WORLD!
(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.
Today is the last part of our three-part series on City, Nation and World! The reason we have done this series is so that people both understand the vision and engage with it. We want to be very clear that it is impossible to burn passionately for every part of the vision, but it is very possible to be passionate about aspects of the vision and support the entire vision. If we try to be passionate about every part, involved in every part, we may find we burn out. So prayerfully seek God on what He would have you do, and how He might have you go, get involved, give and pray.
On Sunday we looked at God’s heart for the world. Be Incredible In The World! Now that may be easier said than done. There are many Christ followers whose focus is very much on themselves. We could call these people cats. When you pet a cat they think, “You pet me, feed me, shelter me, I must be god!” They are in to “meowology” and anything else that would prop their needs up as being central to everyone else’s agenda. However, thank God there are dogs. In fact it may not sound complimentary but there are many Christians who are like dogs. You pet a dog and they think, “You pet me, feed me, shelter me, you must be god!” These kinds of Christ followers are not the center of the universe but God is, and so they are very much interested in what God is passionate about. Well, guess what? He is passionate about the world.
Now before we move on think about cat theology and dog theology. What are the differences? How would a cat church look different than a dog church? If a cat was looking for a new church what might they be looking for? If a dog was looking for a new church what might they be looking for?
Ok, let’s move on. Dogs want to know the heart of God, and as they investigate they discover that God has a heart for the nations. Check out the texts.
Genesis 12:1-3 - Where does the blessing flow? Cats can get stuck on the part that says God wants to bless us. They can sometimes forget that we are blessed to be a blessing.
Exodus 19:6 - Note that Israel had two priesthoods. The Levites were the priests to the nation of Israel, yet Israel were a kingdom of priests to who? Check out Isaiah 49:6 and Malachi 1:11. Got any ideas? How does this influence or shape your understanding of God choosing Israel to be His treasured possession? See also Ex. 19:5.
You will note as you read the Old Testament that it predicts the coming of Jesus, and in the New Testament, Jesus is presented. What do the words of Simeon tell us about this priest? See Luke 2:28,29. Answer: He is an international priest, a priest to all the nations. Note Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:19,20.
Dogs note with delight (cats like to ignore this) that the Scriptures reveal that it is all about the glory of God, not man. He is the ultimate satisfaction, but more importantly, He satisfies what justice demands for our sin, a Saviour! Read the following verses on the glory of God.: 1Chronicles 16:24, Psalm 67:1,2, 2 Kings 19:17-19, Isaiah 61:11, Revelation 5:9-10
After reading these verses reflect on these questions:
Do you think the consumerism in the church flies in the face of the glory of God? - Meowology
Do you think if we made it less about ourselves and more about God’s glory the church would be stronger?
I wonder if, in the current challenges we are facing, we might move a little closer to resolving them if it was more about the glory of God, not the glory of me?
God desires for us to Be Incredible In The World, because He has a heart for the nations. From Genesis to Revelation, we see God’s international heart.
How can you, your small group be involved in global issues with a focus on spiritual and physical needs?
Would you consider getting involved in the Honduras focus this year at Bethel? Check out the brochure that was in the bulletins on Sunday.
Next time you watch or listen to the news, pray for the global issues that are constantly being piped into our air space. Pray that God would be glorified!
Welcome to the dog pound!
Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Touching Base! Part 179
CITY
Jeremiah 29
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
Rodney Stark, a sociologist of religion, writes,
At Bethel our heart for the city is encouraged by realizing the role the church has played in the past in ministering to major city centers. However, the ultimate model and inspiration is rooted in understanding the life and message of Jesus. His heart as He walked the face of the earth was the heart of God seen in the flesh - a heart that loves people, reaches out to the least likely, empowers the few to transform the many, and invests in the overlooked to achieve great kingdom purposes. Cities matter to God because cities are made up of people. It is as simple as that!
In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah called the people of Judah who were exiled to Babylon to not neglect the city or leech off its resources but to be Incredible In The City! Note the three ways we can be incredible in the city that we highlighted on Sunday:
Be incredible in the city by contributing to its economic vitality (v.5).
The backdrop of this statement is that the Babylonians are hoping that they Jews will just be absorbed into the community and lose their distinctiveness. The false prophets of the Judah are telling the Jews that they will soon depart Babylon, so don’t invest. Just live off the city but don’t invest. Jeremiah, God’s spokesperson, tells them to invest, engage and plant roots. Move out of your bubble and get engaged.
Jesus models this when, in John 3:16, we are told that that because of love, God gave, engaged and built for Himself a house (so to speak) an earthly, fleshly dwelling to be with the people. “Emanuel” means “God with us”.
On Sunday we talked about how it is easy to live in a bubble - the Queen’s bubble, church bubble etc. Can you name some bubbles that are easy to live in and consequently ignore the city? What are symptoms (“bubblitis”) that can accompany bubble dwellers? Some answers I gave on Sunday were arrogance, indifference, misunderstanding, apathy, self-focus, simplistic answers to complex problems.
Be incredible in the city by contributing to its social vitality (v.6).
Certainly the admonition to raise families was to keep the family line intact. However, one of the spin-offs of building strong families is social vitality. You may ask, “How so?”
Well think about the answers to these questions.
This text is not saying everyone needs to get married or that divorced families cannot be redeemed and result in great good. But there is a social implication stated in these verses. I believe very strongly that building strong families in the city is one way to be proactive in building healthy people that, in turn, bless the city.
Jesus modeled a priority of children in his ministry. Some may have said there were bigger and better things to do with one’s time, but Jesus valued children. He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matt 19:14)
Ever thought of investing in family ministries in the city? Why not mentor a child whose father is out of the picture? How about investing in a single mom who might be finding it hard to make ends meet and stay emotionally healthy? The demands can be great. This is one of the reasons why we partner with the Salvation Army. Don’t hesitate to ask Jamie Stinson our Family Director on how you can get involved. (rstinson2@cogeco.ca)
Be incredible in the city by contributing to its spiritual vitality (v.7).
Peace
Interesting, isn’t it that the Jews were to pray for the peace of the city? No doubt there can be all kinds of issues that disturb the peace. As Christ followers we pray that one means of peace would come through understanding the full plan of God in Christ to make people right with God - peace with God.
C.S. Lewis, literary critic and professor of medieval and renaissance literature for 29 years at
Magdalene College at Oxford, wrote, “The salvation of a single soul is more important than the preservation of all the epics and tragedies in the world.” While it is important to make good culture and redeem social ill, sharing the redemptive, saving message of Jesus Christ is of utmost importance. Even the great literary critic C.S. Lewis saw the soul as more important than culture.
