Archive for April, 2010

New Post it note:

Surrender your expectations!

It stems from lingering thoughts of the Easter celebration this year. (Ok, so I am a bit slow) I tried to read through the events in Christ life during the Easter season. It was a great journey, but the events of the two men on the road to Emmaus have left me with a new truth this year. You can check out the whole story in Luke 24:13-35.

Verse 21 is the killer verse. Well actually the first four words.

Are you ready?

Here they are….

“But we had hoped”

Life changing now isn’t it? Actually those four words were the start of the men describing what they had thought Jesus was going to do and be.

They planned on a great political leader who would redeem them. Well Jesus rather blew that plan out of the water. He redeemed them but in an eternal way! What hit me was,  because of their expectations of what they wanted Jesus to do and be they missed it. They missed Gods plan and who Jesus was. They even missed that he was walking right there with them! It is tempting to call them both dense in the head!  Then I think of my own expectations at times. I have my plans and agenda of how Jesus is going to work, how the situation will be! When it does not fit my plan…”but I had hoped”…well, I miss all that Jesus wanted to be in that situation and what he wanted me to discover about Him. Dense in the head!

So it is time to surrender my expectations!

By the way…Happy Easter!

Primal Week 3

When you were a kid what was it you wanted to be when you grow up?Why

Read Ps. 8:1-9

1.What is it about the soul that drives us to go beyond living and existing?

From the book Primal—

The Bible is the place where God bares “His” soul. Nothing speaks to the soul like scripture. It’s the way God reveals His wonders in written form. And like the wonders of creation waiting to be discovered, the Bible beckons us to explore. The quest for the lost soul of Christianity always leads us back to the Bible. But rediscovering the wonders of scripture requires more than reading. That’s where the quest begins, buy that’s not where it ends. Not if you want to get it into your soul. You have to meditate on it. Then you have to live it out.

2. Give an example of a way in which a bible passage meant one thing to you at one time and another thing at another time. What made the difference?

Have you gone through times in you life when scripture seemed boring to you and times when it filled you with wonder? What opens you up to the wonder?

Quote from book “Primal”

When we experience wonder what we are really doing is loving God with our soul. When we lose our sense of wonder, what we really lose is our soul. Our lack of wonder is really a lack of  Love.

3. What is God teaching you right now or what is going on in your life right now that you are wondering what God has in store for you?  (leaders give time for people to think about his question then call on specific people)

4. Do you mediate on the sermon each week or just listen to the sermon think that was good and that is it?

5. Do you read God’s word and meditate on it? What does it mean to meditate on it?  Does it change your behavior?

6. How have you grown spiritually since the first of the month?

7. How do you translate the text?

How do you go through your quiet time what steps do you take when you read your bible? (leaders call on specific people)

At least a couple times a week I check in on a few of my favorite blogs. Sometimes they are encouraging, sometimes funny, but almost always convicting.

Perry Noble is the Senior Pastor at NewSpring Church in South Carolina. His blog perrynoble.com is one of the blogs that I frequent. He seems to always challenge me, so I thought I would share one of his latest post:

Jesus made it pretty clear in John 13:34-35 as to how the world would know we are His disciples…notice He did NOT say, “They will know you are my disciples…

#1 – By the way you forward really stupid, ridiculous emails to one another…and if you refuse to forward them to everyone you have in your contact list then you don’t love me.

#2 – By the way you yell at people who don’t know me for living as if they don’t know me.

#3 – By your T-shirts and bumper stickers!

#4 – By the music you listen to!

#5 – By the political party you support.

#6 – By the denomination you belong to.

#7 – By the way you protest.

#8 – By the products and companies you boycott.

#9 – By the way you look down on those whom you perceive aren’t as good as you.

#10 – By the way you take from one another!

Nope…John 13:34-35 is clear, Jesus didn’t mix His Words…we are called to live this out.

EF

Primal Week 2

(Leaders start by reading the story from the email)

Think back to your early days as a follower of Jesus Christ. How did you have a new appreciation for life?

How did you begin to feel differently—feel what Christ feels?

Define “Compassion”—-A human emotion prompted by the pain of others. More vigorous than empathy, the feeling commonly gives rise to an “active” desire to alleviate another’s suffering. Where would we be today if God had not felt compassion for us?

