Thursday, July 25, 2013

Touching Base, Part 214

28 JULY 13

ROOTED

(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)

This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Heart Conversations with God is a series designed to help you engage with the Psalms in your personal God talk. The Psalms were integral to Jewish worship – they reminded them of their national history, explored the wide scope of human emotion, and expanded their theology of the God who called them. They are a rich resource for us today.

Our Big Idea from Psalm 92 this week was that “Life rooted in the character of Yahweh yields lasting rewards. Life rooted in senselessness will yield destruction.”

We discussed that obtaining the character of God does not start with work, it starts with being in God’s presence! This week, as you take time to be in the presence of God, I encourage you to meditate and pray through Psalm 92.

What time of day is it right now? This may seem simplistic but if it’s morning follow Part A, if it’s later in the day follow Part B. After doing Part A or B, move on to Part C.

PART A:

Declare to the Lord His lovingkindness (v.2). Does a praise song or a hymn come to mind? If you’re musically-inclined, play it for the Lord. If you are not musically-inclined, think about the words, and declare them out loud (v. 3-4)

PART B:

How has God been faithful to you today? Take a pen and paper and write down the things that the Lord provided for you today and the places and moments where He made his presence known to you (v.2). Think about how this makes you feel and write down these emotions as well.


PART C:

Out of all the character attributes of God listed from the Psalm below, which one does your heart gravitate to right now?
- The Lord’s lovingkindness (v.2)
- The Lord’s faithfulness (v.2)
- The Lord’s great works (creation, redemption and wrath) (v.4-5)
- The Lord’s has deep thoughts (v.5)
- The Lord is on High (v.8)
- The Lord has planted righteous people (v.12)
- There is no unrighteousness in God (v.15)
- The Lord is our rock (v.16)

As you think about these attributes of God, has your character measured up lately? Take a few moments to think about the last few hours and to apologize for any area where you have fallen short of God’s character.

Ask God to grant you deeper character, to continue to grow your character until your character is like “the palm trees” and “the cedars of Lebanon” (v.11). Thank God that His love and His blessings flow to us so richly. Think about what it would be like to have God anoint you with “fresh oil” (v.10). Pray that you would bear fruit in old age and that your presence among others today would be fresh and flourishing (v.14).

Now, move on and pray for friends, family and neighbors who are far from God, yet seem to spring up like grass (v.7). What is it that they need to come to faith in God and to come to an understanding that their lives are headed for destruction (v.7)? Pray that the Lord would give you opportunities to express His love and character to them. Pray also for enemies of the gospel, that the Lord would scatter their work (v.9) (consider referring to 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World booklet which was offered at Bethel earlier in the month).

Lord we thank You that You are our rock and that there is no unrighteousness in You (v.15). Would you please root our lives in Your character and remind us today of the things we do that are senseless and which can lead to destruction. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Fred Grendel
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Touching Base! Part 213

Heart Conversations with God 2013 - Part 6
Anyone need Grace?


(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)

This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Heart Conversations with God is a series designed to help you engage with the Psalms in your personal God talk. The Psalms were integral to Jewish worship – they reminded them of their national history, explored the wide scope of human emotion, and expanded their theology of the God who called them. They are a rich resource for us today.

This week, I encourage you to take some time to pray through Psalm 24.
Big Idea: The greatness of God is demonstrated in the grace of God.

Where do we see grace in this Psalm?

For many, grace simply involves getting what we don’t deserve. Someone once said that “justice” is getting what we deserve, “mercy” is not getting what we deserve and “grace” is getting what we don’t deserve. Certainly salvation, God restoring our relationship with Himself through the death and resurrection of Christ, is an act of grace. Ephesians 2:8,9 clearly shows that we can’t earn it, pay for it or impress God for it. It is a gift, through faith, thus there is no room for boasting. “Hey look at what I did, I so impressed God that he gave me this great gift of salvation!” Sorry… that’s not going to happen.

Psalm 24 expands our understanding of grace and actually reminds us of what Paul talked about when referring to grace in the New Testament.

The Grace of God’s Presence
In the New Testament, grace means being near the living God through the work of Christ. Note Romans 5:1,2. Paul states that Christ opened the way for believers to have peace with God - the “charis” (grace) of God grants believers unhindered access to Him through our mediator Jesus Christ. So note that Paul says we stand in grace.