Prosperity
The Hebrew word translated “prosper” means to be healthy, to increase, to have things go well. It means growth in all its dimensions. One form of prosperity is not just material, but finding meaning, significance and belonging. Many know financial prosperity but are stricken with meaninglessness. Other forms of prosperity that we might not think about is for a city to prosper in justice, compassion, integrity, honesty, and equality. Can you identify other ways for a city to prosper?
In what specific ways can you and your group seek to serve and love Kingston? What can you and your group do to become genuinely interested in its peace and prosperity?
Cities matter to God because people matter to God. Does the city matter to you?
Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Jeremiah 29
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
“Responding to the Heart of God;
Transforming the Heart of the City, the Nation and the World.”
Bethel’s Vision Statement
Rodney Stark, a sociologist of religion, writes,
“Christianity served as a revitalization movement that arose in response to the misery, chaos, fear, and brutality of life in the urban Greco- Roman world… Christianity revitalized life in… cities by providing new norms and new kinds of social relationships able to cope with many urgent problems. To cities filled with the homelessness and impoverished, Christianity offered charity as well as hope. To cities filled with newcomers and strangers, Christianity offered an immediate basis for attachments… To cities torn by violent ethnic strife, Christianity offered a new basis for social solidarity. And to cities face with epidemics, fires and earthquakes, Christianity offered effective…services.” The Rise of Christianity (New York: Harper, 1997, page 161)
At Bethel our heart for the city is encouraged by realizing the role the church has played in the past in ministering to major city centers. However, the ultimate model and inspiration is rooted in understanding the life and message of Jesus. His heart as He walked the face of the earth was the heart of God seen in the flesh - a heart that loves people, reaches out to the least likely, empowers the few to transform the many, and invests in the overlooked to achieve great kingdom purposes. Cities matter to God because cities are made up of people. It is as simple as that!
In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah called the people of Judah who were exiled to Babylon to not neglect the city or leech off its resources but to be Incredible In The City! Note the three ways we can be incredible in the city that we highlighted on Sunday:
Be incredible in the city by contributing to its economic vitality (v.5).
The backdrop of this statement is that the Babylonians are hoping that they Jews will just be absorbed into the community and lose their distinctiveness. The false prophets of the Judah are telling the Jews that they will soon depart Babylon, so don’t invest. Just live off the city but don’t invest. Jeremiah, God’s spokesperson, tells them to invest, engage and plant roots. Move out of your bubble and get engaged.
Jesus models this when, in John 3:16, we are told that that because of love, God gave, engaged and built for Himself a house (so to speak) an earthly, fleshly dwelling to be with the people. “Emanuel” means “God with us”.
On Sunday we talked about how it is easy to live in a bubble - the Queen’s bubble, church bubble etc. Can you name some bubbles that are easy to live in and consequently ignore the city? What are symptoms (“bubblitis”) that can accompany bubble dwellers? Some answers I gave on Sunday were arrogance, indifference, misunderstanding, apathy, self-focus, simplistic answers to complex problems.
Be incredible in the city by contributing to its social vitality (v.6).
Certainly the admonition to raise families was to keep the family line intact. However, one of the spin-offs of building strong families is social vitality. You may ask, “How so?”
Well think about the answers to these questions.
- Do you believe that healthy family units can contribute to the overall health of a city?
- Do you think a mom and dad who love each other, not only benefits the children but might also spill over beyond the immediate family?
- Do you think healthy family units might improve a kid’s self-esteem, school performance, freedom from addictions?
- Do you think there is any connection between a grown adult’s mental health and the type of family they were raised in?
This text is not saying everyone needs to get married or that divorced families cannot be redeemed and result in great good. But there is a social implication stated in these verses. I believe very strongly that building strong families in the city is one way to be proactive in building healthy people that, in turn, bless the city.
Jesus modeled a priority of children in his ministry. Some may have said there were bigger and better things to do with one’s time, but Jesus valued children. He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matt 19:14)
Ever thought of investing in family ministries in the city? Why not mentor a child whose father is out of the picture? How about investing in a single mom who might be finding it hard to make ends meet and stay emotionally healthy? The demands can be great. This is one of the reasons why we partner with the Salvation Army. Don’t hesitate to ask Jamie Stinson our Family Director on how you can get involved. (rstinson2@cogeco.ca)
Be incredible in the city by contributing to its spiritual vitality (v.7).
Peace
Interesting, isn’t it that the Jews were to pray for the peace of the city? No doubt there can be all kinds of issues that disturb the peace. As Christ followers we pray that one means of peace would come through understanding the full plan of God in Christ to make people right with God - peace with God.
C.S. Lewis, literary critic and professor of medieval and renaissance literature for 29 years at
Magdalene College at Oxford, wrote, “The salvation of a single soul is more important than the preservation of all the epics and tragedies in the world.” While it is important to make good culture and redeem social ill, sharing the redemptive, saving message of Jesus Christ is of utmost importance. Even the great literary critic C.S. Lewis saw the soul as more important than culture.
Prosperity
The Hebrew word translated “prosper” means to be healthy, to increase, to have things go well. It means growth in all its dimensions. One form of prosperity is not just material, but finding meaning, significance and belonging. Many know financial prosperity but are stricken with meaninglessness. Other forms of prosperity that we might not think about is for a city to prosper in justice, compassion, integrity, honesty, and equality. Can you identify other ways for a city to prosper?
In what specific ways can you and your group seek to serve and love Kingston? What can you and your group do to become genuinely interested in its peace and prosperity?
Cities matter to God because people matter to God. Does the city matter to you?
Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Touching Base! Part 180
NATION
Psalm 24
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
In our service today, the big idea was “Be Incredible in the Nation”. Our vision at Bethel is to be “Responding to the Heart of God; Transforming the Heart of the City, the Nation and the World”. Our national focus is Constance Lake First Nation. In order to “be incredible in the nation”, we have to do two things well:
1. Know and understand the issues:
To gain further understanding of our First Nations people, consider visiting these websites:
2. Get engaged and make things better:
There are 3 things that you can do to engage and make things better: Give, Go and Pray.
Give: More information will be coming in October as to how you can give to Operation Constance Lake (shoeboxes).
Go: Would you like to go and minister at CL? If you’re in grades 9 to 12, consider March Break 2013. If you’re not, consider going during the summer of 2013.
