged in horrible deeds, including prostitution and sexual interaction between humans and goats.
Interestingly, Jesus chose to take His disciples to this pagan setting. It was toward the end of His time, not long before His arrest when He took his disciples on a trip to Caesarea Philippi. You have to imagine that his disciples were probably pretty shocked that Jesus was taking them to such a place. Any good Jew didn’t travel to this region if at all possible. And here they were, with their Rabbi, following him to a despicable place. Jesus, however, chose this location to challenge His disciples to answer the very question we are asking today.
Matthew 16:13-14
13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
14They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
The disciples were up on societies ‘buzz’ about Jesus. They were able to answer his question about what people were saying about him. The ‘Da Vinci Code’ has a lot to say about Jesus.
pg 232 - Nothing in Christianity is original
pg 233 - referring to the council of Nicea, the character Teabing states: Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet....a great powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal.
pg 233 - It’s all about power, Teabing continued. Christ as Messiah was critical to the functioning of the Church and state. Many scholars claim that the early church literally stole Jesus from his early followers, hijacking his human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power.
pg 234 - The twist is this, Teabing sais, talking faster now. “....Constantine upgraded Jesus’ status almost four centuries after his death.
pg 235 - ‘What I mean’, Teabing countered, ‘is that almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.’
So with this book and movie having so much to say about Christ, the question remains the same as it was when Christ himself uttered it. It is a two part question:
1. Who do people say that I am?
You must be familiar with what current culture says about Christ if you want to be a voice of truth to that culture.
2. (and most important) Who do you say that I am?
Matthew 16:15-16
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ,[a] the Son of the living God."
Based on Peter’s confession, Jesus’ responded with a statement that has great significance. He said ‘on this rock I will build my church’. That has always been understood as on the rock or foundation of Peter’s confession. On his faith and proclamation of Christ as Messiah, on that foundation, Christ would build his church. But look at where they were as Christ spoke these words. They were at a place known for it’s shrines, cut into the rock wall at the side of the cliff.
There is great significance in the fact that they were at Caesarea Phillipi when Jesus made this statement. Ray Vander Laan, a Christian Jewish Historian, contends that Jesus was also saying, ‘on this rock, the place that reveres all sorts of evil, even at this place, where humanity is at it’s worst, I won’t turn my back, instead I will build my church and the gates of hell (where the pagan mind believed they were standing) will not prevail against it.’ See Christ didn’t come just for those hanging out in the synagogues and following the appropriate codes of conduct, Christ came for the sinners.
Mark 2:16-18 (The Message)
15-16 ...Jesus and his disciples were at home having supper with a collection of disreputable guests. Unlikely as it seems, more than a few of them had become followers. The religion scholars and Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company and lit into his disciples: "What kind of example is this, acting cozy with the riffraff?"
17Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting the sin-sick, not the spiritually-fit."
Jesus came for those represented at the rock and proclaimed, ‘on this rock I will build my church.’
So, in response to the question, ‘who is Jesus?’ I must answer he is the lover of my soul, the One who loves my just as I am. But there is more to that answer. The correct response demands that we have one more quick history lesson.
Just before Jesus’ crucifixion, he rode into Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. This trip into Jerusalem is referred to as his triumphal entry. People laid their own clothes and palm branches on the ground and shouted,
Matthew 21:9 "Hosanna[a] to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"[b] "Hosanna[c] in the highest!
Hosanna simply meaning highest adoration. Also, Jesus rode in on a donkey, a symbol at that time, of royalty. So already, symbolically, the stage is being set to receive Jesus as the Messiah/Savior to the Jews during the Feast of the Passover. What you may not know about the timing of his triumphal entry is that he actually rode into town on the traditional day that the priests were choosing the lamb (picture of lamb) to be sacrificed for the atonement of their sins during passover. Lastly, this very lamb was to be sacrificed at the appointed hour, which for more than a millennium, had been at exactly three in the afternoon. Scripture tells us that Jesus hung on his cross for 6 hours before he finally died. His time of death is noted in three of the four Gospels as being three in the afternoon. So at the same moment that the priests were sacrificing the lamb for the forgiveness of sins of the people, Christ was being sacrificed for the forgiveness of the sins of the world. Coincidence? Not a chance. God did not want there to be a doubt who Jesus was. So now, in response to the question, who is Jesus? I must answer he is the lover of my soul, the One who loves me just as I am, the forgiver of my sins. He is my redeemer, my hope, my joy, my eternal God who grants me the opportunity of eternal life with Him. He is my everything.