As we look at Psalm 24, what do you note there? Read through this Psalm and underline what words demonstrate presence.

Note that (sandwiched between v.1-2 and 7-10) we find the verses that talk about the presence of God (v.3-6).
The answer to the question of verse 3 is not “no one” but in fact “someone”, better than that, anyone who aligns themselves with the necessary steps. God is approachable, present, accessible and wanting to connect.
Note v.6 “seek your face” - “Face” means presence, appearance. This is language that describes a generation that wants to know God and, in fact, can know God.
But notice that v.7 and v.9 also talk about presence. In its original context, many believe that this Psalm was a reference to David bringing the ark (symbolic of the presence of God) into Jerusalem. The lintels or tops of the portals are pictured as being too low for the divine king to enter. Note in v.7 and v.9 the phrase repeated twice “come in.” This is a King who is present!

Who do you need to pray for these days that they might experience the presence of God?
Who needs to know that God is not like the watchmaker who wound up the universe then walked away, but more like the mother that gave birth to creation and is present, powerful and approachable?

The Grace of God’s Calling
Some think of grace as just the saving act of God, “for by grace are you saved”. But grace also has to do with the refining work of God in our lives.

“God does not give grace simply to save us, but to transform us from self-destructive sinners to believers - whole and refashioned to fulfill our God given purposes according to His calling.” Nijay K. Gupta

Check out what Paul had to say about this: Romans 15:15,16
“I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”

Another way to put this is that, not only does God catch us, but He cleans us! He shapes us into vessels that will most glorify Him and most satisfy us. (That is a Piperism)

Note the calling of grace in Psalm 24.
What kind of hands are we to have?
Clean hands symbolized innocence (Ps. 18:20)
Idols were those attractions that usurped God’s authority in one’s life
Swearing by what is false had to do with things that are empty and contrary to God. In other words there are moral and ethical requirements if we wish to ascend the hill of the Lord.

Does anyone see the problem - how do I get clean?
Our hands are stained with sin that we cannot scrub clean. God holiness outmatches our best attempts to get clean enough for God. Jews understood this. This leads to the next and final idea of grace.

The Grace of God’s Power
Note the power referenced in this Psalm.

V.1-2 In ancient near-eastern mythology water referred to chaos or a monster. This text shows that they are fully under His dominion and power.

V.7-9 Note how God is described. Would it be fair to say that God is powerful? What are these names?

Now notice the power of God as it pertains to the one approaching this approachable God (v.5)
Blessing - To bless in the Old Testament means to endue with power for success.
Vindicate - Means to prove right and refers to righteousness. Note that this is not self-righteousness but God’s righteousness. He gives us something we could not earn on our own. Got any ideas where we see this ultimately fulfilled? Think of a cross and of Jesus.
The Old Testament taught of our need for a righteousness from God.

Isaiah 61:10
I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

This is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus:

1 Corinthians 1:30,31
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Thus God is our Savior, seen so clearly in the New Testament.

Saviour - This word can mean helper, liberator, and deliverer.

“Grace is acting in your life to accomplish what you cannot accomplish on your own.” Dallas Willard

Do you need grace?

Psalm 24 is filled with illustrations of grace. Might it encourage you this week as you expand your prayer language and think more deeply about God’s grace that we find cover to cover in the Bible, a book illustrating amazing grace.

Mark

If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com

Monday, July 15, 2013

Touching Base! Part 211

Heart Conversations with God 2013 - Part 4
Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ


(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)

This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

According to Christianity, what is the nature of saving faith? Is it mere allegiance to certain doctrine, that if we really believe certain things, we are in? And what does, “We are in” really mean? Is Christianity fundamentally about doing certain things and not doing certain other things, or is there more to it than that? James certainly thinks there’s more to saving faith when he writes in James 2:19, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder!” Let’s keep those questions in mind and see how Psalm 63 helps address them.

What is salvation? 

The problem – “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

The result – “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The solution – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The gift of God Himself – John 17:3, 24

Years ago, the 18th century’s most influential pastor/theologian, Jonathan Edwards, asked, “Is God more honored by His glory (His excellence, worth, beauty, value, supremacy, power to satisfy) being seen, or by His glory being seen and rejoiced in?” How would you answer Edwards’ question? How does David answer the question in the Psalm below?