Pray: There are a number of ways you can pray into these issues:
A. Spiritual bondage: that it would be broken, and that the King of Glory would become the centre focus of CLFN
B. Salvation: to the best of our knowledge, there were no “first-time salvations” during our summer trip, although the gospel was presented to the children in a very creative and relevant manner. Pray for seeds to grow. Bibles were handed out as well - pray that they are read.
C. Education: hat the children would become engaged in their education and attend school each day
D. Health concerns: teen pregnancies, Type 2 Diabetes and head lice are some major concerns
E. For peace: in homes that are sometimes filled with fear
F. Bethel's partnership with CLFN: to grow, flourish and really begin to transform CL.
G. Drug addictions: many 12-year-olds will admit to smoking pot. As well, the Principal of the school, Zandra, and Patty and her son Theo speak of an issue with over-prescription of certain drugs. Pray for medical integrity, wisdom, truth and justice to reign. This is especially importance as CLFN is 6 km north of the Trans-Canada Highway and 44 km from Hearst, which is described at the Drug Capital of Northern Ontario.
H. The need for long-term on-site missions and workers: Bethel Toronto Church (yes they too are called Bethel!) and Café Church have also sent teams to CLFN. In fact Bethel Toronto has been sending teams for 14 summers! All three churches agree that there is a need for long-term full-time workers to go to Constance Lake and be integrated into the community. Pray for workers to be called and sent.
I. The local church: Bethel Toronto and Café Church enjoyed meeting with the Anglican Church and Bethel Kingston enjoyed meeting with the Full Gospel Church. There seem to be Christ followers in these churches that just need more encouragement.
J. Local leadership: Pray for Chief Roger and for his council.
Thank you for being an incredible in the nation! We are open to answering your questions and concerns. Feel free to email fred@kingston.net
Fred
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Psalm 24
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
In our service today, the big idea was “Be Incredible in the Nation”. Our vision at Bethel is to be “Responding to the Heart of God; Transforming the Heart of the City, the Nation and the World”. Our national focus is Constance Lake First Nation. In order to “be incredible in the nation”, we have to do two things well:
1. Know and understand the issues:
To gain further understanding of our First Nations people, consider visiting these websites:
- “8th Fire” is a new CBC TV series on First Nations’ issues (4 documentaries): http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire//2011/11/indigenious-in-the-city.html
- Here is a link to a copy of the Indian Act - take a look at how this document changed the lives of First Nation people forever: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/I-5.pdf
- The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca
- Constance Lake First Nation Website: http://www.clfn.on.ca
- Constance Lake Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/146661252070132/
2. Get engaged and make things better:
There are 3 things that you can do to engage and make things better: Give, Go and Pray.
Give: More information will be coming in October as to how you can give to Operation Constance Lake (shoeboxes).
Go: Would you like to go and minister at CL? If you’re in grades 9 to 12, consider March Break 2013. If you’re not, consider going during the summer of 2013.
Pray: There are a number of ways you can pray into these issues:
A. Spiritual bondage: that it would be broken, and that the King of Glory would become the centre focus of CLFN
B. Salvation: to the best of our knowledge, there were no “first-time salvations” during our summer trip, although the gospel was presented to the children in a very creative and relevant manner. Pray for seeds to grow. Bibles were handed out as well - pray that they are read.
C. Education: hat the children would become engaged in their education and attend school each day
D. Health concerns: teen pregnancies, Type 2 Diabetes and head lice are some major concerns
E. For peace: in homes that are sometimes filled with fear
F. Bethel's partnership with CLFN: to grow, flourish and really begin to transform CL.
G. Drug addictions: many 12-year-olds will admit to smoking pot. As well, the Principal of the school, Zandra, and Patty and her son Theo speak of an issue with over-prescription of certain drugs. Pray for medical integrity, wisdom, truth and justice to reign. This is especially importance as CLFN is 6 km north of the Trans-Canada Highway and 44 km from Hearst, which is described at the Drug Capital of Northern Ontario.
H. The need for long-term on-site missions and workers: Bethel Toronto Church (yes they too are called Bethel!) and Café Church have also sent teams to CLFN. In fact Bethel Toronto has been sending teams for 14 summers! All three churches agree that there is a need for long-term full-time workers to go to Constance Lake and be integrated into the community. Pray for workers to be called and sent.
I. The local church: Bethel Toronto and Café Church enjoyed meeting with the Anglican Church and Bethel Kingston enjoyed meeting with the Full Gospel Church. There seem to be Christ followers in these churches that just need more encouragement.
J. Local leadership: Pray for Chief Roger and for his council.
Thank you for being an incredible in the nation! We are open to answering your questions and concerns. Feel free to email fred@kingston.net
Fred
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Touching Base! Part 178
Rigorous Faith in Turbulent Times, Part 17
Putting on the Armor - Ephesians 6:10-20
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
There are six tests that come out of Paul’s letter regarding the Armor of God. How are you doing in these areas?
The Foundation Test
“Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist….”
Are you a student of the Word of God? How do you work it into your life? What’s your greatest challenge in this area? The following are questions you can ask the text as you study God’s Word:
The Identity Test
“ …with the breastplate of righteousness in place…”
Our true identity is that He has made us righteous. (1 Corinthians 1:30)
Identity in Christ is key in growing in the wholeness that Christ wants us to experience. Satan will take your areas of failure, weakness, struggle, vulnerability and will throw them in your face to shame you and beat you down if you are not rooted in all that Christ has done for you. The enemy uses shame, and embarrassment to imprison Christians.
Have you ever sensed the enemy attacking your identity? Is there an area in your life that the enemy uses to bring shame and repeated failure? How does understanding God’s righteousness as my breastplate help you?
The Peace Test
“ … and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace.”
The enemy will try to make us feel like we have no footing. That we have lost our grip, and that we are falling, out of control. He tries to rob us of peace and then we first panic, and then lose perspective and then we plummet - action(s) we may later regret.
How’s your sense of peace these days? Rate it out of 5. Can you relate to the 4 p’s listed above?
The Alertness Test
“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
The attack can come from above, behind, in front. You must be willing to move that shield to protect yourself. “The devil has more temptations than an actor has costumes for the stage.”
Finish this sentence, “I am most vulnerable when….” Who is holding you accountable in that area of your life?
The Hope Test
“Take the helmet of salvation…”
In 1 Thess. 5:8 Paul refers to this helmet of salvation as offering hope. Every soldier in battle needs to have hope. This is not speaking of salvation from sin. This is not saying that everything will turn out as we want it to. This has to do with believing that I can make it through this challenge, that God is with me, and that I can be strong.
