Fit For Life :: Covenant Health :: 8.30.9 August 31, 2009

We’re on our third week of getting Fit for Life!
Our series is rooted in 1 Timothy 4:7-8 (TNIV) Which tells us to “train ourselves to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

So we are looking at several aspects of our health of how our bodies are honoring God – OR NOT! 
We decided first off that no one should be nervous about this – we’re all broken, and the church is a place for hurting people – a hospital for sinners not a museum for saints – so we should each do your best to be open and honest and be challenged to grow!

The 1st week we talked about our Emotional Health – how common it is to struggle in this area. And we said the key is Prayer & Thanksgiving.

Last week we talked about our Physical health – how our bodies are a temple in which God dwells, so even though this is all just a blip on the radar of eternity we’ll spend with God in a heavenly body – we want to make the most of this earthly body now as a way to honor him!

And last night we  talked about Covenant Health – by that we mean how each of us is held accountable through covenant relationships. Accountability is the process of someone helping another to stick to their commitments. That can happen in different ways.

I pointed out a couple of examples of what this can look like.  The decor in our room for this series involves a series of portraits.  Each week I point out a couple of them and explain why they made it to this spot of honor.  Each picture is of someone who is not perfect, but who is “fit for life” in different areas.

I introduced Craig Gross –
He’s an evangelist.  He and a friend started XXXchurch.com which is a non-profit organization that aims to help those who struggle with pornography. Its target is consumers and those in the pornography industry.  Launched in 2002, the organization gives its vision as: “XXXchurch is the #1 Christian porn site designed to bring awareness, openness and accountability to those affected by pornography. We are an on-line community that tours the world speaking at colleges, churches and community centers. XXXchurch.com exists to help those who are in over their heads with pornography, both consumers and those in the industry.”

XXXchurch.com also offers accountability software called X3Watch. The software logs all questionable websites that a user accesses based on content type and then sends a report to an “accountability partner” of the person’s choosing. The program is free to download.

Craig is just one person who is working to help people find freedom in Christ.  This kind of addiction is VERY common and it’s a problem for Christians as much as anyone.  And a KEY in finding that freedom is someone holding you accountable.

That can happen with a partner – one person helping another. It can be more than that – sometimes a small group of people is even better… this is The First Small Group – a picture of Jesus with his disciples at the Last Supper.

As we were thinking about small groups and how powerful and helpful that interaction can be. How accountability and covenant can be a big part of what happens in small groups – I thought I need to get a picture of whoever came up with the idea of small groups – we realized, well that was Jesus!

If Jesus thought it was this important – shouldn’t we?!?!

We did a couple songs at the beginning of the night – “Everlasting God” by Tomlin & “Everything Glorious” by Crowder.
We watched another silly intro video of Andrew preparing for the Mr Universe Contest.
We then divided into small discussion groups = this is one of our regular formats at The Water’s Edge.  And no more fitting a night than this to utilize it!  Here’s the material we worked through:

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION:
- What happens to you when your life is shared with other people?
- What happens to the people you share with?

Hebrews 10:24-25 – Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

- Why does this scripture encourage us to meet together?
- If you’ve had a small group experience, share examples of the love and encouragement you’ve found.  How important has that help been in your life?

Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one friend sharpens another.

- Why is it that another person can tell you something that you already know, and it takes them saying it for it to become real?  (“you seem unhappy” – “actually, I AM unhappy.”)
- Who in your life right now is able to “sharpen” your character in a healthy and loving way?  Do you do this for someone else?  What is hard about that process?

Below are the “One Anothers” of the Bible – read through the headings – these are the instructions the Bible gives for how to hold each other accountable as brothers and sisters in Christ, whether in a small group or just one on one.

- Which of these is the easiest for you?  Why?
- Which of these is the most difficult for you?  Why?
- Which of these have you experienced – which have you done for others?
- Which of these would you like more of in your life?  Why?
- If you’re not in an accountability relationship now – do you think you might get involved in one?

