There are many things that I would like to share during our worship gatherings that I don't get to due to a lack of time or my inability to read my notes. Every once in awhile I will share a few things that got forgotten during the regular message time. By the way, I have to admit that I stole the idea of "stuff" from Rob Bell.
Last weekend we talked about the story of the "Rich Young Man" from Matthew 19. Here was a person whose life was organized around his wealth and all of the prestige and power that came with it. In spite of his misdirected priorities it was evident that he was considered a good person. Good that is, according to the standards of his culture and society. Goodness in God's Kingdom is measured differently and it begins with dependence upon him. The story of the "Rich Young Man" leads us to properly possess what we possess and keep what we possess from possessing us.
Let me share a thought about giving. Many of us have heard it taught that if we give generously that God will give generously to us. Many of us, in fact, have seen this come true in our own lives. At the same time, there are many who have given faithfully, generously and even sacrificially but haven't seen the financial blessings that some might promise.
It is important for us to recognize that the blessings we receive from God, as a result of our giving, come not because we pull the right levers on God. God does not dispense blessings as if he were a vending machine responding to the right amount of money being deposited. Being blessed by God when we give is not a quid pro quo but a result of living in God's Kingdom.
The man in the parable was asking what he had to do to have eternal life. Jesus changed the conversation by talking about the life of God or, the Kingdom of God, and that his refusal to release his possessions for the sake of the poor kept him from participating in that life.
When Jesus said, "it is more blessed to give than recieve", he was giving us a picture of what life is like in the Kingdom of God. (Acts 20:35)
How does this affect your relationship with "your stuff".
We will be posting podcasts of the service from now on. You will be able to access these podcasts in two ways. For those of you who already use iTunes, you can subscribe to our service from there.(This is available as of today 3/24/06) The other way is to listen to it from our blog spot. Just use the menu button to select the message.
This is a great Lenten day. As we have talked about before, Lent is meant to be a time of reflection, repentance and sorrow for our sins. Days like today naturally make us a bit more reflective. The rain restricts us. It keeps us inside and when we do go out we have to dash to our cars and dash back indoors. It keeps us from being our causal, relaxed selves. A day of reflection is a good practice for Lent because it gets us our of our comfort zones and into a place where we think more about the meaning of this season.
Fasting is another important practice. Depriving ourselves of something that is a normal and positive part of our lives is not a means of self-punishment but a time for focusing our attention upon God's great sacrifice by being reminded of our own small one.
Fasting together, as a community, is also valuable. Jesus encouraged his followers not to talk a lot about their fasting because of the temptation to use it as a means of boosting their own egos. However, since we are going through this journey together it is good for us to encourage one another on and actually learn from one another how we are growing through our fasting experience.
So, if you have a trusted friend, whom you know to be fasting, ask them about their fast. Do not focus on what they are fasting from, the weight they may have lost, nor the difficulty that it creates for you. Focus instead upon what you are learning about yourself and about God during this time. The goal of the fast is not to become good at fasting. The goal is to experience God.
"Thank you all for your prayers before, during, and after the late arrival of Kiana. The prayers, the meals you provided and the phone calls of concern, made this birth extra special. "
Thank you, Graham, Charla, Ian, Alyssa, Aiden, Brendan, Genevra, and of course Kiana Hamilton
We are grateful to God for Kiana and the whole Hamilton clan. God bless you. And welcome to the family Kiana!"
Things Not To Do On St. Patrick's Day 1. Drink green beer or, for that matter, green anything. 2. Don't pretend your Irish when your really Dutch. (Why Dutch? I don't know.) 3. Go around saying, "Kiss Me I'm Irish." 4. Eat corned beef, unless, you really dolike it.
Thing You Really Should Do On St. Patrick's Day (or right after) 1. Thank God for St. Patrick. He really did some important things. (There is no support for the idea that he chased all the snakes out of Ireland but he did bring the Gospel and teach people to read. In addition he worked to end slavery and all kinds of other sub-Christian practices.) 2. Listen to the Chieftians. (Their music is infectious.) 3. Read, How The Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill. It's a great read on how the Gospel was preserved, written down, and shared once again with a world that had largely left it behind. 4. Watch the Veggie Tales version of the St. Patrick story. Minus the talking vegetables and the funny references to pop culture they actually get his story right.