What are “hope killers” in your life (unresolved sin, failure, major disappointment etc.)?
How important is hope on the journey?
The Agreement Test
“…and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.”
I call this the agreement test because when we pull out the Sword we are saying I choose not to agree with the lies of the enemy. Note in Matthew 4 how Jesus used the Sword and chose not to agree with the lies of the enemy.
What are common lies that people believe? How do these lies affect behavior, and relationships? For some people the lies they believe are more powerful and life-shaping than the truth that is declared in God’s Word. Lies can have a long shelf life and shape our entire lives! Are you well versed in Scripture to counter the lies with truth?
Finally, be sure that you are in a community where you can say as Paul did, “Pray also for me...” As leaders, and we all lead in some capacity, we need to admit our own battles and ask for help. I am convinced that there are many issues in our lives that, unless we bring them out into the open, we will never find the freedom we desire. Who do you need to say to, “Pray also for me...?”
Take time to pray back to God some of the issues that have surfaced as you have worked through this exercise. Also be sure to weekly, if not daily, “put on” the armor of God!
Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Putting on the Armor - Ephesians 6:10-20
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
There are six tests that come out of Paul’s letter regarding the Armor of God. How are you doing in these areas?
The Foundation Test
“Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist….”
Are you a student of the Word of God? How do you work it into your life? What’s your greatest challenge in this area? The following are questions you can ask the text as you study God’s Word:
- Is there an Attitude to adjust?
- Is there a Promise to claim?
- Is there a Priority to change?
- Is there a Lesson to learn?
- Is there an Issue to resolve?
- Is there a Command to obey?
- Is there an Activity to avoid or stop?
- Is there a Truth to believe?
- Is there an Idol to tear down?
- Is there an Offense to forgive?
- Is there a New direction to take?
- Is there a Sin to confess?
The Identity Test
“ …with the breastplate of righteousness in place…”
Our true identity is that He has made us righteous. (1 Corinthians 1:30)
Identity in Christ is key in growing in the wholeness that Christ wants us to experience. Satan will take your areas of failure, weakness, struggle, vulnerability and will throw them in your face to shame you and beat you down if you are not rooted in all that Christ has done for you. The enemy uses shame, and embarrassment to imprison Christians.
Have you ever sensed the enemy attacking your identity? Is there an area in your life that the enemy uses to bring shame and repeated failure? How does understanding God’s righteousness as my breastplate help you?
The Peace Test
“ … and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace.”
The enemy will try to make us feel like we have no footing. That we have lost our grip, and that we are falling, out of control. He tries to rob us of peace and then we first panic, and then lose perspective and then we plummet - action(s) we may later regret.
How’s your sense of peace these days? Rate it out of 5. Can you relate to the 4 p’s listed above?
The Alertness Test
“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
The attack can come from above, behind, in front. You must be willing to move that shield to protect yourself. “The devil has more temptations than an actor has costumes for the stage.”
Finish this sentence, “I am most vulnerable when….” Who is holding you accountable in that area of your life?
The Hope Test
“Take the helmet of salvation…”
In 1 Thess. 5:8 Paul refers to this helmet of salvation as offering hope. Every soldier in battle needs to have hope. This is not speaking of salvation from sin. This is not saying that everything will turn out as we want it to. This has to do with believing that I can make it through this challenge, that God is with me, and that I can be strong.
What are “hope killers” in your life (unresolved sin, failure, major disappointment etc.)?
How important is hope on the journey?
The Agreement Test
“…and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.”
I call this the agreement test because when we pull out the Sword we are saying I choose not to agree with the lies of the enemy. Note in Matthew 4 how Jesus used the Sword and chose not to agree with the lies of the enemy.
What are common lies that people believe? How do these lies affect behavior, and relationships? For some people the lies they believe are more powerful and life-shaping than the truth that is declared in God’s Word. Lies can have a long shelf life and shape our entire lives! Are you well versed in Scripture to counter the lies with truth?
Finally, be sure that you are in a community where you can say as Paul did, “Pray also for me...” As leaders, and we all lead in some capacity, we need to admit our own battles and ask for help. I am convinced that there are many issues in our lives that, unless we bring them out into the open, we will never find the freedom we desire. Who do you need to say to, “Pray also for me...?”
Take time to pray back to God some of the issues that have surfaced as you have worked through this exercise. Also be sure to weekly, if not daily, “put on” the armor of God!
Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Touching Base! Part 177
Rigorous Faith in Turbulent Times, Part 16
Behind Closed Doors – Ephesians 6:5-9
Guest Posting by Lew Worrad
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
Some Biblical Texts seem irrelevant to particular cultures and particular societies. The text before us today is just such a text. After all, Canada is the home of the brave and the free. Slavery has never been anything but an ancillary concern for us. And we can take some moral solace from the fact that we were part of the North American solution to that problem. It would seem that texts on slavery have little to do with us.
And yet, there would be those who would argue that slavery is alive and well in Canada. Human trafficking is just one form of slavery and it is not very far from us today. And, the “occupy” movement might also have something to say about slavery. After all, in typical Marxist economics, when your labour is sold at a profit, that profit, what Marx called alienated labour, enslaves you. But, it is not our purpose to discuss Marxist economics.
It is often surprising to people that read the Bible that slavery is left somewhat unscathed. In all of the texts that deal with slavery, [Eph. 6, Col. 3, 1 Cor. 7, 1 Peter 2, Philemon] slavery is left intact. This does not mean that slavery was encouraged. The writers do not speak so much about the social system as they do about how an individual, caught in that system, could be Christ like.
Eph. 6:5-9 contains the third of three examples of what it means to submit. The over arching statement governing the section of wives, children, and slaves is: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph. 5:21) And, this text in itself is made possible by Eph. 5:18 “be filled with the Spirit.” Submission on the part of anyone is a struggle. For the Christian it becomes a possibility through the power of the Spirit and the desire to be like Christ. It might also be helpful, in the understanding of this text, to think not in terms of slaves and masters but of employers and employees where the master is the employer and the employee is the servant.
To the text:
1] The Perspective
In the text, Paul draws a comparison between two masters: the ‘earthly master’ [vs. 5] and the ‘heavenly master’ [vs. 9] Some point to the fact that the earthly master only has power over the flesh since in the Greek they are masters ‘according to the flesh’. Thus, in the spiritual realm they have no authority. Like Daniel, the slave has no responsibility to obey that which is contrary to the instruction of God. But more likely the text makes clear to the slave that in the overall scheme of things, slavery is but a temporal situation. In comparison with an eternity of freedom and fullness, this experience is but momentary. Serve the eternal master!
