Posts tagged sunday recap

Sunday Recap- 2/19/12

In a culture where the notion of intimacy has been distorted by the mine-fields of fear, mistrust, and selfishness, where people settle for and are burned by counterfeit forms of intimacy, where many are caught in cycles of obligation and frustration, Scripture offers a distance perspective.

This week we looked at verses in Galatians 5-6 that speak about boundaries and discernment in our relationships, the tension between bearing one another’s burdens and the responsibility of carrying or own load.

It takes discernment to determine the ‘property line’ of what is ours and what is not as we attempt to come alongside others to sacrificially and compassionately love and serve them.  One of the roles we have as a community of Jesus followers is to help each other discern those boundaries, to help each other align with God’s grace and truth.

Scripture we read
Galatians 5:1-6:5 (specifically 6:2,5)

For extra reading
When Your World Makes No Sense- Henry Cloud
Go Away Come Closer- Terry Hershey

Worship Set
Beautiful As You
Here is our King
Alive
How He Loves
How Marvelous, How Wonderful 

{Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes}

Sunday Recap- 2/12/12

RELATE:Identity (part 1/4)
where we examine four important Biblical concepts that affect the way we relate to one another

Understanding our identity and how we view ourselves has a huge impact on how we relate to others.  

WHO ARE YOU?
There are a lot of different ways to answer that question.  God wired us in such a way that we need someone else to tell us who we are.  There are a lot of people and things out there that want to tell us who we are or who we should be, but God is the only one with the authority to tell us who we are.

That truth often alludes us because we regularly rely on our own expectations or the expectations of others to dictate how we see ourselves and we forget who we are in Christ.  We try to blend in with everyone else around us like a chameleon.  We securely attach our entire self to another person, like a leech and allow our relationship with them to “complete” us.  We can also strut around like a peacock gaining attention and approval from others by overtly sharing our accomplishments or struggles.

Our identity is not determined by us or other people.  ”It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.”  -Ephesians 1:11 (Message Translation)

The New Testiment very clearly defines who we are in Christ, here are just a few places where our identity in Jesus is presented:
John 1:12; John 15:15; Romans 3:24; Romans 6:1-7; Romans 8:1; Romans 11:16; 1 Corinthians 2:16; 1 Corinthians 6:17; 2 Corinthians 5:17-19; Ephesians 1:1; Ephesians 2:5-6; Ephesians 2:18-19; Philippians 3:20; Colossians 2:10-13

Do you really believe you are who God says you are?

{Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes}

Sunday Recap- 1/22/12

We all suffer from the tendency to manager our image, creating a false perception of ourselves toward others.  We also battle a lot of forces that oppose the genuineness of our faith.  It’s these forces we may find ourselves taking cues from, more faith than our own:

• Tradition
• Trend
• Social Pressure
• Euphoria
• Fame

These influences don’t necessarily equal a genuine faith that endures.  God has always desired the faith and practice of his people be genuine, deeply from the heart.  How does one build up enough escape velocity to break free of these influences, instead of defaulting back to them?

Some would suggest a crisis of faith as a healthy right of passage for those seeking a deeper, more genuine faith.  It’s frightening to question your heart, your intentions, and everything you’ve ever believed.  To do so might be considered a “dark night of the soul”. But, to emerge on the other side of that, you might find a truer faith your one to embrace for yourself, taking cues from a genuine love for God.

Scriptures We Read:
Acts 4; Acts 8; Acts 19; Psalm 119:112; Psalm 51; Jeremiah 31; Matthew 22

Other References:
“70% of high school students will leave the church between the ages of 18 and 22.” -The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons
You Lost Me by David Kinnaman

Worship Set:
Like an Avalanche- Hillsong
Beautiful as You- Bill Wolf
Altar of Our Praise
All I Need is You-  Hillsong

{Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes}

Sunday Recap- 12/4/11

QUINTESSENCE
The pure and concentrated essence of a substance.  The most perfect embodiment of something. 

Jesus is the quintessence of God.  The Christmas season naturally bends our heart and mind toward the Incarnation- God coming to earth as a man, Jesus Christ.  But we must never overlook that Jesus was both fully MAN and fully GOD.  

It is easy to overlook his divinity during this time of the year.  However, Revelation paints a very vivid image of Jesus and His divinity.

Revelation 12:1-6 [she gave birth to a son… who will rule all nations with an iron scepter.]
Revelation 1:12-18 [I am the First and the Last…]
Revelation 5:5-10 […you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God.] 

Jesus Christ is the perfect quintessence of God.  In a time when we are constantly faced with Jesus the baby and and Jesus the man, let us not forget his complete divinity.

Other scriptures we read
Colossians 1:15-20 

Worship Set
King of Wonders- Christ Quilala
Death in His Grave- John Mark McMillan
Murdered Son- John Mark Millan
Till I See You- Hillsong 

{Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes}

Sunday Recap- 11/20/11

It’s popular, even among Christians, to knock the church a bit.  It certainly has its own reputation of historical injustices and modern embarrassments. But there’s always the danger of creating an overly critical and cynical attitude toward the church that isn’t healthy, nor accurate.  Here are three ideas in an attempt to properly perceive and receive The Church as she is.  

1.  Jesus Loves The Church

He refers to The Church as his bride and passionately pursues her despite her sin and even rejection of him

2.  The Church is this world’s best chance at Justice and Restoration

The Church has historically honored the value of human beings through it’s treatment of the poor, the needy and abused.  Rather than God snapping his fingers and restoring our world, he has commissioned his church to the restorers of this world.

