Traveling Mercies :: The Gift of Community :: 5.23.10 May 25, 2010

Our last night of this series.  As we wrapped up our study in James, we found some very specific instructions to us about how to live in community.  He talks about how we should be supportive of each other with our prayers, with our openness, with going after each other when we start to slide away.  

After opening with a couple songs (“Filled with Your Glory” by Starfield and “Rain Song” by Day of Fire) John shared a sermon that opened up that word to us.  He encouraged us to take prayer seriously and to not shy away from praying BIG prayers.  He used James 5:13-20 as his text.  It says…

13-15 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

16-18 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. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

19-20My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.

It was also Pentecost Sunday.  So following his sermon we watched the following video: Pentecost scripture.

Pentecost is the day in which we remember the entrance of the Holy Spirit to dwell among God’s people.  Jesus had been promising his disciples that the day would come.  That in his physical absence from earth, the Spirit would come and bring comfort, encouragement, and passion to his followers.

The video shared the scripture describing that first appearance. And ever since that day, the Spirit continues to be present in our lives if we will be open to it. That doesn’t mean tongues of fire were about to appear on our heads, or that we were going to start speaking in different languages, but it does mean that he is able and willing to work in and through us.

We spent a few minutes exercising some of the things James thinks our community should be doing. As usual, we did that in a very non-threatening way.  So we had Nick up leading some songs just with his acoustic guitar – so if all of this was totally out of your comfort zone, then you could just focus there and sing along.

But if you were willing, we encouraged you to find a partner and do two things with them:

1 – pray. Ask each other what prayer requests exist in their lives, and then pray for those requests. Outloud ideally, but you could do it silently if that will make it possible. We provided a prayer to use if they were not comfortable winging it.

2 – confess your sins. Share (outloud) those burdens you’ve been carrying, and then pray that God will forgive you. Know that what you say to each other in this sacred space is to not be shared with anyone else. Just between the two of you and God. Again, we provided some liturgy they could use if just sharing was too uncomfortable.

If they did’t feel comfortable doing these things with a partner, we encouraged them to at least take a handout and consider lifting these prayers and confessions silently right to God.

Also, John was in the back of the room. He had some anointing oil. So if someone had something burdening them that they would like to ask for God to heal (physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.) then they were to just approach him, share with him their request, and he prayed over them, using the oil to make the sign of the cross on their forehead.

We prayed that the spirit would move and then people broke into pairs and started.  It was a beautiful time – people praying, crying and being anointed.  The room was a humm with whispers and song and it was powerful for many.  Following that time, we came back together to sing a couple more songs: “The Heart of Worship” by Redman and “Hosanna” by Hillsong.

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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing weekly treatments on Thursdays from 12-4ish for the next 10 weeks. Please lift up her family that takes her to chemo and stays with her. Pray she can balance health and work and family.

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 34 weeks! Eric’s dad Theo is feeling better, and is having some tests done to figure out why he’s been sick so often – pray they can figure it out!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Nathalie, Andrea & Tony S, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And for her daughter and her family – they’ve been going through a rough patch for a while.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments. Also pray for her Niece, a 17 year old with what they think is Crohn’s Disease.

:: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is going to have to stay in rehab afterall. She’s having a rough time. Pray also for Amanda who’s dog is very sick (like her baby), who is having some health issues, and is looking for a job.

Traveling Mercies :: The gift of FOCUS :: 5.16.10 May 19, 2010

There is so much that would distract us from God’s love and purpose in our lives. And when we come right down to it, all of that is just junk in comparison. James suggests that we can’t have both. We can’t choose the junk and God – we have to be willing to let go of the junk so that in God we can be complete and focused on what’s really important.

We started the night out with a couple songs: “Yesterday, Today & Forever” by Vicki Beeching and “Foreverandever, Etc.” by David Crowder.  We watched the following intro video: you can watch it if you want.  And read our verses from James for the night:

James 4:1-10
1-2Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. 2-3You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

4-6You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

7-10So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.