2] The Priority
Three times in the text the Apostle Paul repeats the same thing: “as you would obey Christ”. It is not an exact quote each time but the implication is the same. In reality, our primary responsibility is to be servants of Christ in every relationship, be it parental, marital or economic. If we are behaving in our earthly relationships as we would behave in our relationship with Christ, things would be good.
3] The Prescriptions
The question is, ‘how to be Christ honouring in these relationships’. Paul gives three instructions:
A] serve your ‘master’ with honour and integrity. Vs. 5
B] serve your ‘master’ with consistency. Vs. 6
C] serve your ‘master’ willingly. Vs. 7
All of these things just as if you, as a believer, were serving Christ himself.
Such a thought might seem counterproductive or even preposterous. But, Paul now clarifies this whole matter.
4] The Promise
Service to Christ comes with its own rewards. And the reward of Christ comes without reference to social position. The Lord rewards goodness wherever he finds it. And, he never misses it. The reward may not come in this temporal realm, but then the Christian does not live for this temporal realm. If seeks with Christ: Kingdom First.
5] The Paradox
As in Paul’s other illustrations in this text, Eph. 5:22-6:9, the person to be submitted to has some heavy ethical responsibilities. In point of fact, ‘earthly masters’ are also ‘earthly servants’. They are servants of Christ. And as servants of Christ they fall under the same spiritual instruction as their ‘earthly servants’.
Lew Worrad
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Behind Closed Doors – Ephesians 6:5-9
Guest Posting by Lew Worrad
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
Some Biblical Texts seem irrelevant to particular cultures and particular societies. The text before us today is just such a text. After all, Canada is the home of the brave and the free. Slavery has never been anything but an ancillary concern for us. And we can take some moral solace from the fact that we were part of the North American solution to that problem. It would seem that texts on slavery have little to do with us.
And yet, there would be those who would argue that slavery is alive and well in Canada. Human trafficking is just one form of slavery and it is not very far from us today. And, the “occupy” movement might also have something to say about slavery. After all, in typical Marxist economics, when your labour is sold at a profit, that profit, what Marx called alienated labour, enslaves you. But, it is not our purpose to discuss Marxist economics.
It is often surprising to people that read the Bible that slavery is left somewhat unscathed. In all of the texts that deal with slavery, [Eph. 6, Col. 3, 1 Cor. 7, 1 Peter 2, Philemon] slavery is left intact. This does not mean that slavery was encouraged. The writers do not speak so much about the social system as they do about how an individual, caught in that system, could be Christ like.
Eph. 6:5-9 contains the third of three examples of what it means to submit. The over arching statement governing the section of wives, children, and slaves is: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph. 5:21) And, this text in itself is made possible by Eph. 5:18 “be filled with the Spirit.” Submission on the part of anyone is a struggle. For the Christian it becomes a possibility through the power of the Spirit and the desire to be like Christ. It might also be helpful, in the understanding of this text, to think not in terms of slaves and masters but of employers and employees where the master is the employer and the employee is the servant.
To the text:
1] The Perspective
In the text, Paul draws a comparison between two masters: the ‘earthly master’ [vs. 5] and the ‘heavenly master’ [vs. 9] Some point to the fact that the earthly master only has power over the flesh since in the Greek they are masters ‘according to the flesh’. Thus, in the spiritual realm they have no authority. Like Daniel, the slave has no responsibility to obey that which is contrary to the instruction of God. But more likely the text makes clear to the slave that in the overall scheme of things, slavery is but a temporal situation. In comparison with an eternity of freedom and fullness, this experience is but momentary. Serve the eternal master!
2] The Priority
Three times in the text the Apostle Paul repeats the same thing: “as you would obey Christ”. It is not an exact quote each time but the implication is the same. In reality, our primary responsibility is to be servants of Christ in every relationship, be it parental, marital or economic. If we are behaving in our earthly relationships as we would behave in our relationship with Christ, things would be good.
3] The Prescriptions
The question is, ‘how to be Christ honouring in these relationships’. Paul gives three instructions:
A] serve your ‘master’ with honour and integrity. Vs. 5
B] serve your ‘master’ with consistency. Vs. 6
C] serve your ‘master’ willingly. Vs. 7
All of these things just as if you, as a believer, were serving Christ himself.
Such a thought might seem counterproductive or even preposterous. But, Paul now clarifies this whole matter.
4] The Promise
Service to Christ comes with its own rewards. And the reward of Christ comes without reference to social position. The Lord rewards goodness wherever he finds it. And, he never misses it. The reward may not come in this temporal realm, but then the Christian does not live for this temporal realm. If seeks with Christ: Kingdom First.
5] The Paradox
As in Paul’s other illustrations in this text, Eph. 5:22-6:9, the person to be submitted to has some heavy ethical responsibilities. In point of fact, ‘earthly masters’ are also ‘earthly servants’. They are servants of Christ. And as servants of Christ they fall under the same spiritual instruction as their ‘earthly servants’.
Lew Worrad
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Touching Base! Part 176
Rigorous Faith in Turbulent Times, Part 15
Children in the Lord – Ephesians 6:1-4
Guest Posting by Eric Prost
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
Why is a single, childless, celibate Roman Jew teaching us about child-rearing this week?
The simple - and definitive - answer is that the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is the Word of God. But there is more.
In this week’s sermon, and in this accompanying Touching Base, we’ll first see why, 2000 years later, we should still listen to Paul. To do this, we’ll then need to see the 1st-century Roman context of this text, as well as its place in the letter to the Ephesians as a whole.
1. An Old Text
Forty years ago, the American psychologist B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) wrote his book Beyond Freedom and Dignity. At its beginning, before giving the details of his own theory, he explains why a new science of human behaviour is necessary. He writes that physics and biology have advanced immeasurably since antiquity, but that, regrettably, knowledge of human behaviour has changed little in the last 2500 years.
And yet we’re studying an ancient text this week. Quoting our text in its oldest English translation (with original spellings) will convey just how old it is:
Our text is almost 2000 years-old and surely concerns human behaviour: Child-rearing. It is millennia old, and yet is relevant. It is not a parenting manual, and yet is practical and quite specific.
