The Lords Supper

Read 1 Corinthians 11:17-33.

In light of this passage, what is the purpose of the Lord's Supper?

How does community play into the author's understanding of the Lords Supper?

In what ways does the verse say there should be equality in the meal?

Read verse 33 again. What does this mean to you?

P-Bob's Retirement

Paul's final message to the Ephesian church is found in Acts 21:32. "And now I entrust you to God and the message of His grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself." This is also the text pastor Bob wishes to leave with us as we are transitioning into the leadership of a new pastor. Paul was making sure the church knew that despite the change that was occurring, it was the message of grace that endures. In what ways are you ACTIVELY carrying the message of God's grace to this world?

Meditate on this passage....

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called that you may inherit a blessing.
For,
'Whoever would love life and see good days,
must keep their tongue for evil and their lips from deceitful speech.
They must turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.'

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.

1 peter 3:8-12, 15

Integrity

in·teg·ri·ty
/ɪnˈtɛgrɪti/ - [in-teg-ri-tee] –noun
1.
adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2.
the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.



Its easy to say you are a person of integrity, but how does your life fit within this definition? If adherence to those things you believe in is a qualification for being a person of integrity, how much do you have?

The gap between what we believe and what we do must be closed. If we are to be "whole, entire, or undiminished" then the person that people see must be the person you are.

What are some ways you display integrity?
What are some ways you don't?

Communion Community

In your own words, what does it mean to be in community?

In many ways, the community we choose to be a part of becomes part of who we are. We create/absorb pieces of our identity from those we commune with.

What effect does communion with God have in your life?

What is the church's role in community? Have should that guide our participation in communion?

Take some time to look at God's community. Think about the worldwide community that is the Church. Also look at the community present in the triune God.

What do you 'run' by? What are you going to do?

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- At 5 a.m. on any given day, Anne Mahlum could be found running the dark streets of Philadelphia -- with homeless men cheering her on as she passed their shelter. But one morning last spring, she stopped in her tracks.
"Why am I running past these guys?" recalls Mahlum, 27. "I'm moving my life forward every day -- and these guys are standing in the same spot."
Instead of continuing to pass them by, the veteran marathoner sprang into action so they could join her.
She contacted the shelter, got donations of running gear, and in July 2007 the "Back On My Feet" running club hit the streets.
The first day, Mahlum led nine shelter residents in a mile-long run. Today, Back on My Feet has teams in three Philadelphia shelters, including 54 homeless members and more than 250 volunteers. The group has logged more than 5,000 miles.
Requirements for shelter residents to join are simple -- they must live in an affiliated facility and be clean and sober for 30 days. Members receive new shoes and running clothes, and teams run together three times a week between 5:30 and 6 a.m.
The runners are diverse -- doctors, janitors, students and shelter residents -- but such distinctions aren't apparent.
"All you can tell is who's the fastest," says Mahlum. "You can't tell who's homeless and who's not."
For Mahlum and others, Back On My Feet is more than a running club.
"We're a community of support, love, respect," she says. Runners greet each other with hugs and words of encouragement. While members say they've lost weight, quit smoking and have more energy, Mahlum believes they're also learning important life skills such as discipline and goal-setting that can help them get on the road to self-sufficiency.
"Running really is a metaphor for life," she says. "There is always another mile. You just have to take it one step at a time."
That's something Mahlum herself has learned over the past 10 years as she's dealt with her father's alcoholism. Running has been her therapy, she says.
"I'm learning more about my life through all of this."Back On My Feet also has a job training program for a partner. Three members are taking classes, learning computer and interview skills, while three others have found jobs.
Mike Solomon, an original member, is one of the group's success stories. A former crack user who spent his youth in and out of trouble on the streets of Wilmington, Delaware, Solomon is employed, in school and training to run a marathon in his hometown. He considers Back on My Feet part of his support group. "Anne is helping people see the hero in themselves," says Solomon. Mahlum aims to have Back On My Feet in 10 local shelters by the end of the year and expand beyond Philadelphia in 2009. She believes her approach could be part of a solution to homelessness. "Do we need homes? Yes. We need jobs? Yes," she says. "But imagine if you didn't have anybody in your life who said, 'I'm really proud of you.' Back On My Feet does just that."

Romans 6 - 7

I find Romans 6 to be one the most powerful statements concerning the nature of our relationship to God now that we have Jesus.