John shared a sermon all about how to make this kind of focus a reality in your life.  And we responded first by singing “One Pure & Holy Passion” together and then with a time of prayer (shaped by our verses) with time for silent reflection in between.  It went like this…

God, we read in James that so much of the negative in this world happens because we want our own way. And we fight to have it – this selfish nature in us is always getting in the way. We ask you now to help us see where in our lives we have gone too far and been selfish…

God, we read in James that we lust after what we don’t have and we often risk everything to try and get it. We are spoiled children, wanting our own way. We ask you now to help us identify those distractions in our lives that we hunger for instead of you…

God, we read in James that we tend to cheat on You and your love, and that the more we grab a hold of the world, the more we become enemies of yours. We know you are a jealous lover, and you offer far more than anything else we can find. We ask you now to help us focus in on your blessings and recommit to your love and your love ALONE…

God, we read in James that if we will draw near to you, you WILL draw near to us. Come near, God. Give us the strength to say no to evil and the sin that haunts us. Give us the courage to stop doing the things that hurt you, and instead may we honor you with our choices. Give us the focus we need to be serious about this relationship we have with you. Give us that pure and holy passion to know you and follow hard after you.

Because the truth is – This world is empty, pale and poor compared to knowing you, God. And Better is one day in your courts, in your presence, in your love – than thousands elsewhere.  Amen.

Then we sang “Better is One Day” by Passion Band and “I Will Not Forget You” by Waterdeep.  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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing weekly treatments on Thursdays from 12-4ish for the next 10 weeks. Please lift up her family that takes her to chemo and stays with her. Pray she can balance health and work and family.

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 34 weeks! Eric’s dad Theo is feeling better, and is having some tests done to figure out why he’s been sick so often – pray they can figure it out!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Nathalie, Andrea & Tony S, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And for her daughter and her family – they’ve been going through a rough patch for a while.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments. Also pray for her Niece, a 17 year old with what they think is Crohn’s Disease.

:: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is going to have to stay in rehab afterall. She’s having a rough time. Pray also for Amanda who has a pinched nerve and for her job search.

Traveling Mercies :: The Gift of Wisdom :: 5.9.10 May 12, 2010

This night was all about wisdom – and it was also Mother’s Day – I think that fits pretty well together!  Mothers are wise aren’t they?  Even if they made lots of mistakes along the way, they stand at the other side of hindsight and have a large perspective.

When we started planning for tonight, I was reminded of a very wise mother that many of us are familiar with. She said things like: “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”  That’s right – Forrest Gump’s mother, played by Sally Field, was just chop full of wisdom. Here are some more examples. Stringing them together somehow makes them even more profound….

“My momma always said you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes, where their goin’, where they’ve been.”
“Momma said there’s only so much fortune a man really needs and the rest is just for showing off.”
“My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.”
“Mama always said, dying was a part of life.”
“My Mama said, God is mysterious.”
“Mama always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them.”

So that night we explored this wisdom.  The kind of wisdom we receive from our mothers; the kind of wisdom James encourages us to embrace; the kind of wisdom each of us is carrying around; and to get us thinking, we heard from the wisdom of Rob Bell through one of his Noomas.   “She” – You can watch it here.

We had started off with a couple songs: “Unchanging” by Tomlin and “All We Need” by Charlie Hall.  Then after the Nooma we split into discussion groups.  Everybody got a sheet of paper with the following questions and scripture…

GROUP DISCUSSION:
–          How has your experience with your own mother shaped your perception of God?
–          Rob said, “Throughout the Bible, God is described as compassionate.  In Hebrew, the original language of the scriptures, it’s the word ‘raham.’  This is also the word for ‘womb.’  So God is compassionate.  God is womb-like.  This is a very feminine image for God.”  Do you think of God as male or female?  Why is that?
–          Who are some of the women you see reflecting the creativity, diversity and variety of God?
–          Can you share a story of a time your mother made a sacrifice for you?  How was it Christ-like?
–          What’s one of the pieces of wisdom your mother impressed upon you as you grew up? 

Read James 3:13-16
Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

 –          Have you ever found yourself making these mistakes?  (being too ambitious, boastful, or conniving just to look wise)  What happened?

Read James 3:17-18 
Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

–          Do you associate wisdom with getting along with others? 
–          Have you experience someone who is “gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings”?  How are those traits seen as wise?
–          “People don’t care how much you know till they know how much you care.”  How does this quote help connect wisdom and kindness?
–          What is one area in your life that you need to exercise more wisdom? 
How can you go about making that change?