2. The Roman Context
Historians’ views about the Roman family change based on evidence and opinion. However, it is always too easy to say that pagan Roman parents (and especially fathers) were all-powerful and cruel.
They were not Christians but, as humans, they (not surprisingly) showed the full range of emotions towards their children, including delight in toddlers: “[Little Fronto] shows some signs of his grandfather’s character as well: he is particularly greedy for grapes” (Fronto, Letters to his Friends, 1, 12, 2nd century AD).
It is true that fathers had the right of life and death over children, even if it wasn’t exercised; a father acknowledged that his new-born would live and be accepted by symbolically picking it up off the ground. Physical beatings were also common as the following quotation complaining about the teachers at a nearby school illustrates: “The cocks...have not yet broken the silence, and already your threatening grumbles and beatings thunder” (Martial, Epigrams 9, 68, 1st century AD).
And evidence does show that parental, and especially paternal, authority was paramount because children were viewed as merely partly rational - along with animals, barbarians, and slaves.
So in our text, Paul writes that children should obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right. Underscoring obedience to parents would not have been surprising to his audience. “For this is right” has the connotation that it is natural and understood. He then re-enforces his point with scripture, citing the Ten Commandments - “Honour your father and mother”.
But Paul addresses this command to the children themselves, these only “half-rational” beings of Roman society (just as he directly addresses slaves in the next passage, another group seen as but semi-rational). Children need to obey because they do not always know what is best and need to be instructed; children have responsibility though and are sentient beings with eternal worth and are treated with this dignity by Paul.
Then comes a command to the fathers, the powerful head of the household, that basic family and economic unit of Rome. “Do not exasperate your children” but “bring them up” or nourish them in “the Lord”. This is new, and not Roman commonsense, but a command nonetheless.
3. The Context in Ephesians
The first three chapters of Ephesians describe lofty truths from God’s point-of-view. It’s not the legal argument of the letter to the Romans about the human condition or the explanation of righteousness in Galatians. It’s about God’s reasons for things, purposes from above, from the “heavenly realms”.
Read this short letter again, looking for examples of this. Here are some: events unfolded “in accordance with his pleasure and will” and his (previously hidden) purposes. He has blessed us in the “heavenly” realms; the goal is “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together”; Christ is now seated in the “heavenly realms”; we, too, are seated in the “heavenly realms”; God’s plan was that the “wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms”; even now we fight against “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”.
The last three chapters of Ephesians explain how we must act since the first three chapters are true. As we examine chapters 4, 5, and 6, keep in mind the lofty heavenly purposes of God.
How does this help explain our text about child-rearing?
Amy Chua, in her controversial 2011 book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, describes how she pushed her daughters in every way to achieve high standards both at school and in other activities. She was often asked, “Who are you doing all this pushing for - your daughters...or yourself?” (p. 148).
Ephesian 6: 1-4 is about neither. It is not teaching parenting so that the parent’s self-esteem will be bolstered; it is not teaching parenting even for the benefit of the child. It is not instructing fathers how to raise children so that family honour will be preserved; and it is not describing child-rearing so that the kids will get into university.
It is describing child-rearing that is in alignment with God’s purposes from an eternity past to an eternity in the future - “not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:21). It is giving a few short but specific commands to children and their parents of what God wants because of how he is doing things and how he did them by sending Christ and how he planned on doing so since the creation of the world. The way to align with God’s great plans is to nourish children in the instruction and admonition of the Lord.
Let’s fall in step. It’s not always about us.
Eric Prost
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Classical quotations taken from Gardner and Wiedemann, The Roman Household: A Sourcebook (1991).
Children in the Lord – Ephesians 6:1-4
Guest Posting by Eric Prost
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
Why is a single, childless, celibate Roman Jew teaching us about child-rearing this week?
The simple - and definitive - answer is that the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is the Word of God. But there is more.
In this week’s sermon, and in this accompanying Touching Base, we’ll first see why, 2000 years later, we should still listen to Paul. To do this, we’ll then need to see the 1st-century Roman context of this text, as well as its place in the letter to the Ephesians as a whole.
1. An Old Text
Forty years ago, the American psychologist B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) wrote his book Beyond Freedom and Dignity. At its beginning, before giving the details of his own theory, he explains why a new science of human behaviour is necessary. He writes that physics and biology have advanced immeasurably since antiquity, but that, regrettably, knowledge of human behaviour has changed little in the last 2500 years.
And yet we’re studying an ancient text this week. Quoting our text in its oldest English translation (with original spellings) will convey just how old it is:
“Chyldren obey youre fathers and mothers in the lorde: for so is it right. Honoure father and mother, that is the fyrst commaundement that hath eny promes, that thou mayst be in good estate, and live longe on the erthe. Fathers, move not youre chyldren to wrath: butt brynge them uppe with the norter and informacion off the lorde.”
--William Tyndale, 1526 (so go back another 1500 years to St. Paul).
Our text is almost 2000 years-old and surely concerns human behaviour: Child-rearing. It is millennia old, and yet is relevant. It is not a parenting manual, and yet is practical and quite specific.
2. The Roman Context
Historians’ views about the Roman family change based on evidence and opinion. However, it is always too easy to say that pagan Roman parents (and especially fathers) were all-powerful and cruel.
They were not Christians but, as humans, they (not surprisingly) showed the full range of emotions towards their children, including delight in toddlers: “[Little Fronto] shows some signs of his grandfather’s character as well: he is particularly greedy for grapes” (Fronto, Letters to his Friends, 1, 12, 2nd century AD).
It is true that fathers had the right of life and death over children, even if it wasn’t exercised; a father acknowledged that his new-born would live and be accepted by symbolically picking it up off the ground. Physical beatings were also common as the following quotation complaining about the teachers at a nearby school illustrates: “The cocks...have not yet broken the silence, and already your threatening grumbles and beatings thunder” (Martial, Epigrams 9, 68, 1st century AD).
And evidence does show that parental, and especially paternal, authority was paramount because children were viewed as merely partly rational - along with animals, barbarians, and slaves.
So in our text, Paul writes that children should obey their parents in the Lord, for this is right. Underscoring obedience to parents would not have been surprising to his audience. “For this is right” has the connotation that it is natural and understood. He then re-enforces his point with scripture, citing the Ten Commandments - “Honour your father and mother”.
But Paul addresses this command to the children themselves, these only “half-rational” beings of Roman society (just as he directly addresses slaves in the next passage, another group seen as but semi-rational). Children need to obey because they do not always know what is best and need to be instructed; children have responsibility though and are sentient beings with eternal worth and are treated with this dignity by Paul.
