Devotion.al

Tag: community

  • Overwhelming River

    Ezekiel 47:1–12, 2 Corinthians 3:17–4:1, Matthew 28:16–20

    This image of the River of Life spreading out into the world provides us something to reflect upon. The further the river gets from the of God, the wider and deeper it gets. Eventually, it takes the Dead Sea and makes it living water, too. In the case of the Dead Sea, there is an echo of baptism and …from death to life, and not just any life, a Godly life.

    The “four” walls of the church building should be so filled with the Spirit that it should be overflowing into the community in which it sits. These walls are not meant to be containers, keeping the Holy Spirit captive or “preserved”, but enabling each of us to take this concentration of the Holy Spirit out into the world with us.

    If there is to be freedom where the Holy Spirit is moving, why does it often feel as if we are trapped in church? If there is freedom, why do we seem unable (or unwilling) to be able to it?

    The church (which has been said time and time again) is not the building (though we often like it). The church is the people. The freedom of the Holy Spirit enables us to freely share the and the love of Christ. However, we continually put on the chains that weigh us down, whether or pride or something else. We certainly don’t act free.

    Therein lies the problem. We have been commissioned to take the Gospel to our families, our neighbors, our communities, our cities, our counties, our state, our , our continent, our world. It is not a commission we can decline, for God has already commissioned us. We are plan A–Z.

    1) Do you feel free in the Holy Spirit? What does that mean to you?

    2) What are your thoughts about the River of Life being deeper and wider away from the of God? What does that mean in regards to how you live?

    3) You have been commissioned. What is your to that? How do you fulfill your commission? How do you see others fulfilling their commission?

  • Right Things

    Isaiah 1:10–31, Habakkuk 1:2–4, Luke 17:5–10

    In many courtrooms, there is an image or a statue of Lady . Lady Justice is the supposed personification of the ideal judicial system: blind (no favoritism), sword (swift and cutting decision), scales (balance of “good” and “evil”), toga (justice as a philosophy). Most of us recognize that this is the ideal. Every justice system is exactly that…human.

    Our sense of justice, our philosophy of justice, should be based upon and informed by the Scriptures. Israel and the Jews would have agreed with that statement in concept. Sadly, just like today, concept and reality are not in line. This is God’s point through Isaiah. All the rites are being followed, but the of God is not. By not fulfilling and following the heart of God, the Jews were spoiling (as in making rotten) their sacrifices to God. Who wants rotten meat?

    There are many cries for justice, and many are good calls. Far too many appear aligned more for political than actual justice. And this is also rotten. Yes, the right thing is being done…for the wrong reason. Or, the right thing is being done but is contaminated by the wrong thing also being done by the same people.

    Habbakuk’s cry out for help sounds like so many people. Really, though, it goes along the line of a person talking to God, “There is so much injustice, cruelty, and in the world. Why aren’t you doing something about it?” Then God responds, “funny, I was going to you the same question.”

    It’s Jesus’ words, though, that may shine the real on the issue. Pride. Jesus points out that servants should not be seeking praise for fulfilling their duties. Yet, there seems a pervading current of recognition that fills the .

    1) If we do the right things to the church, are they really the right thing?

    2) If we do the right things to build the , are they really the right thing?

    3) If we do the right things because they are what God called us to do, but they don’t build the church, don’t build the kingdom, are they still the right thing?

  • Deceptive Holiness

    1 Timothy 4:6–16, Colossians 2:1–23

    myth: usually a traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.

    Myths are powerful. Often the struggle of myths is their competition with one another. Focusing on “…explain a practice, belief…”, we all know that there are plenty of practices and beliefs in church that people have. Many of these have been built up to such a point that the Gospel seems to lose to “the way things must be.” The Church of the Nazarene is no different (we’ll try to be careful walking on eggshells). The first Church of the Nazarene was “born” on the streets of Los Angeles’ Skid Row (or its equivalent). There was a huge problem with alcoholism and in general. So, one of the principles was no drinking, and it makes perfect sense. The Christian was held up as an example to live up to, and one of the ways to escape the path of destruction was to stop drinking. Having a religious and social “contract” created a place of restoration and health.

    However (you knew this was coming), the rationale became a litmus test for . If you consumed, sold, or make alcohol, you were obviously not holy. This sounds a little over the top, doesn’t it? Does that mean generations of Christians (including ‘s successor, Timothy) were not holy? Of course not! There is an argument (questioned by many) regarding the alcohol content difference between Biblical wine and today’s wine, but that really isn’t the issue. If we took things to the extreme, we would only be holy if we were monks or nuns (or the Protestant equivalent). That seems pretty silly, too.

    Let’s be clear. We can look around us and see alcohol (and many other things) are a significant problem. Alcohol (and those other things) can easily lead one away from family, church, and God. On the other hand, many of these things should not be presumed to do this. Do many of the troublesome things lead us away from Jesus? Absolutely! God is full of grace and , and still constantly calls us to him, and away from those things we find tempting.