It was a beautiful night and we had a small crowd, so each group took their chairs and went and found a spot outside.  They worked through the discussion, said a closing prayer as a group and dismissed from there.  It was simple and powerful.  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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing weekly treatments on Thursdays from 12-4ish for the next 10 weeks. Please lift up her family that takes her to chemo and stays with her. Pray she can balance health and work and family.

:: Praise for Tina Lambert – her eye surgery went REALLY well and she’s already mostly recovered!

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 33 weeks! Eric’s dad Theo is feeling better, and is having some tests done to figure out why he’s been sick so often – pray they can figure it out!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Nathalie, Andrea & Tony S, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And for her daughter and her family – they’ve been going through a rough patch for a while.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments. Also pray for her Niece, a 17 year old with what they think is Crohn’s Disease.

:: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is going to have to stay in rehab afterall. She’s having a rough time. Pray also for Amanda who has a pinched nerve and for her job search.

Traveling Mercies :: The Gift of Restraint :: 5.2.10 May 3, 2010

As our series continues, we looked at a big chunk of James, chapter 3 this week.  We considered our speech and the power that is in our mouths to bless or curse.  We thought though how we’ve experienced those blessings and curses and hopefully we did some positive things to address those wounds and correct those wrongs.

We opened up with a couple songs: “Beautiful One” by Tim Hughes and “Made to Worship” by Tomlin.
We used a video to get us thinking along the right lines – watch it here.
Then we jumped right into the scripture…

James 3:3-12
A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

James 4:11
Don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk. You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it.

We handed out paper and pens.  We started out thinking about the positive side of our words – of what happens when speech is used for good.  We had everyone think of times in their lives when they received positive words of encouragement and what that felt like or meant to them.  Then we invited them to write a note of such encouraging words to an anonymous person in the room.  Imagining what they would like to hear when they were having a bad day or going through a struggle, we had them write those words down anonymously, and place them in a basket in the center of the room.

Then we took a look at the negative, destructive side of our speech.  We looked at a couple studies about the negative bias of the brain – that we value and hold onto negative words much more than we do positive words.  That in our intimate relationships, it takes 5 positive comments to outweight one negative one.  That we even have more words for negative emotions than we do positive ones.  As humans we really struggle with negative words – I think that’s one of the symptoms to this Sin disease we all fight against. 

On a second sheet of paper people wrote down the negative words that they have heard which have haunted them in their lives.  The little comments that stick in our memory.  The things we say to ourselves that are negative.  Even the things we’ve said to others that we regret.  They held on to that paper for now.

We talked some about how Jesus also experienced both negative and positive words, reading through several examples found in the Gospels.  And even though Jesus had every right to strike back with his speech, he showed restraint.  He put love first in his word choice, over winning an argument, over pride, and over his own glory.  And that’s the kind of speech we’re called to.  

As believers, we’ve got to learn to do a better job controlling this very powerful muscle. Because often we’ll only get one shot – you’re the only bible some people will ever read – what will they learn from your speech?  Will your loved ones testify to your character when you’re gone?  Will what people heard from you in your life be a blessing or a curse – you have to decide that every time you open your mouth.  Will you exercise the gift of restraint when needed or will wish you had thought more before you spake.

In response, we invited people to do 3 things.  It was communion Sunday, so after John set up that experience, people could 1st – stop at the shredder.  We set up a shredder in the middle of the room.  They could choose to let go of those negative words they wrote – to put them in the shredder and see and hear them be demolished.  In turn they could receive the forgiveness of Christ through the elements of communion – the Great Exchanger of bad for good.  Then lastly, they picked out of the basket one of the sheets of positive words.  We hoped that they might stick them somewhere and read them often.  That when they begin to be tempted by those negatives, they might instead turn to this simple slip of encouragement and fight the negative bias of our humanity.

We sang a couple songs as folks moved through these steps: “Your Love is Deep” by Jamie Smith and “You are the Light” by Steve Fee.  Then John wrapped the night up with a few more thoughts and we closed with “Fields of GRace” by Big Daddy Weave.  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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing weekly treatments on Thursdays from 12-4ish for the next 10 weeks. Please lift up her family that takes her to chemo and stays with her. Pray she can balance health and work and family.

:: Praise for Tina Lambert – her eye surgery went REALLY well and she’s already mostly recovered!