When was the last time you felt compassion for someone? Did you act on it? If not, why? What kinds of things keep us from acting?

(Quote from the book Primal—In my experience, it’s much easier to act like a Christian than it is to “react” like one. But your “reactions” reveal what is really in your heart.)

(Quote from the book Primal — Don’t let what you cannot do keep you from doing what you can do.  Put your money where your heart is. It’s just a drop in the bucket.  Every act of generosity creates a righteous ripple effect that can change the course of history. It will also change your heart.)

Matthew 6: 21 says—For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. What particular needy individuals or groups or places has God given you special compassion for?

As a group, discuss something you can do to show the heart of God in a real way!

Primal Week 1

Ice Breaker: what is the most important thing in your life? What did you learn from the sermon?

Mark 12:28-31 V.29 see deut. 6:4

Why is the commandment given here the greatest?

How do you love the Lord your God with all your heart?  Is it possible?

Does your heart break for the things that break the heart of God? (question from the book “Primal”)

If not, why and what do you need to do to change this? If so, how do we show this?

How do you love your neighbor as yourself?

Can we love the Lord with all of our hearts etc and “not” love our neighbors as ourselves? (or vice-versa)  look at 1 John 3:10, 4:19-21, I Peter 1:22, 4:8.

Do we “really” love others “deeply”?  How can we show our love for others?

Do you love your wife like this, your kids or other family? Why or why not? What if we do not love ourselves? How can we show our love for God? What happens when we do this?

Its the weekend! (insert confetti and favorite party song)

Here are a couple of things to be looking for this Saturday night at CrossPoint:

Iowa Trip – There will be a meeting immediately after worship Saturday night w/Cheryl Cooke to talk about some details for next weekend. If you are interested in going or you have already signed up, plan to stick around to get the scoop.

April 24th – We will be having a parents class right after worship on the 24th. This meeting is for parents of all ages of kids. Hopefully we can be a resource for you in raising Children who know that God loves them and teaching them to love Him back. This meeting will also address our plans and philosophy of Parents and Childrens ministries for CrossPoint now and in the future.  Put this one on your calendar for sure!

See you tomorrow night!

EF

Oh The Web We Weave!

I have a new post-it-note on my computer. It simply says:

Word
Before
Web

The insight is not especially deep; the inspiration is lacking, and the construction of the composition is pre-school level at best! So let me explain why this note is important enough for me to be on here blogging about it.

I enjoy facebook, email, and my bookmarked blogs. It is just part of the day to check up on the new entries, post and happenings in the life of people I know. It causes no harm to my day. In fact, often times I find myself praying for people and giving words of encouragement! Ok, maybe sometimes I linger too long or pop in too much, but it is really good stuff!

But then recently I found myself in a two-way, one person, conversation (In other words I was talking to myself!). How is it I can get to the end of the day and have not spent even a moment in the Bible but have spent time on the web? Or why do I sometimes rush through my time with the King of Kings and linger at the computer taking in who is doing laundry today and looking at vacation pictures of people I sometimes don’t even really know? What would happen if I treated my time with Jesus like I do my face book. Anxious to see Him and what is happening, lingering, enjoying, praying, rejoicing and searching? And what would happen if I made time for the creator of the world before the web of the world?

Need I say more! I think not! Word before Web! Not deep, not inspiring and very basic! And right now the most important post-it-note strategically placed on the edge of my computer screen!

“The Gospel” Week 5

Ice Breaker: What are you favorite Easter memories?

Are there any questions or thoughts on this week’s sermon?

Read John chapter 11: 1-26

v. 6: Why did Jesus stay where he was 2 more days when he knew Lazarus was sick?

Why did Jesus perform this miracle involving people who already knew and believed in him? Or did they?

v. 20: Why does Martha run to Jesus and Mary doesn’t (given Mary’s past relationship with Jesus)?

What is the difference between the “resuscitation” of Lazarus and the “resurrection” of Jesus?

v. 25: What is the difference between the resurrection and life?

Read v. 45: Some believed, some did not? What would make ALL people believe? Is it possible? Refer to Luke 16: 30-31