    Alcohol is an easy one. What about the ? The internet has enabled the destruction of many families and churches. There are many people addicted to the internet (or something on it). The church isn’t calling for the banishment of the internet (okay, there are probably local churches that are). In fact, the internet may be the greatest evangelism tool we’ve had since the printing press. Alcohol, the internet, food, all have the potential to destroy humanity.

    With that being said, then, what are we to do? Holiness isn’t just personal. John Wesley noted that holiness is only truly found in social holiness. That means we are all to be holy to/with/for each other. The rules of holiness, just like the rules of the Jews, are shadows of things to come. We are called to walk with each other toward Jesus. We are to study together, pray together, weep together, together, worship together. We are called to live as . Rules are easier than holiness. Rules are a checkbox to complete. Sadly, often when we complete the checkboxes we think we’re done. Until we’ve gone through the veil of death, we are never done walking the road of holiness toward Jesus.

    1) Have you ever accused or thought of someone not being “holy” or living the “Christian Life”? Why? Was it a “rule”, or was it Scriptural?

    2) Who are you walking with on the road of holiness? Are you actually talking to them about your holiness journey and theirs?

  • Church Love

    1 Thessalonians 4:9–11

    Imagine being told that we don’t need encouragement or training or discipling to show brotherly . That would be wonderful. tells the Thessalonians that their love is displayed far outside of their home (es) to the greater region. In other words, their fellow believers in the region know that these Thessalonians love them.

    Does the around Generations Community Church know it?

    The hardest thing to think about is the following question. If your church (Generations Community Church) closed today, would anyone notice tomorrow, or even care? We all would care, of course! Would the community care?

    Fellow churches would care. However, they are part of the extended . All churches (should) care when another church—inside or outside their denomination—closes.

    When the church says, “come in,” it may be welcoming and warm, but the church is still saying (effectively), “our turf.” The community recognizes that. The church says, “We love you,” but doesn’t live with them.

    It’s not to say that you or aren’t out in the community as individuals. It’s whether the community knows that the church loves them.

    1) What are ways the church can show love outside of the four walls?

  • Worship Together

    Genesis 28:10–17, Exodus 3:1–6, Luke 23:44–46

    Have you ever been confronted by a person who states that they can God better in nature than in a church? They might be right. Jacob put a stone under his head, and upon waking declared that the wilderness was the house of God.

    Moses is wandering in the wilderness minding . He walks to a burning bush that is declared by God to be a holy place. This is no church.

    During the last moments of ‘ crucifixion, the curtain (dividing the “normal” temple from the Holy of Holies) was torn in two. The between earthly and Heavenly is gone.

    So, what about our challenger? They might be right. Perhaps they can worship better in God’s . It’s not out of the question as we look at Jacob and Moses. If we are only called to worship God, then the challenger is right. So, where does that leave us? Moving beyond worship.

    The life is far more than mere worship (not that it isn’t good and necessary). However, the way of Christ means being transformed into Christ-likeness. As good as worship is, it is only meant to be a piece and not the centerpiece of life of a Christian. When we worship , in comparison to alone in creation, we also become more of one . This allows—over time—us to temper and form one another.

    1) Have you ever been tempted to just go it alone in worship? Why? What restored you?

    2) If you’ve had a conversation with such a challenger, what was your ?

    3) For you, what is the connection between worship and community?

  • Not Anything; Something

    Ruth 1:2–18, 2 Samuel 15:19–37, Matthew 19:16–30

    Something more. Something greater than ourselves. That kind of thing calls to us very deeply. In this modern world, we have a greater amount of to find that “something”. There is an argument that the only reason that we have that “freedom” is that we have so much more free time and wealth. The sad is that as a whole people work far longer hours with less vacation than other places in the world (even many “non-free” countries).

    A recent comparison came out, showing that Americans work far more and fill their lives with far more than serfs did centuries ago. Serfs weren’t known to live easy lives, have much wealth, or much freedom, but they did have time.

    What did they do with that time? Many of them belonged to (not just lived in) their . They had places of connection and . There were definitely downsides, but that people that were barely above indentured servitude had more time than we do says a lot about our technology and “labor-saving” devices.

    We are often called to something greater than ourselves, but we seem almost afraid of it. The increase of loneliness, anxiety, and depression are all psychologically, emotionally and spiritually connected to the lack of the “something”.

    Ruth, Ittai of Gath, ‘ disciples all made a decision to up what they knew and had, even at great cost. All were facing the unknown. They chose to follow and anyways.

    1) The rich young ruler/man was given a choice and made a different one than our other examples. How often are we the rich young ruler, rather that one of the ?

    2) What can you do to help others connect to something greater than themselves? What can we do as to help others connect to something greater than themselves?

    3) Because we belong to “the ” we often think that we belong to something greater than ourselves (we do). However, we often still behave as if we don’t belong to that “something” and that it is at best inconvenient to be reminded that we do. Why do you think that is?