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 32 weeks!  Eric’s dad Theo is pretty sick right now – pray he can get well!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Nathalie, Andrea & Tony S, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And for her daughter and her family – they’ve been going through a rough patch for a while.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments. Also pray for her Niece, a 17 year old with what they think is Crohn’s Disease.

:: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is going to have to stay in rehab afterall.  She’s having a rough time.  Pray also for Amanda who has a pinched nerve and for her job search.

Traveling Mercies :: The Gift of Acceptance :: 4.25.10 April 26, 2010

One of the most wonderful things we can do for our fellow travelers is accept them as they are.  We can dare to see them as God sees them. And for that to work, we have to be in touch with how God sees us, too.  This week we looked at these verses from James 2:1-13…

1-4 My dear friends, don’t let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, “Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!” and either ignore the street person or say, “Better sit here in the back row,” haven’t you segregated God’s children and proved that you are judges who can’t be trusted?

5-7Listen, dear friends. Isn’t it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn’t it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren’t they the ones who scorn the new name—”Christian”—used in your baptisms?

8-11You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: “Love others as you love yourself.” But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can’t pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God’s law and ignoring others. The same God who said, “Don’t commit adultery,” also said, “Don’t murder.” If you don’t commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you’re a murderer, period.

12-13Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.

We sang a couple songs in the beginning: “Because of Your Love” by Paul Baloche and “Oh Praise Him” by Crowder.
We used some clips from the movie “The Soloist” to see another picture of what a difference acceptance can make in the life of another person. 

We gave out mirrors (5×7 – plastic ones) and we started by identifying part of the problem.  When it comes to accepting rather than judging, we’re told to use the golden rule: love others AS you love yourself.  But many of us struggle with loving ourselves.  We instead tend to get caught up in a false identity – all the negatives in our brains and history and insecurities create a vision of ourselves that is hard to love.  So we wrote out on the back of the mirror some of those things that create this false identity. 

The key is seeing ourselves the way God sees us – and finding our identity in Him.  On the front of the mirror we wrote down God’s vision.   We looked at scriptures that told us that God sees us as CREATED, ACCEPTED, LOVED and CAPABLE and we discussed each.  We decided that if we could see ourselves through this lens, then we might be able to follow through with that Golden Rule.  So when we interact with others, our job is to help them see the front of the mirror, too, rather than pointing out the ugly false things on the back of the mirror.   If you’d like to read through the material we used for this discussion, just ask and I’ll email it to you.

We sang a couple more songs: “Wonderful Maker” by Tomlin and “Everything Glorious” by Crowder.  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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing weekly treatments on Thursdays from 12-4ish for the next 10 weeks. Please lift up her family that takes her to chemo and stays with her. Pray she can balance health and work and family.

:: Pray for Tina Lambert – having eye surgery today.  There will be several weeks of needed recovery.

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 31 weeks!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Nathalie, Andrea & Tony S, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And for her daughter and her family – they’ve been going through a rough patch for a while.

:: Pray for Jackie A as she wrestles with life – pray that she can find hope and healing and peace along the way.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments. Also pray for her Niece, a 17 year old with what they think is Crohn’s Disease.

:: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is in rehab, but really struggling with more than just her physical recovery – lately things seem to be getting better – pray that continues!

Traveling Mercies :: The Gift of Perseverance :: 4.18.10 April 22, 2010

Each week in this series, we’ll be working through some tips and teachings from the Book of James.  James is full of practical advice for our spirituality and for living in Christian community.  The time frame following Easter Sunday and leading up to Pentecost – the day we celebrate the Holy Spirit’s arrival in the life of mankind – is a time of waiting.

Just imagine being those disciples, after the amazement of the resurrection – to be told by Jesus to chill until the Spirit arrives – all that they must have wondered and dreamt about?!  I can imagine in the anxiety of “what’s next” that they were pretty freaked.  What does this resurrection life look like?  How will this movement grow the way Jesus implied?  How should our lives be different now that we’re living as followers of Christ?

Although James wasn’t written in response to those guys, it is a book full of very clear cut answers to those questions. And I believe his advice will also speak to us today.  Walking in the way of Christ implies movement – and it’s this movement, this journey – the traveling we do with Jesus as we live – that our series will focus in on.