We should look at Lent as being not only a season but also as a journey. It is a journey that we travel via Scripture. It begins in the late part of Jesus' public ministry and culminates with his act of ultimate sacrifice and, thankfully, his resurrection. So during these weeks I want us to seriously reflect upon what Jesus was doing during this last portion of his earthly ministry. Not only that, but let's pay close attention to those things that were heavy on his mind during that time.
We began this journey last week when we examined the story of the Transfiguration. We recognized that from this story that Jesus has a context and we dare not remove him from his first century Jewishness. Not only was he Jewish but he was the fulfillment and continuation of the Old Covenant. We were reminded not to make the mistake of saying to God, "encore!" like Peter who wanted to build the shelters for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. And we recognized that the story of the Transfiguration, a story of a "spiritual high" if there ever was one, was closely followed by Jesus ministering to a man with a son who was demon possessed. Our "mountain-top" experiences are preparation for us to be involved in ministry to God's people.
We continue our series In The Journey With Jesus this week. Our passage of Scripture is Matthew 18:1-14. I encourage you read up on it for our study time tomorrow night. And, ask yourself this question: Who do I really believe is the greatest in the Kingdom of God.
Below are the words used to introduce Lent on Ash Wednesday. Last Wednesday night we read this passage during our Lenten Prayer Gathering. It gives a brief idea of what Lent is really all about.
"Dear people of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sin, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and abosolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and aof the need which all Christians continually ahve to renew their repentance and faith."
Lent is a time of repentance and renewal. It is also a time for grief and sorrow. Let these weeks that lead us up to the observance of Christ's crucifixion and the celebration of his resurrection be a time of reflection on the state of your life with Christ. What hinders your following him? What sins are you entangled in? Which people in your life do you need to seek forgiveness from? Who do you need to forgive?
For the early Church Lent was an opportunity to prepare for baptism. They prepared themselves during this time for the celebration of baptism during Easter.
Think about your baptism. It is the great marking ritual that Christians are called to participate in. Does your baptism remind you that you belong to Christ? If you haven't been baptized, use this time to consider following Christ in this way. Let him lead you through the waters, which symbolize his death, into a new type of life with Him.
Finally, the Spiritual Formation Workbooks arrived today. I will deliver some to our Wed group this evening, our Friday group later this week and the rest will be available this weekend.
If you want yours earlier than when your groups meets or before Saturday just give me a call and I can get it to you.
They are $8. If you are paying by check you can make it out to The Wheatland Mission.
OK, they still aren't in but should arrive any day. My hope is that not only will our House Churches go through the spiritual formation group experience together but that more of us would create some small spiritual formation groups that are completely new. It only takes 2 to 3 folks to make a good group.
This week we continue our series "In The Journey With Jesus" and we will be reading from Matthew 18. I encourage you to read that chapter in preparation for our time together.
May God bless all of you and may your fast be something that glorifies him and transforms you.
Isn't this weather wonderful? Ordinarily we would be enduring some blustery, cloudy days this time of year. This weather is a gift.
Lent usually begins in winter. In many locations, including ours, the weather is not so nice, the days are still short, and the weather reflects what one's mood is to be during Lent, sober and serious. As the days toward Easter progress the weather improves, the trees begin to bud and the grass turns green. (At least in the Northern Hemisphere) The change of season and the changes in nature suggest new life and growth which is at the heart of the Easter message.
Our observance of Lent is meant to give us more time than usual to reflect upon the life, ministry and suffering of Jesus. Our goal over the next few weeks to is to experience him through a variety of ways including a fast, reading Scripture, prayer and worship. Our ultimate goal is to become closer to Christ so that we can also become more like him.
To prepare for worship this weekend let me encourage you to read the story of the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1-13. This will be our main text for the weekend and will begin our series, "In The Journey With Jesus".
Our study these next weeks will take through many important passages from the Gospel of Matthew that describe Jesus' journey to the cross. My prayer is that all of us, adults and kids, will get to know Jesus more than ever in these coming weeks.
It is a little strange that I found buds on a tree this morning. Ash Wednesday is a day of repentance and is symbolic of death, the ashes that Christians have put on their foreheads, so to see new life budding on the trees seems to be a little bit out of place. The buds on the trees are more symbolic of Easter and the resurrection. It is a good thing that we celebrate the resurrection of Christ every week.
Tonight is our Lenten Prayer Gathering. We will meet at 9910 Clubhouse which is the neighborhood clubhouse in Tallgrass East. To get to the clubhouse enter Tallgrass East on 21st or off of Webb on clubhouse and drive until you see the playground and/or pool. The clubhouse is right there.