John 1:3-5 (The Message)
Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out.
He is life to me. Absolute life. Who is he to you? Is this Jesus the Jesus that you know? The Jesus who is your all, your very source of life itself? It’s who he wants to be for you. It’s who he died to be for you. Your everything. Your answers, your peace, your purpose, your greatest love. That’s who Jesus is to me.
Matthew 16:15-16
15"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Mother's Day - 'Life as a Princess' by Cathleen Parks
Nicole Johnson video, "Princess in Pajamas"
Your a princess. You are. Depending on how you view being a princess that can two completely different things. Princesses, as we are familiar with them, seem to live a very charmed life. Their hair and clothes are always perfect. Their children are clean and well behaved. They have more money than they can spend. They live with their prince in their castle and life is good.
A charmed life.
The way we perceive a princesses life is not altogether realistic, but unfortunately, it is what they are taught they must present to their public. Many of us have been taught that too. Ever heard the saying ‘don’t air your dirty laundry in public’? How often do we hide the parts of our lives that don’t seem quite presentable? God forbid that others should know that I’ve ever made a mistake, sinned, or lived in fear. What our own nature tells us is to keep these parts of our lives quiet. Let them be our own little secret. But look, here’s the cool thing. God, in typical God form, tells us to do the very opposite of what the we or our culture would tell us to do.
James 5:16 (The Message)
16 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.
Now that blows the doors off of conventional wisdom doesn’t it? The Bible tells us to actually TELL each other when we’ve messed up or when we’re struggling. It goes further to say - if you tell each other - you’ll have wholeness and healing. Incredible!
Why? Because secrets are dark places and God purposes to bring light into dark places. When you talk about the struggles in your life you are taking these struggles out of the dark and bringing them into light - exposing them. It takes courage and guts be transparent with yourself and with others.
So often we would rather not address our problems. Maybe it’s easier for us.
*Head in the sand
*Shame, embarrassment
Maybe we want everyone to see us a princess in our own right - as someone who has it all together. Really - don’t we all want to have it all together? Don’t we all want to be our own little princess of our own little kingdom?
But reality says that we don’t have everything exactly right all the time. Or most of the time. If fact the Bible compares us to clay pots. The thing with clay pots is that they are actually pretty fragile. They crack very easily. They are famously IMPERFECT. I can relate to that. If the Bible is going to compare me to a clay pot I would imagine I’m pretty cracked up. In fact, I may even have a chunk or two missing. I’ve been damaged by sin, hurt, rejection. I’ve been disillusioned, lied to. I’ve had high hopes come crashing down. Crack after crack after crack in my pot. But consider this. Picture a heavily cracked pot. Now in your minds eye begin to fill it with something. Water, wine, grain, whatever. If you put just about anything in a cracked pot, what will happen? You’ll loose it. It will run out of the cracks and eventually just run out. What is the only thing you can fill a pot with that won’t run out? That’s right - light. The only thing that you can put into a cracked pot that would never run out, is light. In fact, the more cracks that are in the pot, the more apparent the light is and useful for illumination. So if I’m a cracked pot, but I allow God’s light to shine on, and through, my imperfections by exposing them, not only will I find healing and wholeness but God will be able to use my struggles to impact the lives of those around me.
Look at Matthew 5:14-16 (The Message)
14 "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15 If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. 16 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
Today God wants to offer you freedom. Freedom from the things that you hold secret. If the church can’t be a safe place for us, where will be? We have to commit today to be transparent with one another. Take advantage of the small groups, develop transparent relationships with one another, talk with myself or Joe. But whatever you do, don’t keep your troubles, be it sin or struggle, to yourself. Transparency with one another strengthens and encourages each other. I want to be a princess. But I want to be the princess that God intends for me to be. You see I am a princess because He is my King. My daddy God is a King. Because he granted me daughtership, I am His princess. And only this King can take all of my imperfections and through his awesome glory make even the imperfections in my life beautiful.