As we travel in Jesus’ footsteps, I believe that God gives us some beautiful gifts.  They aren’t always easy gifts – but they are graces offered to us in the experience.  So each week, we’ll hear from the Book of James and we’ll discover a gift from the road – a traveling mercy.  On this night we considered the gift of perseverance.

We started off with a couple songs: “Everlasting God” Brenton Brown & “As it is in Heaven” Matt Maher.
We read through our verses for the night – James 1:2-18 – all about how to follow God in the midst of trials and temptations, while seeking out the good and perfect gifts God has for us.  And then the chaos began.

This was one of those  nights that we adapted a team building activity into the worship experience.  We constructed a Living Ladder.  10 pairs of people held a thick wooden dowel between themselves which each became a “rung”.  We had a “climber” who was to move down the rungs of the ladder.  The goal was for the climber to get from point A to point B, only using the ladder.  So when he finished using a rung, that pair of folks would peel off and go around to the front on the “ladder” being used again and so forth, until the group reached it’s destination.

As the ladder & climber moved, they worked through the rest of the room.  I had the remaining participants get into groups and represent either a trial, a temptation or a good and perfect gift.  As the climber went by, they did their best to represent that challenge or encouragement. 

When the climber reached his destination, we worked through the metaphor of the activity as a large group. 
The climber represents us – people striving to follow Christ.  The rungs represented the things & people that support us along that journey.  In the room, our climber dealt with the trials of job loss and sickness, they resisted the temptation of drinking and gambling, and they were encouraged with the peace and grace of God.  We went back to the scripture and worked through the metaphor with some application oriented questions…

Verses 2-4
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Q: what are the benefits of moving through the challenges of life?
Q: have you looked back and seen this to be true in your life?

Verses 5-8
If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who doubt and “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open, unstable in what you do.

Q: How was prayer represented in the metaphor? In the interaction between the climber and the rungs?
Q: have you ever tried to get through on worry alone? How did that go for you?

Verses 9-11
When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don’t ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that’s a picture of the “prosperous life.” At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.

Q: How does “climbing” tend to equalize all people?
Q: what can you do in the way you live to stay humble and true to God & yourself?

Verse 12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Q: What is the Crown of Life? Is it just a one day thing? Or is it now, too?

Verses 13-15
Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

Q: Let’s talk about those obstacles along the path again – do you ever get caught in thinking that God is trying to do you in?
Q: What can you do to keep the right perspective on these issues?

Verses 16-18
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

Q: How does it feel when you come across a “good and perfect gift” as you’re traveling?
Q: What kind of reactions do you tend to have to them? What should our reaction be?

 The group came up with some excellent discussion around these questions.  And as we closed with a couple more songs, we all felt encouraged to keep moving – to keep following – to keep our eyes focussed on the goal of Christ.
We sang: “Blessed be Your Name” Redman and “Your Grace is Enough” Tomlin.

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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing weekly treatments on Thursdays from 12-4ish for the next 10 weeks. Please lift up her family that takes her to chemo and stays with her.  Pray she can balance health and work and family.

:: Pray for Tina Lambert – having eye surgery next week.

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 30 weeks!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Andrea & Tony S, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And for her daughter and her family – they’ve been going through a rough patch for a while.

:: Pray for Jackie A as she wrestles with life – pray that she can find hope and healing and peace along the way.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments. Also pray for her Niece, a 17 year old with what they think is Crohn’s Disease.

:: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is in rehab, but really struggling with more than just her physical recovery – lately things seem to be getting better – pray that continues!

Now What? :: 4.11.10 April 12, 2010

The week after Easter + Spring Break = a small crowd!
But we had a great night!  We’re in between series, so we focussed in on a response to Easter.  Now what?  We’ve celebrated Jesus’ resurrection – now what?  Do we just go back to normal, or should something be different?

We opened up with a couple songs: “Happy Day” by Fee and “Desire” by Phil Wickham – celebration songs!
Then we watched a Nooma (these are phenomenal resources by a phenomenal thinker, Rob Bell).
We watched You – all about the now what of Easter. 

After watching, we discussed – we stayed in one large group – I would share a quote from the film, and ask a question.  People shared their thoughts with the group and then we’d keep going.  It was great to hear so many thoughts and in general to have thoughts provoked.  Here is the stuff we worked through – most of which came from the booklet that comes with the Nooma…

“In the first century, to claim that your god had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, well, it just wasn’t that unique. The claims of these first Christians weren’t really anything new. Everybody’s god had risen from the dead. What makes yours so special?”

