Romans 5:8 – But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Velvet Elvis
– Rob Bell
Movement Six – New
Idea:
Something new is happening inside us.
Discussion
Setting: Now!
We
have new life in Christ Jesus:
Our new self is here, the old self is dead. We are dead to sin, but alive to God. We have crossed over from death to life.
Our new self is here, the old self is dead. We are dead to sin, but alive to God. We have crossed over from death to life.
Romans 6:10-11 – The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
We are on a journey to become the
person God already thinks we are. We are Holy, Dearly Loved, and there is no
condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
Being alive in Christ Jesus is not
about having fire insurance. It’s about experiencing kingdom living NOW.
God
Desires to Live with Us:
Genesis 3:8 – Then the man and his
wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the
cool of the day…
Exodus 25:8 – “Then have them make a
sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.”
1 Kings 5:3-5 – You know that
because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not
build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies
under his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and
there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for
the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said,
‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for
my Name.’
John 1:14 – The Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one
and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
1 Corinthians 6:19 – Do you not know
that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have
received from God? You are not your own;
and,
according to Revelations 21-22, in the end, God
takes up residence with us.
Life without God is Hell on Earth:
“What we got was not self-freedom but self centeredness, loneliness, superficiality, and harried consumerism. … overstocked medicine cabinets, burglar alarms, vast ghettos, and drug culture. Eighteen hundred New Yorkers are murdered every year by their fellow citizens in a city whose police department is larger than the standing army of many nations.” – William Willimon, Resident Aliens.
But life with God is powerful: Luke 7:28 – “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
Question: What does this mean?
How do we have a relationship with God?
“What we got was not self-freedom but self centeredness, loneliness, superficiality, and harried consumerism. … overstocked medicine cabinets, burglar alarms, vast ghettos, and drug culture. Eighteen hundred New Yorkers are murdered every year by their fellow citizens in a city whose police department is larger than the standing army of many nations.” – William Willimon, Resident Aliens.
But life with God is powerful: Luke 7:28 – “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
Question: What does this mean?
How do we have a relationship with God?
- John 3:16 – For God so LOVED the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.
John 14:23 – Jesus replied, “Anyone who LOVES me will obey my teaching. My Father will LOVE them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
(see also Luke 7:36-50 and 1 Corinthians 13:1-8) - Keep the commandments, and pay heed to Matthew 22:36-40 – “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
- When
ministering the kingdom of the heavens to the needs of human beings, avoid
anger, condemnation and judgment of others: Matthew 10:16 – “I am sending you out
like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as
doves.”
Question: What is the wisdom of the snake, and what is Jesus referring to with the Dove? - Pray, and keep in mind…
a. Prayer
is personal. We do not need fancy words, it is not mechanical, and the
“sandwich approach” does not work.
b. Patience
and perseverance is important.
Philippians 4:6 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
James 1:4 – Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Philippians 4:6 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
James 1:4 – Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
c. “Asking
is powerful!”
Luke 11:5-8 – Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
Luke 18:1-8 – Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Luke 11:5-8 – Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
Luke 18:1-8 – Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
d. God
does not always give us what we want, but our prayers make a difference, and,
they can cause God to act.
2 Kings 20:1-6 – In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, “Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
Exodus 32:10-14 – 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
“Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronary care unit population.” Author: Randolph C. Byrd, M.D.
Institution: Medical Service, San Francisco General Medical Center, CA.
Source: Southern Medical Journal 1988 Jul; 81(7): 826-9
Abstract: The therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer (IP) to the Judeo-Christian God, one of the oldest forms of therapy, has had little attention in the medical literature. To evaluate the effects of IP in a coronary care unit (CCU) population, a prospective randomized double-blind protocol was followed. Over ten months, 393 patients admitted to the CCU were randomized, after signing informed consent, to an intercessory prayer group (192 patients) or to a control group (201 patients). While hospitalized, the first group received IP by participating Christians praying outside the hospital; the control group did not. At entry, chi-square and stepwise logistic analysis revealed no statistical difference between the groups. After entry, all patients had follow-up for the remainder of the admission. The IP group subsequently had a significantly lower severity score based on the hospital course after entry. The control patients required ventilatory assistance, antibiotics, and diuretics more frequently than patients in the IP group. These data suggest that intercessory prayer to the Judeo-Christian God has a beneficial therapeutic effect in patients admitted to a CCU.
2 Kings 20:1-6 – In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, “Remember, LORD, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”
Exodus 32:10-14 – 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. “LORD,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” Then the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
“Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronary care unit population.” Author: Randolph C. Byrd, M.D.
Institution: Medical Service, San Francisco General Medical Center, CA.
Source: Southern Medical Journal 1988 Jul; 81(7): 826-9
Abstract: The therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer (IP) to the Judeo-Christian God, one of the oldest forms of therapy, has had little attention in the medical literature. To evaluate the effects of IP in a coronary care unit (CCU) population, a prospective randomized double-blind protocol was followed. Over ten months, 393 patients admitted to the CCU were randomized, after signing informed consent, to an intercessory prayer group (192 patients) or to a control group (201 patients). While hospitalized, the first group received IP by participating Christians praying outside the hospital; the control group did not. At entry, chi-square and stepwise logistic analysis revealed no statistical difference between the groups. After entry, all patients had follow-up for the remainder of the admission. The IP group subsequently had a significantly lower severity score based on the hospital course after entry. The control patients required ventilatory assistance, antibiotics, and diuretics more frequently than patients in the IP group. These data suggest that intercessory prayer to the Judeo-Christian God has a beneficial therapeutic effect in patients admitted to a CCU.
Discussion
Points
- Rob Bell says we are not defined by what the things we don’t do, and that the “do not sin” message does not work. What are your thoughts on this?
- What happens when we stumble, and our old self reappears?
- Are you persistent in your prayer life? Has God answered any of your prayers.
- How many times should you ask God for something?
- Dallas Willard says “Pray for what concerns you. … The circle of our intentions will inevitably grow in the largeness of God’s love.” What do you think he means by this?
- Rob Bell – Jesus’ desire for his followers is that they live in such a way that they bring heaven to earth. … Heaven is full of people God loves, whom Jesus died for. Hell is full of forgiven people God loves, whom Jesus died for.
Additional
References:
The Divine Conspiracy,
Dallas Willard
Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony, William H. Willimon
Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony, William H. Willimon
Love, as recorded in 1 Corinthians
13:1-8
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is
kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it
is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always
trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
A woman going completely nuts for Jesus in Luke 7:36-50
(as we all do when we come to the realization of who he is and his love for us)
When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
The Last Resort
the Eagles
(the bad press we deservedly receive when we sin in the name of God)
...
We satisfy our endless needs and
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name of God
And you can see them there,
On Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
what it's like up there
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye
justify our bloody deeds,
in the name of destiny and the name of God
And you can see them there,
On Sunday morning
They stand up and sing about
what it's like up there
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise,
kiss it goodbye
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