Romans 6:4 is commonly recited during baptisms. Our life in Christ is an entirely new one. Its not just about forgiveness, its about a whole new life. Verse 5 explains it even further by telling us that as we join together in Jesus' sufferings we also get to join Him in conquering death.

v. 11 "Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

The end of ch 6 uses slavery a number of times to describe the nature of our relationship to sin and eventually righteousness. Given this countries history of slavery our idea of slavery is a bit skewed. Here is a description of what Roman slavery was like (http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/Romans/slavery/slavery2.html).

While it is death we are owed for our sin, we are given the gift of grace.


Ch 7.

Our faithfulness to Him is what God desires. Pursuing both our sinful nature and God is adultery. Are you cheating on Him? When I was in high school I used to tell people I was a Christian. I even made up a church that I went to. The problem is that while I was talking good about church I had no place in my life for God. Going to camps, youth group. Sunday mornings, Sunday School and more are great way to be in community, but if that your whole relationship with God, you may need to evaluate your priorities. We are told in Romans that we cannot serve 2 masters. Who is your master? I know that early in my Christian life I could talk the Christian talk quite well. What I've learned is that God is very real, and my relationship with Him is one that requires commitment.

Paul then goes on to describe the nature of the laws God as given us. The way Paul explains the law is brilliant. Read through it as many times as it takes to follow whats being said. While Romans can be tough to follow at times, it is very rich in theology and the lessons you are given through will stick with you forever.


We'll do Ch's 8-9 Monday. Re-read 1-7 this weekend and see if there is anything new that stands out.

Look around

It can be really difficult at times to pray for others. Too often my prayers are all about me. Here is something I use to get my focus on the world around me.

Scroll down to the bottom left of this blog and look at some of the links under the heading "The Church Universal". Read some of those short articles and spend time in prayer for those affected. Take some time to pray for those around you. Write down the names of the people who come to mind. Continue to pray for that person or persons throughout the week.

The community we are a part of

It is easy for me at certain times to see everyone in the Church as part of the body. Then there are other times when i disagree with someone, or am upset that it seems inconceivable that there could be one body? It is at times like that that we need to be one body the most. Being one body isn't always easy, and the parts don't always agree, but it is who we are. In keeping with the body metaphor, its like if a person were falling down and extended their arms to keep from slamming something else on the ground. The stomach is sure happy about it, but the hands aren't in too good of shape.

The Church is one body, and much like a person it can be messy, weird, and have internal disagreements (like that lunch that didn't sit well), yet it never ceases to be one body. It may get bruised, it may get broken.

The most important thing to remember is that WE are in this together.

Lullaby for a Petrified Sacred Society by Jason Upton

Note the title to this song before reading it... the words are meant to be provocative. Read the words and think of ways Christian culture has created and environment where we are in a sort of "panic room".

Shut up the windows
Lock all the doors
Make sure nobody gets in
learn to protect what is rightfully yours
Or someone will take it my friend

We'll all sleep well tonight
With no worry about tomorrow
Everything's all right
Safe in our panic room

We're building a wall
Higher and higher
Come join the gospel crusade
Don't you know God loves
good little helpers
Can't wait to show Him what we've made

There's doctors and lawyers
and presidents here
We've all become the best of friends
Finally people are lending an ear
Truth has become relevant

Our prophets are nicer
and kinder and sweeter
We've partnered in their great reward
They bless us with peace
in exchange for a token
What more could we ever ask for?

Parents

From Faith on the Edge,
" 'Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive' (Colossians 3:13). Even our parents. 'Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you' (Ephesians 4:32). Even our parents. Is your heart like a knotted up fist, full of anger, bitterness or resentment toward your mom and/or dad?
Pray this prayer: Lord, i can't do it. I can't forgive them. I've been hurt too deeply. But, I put my heart in your grip. Lord, I give you authority to loosen the knotted fist of my heart. But you have to do it. I can't.
That's a start. Nobody said loving your parents would be a piece of cake. It takes hard work and a lot of prayer. it takes forgiveness and offering grace. god loves it when you love them. It honors the decision he made to put you in your family.

Do you truly believe God put you in your family because He loves you?
Read 1 Corinthians 1:37 and 1 Corinthians 13, what do these say to you?
When will you see your parents next? What specific things can you do to show your appreciation for them?
How do your parents show love? (and they do show love)
Do you need to forgive your parents for anything?-

To Love

"Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."