Then comes a command to the fathers, the powerful head of the household, that basic family and economic unit of Rome. “Do not exasperate your children” but “bring them up” or nourish them in “the Lord”. This is new, and not Roman commonsense, but a command nonetheless.
3. The Context in Ephesians
The first three chapters of Ephesians describe lofty truths from God’s point-of-view. It’s not the legal argument of the letter to the Romans about the human condition or the explanation of righteousness in Galatians. It’s about God’s reasons for things, purposes from above, from the “heavenly realms”.
Read this short letter again, looking for examples of this. Here are some: events unfolded “in accordance with his pleasure and will” and his (previously hidden) purposes. He has blessed us in the “heavenly” realms; the goal is “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together”; Christ is now seated in the “heavenly realms”; we, too, are seated in the “heavenly realms”; God’s plan was that the “wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms”; even now we fight against “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”.
The last three chapters of Ephesians explain how we must act since the first three chapters are true. As we examine chapters 4, 5, and 6, keep in mind the lofty heavenly purposes of God.
How does this help explain our text about child-rearing?
Amy Chua, in her controversial 2011 book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, describes how she pushed her daughters in every way to achieve high standards both at school and in other activities. She was often asked, “Who are you doing all this pushing for - your daughters...or yourself?” (p. 148).
Ephesian 6: 1-4 is about neither. It is not teaching parenting so that the parent’s self-esteem will be bolstered; it is not teaching parenting even for the benefit of the child. It is not instructing fathers how to raise children so that family honour will be preserved; and it is not describing child-rearing so that the kids will get into university.
It is describing child-rearing that is in alignment with God’s purposes from an eternity past to an eternity in the future - “not only in the present age but also in the one to come” (Eph. 1:21). It is giving a few short but specific commands to children and their parents of what God wants because of how he is doing things and how he did them by sending Christ and how he planned on doing so since the creation of the world. The way to align with God’s great plans is to nourish children in the instruction and admonition of the Lord.
Let’s fall in step. It’s not always about us.
Eric Prost
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Classical quotations taken from Gardner and Wiedemann, The Roman Household: A Sourcebook (1991).
Friday, August 3, 2012
Touching Base! Part 175
Rigorous Faith in Turbulent Times, Part 14
Behind Closed Doors – Ephesians 5:22-32
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
What disturbs me about the above story is that there are Christ followers who act as though it is completely okay to create this unhealthy dichotomy in the Christian life - a flawless public image that covers for a shabby private life. On Sunday, I talked about two sides of the door and how we have our public side and private side. The Big Idea on Sunday was that one of the most bona fide tests of being controlled by the Holy Spirit is in what happens in our lives behind closed doors. God wants to go deep! It is interesting in our text that after Paul talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit he touches down on three key relationships - marriage, family and boss/employee relations - that can often represent our lives behind closed doors.
Text: Ephesians 5:22-32 (For all those that want to object to the need for the wife to submit, just read the TB first. I think you may change your mind.)
Some might wonder how this Big Idea comes out of this text. However, think about the context. Gentile men who have come to Christ are now reading about how they are to treat their wives. Wives in that gentile culture were in many cases equivalent to slaves, mere possessions. What happened behind closed doors at home, to say the least, was not very Christ honoring. Paul comes along and shakes their world with his words. On Sunday I showed how, to Gentile men, these words would have cut deep into their private world of marriage and family. These words model how, when the Holy Spirit controls our lives (v.18), He wants to bring the light of God’s truth into all the places and spaces of our lives, regardless of what side of the door it may be on. Note how this happened in our text.
New Value (v.22-24)
Our fictitious gentile man Romulus would have had the understanding of the value of his wife challenged. Note two things:
First, Paul is assuming that women can be in relationship to Christ. The phrase, “as to the Lord” does not mean the husband is the Lord, but states that a wife’s relationship with her husband is very much a reflection of her relationship with Christ. Jesus stated this in Matthew 25:40. “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers (note: generic, not just men) of mine, you did for me.” Paul is placing a value on women that surpasses that of Romulus’ culture by acknowledging that Christ has called women into relationship with Himself as well. They can be redeemed, loved, discipled and their horizontal relationships are to honour their vertical relationship with Christ.
Secondly, there is something else that catches Romulus’ attention. In that culture the superior person in a relationship was addressed when it came to ethical matters. Note what Paul is doing by first addressing the wife and clearly instructing her in the same way as he is the man. The woman has value, and equal standing.
Romulus may be able to impress people with his flawless public image but God’s Word wants to penetrate into his life behind closed doors.
For you, it may not be marriage but something else that you need to surrender that is behind the closed door. Is there a fight or a willingness to surrender?
New Paradigm (v.25)
Romulus’ paradigm for relating to his wife would have come from his culture and his own father. Guess what? God’s Word is going to change that! What is the example of what headship means in this text? If you said “death” then you win! This is NOT the paradigm Romulus has been looking to in order to understand how to relate to his wife. He is being challenged to break the generational sin of his family, to stand against the cultural chauvinism of his day, and to embrace the cross. Jesus is not just interested in Romulus having a flawless public image but a God-honoring personal life that unfolds behind closed doors. This will be a tough transformation for him to experience because of the cultural and family patterns that have been set.
What makes obeying Christ and surrendering control to the Holy Spirit difficult in your life?
If you’re thinking of your marriage, what paradigm has most impacted how you treat your spouse?
New Result (v.26-32)
Note that the comparison continues of a husband’s love for his wife which is similar to Christ’s love for the church. Now Paul elaborates a bit more on this analogy. Notice that just as Christ’s love for the church results in health and wholeness, so too should Romulus’ love for his wife result in health and wholeness. What is toughest is that Romulus is being challenged to have an out-of-body experience (v.28). He is to be tuned in to his wife’s needs and the result of his love for her is that she becomes a woman of God who is radiant, holy and blameless.
Know any women that are experiencing the opposite in a marriage? Romulus may realize he has some work to do. His wife may need to go from being the doormat to being the most treasured person in the entire house. He also may realize that in his marriage, he has always declared the wrong message: “I am the leader who rules with an iron fist!” This needs to change to “I am a servant who will die for my wife and put her interests ahead of my own.” Based on her need to submit and respect (v.22, 33) and his need to submit (v.21) and love (v.25-32) the only thing they should really argue about is who gets to out-serve who! I.e., “…in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Phil 2:3)
The biggest heresy in marriage is an alphabetical one - ”big I, little u.” Healthy relationships mean “little i, big U”.