Q: Have you ever thought about what makes your faith special?

Q: Why was the act of Jesus actually rising from the dead so important?

“These first Christians believed that Jesus’ resurrection had implications for the entire universe. Their tradition had taught them that the world is broken and desperately in need of repair and that at some point in the future, God was going to put it all back together. For them, this future restoration had nothing to do with leaving this world [heaven]; it was all about the restoration, the renewing and the reclaiming of this world. [now]”

Q: How do we know that those early Christians really believed this?

Q: Why do you think much of current day Christianity is so caught up on the “one day” of heaven instead of the “now” work of restoring/renewing/reclaiming this world?

Read Acts 1:3-11 (MSG)

“The early Christians saw in Jesus’ resurrection the beginning of this universe-wide movement to put it all back together.”

Q: Do you have the sense that you’re a part of that same movement today? Why or why not?

“Some people are fierce with reality, aren’t they? They don’t have to spout off about how they’re right and everybody else is wrong because there is something going on inside them that is so powerful, so tangible. You can’t help but ask them questions; you’re dying to know why they are the way they are. You want them to explain the reason for the hope that’s within them. It’s because when you’re around people like this you have this sense that you’ve in some way been with Jesus.”

Q: Do you know anyone like that – describe them.

Q: Are you that kind of person yourself?  If not, what holds you back?

“This has a deeply personal dimension to it. Jesus is saving ME, he’s saving ME from MY sins, from MY mistakes, from MY pride, from MY indifference to the suffering of the world around me, from MY cynicism and despair. The brokenness I see in the world around me is true of MY own soul.”

Q: What are some of the words you would use to describe the implications of Jesus’ resurrection on YOUR life?

“We all fall short, and that’s the beautiful part. Broken, flawed, vulnerable people like you and me, are invited to be the hands and feet of a Jesus who loves us exactly as we are and yet, loves us way too much to let us stay that way.” (Romans 3:23 also)

Q: Throw out some words that describe how it feels to believe this truth.

Q: If we’re loved exactly as we are, then what is our motivation for change?

“If people only had your life (as the only example to look at) and they were asked the question, ‘Has Jesus risen from the dead?’ how would they answer?”

Q: If they saw only how you spend your time, how you spend your money, what you love, who you love, do you think they would see that Jesus has risen from the dead?

Q: are you a living Gospel? (we often say, “You’re the only bible some people will ever read.”) Do we take this assignment seriously? 

I shared that IF we did, truly become the Gospel, be the proof of a living Christ, then it would change everything – our entire community would be affected.  We sang “God of this City” by Tomlin in response.  And then closed the night with “Song of Hope” by Robbie Seay Band.  These lyrics were so very appropriate…

I will Sing a song of hope, sing along
God of Heaven come down , heaven come down
Just to know you and be loved is enough
God of Heaven come down , heaven come down

It was a great 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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing aggressive chemo treatment for a while – pray she finds a balance in work and rest!

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 28 weeks!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Andrea & Tony S, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for the family and friends of Sam Dills (he passed away last week)

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And pray for Syd’s health.

:: Pray for Jackie A as she wrestles with life – pray that she can find hope and healing and peace along the way.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments.  Also pray for her Niece, a 17 year old with some weird gastrointestinal stuff happening – she’s in the hospital and they’re running tests.

 :: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is in rehab, but really struggling with more than just her physical recovery – lately things seem to be getting better – pray that continues!

Rolling Stone :: Happy Easter! :: 4.4.10 April 6, 2010

The last night of our “Journey of Stones” series… It’s EASTER!  We planned for the night to be the first of a quarterly “Family Night” – so the kids stayed in the service with their families instead of going down to The Fishin’ Hole.   Each week of the series we had given out stones that represented different things each week and we had laid those stones at the foot of the big cross we brought into the room for the series.  On this night – those stones were removed – by the redemption of Jesus on that cross.  And the stone we talked about was the one that was rolled away from the tomb to reveal his resurrection! 

We opened with a couple songs: “In Christ Alone” and “Salvation is Here”  Throughout the service I would shout “Alleluia, Christ is Risen!” and the congregation responded: “He is risen, Indeed!  Alleluia” – there was a LOT of energy in the room – the kids really helped that!