Love one another – John 13:34-35, John 15:12; 17, Rom 13:8, 1 Th 4:9, 2 Th 1:3, 1 Pet 1:22, 1 John 3:11; 23, 1 John 4:7; 11-12, 2 John 1:5
Do not oppress one another – Lev 25:17
Be at peace with one another – Mark 9:50, I Thess 5:13
Show hospitality with one another – John 13:14, 1 Pet 4:9
We are members one of another – Rom 12:5, Eph 4:25
Honor one another – Rom 12:10 
Do not judge one another – Rom 14:13
Do not excuse one another – Rom 2:15
Do not fight with one another – Gal 5:15
Serve one another – Gal 5:13
Do not envy one another – Gal 5:26
Admonish one another – Rom 15:14
Greet one another – Rom 16:16, 1 Cor 16:20, 2 Cor 13:12, 1 Pet 5:14
Care for one another – 1 Cor 12:25
Bear the burdens of one another – Gal 6:2
Show deference to one another – Eph 4:2
Forgive one another – Col 3:13
Be kind to one another – Eph 4:32
Submit to one another – Eph 5:21, 1 Pet 5:5
Do not lie to one another – Col 3:9
Provoke to good works one another – Heb 10:24
Comfort one another – 1 Th 4:18, 1 Th 5:11
Concern yourself in the affairs of one another – Phil 2:4
Do not hate one another – Titus 3:3
Do not speak evil of one another – James 4:11
Pray for one another – James 5:16
Be like-minded toward one another – Rom 12:16, Rom 15:5
Do not hold a grudge against one another – James 5:9
Highly esteem one another – Phil 2:3
Have fellowship with one another – I John 1:7
Edify one another – Rom 14:19, Rom 15:1-2, Eph 4:16, Eph 5:19
Teach one another – Col 3:16
Do good to one another – I Thess 5:15

When the discussions were done, we challenged people to do the work of finding or creating a covenant relationship for themselves – a place where they can be held accountable and help hold others accountable.  We gave out a resource sheet full of ideas (on-line resources, small groups our church offers, John Wesley’s questions used for accountability with others = if you’d like this, just send me a comment and I’ll send it to you!).

We closed with a couple more songs: “The Heart of Worship” by Matt Redman and “Filled with Your Glory” by Starfield.
It was a good night!

Here is our current prayer request list. (Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: Jackie Anderson is still traveling a very rough road.  Pray for hope and healing and a willingness to hang on tight.

:: Pray for Katie Thompson’s grandparents – things are going better than expected.

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Pray for Lacy Thompson – she’s serving as a missionary in Ecuador until Thanksgiving.

:: Toni R, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Sam Dills (and his family) as he fights cancer.

:: Pray for John P’s grandmother – she’s going through a rough period right now.

Fit For Life :: Physical Health :: 8.23.9 August 24, 2009

2nd night of the series, FIT FOR LIFE. 
- We sang a couple songs: Sing to the King & Oh Praise Him
- We watched the 2nd installment of Andrew’s Mr. Universe training (a silly video piece to laugh at and intro the theme for the night)
- We talked about a couple people who have shown what “fit for life” in this area can look like: Richard Simmons & the first guys to summit on Mt. Everest (1953) Tenzing Norgay & Sir Edmond Hillary.  Their photos, along with others, are part of the decor in the worship space.  Encouraged folks to bring in pictures of people they know who are “fit for life”

- Chuck Frye, a man who has had his share of health troubles, come out the other side, and now takes his fitness very seriously and appreciates the joys of physical fitness every day, shared his story with us.
- John followed up from there with our theme verse:
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Didn’t you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

We are a temple in which God dwells.  Part of our responsibility in being Christians is honoring God in and through and with that temple.  So that’s more than just NOT polluting it with negative influences, it’s also taking good care of it. 

- We passed out some info about Physical health, some stats, reality checks and ideas for how folks can start changing things.
- We sang a couple more songs: Wonderful Maker & Here is Our King

The “Fit For Life Challenge” is going great!  Everyone is working hard to accumulate points for exercise, good eating and weight lost.  So far, Eric is winning!  There are 4 more weeks of competition – we’ll see how it goes!

Here is our current prayer request list. (Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: Jackie Anderson is still traveling a very rough road.  Pray for hope and healing and a willingness to hang on tight.

:: Pray for Katie Thompson’s grandparents – things are going better than expected.

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Pray for Lacy Thompson – she’s serving as a missionary in Ecuador until Thanksgiving.

:: Toni R, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Sam Dills (and his family) as he fights cancer.

:: Pray for John P’s grandmother – she’s going through a rough period right now.

Fit for Life :: Emotional Health :: 8.16.9 August 17, 2009

We started a new series tonight!  
Our theme verse for this series is 1 Timothy 4:7-8 (Today’s New International Version)
Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

So we hope that in the course of these 5 weeks we can take a look at our health – from several angles – and be challenged to be more godly in all those areas.  On this first night of the series we started with the idea that we’re all starting from a place of brokenness.  All of us struggle with health in different ways.  If you don’t, then you might not be in the right place!  Because Jesus said this about the idea…

Mark 2:15-17 (New Living Translation)
Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”  When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

“A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.”  ~ Abigail Van Buren

 This family of ours, the church, is a place where you can hold up that injury and ask for healing, and as we start this series, I’m hoping we can work on that – because we don’t always do a good job of this.  Here at RUMC, I’ve seen amazing examples of the “hospital” – and we want to always be working to make that more and more apparent.

