God's Rhythm

Stewardship of time / The Daily office and the Sabbath

Men’s Breakfast

February 21, 2009

Community Bible Church

Referenced and Related Bible References:

• Genesis 2:1-2  - God creates the Sabbath
• Exodus 31:16-17  - Celebrate as a lasting covenant
• Deuteronomy 5:12-15 - Ten commandments
• Psalm 119:164, Daniel 6:10, Acts 3:1; 10:9 – observed by David, Daniel, the apostles
• Colossians 2:16-17  - Ceremonial law; fulfilled in Christ, no longer under the law
• Galatians 4:6-9 - Sons, Known by God and Know God. “Abba, father” – expressive of an especially close relationship to God.
• Psalm 1:2 - Delight is in the law, meditates on it day and night
• Psalm 119:9-11 - Hid your word in my heart
• Isaiah 65:1-2a  - God desires a closer walk with us.
• Mark 2:23-28  - Messiah, Lord of the Sabbath
• Genesis 5:24; 6:9 - Enoch and Noah walked with God
• Matthew 6:5-13 - The Lord’s prayer

What is prayer?         Fellowship/communion with God, Praising God, Knowing God, Experiencing our sonship, learning to abide, etc.

Types of prayer?

• Adoration         - acknowledging who God is
• Confession       - acknowledging what we’ve done and repenting, turning to God
• Thanksgiving    - acknowledging God’s love and what Christ accomplished
• Supplication      - asking to be more like Christ, interceding for others or ourselves

Why commune with God?

• Joy!
• Experience God (for Him)
• Peace
• Rest
• Forgiveness
• You are who you are with, or what goes in comes out
• Others…..

Story: Emily’s breathing, if human relationships can change us, what would happen if we spent time with the Prince of Peace?

How can we practically move toward a Gospel-centered prayer life that aims primarily at knowing God?                     Meditation and communion

Meditation is the blending of Bible study and prayer.  Not detached but meditation is praying the truth deep into your soul.  This shapes us, our thinking, our feeling, our actions.  It’s working out the truth.

St. Augustine on Meditation:

1.      Retentio – distillation of the truth of scripture.  Study and concentrate on a passage of scripture to simply understand it, so you see its truth.

2.      Contemplatio – “gazing at God through this truth”

a.       What does this tell me about God?

b.      If he is really like this, what difference does this particular truth make to how I live Today?

c.       Does my life demonstrate my knowledge of this truth?

d.      Lord, what are you trying to tell me about you, and why do you want me to know it Today?

Contemplatio is turning "knowing about" into knowing.

3.      Directio – delighting and relishing the God you are looking at.  Praise, confess and aspire toward him.

Why don’t we pray and meditate?

• Too busy, the only prayers we sometimes do are the urgent ones requesting help
• Too tired, after being too busy
• Other priorities seem more important at time.
• Feel that there is a barrier (emotional) that seems too big, too much work
• Sin
• Lack of discipline, resolve, routine
• Don't want to rush, waiting until can spend more time.

The Power of Full Engagement (book - see reference)

Two ideas:

• More stress not less; intervals in-between every 2 to 3 hours is ideal
• In intervals, focus on God 

If not, then a disaster hits and we don’t have the focus we need.  We need a rope.

(story from book in reference: Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzaro)

• Book, A Hidden Wholeness, by Parker Palmer
  
• Farmers in the Midwest, prepared for a blizzard by tying a rope from the back door of the house to the barn as a guide.
  
• The blizzards came quickly and fiercely and were highly dangerous.
  
• When their full force was blowing, a farmer could not see then end of his/her hand.
  
• Many froze to death, wondering in circles, lost in their own backyard
  
• Meteorologists in parts of Canada and the Great Plains still counsel people to tie a rope to their back door
  

Would like to propose that, God has given us a rope in the daily office and the Sabbath that offer us a rhythm so powerful that they anchor us from the blizzards that blow in our lives.

Not legalize….free from the ceremonial laws…a gift .  Find what works for you

The root of the daily office and the Sabbath is stopping to surrender to God in trust.

This is not setting aside time to turn to God for something but to be with Someone.

Daily office has 4 aspects:

1.      Stopping – God is on the throne, trust him to run His world without me.

2.      Center – “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  

Both difficult tasks

3.      Silence – is the practice of quieting every inner/outer voice to attend to God

“without solitude it is almost impossible to live a spiritual life” - Henry Nouwen

4.      Scripture – meditation, worship songs, reading through the Bible, etc. 

Sabbath

1.      Stop – embrace our limits

2.      Rest – replace with whatever delights and replenishes.

3.      Delight – “it was very good” Genesis 1:31 Benediction; In God, his creation, people, etc.

4.      Contemplate – heart of the Sabbath.  Pondering the love of God. 

Like a heavy snow day.  A “no obligation” day.

Exercise

Read Psalm 145

Meditate

1. What does this tell us about God, what does it reveal?
2. How can I praise him for and through this?
3. If he is really like this, what difference does this particular truth make to how I live?
4. Does my life demonstrate that I am remembering and acting out of this?
5. Lord, what are you trying to tell me about you, and why do you want me to know it now.  Today?

Discussion

1. Did the meditation help you see something in the scripture, you wouldn’t have normally?
2. What is one thing you could do to spend more time communing with God?
3. What support would you need in order to do this regularly?