Psalm 63:1-8

The most likely context for this Psalm is David’s hasty escape from Jerusalem after his son Absalom had decided to claim the kingdom. David is with the people loyal to him, hiding in a Judean wilderness under the very real threat of an imminent, bloody and probably lethal attack. From a “circumstance” perspective things could not be much worse. Knowing the context of this Psalm helps us feel the weight of what he says, and should help us say, when our Judean wilderness comes, or if we are currently in one, “If David could think and trust and feel like that in light of the terrible situation he was in, why can’t I ? Why could God not sustain me like that?”

v.1 “O God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek You. My soul thirsts for You, my flesh faints for You as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Notice the verbs seek, thirsts, faints, the language of desire, of longing.)

v.2 “So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary, beholding Your power and glory.” (In this case it is in thinking back to the communion he has enjoyed with God in the past, and the anticipation that he will have it again.)

v.3 “Because Your steadfast love is better than life my lips will praise You.” (How great is the quality of his relationship with God that he can say this?!)

v.4 “So I will bless You as long as I live; in Your name I will lift up my hands.” (Even in and through the hardest parts of life when the normal comforts and pleasures are removed and there is no assurance of restoration.)

v.5 “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips... (Even in the dark valleys there is satisfaction in God.)

v.6 “…when I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the watches of the night;” (not wringing his hands.)

v.7 “for You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I will sing for joy. (note that since God has been his help in the past, He is trustworthy to be his help in the future. Consider the shelter of mama’s wings to a young chick when it’s raining and cold. Recalls Jesus’ words in Matthew 23:37. Singing for joy when all around you is uncertainty can only happen if you are deluded or if the presence of Almighty God is actually there – does David give evidence of delusional leanings in any of his other writings?)

v.8 “My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me” (David embraces God as tightly as he possible can like a man hanging from a ledge with a deadly drop underneath, yet all the while God’s hand sustains him and keeps him from catapulting into oblivion.) Do you know that if you are His God holds you like that?

What do these verses tell us about the worth of God - that He is good only insofar as He is providing enough external comforts? Is He valuable beyond the gifts He gives us?

What do they say about the writer’s engagement with God? Does this look like duty-driven allegiance? Is this a mumble-grumble “I guess I better follow You even though I have a real problem with how You have planned this”?

Some Questions and Applications: 

Why do we not experience the presence and know and savor the excellence of our Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in our lives more than we do? What is casting God in shadow? Two major answers are:
  1. We don’t know our Bibles very well and therefore do not know that this is what God is communicating to us for our good and His glory. Many of us have not thought deeply about the reality of biblical faith and the greatness of our salvation. In many cases, we have reduced saving faith to mere “mental assent” to certain doctrines, not seeing that to know God is also to love, delight in, hunger and thirst after, long for, obey, and enjoy relationship with Him as we see David doing here in Psalm 63.
  2. We are more enculturated than we think. (Tim Keller has much good to say in this area through his book Counterfeit Gods. A very insightful read on modern day idolatry) The third soil – see Mark 4 - Cares of the world, deceitfulness of riches and desire for other things. Which member of this unholy trinity do you most labour against?
What are some practical helps?
  • Fellowship – who do we spend time with? Who are we listening to? “He who walks with wise men becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)
  • Good books and sermons that point us to God – John Piper, Ravi Zacharias, Francis Chan, R.C Sproul, John MacArthur, Alistair Begg, Elizabeth Elliott, Nancy Leigh Demoss, Mark Driscoll
  • Getting into the quiet – we live in a really noisy world whose noise serves to muffle the voice of God – Internet, TV, movies, iPod, iPad, magazines, newspaper, talk radio etc.
  • Prayer – with and without scripture
  • Scripture – steeping ourselves in it as we would a tea bag to make a flavorful tea – mind renewal, change into greater Christlikeness
Implications/Outflow

Superior Satisfaction – “The expulsive power of a new affection.” (Thomas Chalmers) When we cultivate a deeper taste for God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, and God’s ways in our lives, then more and more of the excrements of life are purged and His good gifts to us get put into their proper place

Conclusion – as Christ becomes a greater reality in our lives, His glory is seen in and through us increasingly, God’s worth is magnified, we are most deeply satisfied, and others receive the best news they could possibly hope for.