Will Romulus allow the word of God to sink deeply into his soul, to go behind that closed door? Often the issues behind the closed doors are the most difficult to surrender and change. It might be your marriage or it might be how you handle your business. Whatever it is, it is something Christ wants to have control of.
One of the most bonafide tests of being controlled by the Holy Spirit is in what happens in our lives behind closed doors. Nothing is out of bounds for God to touch and transform in our lives. Just ask Romulus!
Some further questions to ponder.
How is God speaking to you regarding issues behind that closed door?
Are you wrestling or surrendering?
Are you guilty of a flawless public image but a shabby state of affairs behind the closed door?
When Paul says be filled/controlled by the Holy Spirit, are you including what is behind that door? That is where God wants to go and must go.
Are you living with this lie, “Keep Door Closed!”
What is the best way to help someone open a door?
Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
Behind Closed Doors – Ephesians 5:22-32
(This article can also we found on our website
at http://www.bethelkingston.com under the tab called "Blog")
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.
"I once knew a man well who had a commanding public presence and exuded charm to all he met. What he said mattered. He had influence. He was always impeccably dressed and unfailingly courteous. But his secretary was frequently in tears as a result of his rudely imperious demands. Behind the scenes he was tyrannical and insensitive. His public image was flawless; his personal relationships were shabby.” (Peterson, Run With the Horses, p.157)
What disturbs me about the above story is that there are Christ followers who act as though it is completely okay to create this unhealthy dichotomy in the Christian life - a flawless public image that covers for a shabby private life. On Sunday, I talked about two sides of the door and how we have our public side and private side. The Big Idea on Sunday was that one of the most bona fide tests of being controlled by the Holy Spirit is in what happens in our lives behind closed doors. God wants to go deep! It is interesting in our text that after Paul talks about being filled with the Holy Spirit he touches down on three key relationships - marriage, family and boss/employee relations - that can often represent our lives behind closed doors.
Text: Ephesians 5:22-32 (For all those that want to object to the need for the wife to submit, just read the TB first. I think you may change your mind.)
Some might wonder how this Big Idea comes out of this text. However, think about the context. Gentile men who have come to Christ are now reading about how they are to treat their wives. Wives in that gentile culture were in many cases equivalent to slaves, mere possessions. What happened behind closed doors at home, to say the least, was not very Christ honoring. Paul comes along and shakes their world with his words. On Sunday I showed how, to Gentile men, these words would have cut deep into their private world of marriage and family. These words model how, when the Holy Spirit controls our lives (v.18), He wants to bring the light of God’s truth into all the places and spaces of our lives, regardless of what side of the door it may be on. Note how this happened in our text.
New Value (v.22-24)
Our fictitious gentile man Romulus would have had the understanding of the value of his wife challenged. Note two things:
First, Paul is assuming that women can be in relationship to Christ. The phrase, “as to the Lord” does not mean the husband is the Lord, but states that a wife’s relationship with her husband is very much a reflection of her relationship with Christ. Jesus stated this in Matthew 25:40. “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers (note: generic, not just men) of mine, you did for me.” Paul is placing a value on women that surpasses that of Romulus’ culture by acknowledging that Christ has called women into relationship with Himself as well. They can be redeemed, loved, discipled and their horizontal relationships are to honour their vertical relationship with Christ.
Secondly, there is something else that catches Romulus’ attention. In that culture the superior person in a relationship was addressed when it came to ethical matters. Note what Paul is doing by first addressing the wife and clearly instructing her in the same way as he is the man. The woman has value, and equal standing.
Romulus may be able to impress people with his flawless public image but God’s Word wants to penetrate into his life behind closed doors.
For you, it may not be marriage but something else that you need to surrender that is behind the closed door. Is there a fight or a willingness to surrender?
New Paradigm (v.25)
Romulus’ paradigm for relating to his wife would have come from his culture and his own father. Guess what? God’s Word is going to change that! What is the example of what headship means in this text? If you said “death” then you win! This is NOT the paradigm Romulus has been looking to in order to understand how to relate to his wife. He is being challenged to break the generational sin of his family, to stand against the cultural chauvinism of his day, and to embrace the cross. Jesus is not just interested in Romulus having a flawless public image but a God-honoring personal life that unfolds behind closed doors. This will be a tough transformation for him to experience because of the cultural and family patterns that have been set.
What makes obeying Christ and surrendering control to the Holy Spirit difficult in your life?
If you’re thinking of your marriage, what paradigm has most impacted how you treat your spouse?
New Result (v.26-32)
Note that the comparison continues of a husband’s love for his wife which is similar to Christ’s love for the church. Now Paul elaborates a bit more on this analogy. Notice that just as Christ’s love for the church results in health and wholeness, so too should Romulus’ love for his wife result in health and wholeness. What is toughest is that Romulus is being challenged to have an out-of-body experience (v.28). He is to be tuned in to his wife’s needs and the result of his love for her is that she becomes a woman of God who is radiant, holy and blameless.
Know any women that are experiencing the opposite in a marriage? Romulus may realize he has some work to do. His wife may need to go from being the doormat to being the most treasured person in the entire house. He also may realize that in his marriage, he has always declared the wrong message: “I am the leader who rules with an iron fist!” This needs to change to “I am a servant who will die for my wife and put her interests ahead of my own.” Based on her need to submit and respect (v.22, 33) and his need to submit (v.21) and love (v.25-32) the only thing they should really argue about is who gets to out-serve who! I.e., “…in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Phil 2:3)
The biggest heresy in marriage is an alphabetical one - ”big I, little u.” Healthy relationships mean “little i, big U”.
Will Romulus allow the word of God to sink deeply into his soul, to go behind that closed door? Often the issues behind the closed doors are the most difficult to surrender and change. It might be your marriage or it might be how you handle your business. Whatever it is, it is something Christ wants to have control of.
One of the most bonafide tests of being controlled by the Holy Spirit is in what happens in our lives behind closed doors. Nothing is out of bounds for God to touch and transform in our lives. Just ask Romulus!
Some further questions to ponder.
How is God speaking to you regarding issues behind that closed door?
Are you wrestling or surrendering?
Are you guilty of a flawless public image but a shabby state of affairs behind the closed door?
When Paul says be filled/controlled by the Holy Spirit, are you including what is behind that door? That is where God wants to go and must go.
Are you living with this lie, “Keep Door Closed!”
What is the best way to help someone open a door?
Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com
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