Referenced or Reference:

• Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzaro, Ch. 8 “Discover the Rhythms of the Daily office and the Sabbath”
• Prayer and the Gospel by Dr. Tim Keller
• The Divine Hours by Phyllis Tickle
• The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz

Image courtesy of: www.freecomputerdesktopwallpaper.com

Be Strong in the Lord

Ephesians 6:10-20

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians%206:10-20;&version=31;

Related References

• James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”
  
• Isaiah 11:5 “ Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”
  
• Isaiah 59:17 "He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak."
• 1Thessalonians 5: 8 “But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
  
• Matthew 16:18 "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

Notes

• Belt of truth: the strength of our loins; and it girds on all other pieces of our armour, and therefore is first mentioned.

(image courtesy of:  www.preceptaustin.org)

• Breastplate of righteousness: The righteousness of Christ implanted in us is our breast-plate to fortify the heart against the attacks which Satan makes against us.
• Feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace: resolution to abide 

(image courtesy of:  www.preceptaustin.org)

• Shield of Faith: faith as it is the evidence of things not seen and the substance of things hoped for
• Helmet of Salvation: that is, hope, which has salvation for its object (1 Thess. v. 8)

(image courtesy of www.holyspiritinteractive.net)

• Sword of the Spirit: the word of God...
• Prayer: the battle is spiritual and must be fought with God's strength, depending on the word (sword) and on God through prayer.
  

Questions

1. We are encouraged to be strong in the lord, why? how?
2. What are we to stand strong against?  Does this mean that if we are doing God's will that we will never face conflict from other people?  (Note: No, if it is truely God's will, satan will use people and anything else he can to stop it)
3. What do each piece of armor represent and what does it mean to put them on?
4. What does it mean to "stand"?  Does it refer to only a defensive position, if so why are we given an offensive weapon in the sword of the Spirit?
5. What do you do to ensure that you always keep on praying and putting on the full armor of the Lord?  How can we help support you?

Key Take-Aways from Temptation of Christ Study

Christ Tempted

(Image courtesy of LaShawnBarber.com)

§         Three Categories of temptations: 

1. Hunger (physical) and in Jesus case the misuse of power
   
2. Power and wealth
   
3. Instant acclaim

§         Fully God and fully man, Although “God cannot be tempted by evil…” – James 1:13; but Jesus “Who, being in very nature^[a] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature^[b] of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—        even death on a cross! Philippians 2:5-8

• Why was he tempted? - To sympathize and to save
1. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.” – Hebrews 4:15
2. Righteous Jesus, died not for his sins but ours.  He was the perfect lamb.

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” – Romans 5:19.

Our Temptations

• We too like Jesus are tempted in many of the same ways. 
• Some allowed by God to sanctify us; some brought upon ourselves (James 1:14)
• God doesn’t allow us to be tempted beyond what he has equipped us to bare

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Our Response

• Prayer  - commune with God (strength to withstand the evil ones advances)
• Knowledge and Obedience to God’s Word      - Knowing your are God’s adopted son and responding to the knowledge of that Love by obedience to his Word.
• Community – with others that model and encourage
• Repentance – when we do fail, we must understand that we are not accepted because of our actions but because of His.  Turn and follow Him.  

On Repentance, Dick Weidenheft gave a very timely sermon this morning.  You can find it here within the next few days:

http://communitybiblechurch.org/audio/

Temptation of Christ

Luke 4:1-13    (Matthew 4:1-11)

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=49&chapter=4&version=31

Notes

Mathew Henry’s Commentary on Matthew 4:1-11 (similar to Luke 4:1-13)

Concerning Christ's temptation, observe,

I. The time when it happened: … Immediately after the heavens were opened to him, and the Spirit descended on him, and he was declared to be the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world, the next news we hear of him is, he is tempted; for then he is best able to grapple with the temptation.

Note, 1. Great privileges, and special tokens of divine favour, will not secure us from being tempted.

Nay, 2. After great honours put upon us, we must expect something that is humbling; as Paul has a messenger of Satan sent to buffer him, after he had been in the third heavens.

3. God usually prepares his people for temptation before he calls them to it; he gives strength according to the day, and, before a sharp trial, gives more than ordinary comfort.

4. The assurance of our sonship is the best preparative for temptation. If the good Spirit witness to our adoption, that will furnish us with an answer to all the suggestions of the evil spirit, designed either to debauch or disquiet us.

... After we have been admitted into the communion of God, we must expect to be set upon by Satan. The enriched soul must double its guard. When thou has eaten and art full, then beware. …

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc5.Matt.v.html

Deutronomy 8:3

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."

 

Jesus' point is that physical needs must be met God's way, not our own selfish, short-cut way. We're tempted, of course, to steal, to cheat, to fornicate, to lie, to provide a quick fix for our physical hungers. God is able to supply our needs, but we must wait on him and seek to do things his way. Just because we CAN work miracles doesn't mean we should in any given circumstance. Bread -- physical fulfillment -- is not more important than God's Word and way. (http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/4_1-13.htm)

Three temptations

1. The lust of the flesh – the temptation of hunger
2. The lust of the eyes – the temptation of power and wealth
3. The pride of life – the temptation of instant acclaim

The same temptations we face but Jesus, although tempted, did not sin.  This scripture highlights his flawless character.

Questions

1. When did this event take place in Jesus’ life?  What preceded it?
2. How was Jesus tempted?  How did he respond?
3. Why was Jesus susceptible to temptation?

"God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone" - James 1:13

“But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” - Philippians 2:7

4. Why was he tempted?
5. How are we tempted in ways that fall into these 3 categories?
6. How are we able to respond like Jesus did?

(Prayer, Fasting, God’s Word)   Ephesians 6:11-18