"It is probably impossible to love any human being simply too much. We may love him too much in proportion to our love for God; but it is the smallness of our love for God, not the greatness of our love for the man, that constitutes the inordinacy."
-from The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis


This should apply to all our relationships, to God, to friends, to enemies, to strangers, to family, and more.

Reaction....?

Good Things

"A fundamental part of Christian growth depends on teaching believers not only to do good, but also to distinguish between various goods, and to seek the highest good among them. How should we value temporal (def: perishable) goods like family, music, politics, literature, art, work, and sports? On the one hand, we know the joy they can bring us. On the other hand, they often seem like distractions from the spiritual life."

"In the course of his religious journey to Christianity (NOT a journey to religion, but out of it) Augustine recognized that no object or physical thing can be good or bad in itself. Rather he acknowledged two things: (1) that it is our will that takes good things and makes them bad by our absorption with them and thus our perversion of them, and (2) the relation of our affections to the sensible world can only be determined by having a proper relation to all physical things in light of their Creator."

From Christianity Today, September 2007, "The Good Life". Words in italics are added by me.

This is similar to what I wrote yesterday about Christian maturity, but I think the idea that good things can be made bad by our use or overuse of them is crucial to spiritual growth. It is essential to (1) identify these things and (2) deal with them. If you need guidance in this process I would love to talk it over with you!

If your looking for a good book to read, Augustine's autobiography Confessions is available in my office.

To Give

What does really mean to you that the things you have are not your own, but are God's. Do you really believe that. Often times we look at children when one takes a toy from another and see them yell "that's mine". We may or may not still get in those little arguments over 'stuff" but I think we often do that with God. We feel we have earned our stuff whether it be our time (I've earned a break), our money (I worked hard for this), our things (I really want it, everyone else has one). It's not that all those things are somehow inherently bad, but they can easily distract us from what should be our giving nature. Because I didn't grow up in the church regular giving was never part of what i was taught. I still catch myself feeling a sense of being entitled to things. In reality I wouldn't have those things without having received them. Look at your stuff. Break your stuff (and stuff you want) into categories... needs, desires, luxuries, and treasures. Its ok for things to fit into more than one of those categories. If you establish a pattern of giving now, it will stick with you and become part of your life. Getting rid of excess can be tough at first but incredibly liberating afterwards. Not just because it helps someone else but because it removes something that might be getting in the way. I heard a story last night of a child who gets $2 allowance and gives a quarter of it away. Its really not about the quantity. That's not just some nice saying. That's NOT what matters. What matters is that you recognize the source of your gifts and give thanks by giving back. This applies to all areas of your "stuff". Those of you with income should be giving some away. 10% is what Scripture tells us is the standard, it should really be viewed as the minimum. Additional financial giving should really be coming out of the other 90%. The reason God gave us a percentage instead of a number is that its all-inclusive. What are the treasures, desires and luxuries that can be used to serve others? Giving is one of those areas that makes us uncomfortable because as a society we have made it so individual. As part of the Church we are called to used that which we are blessed with to serve. How are you doing that?

Worship

One litmus test of our love for God is not just sympathy toward the poor but a lifestyle of love and service to those in need. One shocking example comes from the book of Amos. in Amos 5:23-24 God says he hates religious gatherings and songs of praise when they are without substantive (think lacking in substance) commitments to justice and righteousness. Our worship services and fellowship gatherings, our signing and playing of musical instruments, are not only worthless in the absence of justice and righteousness, they even incite God to anger. In worship we claim to respect and honor God and his word, praising Him for His character and pledging our faithfulness. Yet if we refuse to actually take his Word seriously by caring for the poor, our worship mocks God.

by Kevin Blue from Faith on the Edge: Daring to follow Jesus.

Community

Community is like a large mosaic. Each little peace seems so insignificant. one piece is bright red, another cold blue or dull green, another warm purple, another sharp yellow, another shining gold. Some look precious, others ordinary. Some look valuable, others worthless. Some look gaudy, others delicate, As individual stones, we can do little with them except compare them and judge their beauty and value. When, however, all these little stones are brought together in one big mosaic portraying the face of Christ, who will ever question the importance of any one of them? If one of them, even the least spectacular one, is missing, the face is incomplete. Together in one mosaic, each little stone is indispensable and makes a unique contribution to the glory of God. That's community, a fellowship of little people who together make God visible in the world.

-Henri Nouwen, Can You Drink the Cup?