Marty Everding
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com

Touching Base! Part 212

Heart Conversations with God 2013 - Part 5
Got Trouble?


(You can find a recording of this sermon here.)

This Touching Base is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside of the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build healthy community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Our series, Heart Conversations with God, is designed to enrich your prayer language as we work through the Psalms. Hopefully, Psalm 20 will guide you and enrich your language of prayer as you work through it this week.

Context
Most commentators agree that, like Psalm 2, Psalm 20 was composed for the ceremonies and services concerned with the king’s office as a military leader and defender of the nation. It acknowledges that the king leads the nation into war and, by its very structure, it implies a ceremony of sorts for such occasions. The first section - verses 1-5 - was recited by the people. The second section - verses 6-8 - was recited by a priest or perhaps even the king himself. And the third section - verse 9 - was recited by everyone, including the king. (Psalm 21 was a celebration Psalm read after battle, thanking God for victory).

Big Idea: Trouble leads the Christ follower to look up!

Text: Psalm 20

1. THE PEOPLE LOOK UP! (V.1-5)

As the people look up in prayer on behalf of the King, there are a number of aspects of trouble that surface in this text.

• When we look up in trouble we can have some pretty profound, soul-searching questions (v.1a)
Got any questions that you need to bring before the Lord in prayer? Why me? What am I to do? Where am I to turn? Who can help me? When will this be over? Perhaps they need to be presented to Him, knowing full well that answers may never come while on this planet.
• Trouble has a way of making our thick, impenetrable fortress walls seem paper thin (v.1b).

Feeling super vulnerable these days because of trouble? How do you need God to protect you? What does it feel like to go from feeling invincible to feeling porous? How does this feeling shape our prayers?

• Trouble has a way of making us think that God has left us (v.2).

As we said on Sunday, the sanctuary (the temple in Jerusalem) and Zion (Jerusalem) were symbolic of the presence and rule of God. Protection was one thing but knowing that God is with us in trouble can seem, for some, like just a nice (but impossible) idea. We feel very far from God. How does this aspect of trouble shape our prayers?

• Trouble can break our healthy rhythms and disciplines (v.3).

This is a picture of a King who has been in communion with God, who has been seeking the face of God, and is in alignment with His purposes. He is contrite, humble, obedient, and submissive. David is modeling what we can get away from during troubled times.

How are you with seeking the face of God while experiencing trouble? Do you tend to run faster? Do you tend to abandon some of the foundational disciplines, like prayer, vital community or reading God’s word, when faced with the sharp-toothed tiger of trouble?

• In trouble our desires and requests need to come from a heart in submission to God (v.4, 5).

As you read this in context, you can see that “desire” (v.4) and “requests” (v.5) are not blank cheques for David to ask for whatever his little heart desires. These are desires and requests that come out of a heart (corporate and individual) in submission to God.

As you look up in prayer are your desires and requests coming from a heart in full submission? Why not list those desires and requests? Who is helping you pray through those?

2. THE KING LOOKS UP! (V.6-8)

Now the King prays. What do we learn about trouble and looking up in this section?

6 Now this I know: The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.

David started off by saying…”Now this I know…”

What are some revelations about God that you have experienced that are overwhelmingly obvious?

“When people describe their faith journeys, they always include events that could be described as ‘defining moments.’ Some are good positive experiences, awards, new opportunities, life events, but just as often the defining moments involved pain and disappointment: death, divorce, illness, betrayal. And when it comes to faith, circumstances cut both ways. A positive event can adversely affect faith or strengthen it. Adverse circumstances can damage an individual’s faith or deepen it. Either way, life has the potential to impact faith for good or bad.” Deep and Wide – Andy Stanley

Talk about a “pivotal circumstance” that was a ‘defining moment’ in your life?
Did it strengthen or shatter your faith? Why?

7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

What are the past events in your life that keep reminding you that God can be trusted?

Are there scriptures, real or imaginary altars that you have built, stories that remind you of God’s faithfulness in your life? Can you recall different times in your life when you got to know God by a new name?

8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.

We all need people who will help us put our circumstances into perspective.
Who encourages you to stand firm?

3. Everyone Looks Up (v.9)

We want to encourage you to work through this Psalm this week. Allow it to enrich your language of prayer as you seek Him! Look up and find strength in trouble!


Jamie and Mark

If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com