3.  The Church is a living thing that transcends all expectations and agendas

When operating fluidly within culture and among people, The Church can often cause the mess of people to rise to the top, which gives attention to the things that people genuinely face every day, and may be pointed to Jesus

The Church is weird and lovely, holy and human, at the same time.  And despite her appearance or mistakes, Jesus has sent her into the world to restore it as the Kingdom coming to earth, and will someday restore her to himself and receive her as a glorious bride.

Scripture we read 
Ezekiel 16 
Matt 25:31-46 
Acts 2:42-47

References

“Always a Woman” by Billy Joel

Dialogue from the film “Gladiator” between Maximus and Aurilius about Rome

Worship Set
Here is Love- Matt Redman
Let it Shine- All Sons & Daughters
All the Poor and Powerless- All Sons & Daughters
Shine Your Light on Us- Robbie Seay

{Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes}

Sunday Recap- 11/13/11

“But let justice roll on like a river, righteous like a never-ending stream.” -Amos 5:24

What are people worth? How would God answer that question?

This week, the book of Amos provided a backdrop to prayerfully move us beyond complacency or the paralysis from being completely overwhelmed and toward a desire to participate in God’s restoring work of justice and mercy.

In chapter 7, God shows Amos a plumb line.  It’s what builders used to make sure the wall they are building is straight.  It’s the truth that everything gets measured by.  When God compares Israel to the plumb line of truth and justice and mercy, it is obvious that they are out of alignment with His heart and priorities.  They have turned their backs on justice, they have ignored the poor and oppressed and in doing so, they have turned their backs on God.

Amos is calling them to repent of their apathy and return to God and God’s idea of Justice.  Plumb lines are not about salvation… it’s by grace we are saved. But as we walk out what it means to be a Jesus follower, he wants to bring us to look at the plumb line and see where we are out of alignment with His heart for the poor and oppressed.

[refugee. migrant worker. homeless. single mom. elderly. neglected.]
who around me is in need of an advocate?

Further Reading: Generous Justice by Tim Keller

Scripture we read:
Zechariah 7:10; Isaiah 58:6-7; Luke 4:17-18; Luke 14:13; Matthew 11:4-5; Luke 12:33; James 2:14-17; Psalm 146:7-9; Deuteronomy 10:17-18; Proverbs 31; Job 29:12-17; Micah 6:8 

Worship Set
I Am Set Free- All Sons and Daughters
All the Poor and Powerless- All Sons and Daughters
Hosanna- Hillsong
Take My Life and Let It Be
People of God- Gungor 

{Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes}

Sunday Recap- 11/6/11

God’s relationship with creation and our relationship with creation has been an important story line since Genesis 1.  

God’s relationship with creation has been constantly revolving around four truths…

• He made it. [Genesis 1-2]
• He owns it. [Psalm 24:1; Psalm 95:3-5]
• He cares for it. [Psalm 65:9-10; Matthew 10:29]
• He works to sustain it. [Psalm 104]

After the fall, man severed its perfect relationship with creation, and Christ’s work on the cross restored and is currently restoring creation. [Romans 8:19-23; Colossians 1:15-20]

At the present, it is our calling to serve and preserve God’s creation as stewards before Jesus returns. [Genesis 1:26-30; Genesis 2:15; Psalm 8]

Worship Set
The Stand- Hillsong
Beautiful Things- Gungor
Rhythms of Grace- Hillsong
Perfect Ones- Desperation Band
The Earth is Yours- Gungor 

{Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes}

Sunday Recap- 10/23/11

The God of Jesus is obsessed with lost things.  Jesus’ reputation as one who associated too closely with the “lost” was confronted by the religious as inappropriate.  This triggered three stories that Jesus told about lost things (a sheep, a coin, and a son).

And in these stories he speaks of God’s joy for those who return to him.

The meaning of lost is simply “being out of place, and needing to be returned to where one belongs.”  This definition not only involves conversations about the soul, heaven and hell, but also extends to our current lives.  We all walk in our fogs of lostness, and our heavenly father wishes to restore us.

And much of our lostness can be attributed to one lost thing: our identity.  And although, when we come to our senses, we make our oaths and promises to God, he ignores our striving and simply wishes to remain of whose we are.

Scripture we read
Luke 15; Luke 19:10

Worship Set
Mercy- Ryan Delmore
Your Love Never Fails- Chris Quilala
Came to My Rescue- Hillsong
Come Thou Fount

Sunday Recap- 10/16/11

RESTORE: Ordinary

Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God (His rule, His way) had arrived, that the restorative work off a fallen world had begun.  Yet, like an unfinished piece of music, we still live ‘east of Eden’, in this in-between time where there is beauty and truth and goodness in this whorl that God so incredibly created, but also tragedy and pain and distortion as we anticipate Jesus’ return and the fulfillment of this restoration.

And so we have a couple of facts…
Fact #1
The world is an intricate and beautiful place where God’s glory is on display but it is a drop in the ocean compared to what things will be like when Jesus returns.
Fact #2
In the meantime, the world is also a tragic and ugly place full of pain, ugliness, and decay and many times our perception becomes distorted, our conscience becomes numb, and our intimacy with Christ becomes detached.

Jesus is calling us to this work of restoration in our perception and in our actions, to allow His restoration of our lives and His presence in the midst of our pain and trouble become a compelling story to those around us.

Scripture we read…
1 Peter 5:6-11; 2 Corinthians 4:6-10; Colossians 1:18-20; 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 

Worship Set
The Earth Is Yours- Gungor
Death In His Grave- John Mark McMillan
Beautiful Things- Gungor 

{Don’t forget to check out the podcast on iTunes}