LIGHT VISUAL.
God I thank you for my life. All of my life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I realize it is through every part of my life that you shine in great glory!
Your a princess. You are. Depending on how you view being a princess that can two completely different things. Princesses, as we are familiar with them, seem to live a very charmed life. Their hair and clothes are always perfect. Their children are clean and well behaved. They have more money than they can spend. They live with their prince in their castle and life is good.
A charmed life.
The way we perceive a princesses life is not altogether realistic, but unfortunately, it is what they are taught they must present to their public. Many of us have been taught that too. Ever heard the saying ‘don’t air your dirty laundry in public’? How often do we hide the parts of our lives that don’t seem quite presentable? God forbid that others should know that I’ve ever made a mistake, sinned, or lived in fear. What our own nature tells us is to keep these parts of our lives quiet. Let them be our own little secret. But look, here’s the cool thing. God, in typical God form, tells us to do the very opposite of what the we or our culture would tell us to do.
James 5:16 (The Message)
16 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.
Now that blows the doors off of conventional wisdom doesn’t it? The Bible tells us to actually TELL each other when we’ve messed up or when we’re struggling. It goes further to say - if you tell each other - you’ll have wholeness and healing. Incredible!
Why? Because secrets are dark places and God purposes to bring light into dark places. When you talk about the struggles in your life you are taking these struggles out of the dark and bringing them into light - exposing them. It takes courage and guts be transparent with yourself and with others.
So often we would rather not address our problems. Maybe it’s easier for us.
*Head in the sand
*Shame, embarrassment
Maybe we want everyone to see us a princess in our own right - as someone who has it all together. Really - don’t we all want to have it all together? Don’t we all want to be our own little princess of our own little kingdom?
But reality says that we don’t have everything exactly right all the time. Or most of the time. If fact the Bible compares us to clay pots. The thing with clay pots is that they are actually pretty fragile. They crack very easily. They are famously IMPERFECT. I can relate to that. If the Bible is going to compare me to a clay pot I would imagine I’m pretty cracked up. In fact, I may even have a chunk or two missing. I’ve been damaged by sin, hurt, rejection. I’ve been disillusioned, lied to. I’ve had high hopes come crashing down. Crack after crack after crack in my pot. But consider this. Picture a heavily cracked pot. Now in your minds eye begin to fill it with something. Water, wine, grain, whatever. If you put just about anything in a cracked pot, what will happen? You’ll loose it. It will run out of the cracks and eventually just run out. What is the only thing you can fill a pot with that won’t run out? That’s right - light. The only thing that you can put into a cracked pot that would never run out, is light. In fact, the more cracks that are in the pot, the more apparent the light is and useful for illumination. So if I’m a cracked pot, but I allow God’s light to shine on, and through, my imperfections by exposing them, not only will I find healing and wholeness but God will be able to use my struggles to impact the lives of those around me.
Look at Matthew 5:14-16 (The Message)
14 "Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. 15 If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. 16 Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand--shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
Today God wants to offer you freedom. Freedom from the things that you hold secret. If the church can’t be a safe place for us, where will be? We have to commit today to be transparent with one another. Take advantage of the small groups, develop transparent relationships with one another, talk with myself or Joe. But whatever you do, don’t keep your troubles, be it sin or struggle, to yourself. Transparency with one another strengthens and encourages each other. I want to be a princess. But I want to be the princess that God intends for me to be. You see I am a princess because He is my King. My daddy God is a King. Because he granted me daughtership, I am His princess. And only this King can take all of my imperfections and through his awesome glory make even the imperfections in my life beautiful.
LIGHT VISUAL.
God I thank you for my life. All of my life. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I realize it is through every part of my life that you shine in great glory!
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Chasing Daylight - Choose to Live
Were going to follow a story of 2 individuals mostly
King Saul and son Jonathan - 1 Samuel 13 & 14
I wonder how many of us are just existing or living?
Burning daylight or chasing daylight?
I wonder if it would take an earthquake to shake you out of your slumber to finally wake up you up so you too might live.