We passed out band aids – and asked everyone to attach theirs somewhere visible.  We then thought about one of our health issues, and mentally named that bandaid.  We imagined that the word was written on your Bandaid for all to see.  Would that make you nervous?  I wish it didn’t – that we could all be this transparent and that it would be ok!  We left the bandaids on so that through the service we could practice being ok with our issues out in the open – seen but not judged.

Part of our decoration in the room for the series are framed photos of people.  People who represent fitness in different areas of life.  Not that they’re perfect, but that they have set good examples to follow.  This week’s topic of health is EMOTIONAL.  So I pointed out Maya Agelou & Anne Lamott, who I think both exemplify a life of honesty and beauty as they have worked through the ups and downs of emotion.   

Maya said this about her profession: “The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” 

She also said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

Anne said this about writing: “I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives, human hearts, spiritual transformation, families, secrets, wonder, craziness — and that can make me laugh. When I am reading a book like this, I feel rich and profoundly relieved to be in the presence of someone who will share the truth with me, and throw the lights on a little, and I try to write these kinds of books. Books, for me, are medicine.”

As we move through the series, we’ve invited the congregation to bring in their own pictures of “fit” folks, so that a room of faces can smile to us that there is hope!

We opened the night with “Unchanging” by Tomlin, and then watched a video.  Each week we’ll be journeying with a young man (Andrew) who has hopes of winning the Mr. Universe Competition.  He’s being trained by The Coach (McKenzie) and as he wrestles with his fitness level in each area, so will we!

After sharing the big idea of the series, the band aid thinking time and the pictures on the walls, Amanda took over and talked to us some about Emotional Health.  She shared some very insightful facts about emotional health issues – how common they are, signs to look for, how to react and respond, resources for finding help and ideas for working through emotional issues on your own.  She offered a handout at the end of the night which included a relaxation exercise, some on-line resources and a “Emotional Bill of Rights” that was very helpful to her as she worked through many of these issues herself.  (Leave me a comment if you’d like any of these things.)

She particularly lifted up prayer and thanksgiving as a tool for combating emotional distress.  Paul said it this way in Phillipians 4:6-9 (The Message)

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Our response to all this came in the words to the song we sang: “Unashamed Love” by Ten Sheckle Shirt.  We sang and asked God to give us a childlike faith, so we could lift up honest praise and unashamed love to tell God how worthy he is of it.

The John led us in a prayer of healing and hope, as people placed their hands on those band aids they had put on earlier.  We closed with “Marvelous Light” and celebrated knowing that “sin has lost it’s power, death has lost it’s sting, from the grave He’s risen, VICTORIOUSLY!” 

Here is our current prayer request list. (Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: Jackie Anderson is still traveling a VERY rough road. Pray for the details to come together. For hope and healing and willingness to hang on tight!

:: Pray for Katie Thompson’s grandparents – things are going better than expected.

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Pray for Lacy Thompson – she’s serving as a missionary in Ecuador until Thanksgiving.

:: Toni R, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.:: Pray for Sam Dills (and his family) as he fights cancer.

:: Pray for John P’s grandmother – she’s going through a rough period right now.

:: Pray for Jennifer K’s cousin’s family – she passed away suddenly, leaving two small children behind.

8.9.09 :: RETRO (Spoken) August 12, 2009

Last night of this series!  We had two folks share their retro stuff – one older one younger – great pictures (including some Glamor Shots and a 1950’s hair do).  We opened with a couple songs: Song of Hope (Robbie Seay Band) and I Will Lift My Eyes (Bebo Norman).  Our theological idea to unpack that night was the idea that God has and is Spoken. 

He has revealed himself to us – we can get to know him through the Word.  The Bible is our primary source of revelation through the Spirit, but we believe there is more to it than that.  The UM church believes God also speaks through our Reason – our common sense and the ability to utilize the brain God created.  He speaks through our Tradition – the church and what it has discerned through the years.  He speaks through our Experiences – some things we know because we have felt it with our heart and soul.  God has spoken, is speaking and he longs for us to hear.

As a quick review of the Bible we watched this youtube video – Bible in a Minute

We brought in a special guest speaker.  Phil Schroeder.  He’s one of my favorite people to listen to – has phenomenal insights and I always walk away knowing and understanding more.  He now works as the Associate Director of Connectional Ministries in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.  Which translates that he’s a big wig who didn’t mind swinging up to Ringgold for the night.  Phil helped us understand each of the four ideas mentioned above.  We thought through different denominations focusing more on different pieces, and recognized how fortunate it is to be a part of a church that hold all four as sacred and valuable. 