They also played a major role in delivering the message that night.  During Lent they had been working on making a set of “Resurrection Eggs” – well, a version of them anyway – we have 18 in our sets.  That night we set up tables in our space and had a kid with their eggs at each table.  They took about 20 minutes and told the Easter Story to their table of folks by using their eggs.  They did a GREAT job! 

We sang a couple more songs after that: “Here is Our King” and “God of Ages”
Then John shared for a few minutes about what a crazy story this is – it’s just not what you might expect.  Jesus does it!  He beats death and has become the Savior of all mankind, and to announce this Good News he slowly interacts with a person or small group of people at a time – no HUGE choirs of angels, lights from the sky or booming voices declaring his glory, but a graveside conversation, an upper room display – just not what you might expect!

The Good News still moves in this kind of way though – one person at a time – and it’s still moving.  Or it should be – that really depends on us.  So we gave people the challenge of keeping Jesus’ tradition – to have conversations with people, to work in relationship to expose the resurrection. 

At our morning services, we invite the congregation to bring in flowers.  We add them to the cross and it becomes a “Living Cross” – we just wrap some chicken wire around it and the flowers get stuck in there.  It’s beautiful!  At The Water’s Edge we do something with those flowers.  They’re taken off the cross and put into vases.  Those vases were displayed around the base of our cross (the one we had used for the whole series) and people were invited to take a vase and share it with someone who needs to hear the Good News!  We did this last year and had lots of neat stories about how the sharing went – so we’ll see what comes of it this year! 

We sang a couple more songs in response to this message and challenge: “Mighty to Save” and “Marvelous Light”
There was lots of dancing (the kids really got the ball rolling on this!) and energy in the room – a beautiful celebration as we repeated those treasured words: “Alleluia, Christ is Risen!” – “He is risen, Indeed!  Alleluia”

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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing aggressive chemo treatment for a while – pray she finds a balance in work and rest!

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 28 weeks!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Andrea & Tony S, Amanda B and Randall F are all looking for new jobs – pray God will open up the right opportunities.

:: Pray for the family and friends of Sam Dills (he passed away on Friday night) – the funeral is today. 

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And pray for Syd’s health.

:: Pray for Jackie A as she wrestles with life – pray that she can find hope and healing and peace along the way.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments.

 :: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is in rehab, but really struggling with more than just her physical recovery – lately things seem to be getting better – pray that continues!

:: Pray for Melony C – she’s home, but they’re still not sure what was going on.

:: Pray for Theo P – he had a weird episode over the weekend and was in the Coronary Care Unit for a night – he seems fine, but they are not sure what caused it.

A Journey of Stones :: Rock and a Hard Place :: 3.28.10 March 30, 2010

This week we found ourselves between a “Rock and a Hard Place”.  Jesus has a plan – a plan of sacrifice and redemption. Soon there will be celebration, but on this night we focused in on the dark hours before that dawn. Jesus is willing to make the hard choice and follow through with God’s plan for salvation through his death. He makes his way to the cross full of compassion and purpose. His disciples are mostly a disappointment in the process, but even then, Jesus is not swayed.  At worship we focussed in on his last teaching moment with the disciples (the footwashing) and we walked with him on the journey to the grave. 

We set up a couple footwashing stations in the back of the room.  We left the format for how the washing could happen very open.  People could go in pairs, they could just wash, just be washed, or not participate at all.  We had a couple designated washers ready for those who didn’t have a buddy in the room.  On the screen during the footwashing, we worked through the Stations of the Cross.  We used images of art along with the scriptures describing each station.  We would first see the full scripture, then over a series of slides, we displayed fewer and fewer words and phrases – creating an opportunity to focus in further and further into what happened at each station. 

So we opened with a couple songs.  “Here I am to Worship” and “Hungry”
Read through John 13:1-17  and then gave the logistics of the night.  The soundtrack from the Passion of the Christ was our backdrop, as people focussed on the stations, and took turns at the footwashing.  It was very quiet and focussed and reverent.  When this was done we pulled back together with a couple more songs: “Unashamed” by Starfield and “Came to my Rescue” by Hillsong.  The lyrics to these songs were so very appropriate after our experience and they were sung with power and passion.  It was a beautiful night and a  great beginning to a Holy Week full of meaning and purpose.