How do you find the epi-center of God’s movement?
How do you find that life groove that allows you to begin to live the life God created for you to live?
Do we need earthquakes every-other day in our lives to shake us up, to get us to move, to re-direct our lives?
If our birth is like the sunrise, and our death like the sunset,
then in-between were all just chasing daylight.
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4
When we think of spirituality we generally think of activities like: worship, prayer, meditation, lighting incense, or rosaries, for some it’s reading scrip. or going to places like this,
but the reality is all of those activities - while they may be spiritual, they are not at the core what makes us different from other things created, like a giraffe or orangoutang
that God created you with the capacity to choose.
It is one of the most spiritual activities we can engage in, however we usually do not approach it that way.
From the very beginning of human time God has placed us in the context that we must chose well.
Gen. 2:4 - 25
We cannot live our lives with a biblical framework of understanding without seeing at the very beginning what God did was place humanity into the very context that they had to choose.
Remember these 3 words from God, “you are free”
I love that - so many view God as the Warden - to live a life for God, connected to God is to loose your freedom. God’s got all these rules, these commandments, these boundaries,
God’s got all these, ‘DON’TS’ so when you come to God you’re limited. So you’ve gotta run from God to be free, get away from God.
But God, He knows us, He knows our design b/c he created us - He created us to be free. How many times have we run from God and made choices that become the very prisons we live in.
‘You are Free’ He says
important: 2 trees - tree of life; tree of knowledge of good/evil
life represents, symbolizes my relationship to you
my gift to you, free to live, enjoy life... other tree...
K.G/E - you are born w/ the capacity to choose.
you can choose to live a life apart from, to separate from me
Why did God give us that other tree?
He put the tree in the middle of the garden(which ticks me off a bit) why not on top of mountain?
or put on an island in the middle of the ocean miles away full of man-eating sharks, only one man so dont do it
maybe then I could make it, but nooo it’s right in the middle
(why are they hangin’ out by it?)
I have a theory on the tree K.G/E I think it was aromatic,
I have come to the conclusion it was a chocolate tree.
Why did they hang around the wrong tree?
What is it about us that just loves to stay really close to the one choice that could destroy our
lives or really wreak havoc upon us?
Think about this guys, Adam was the best looking guy in the world
It’s the one and only time he could look at eve and say,
“I am God’s gift to women”
Eve was the best looking woman in the world, she was
THE Super Model.
and they couldn’t think of anything better to do than hang around this tree, talk about a lack of imagination
it’s that choice
M&M’s - pass out - I know for some of you this will be your one healthy meal today...
open, pick one out right now, just one, dont eat - how many picked yellow, brown, green, orange, blue, red - why did you pick that? “it was first one” - I hope you don’t date like that - or found spouse that way?
Wait a minute, we’re in a spiritual place here c’mon, how many of you stopped, prayed, asked God to guide you in which M&M to pick?
None of you - (b/c when it comes to food we’re a bunch of godless pagans)
No - b/c you can choose what you want, this is the way God made you.
Even when we make the wrong choices it’s evidence that we are uniquely created by God, and by the way,
Your choices are the most powerful tool you have in shaping your future -
there are those moments and times when are future is uncertain, a bit mysterious, but I can tell you the choices you make today are the material from which your future will be created - and the crazy thing about it is that something so small and routine can have HUGE life-changing implications - b/c we all intersect thru choices.
Your life, my life - have you ever meet anyone who’s said,
“I;m not hurting anyone but myself”
Man, sober up!
I think those who say that are hurting the most people.
Our lives intersect by the choices we make
When we choose to love it affects other people, when we chose to hate...when we choose to hold onto bitterness...
when you chose to forgive you set other people free
Listen, your life right now, if you hate it, not real happy about it, well it is the sum total of the choices that have affected your life.
Sometimes our pain is the result of someone else’s choice that was made that devastated us.
All of us need to understand today that whatever life we have right now, we need to begin to take responsibility & control.
The choices we make today affect the life we live tomorrow
Sometimes,
We need to look to the end of our choice b4 we make it
It all begins w/ a choice.
(story of ignoring someone who needs help)
turn away, turn left instead of right
“The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.
Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is” Ecc. 10:2,3
Life is always is series of decisions,
choices that are always right in front of us and sometimes we have life-changing decisions that affect us dramatically.
But sometimes it’s those small, incidental choices that have HUGE life altering affect
oh by the way, this freedom thing,
When we make God honoring choices that reflect His character it expands your choices -
alot of people think that if you become a follower of J.C. now you have a limited amount of choices, your choices are now narrow and fewer, but that’s the exact opposite. When you enter a relationship w/ Jesus your choices will expand - however, if you make choices apart from God’s will, His character you become
limited.
example - get angry at person, bit out of control, lose control, shoot this other person, life in prison - limited choices now
what about a 16yr. old who finds out she’s pregnant.
her life, whatever decision she makes, to abort, to keep the baby, or give the baby away, whatever, it is a life altering choice. Her life has been dramatically changed due to that choice.
Life is a series of decisions, choices that we make.
When we build our life on what is true and good, honoring God it begins to expand our choices. God gives us so many good choices.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
It’s not that complicated, God created you w/ the capacity to think.
To decide, to choose, and in fact we are held responsible for those choices.
We need to choose a path that honors the heart of God, choose a path that makes you the best human being you can be.
It’s not just ever now and then, but it’s everyday, it’s in the normal part of our routine - our choices can be one of the most spiritual things we ever do.
It’s our power to choose, what r u choosing?
we can make choices that devastate our future and others, but we can also make choices that unleash love, beauty, joy, forgiveness, and adventure - we can choose to live.
So we’re born and then we die, and in-between we’re all just chasing daylight - so over the next few weeks we’re gonna take this journey together to begin to unwrap how is it that we can seize the power of every moment to begin to live the life we were created to live - so we can stop sleeping thru our dreams and live a life beyond our wildest imaginations and it all begins w/ this small little thing called a choice.
What’s Our measuring rod?
And He said to him, " `YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, `YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
Matthew 22:37-39
King Saul and son Jonathan - 1 Samuel 13 & 14
I wonder how many of us are just existing or living?
Burning daylight or chasing daylight?
I wonder if it would take an earthquake to shake you out of your slumber to finally wake up you up so you too might live.
How do you find the epi-center of God’s movement?
How do you find that life groove that allows you to begin to live the life God created for you to live?
Do we need earthquakes every-other day in our lives to shake us up, to get us to move, to re-direct our lives?
If our birth is like the sunrise, and our death like the sunset,
then in-between were all just chasing daylight.
“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4
When we think of spirituality we generally think of activities like: worship, prayer, meditation, lighting incense, or rosaries, for some it’s reading scrip. or going to places like this,
but the reality is all of those activities - while they may be spiritual, they are not at the core what makes us different from other things created, like a giraffe or orangoutang
that God created you with the capacity to choose.
It is one of the most spiritual activities we can engage in, however we usually do not approach it that way.
From the very beginning of human time God has placed us in the context that we must chose well.
Gen. 2:4 - 25
We cannot live our lives with a biblical framework of understanding without seeing at the very beginning what God did was place humanity into the very context that they had to choose.
Remember these 3 words from God, “you are free”
I love that - so many view God as the Warden - to live a life for God, connected to God is to loose your freedom. God’s got all these rules, these commandments, these boundaries,
God’s got all these, ‘DON’TS’ so when you come to God you’re limited. So you’ve gotta run from God to be free, get away from God.
But God, He knows us, He knows our design b/c he created us - He created us to be free. How many times have we run from God and made choices that become the very prisons we live in.
‘You are Free’ He says
important: 2 trees - tree of life; tree of knowledge of good/evil
life represents, symbolizes my relationship to you
my gift to you, free to live, enjoy life... other tree...
K.G/E - you are born w/ the capacity to choose.
you can choose to live a life apart from, to separate from me
Why did God give us that other tree?
He put the tree in the middle of the garden(which ticks me off a bit) why not on top of mountain?
or put on an island in the middle of the ocean miles away full of man-eating sharks, only one man so dont do it
maybe then I could make it, but nooo it’s right in the middle
(why are they hangin’ out by it?)