Phil reminded and challenged us to spend more time reading the Bible. 
As a group we memorized a beautiful verse:
John 8:31-32 (Jerusalem Bible) 
‘If you make My word your home 
you will indeed be My disciples, 
and you will learn the truth 
and the truth will make you free.’”

Most of us just visit God’s Word, but we’re called to abide in it – to spend time there – to call it home and be intimately familiar with it.  If we can do that, then God is Spoken and we will be filled with the truth and freedom that is a free gift to every child who seeks it. 

We sang a couple more songs before closing: Came to My Rescue (Hillsong United) and Yesterday, Today and Forever (Vicki Beeching).  It was a great night at The Water’s Edge. 

And as a bonus as people were about to leave we watched another great video from youtube:  Baby Got Book

Here is our current prayer request list. (Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: Jackie Anderson is still traveling a VERY rough road. Pray for the details to come together. For hope and healing and willingness to hang on tight!

:: Pray for Katie Thompson’s grandparents – things are going better than expected.

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Pray for Lacy Thompson – she’s serving as a missionary in Ecuador until Thanksgiving.

:: Toni R, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Sam Dills (and his family) as he fights cancer.

:: Pray for John P’s grandmother – she’s going through a rough period right now.

:: Pray for Jennifer K’s cousin’s family – she passed away suddenly, leaving two small children behind.

8.2.09 :: RETRO (Open) August 3, 2009

Our theological topic for the night: God is OPEN

The UMC slogan is: “Open hearts. Open Minds. Open doors.”  We value diversity. We want our people to think, and have opinions.  There are some standards we must lay down as foundational, but once those are covered, there is freedom to think and let think.  Wesley used to say: “if you’re heart is like my heart, then take your hand in my hand, and let us work together for Christ and his kingdom.”  We can stand together even though we have differences.  That is the strength of the UM Church.  God’s love is OPEN and our Faith should be, too.

So when everyone walked into the room, they found the chairs along the edges of the space and the floor wide open in the middle.  After some announcements (and Randall Franks sharing his “retro” stuff – which was AWESOME!) we moved right into some activity.  I asked everyone to stand in the middle and then gave them two choices.  One side of the room would be summer, the other side, winter – they had to pick a side.  Next, one side was vanilla, one chocolate, etc.  We were exploring our differences.  We moved to weightier matters: cats or dogs?  Sprinkled or dunked in baptism?  Creation vs. Evolution?  The air got thicker and people began moving more slowly.  We talked about that fact.  And that even though we have these differing opinions, and the church is ok with it, it can be a touchy situation.  What if I had put up pro-life or pro-choice?  What about homosexuality?  What about all those subjects that divide people?  Can we be ok with “think and let think”? because our church is. 

We then moved from what divides to what connects.  I had everyone get a partner that they didn’t know well.  Their task was to find a commonality they shared that was NOT physical (not that we both wear glasses or have brown hair).  It had to be something more unique than that - and I had them find some spiritual truth, some theology that they both believed was very important.  After some time sharing with their partners, some volunteered to share their commonalities with the group.  Even with a stranger, there is much between us that connects when we take time to get to know each other. 

John then got up and shared with us some about why our church has chosen this “open” path.  He talked about our Articles of Religion (which we gave copies of) being the foundation on which we stand.  These are the things we don’t question.  If you do, then maybe this isn’t the church for you – that’s how you would know.  And he talked about the Social Principles (which we also gave a copy of) being things the UM church has taken a stand on, has a formal opinion about, but which are up for debate.  He talked about why this openness is so important and how it sets us apart in many ways.  He challenged us to consider if it was true – do we have open hearts, open minds and open doors?  Who should be in worship with us that’s not?  How have we closed doors that were meant to be open?  Where have our minds been closed to new ideas or our hearts been too small for what God wanted to do? 

He segued into communion – a beautiful image of God’s open invitation.  We had people come forward in those pairs from the commonality exercise and serve each other, as the band played: “Communion” by Third Day, “I Will Rise” by Chris Tomlin and “Desire” by Phil Wickham. 

It was a good night.  

Here is our current prayer request list. (Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: Jackie Anderson is still traveling a VERY rough road. Pray for the details to come together. For hope and healing and willingness to hang on tight!

:: Pray for Katie Thompson’s grandparents – her grandfather fell and broke HIS hip the day her grandmother was supposed to come home from rehab on her hip replacement surgery.  He has some dementia issues and the situation is difficult.  He continues to surprise them and is recovering well

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Pray for Lacy Thompson – she’s serving as a missionary in Ecuador until Thanksgiving.

:: Toni, Randall and Amanda are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunity.

:: Pray for Jennifer K’s cousin’s family – the cousin died suddenly leaving two small children.