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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing aggressive chemo treatment for a while – pray she finds a balance in work and rest!

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 26 weeks!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Andrea & Tony S, 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 makes his way home.

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And pray for Syd’s health.

:: Pray for Jackie A as she wrestles with life – pray that she can find hope and healing and peace along the way.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments.

 :: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is in rehab, but really struggling with more than just her physical recovery.

:: Pray for Melony C – she’s in the hospital and they’re not quite sure what’s going on.  Pray they can figure it out and begin to treat.

A Journey of Stones :: Upon this Rock :: 3.21.10

We started the night with a couple songs: “You’ll Come” by Hillsong and “You are so Good to Me” by Third Day.
John read through Matthew 16:13-18 (New Living Translation)

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”  Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.  Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

He talked for a couple minutes about the kind of faith Peter was displaying.  That the church would indeed be built upon faith like that.  Faith that is willing to claim a name for Jesus and then to live in/on/through that name.  We on the other hand often sound more like the other 11 disciples.

Watch this video: Lord, Lord
It led us into reading Luke 6:46-49 (New Living Translation)

[Jesus said,] “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?   I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it.   It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built.  But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”

When asked to profess our faith we can repeat the religious jargon we were taught.  We can describe what our church believes or maybe what our parents believed.  We can report on what the current Christian culture says about what we’re supposed to believe…  But do we mean it – personally?  Do the words or titles we use to describe Jesus describe our relationship with him or a relationship with him. Because he’s asking for the former.  Jesus wants to know what we believe about him, not just what others are saying. 

Do you call him Lord? Because if you do, it means you’re doing what he says to do.  That in your life he is your master and you are his servant. Or does that title just slide out of us without meaning anything?

Do you call him Savior? That makes him and him alone responsible for saving you, for forgiving your sins. You can’t earn it or work it off – you can accept it from him and him alone. Is that what you do – or have you even stopped to think about it before?

Do you call him Creator? If so, do you recognize that he is the creator of EVERYTHING – not just what you tend to like and admire? Enemies as well as friends, people of other religions and different color, the things you hate as much as the things you love – do you respect all of his creation or just the parts you like?

Are you seeing the implications? These names for Jesus are more than just titles. They say something about what we believe and how we will live. I think we drift toward different names at different points in our journey. I think that’s partly why Jesus has so many different names – he’s really good at being all things to all people.

So the first thing we did was to look at some of his names and consider their implications.  We broke into some small groups and each group was assigned a name (we used a handout of names, with some definitions and a scripture reference – if you’d like a copy, just ask) Each group considered what a life lived claiming that name should look like.  How would this person live, relate, work, speak, function if they really believed what they were claiming.

After they finished discussing, each group shared with the room their thoughts.  We then invited folks to consider what name THEY would claim.  We passed out name tags and sharpies.  Asked them to write the name they’d claim at the top and what that meant to their living at the bottom.  Then as we began to sing, they had two response options.  1, to take their name tag and stick it on the cross (the big one at the center of the room for this whole series).  And 2, to lay down their stone at the foot of the cross.  Each week of this series, people receive a stone as they come into worship.  Each week it symbolizes something different.  Tonight it represents the kind of solid faith that Jesus builds the church upon and which our lives can be built.  We sang: “Lead Me To the Cross” by Hillsong and “I will Lift my Eyes” by Bebo Norman. 

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.)

:: Holly Stockburger will be undergoing aggressive chemo treatment for a while – pray she finds a balance in work and rest!

:: Eric and Tina are expecting their first child! So far, so good. Please keep everyone’s health in your prayers. We’re 26 weeks!

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Andrea & Tony S, 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 makes his way home.

:: Pray for Syd Kiser’s sister (Ellen) as she fights Breast Cancer. And pray for Syd’s health.

:: Pray for Jackie A as she wrestles with life – pray that she can find hope and healing and peace along the way.

:: Pray for Lyn K as she struggles with pain and the side effects of cancer treatments.

 :: Pray for Amanda B’s mom who is in rehab, but really struggling with more than just her physical recovery.

:: Pray for Melony C – she’s in the hospital and they’re not quite sure what’s going on.  Pray they can figure it out and begin to treat.