I have a theory on the tree K.G/E I think it was aromatic,
I have come to the conclusion it was a chocolate tree.
Why did they hang around the wrong tree?
What is it about us that just loves to stay really close to the one choice that could destroy our
lives or really wreak havoc upon us?
Think about this guys, Adam was the best looking guy in the world
It’s the one and only time he could look at eve and say,
“I am God’s gift to women”
Eve was the best looking woman in the world, she was
THE Super Model.
and they couldn’t think of anything better to do than hang around this tree, talk about a lack of imagination
it’s that choice
M&M’s - pass out - I know for some of you this will be your one healthy meal today...
open, pick one out right now, just one, dont eat - how many picked yellow, brown, green, orange, blue, red - why did you pick that? “it was first one” - I hope you don’t date like that - or found spouse that way?
Wait a minute, we’re in a spiritual place here c’mon, how many of you stopped, prayed, asked God to guide you in which M&M to pick?
None of you - (b/c when it comes to food we’re a bunch of godless pagans)
No - b/c you can choose what you want, this is the way God made you.
Even when we make the wrong choices it’s evidence that we are uniquely created by God, and by the way,
Your choices are the most powerful tool you have in shaping your future -
there are those moments and times when are future is uncertain, a bit mysterious, but I can tell you the choices you make today are the material from which your future will be created - and the crazy thing about it is that something so small and routine can have HUGE life-changing implications - b/c we all intersect thru choices.
Your life, my life - have you ever meet anyone who’s said,
“I;m not hurting anyone but myself”
Man, sober up!
I think those who say that are hurting the most people.
Our lives intersect by the choices we make
When we choose to love it affects other people, when we chose to hate...when we choose to hold onto bitterness...
when you chose to forgive you set other people free
Listen, your life right now, if you hate it, not real happy about it, well it is the sum total of the choices that have affected your life.
Sometimes our pain is the result of someone else’s choice that was made that devastated us.
All of us need to understand today that whatever life we have right now, we need to begin to take responsibility & control.
The choices we make today affect the life we live tomorrow
Sometimes,
We need to look to the end of our choice b4 we make it
It all begins w/ a choice.
(story of ignoring someone who needs help)
turn away, turn left instead of right
“The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.
Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is” Ecc. 10:2,3
Life is always is series of decisions,
choices that are always right in front of us and sometimes we have life-changing decisions that affect us dramatically.
But sometimes it’s those small, incidental choices that have HUGE life altering affect
oh by the way, this freedom thing,
When we make God honoring choices that reflect His character it expands your choices -
alot of people think that if you become a follower of J.C. now you have a limited amount of choices, your choices are now narrow and fewer, but that’s the exact opposite. When you enter a relationship w/ Jesus your choices will expand - however, if you make choices apart from God’s will, His character you become
limited.
example - get angry at person, bit out of control, lose control, shoot this other person, life in prison - limited choices now
what about a 16yr. old who finds out she’s pregnant.
her life, whatever decision she makes, to abort, to keep the baby, or give the baby away, whatever, it is a life altering choice. Her life has been dramatically changed due to that choice.
Life is a series of decisions, choices that we make.
When we build our life on what is true and good, honoring God it begins to expand our choices. God gives us so many good choices.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
It’s not that complicated, God created you w/ the capacity to think.
To decide, to choose, and in fact we are held responsible for those choices.
We need to choose a path that honors the heart of God, choose a path that makes you the best human being you can be.
It’s not just ever now and then, but it’s everyday, it’s in the normal part of our routine - our choices can be one of the most spiritual things we ever do.
It’s our power to choose, what r u choosing?
we can make choices that devastate our future and others, but we can also make choices that unleash love, beauty, joy, forgiveness, and adventure - we can choose to live.
So we’re born and then we die, and in-between we’re all just chasing daylight - so over the next few weeks we’re gonna take this journey together to begin to unwrap how is it that we can seize the power of every moment to begin to live the life we were created to live - so we can stop sleeping thru our dreams and live a life beyond our wildest imaginations and it all begins w/ this small little thing called a choice.
What’s Our measuring rod?
And He said to him, " `YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, `YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
Matthew 22:37-39
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