  • Sharpening and Armor

    Matthew 15:10–20, Luke 6:39–42, Ephesians 6:12–18

    In our current political and cultural climate, there are plenty of sharp barbs being thrown out. If we wanted to, we could say flaming arrows, which is metaphorically accurate. It’s pretty nuts, and certainly unloving, unpeaceful, impatient (i.e, doesn’t bear), unkind, bad (i.e., not good), unfaithful, ungentle, and lacks a lot of self-control (see Galatians 5:22–23, for what it should be). The sad part? That’s what we see from Christians. Christians are placing themselves firmly in the world on one “side” of the (left/right) political aisle. It’s very sad.

    While much of it is happening over social media (), it really is more akin to speech (i.e., coming out their/our mouths). Jesus calls us to task, saying that these words are coming out from our hearts. Ouch! What you write on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or what you “like” comes from your ? What does that tell you about what is inside your heart? What about that question that you posed about the other “side” of the political aisle? Was it honesty inquiry, or was it spite-filled rhetoric?

    It is so, so very easy to . It makes us feel better. Yet, is that the right response? Sadly, the rush (and rash) response is not conducive to sharpening one another. It actually hardens hearts for all involved. How is this living a Christ-filled, -following, -honoring life?

    Of course, the problem often is that those that need to and take the lesson to heart will often use the splinter and plank story to justify disregarding the lesson. There is some wisdom in that. This is why both of these parables should be taken as a pair, to prevent either from being taken too far, one way or the other. The other necessary part of this is community, true community (i.e., not Facebook). Facebook and other social mediums are quick to their platforms a community, but community is only formed when doing life together continually, not just highlights.

    Often the reason we respond the way we do is that we feel threatened. This is where the final tool in this comes out. The Full Armor of God passage can be used in many ways. Why not take it a different way? “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. For this reason take up the full clothing of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, like a strong shirt on your chest, and your feet booted with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the gloves of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the hat of and the book of the Spirit—which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the .” Ephesians 6:12-18 (CSB with Ian’s revisions).

    We are so accustomed to the war-like clothing that is talking about that we can miss the intimacy of it all. Changing the armor to something we actually wear these days—rather than what the Ephesians were accustomed—may help you better understand the Armor of God. The pieces may be different but have the same result. Imagine as you are putting on your shirt saying, “I am putting on God’s righteousness.” As you put a belt on saying, “I am putting God’s Truth on.” Gloves may not work when it’s not Winter, so choose something else. The Full Armor of God is an allegory. Reframe it in modern terms to help you when you feel attacked, or even better, feel “armored-up” before you walk out the door.

    1) When you the armor-maker (yes, armorer), can you calmly trust the armor to take the hit for you? Do you?

    2) How should you respond when someone attacks (whether actual or perceived) a firmly held belief? Do you?

    3) How do you handle people when they honestly come to a different conclusion on what the Scriptures say than you do? What happens when the resulting behavior from those different conclusions appears to be in conflict?

  • Were and Being Sent

    Luke 9:1–6, Luke 10:1–16, Luke 22:35–38

    This series of passages shows a progression of being sent out. The first passage is ‘ immediate 12 disciples being sent out. Their was to tell about the of God and to heal people. Pretty simple goals. Difficult mission. This seems to be the test run, for Jesus later sends out 72.

    These 72 are told that there are few workers. The 12 didn’t get that “pep-talk”. In both cases, they (whether 12 or 72) are to only preach to those who are open. Jesus tells them to “shake the off” if people are not receptive. In our day and where were seek to not offend, this can seem pretty harsh. Yet, often we are called to plant seeds and move on so that we can plant more seeds. If you plant one seed, but just stay in one place to make sure it grows, everywhere else you could have gone remain unseeded.

    Even still, there is a balance. While they are directed to move from town to town, while they are in one town, they only stay in one place. This is a not-so-subtle reminder that humans play . The latest prophet (or one sent by that prophet) is the latest “star”. Imagine how far too many people would clamor to host them, creating strife in a community where the is being preached.

    However, the last “sending” has a much darker and starker tone. Now, they are to be fully prepared and even armed. As an aside, many commentators struggle with Jesus telling them to have swords while at the same time being the and (to many) a pacifist. That’s actually what makes this third sending so dark and stark. The reality of the world is that being means that you will be destroyed. Now, there is the pacifist route, the self-defense route, and the armed aggressor route. As we look back at history, there is no question that the armed aggressor “evangelism” is against the Kingdom of God. Where the balance between pacifism and self-defense is a discussion that is still going on to this day.

    Regardless, though, we know that the ways and the hows of sharing about the Kingdom of God are always changing. The message does (and must) remain the same, but how we it changes constantly. One of the most common phrases used is, “this is the way we’ve always done it.” While, at the same time, how groceries, tools, gas, cars, and many other things are purchased has massively changed. Modes of communication have expanded. The ability to see across the world in real-time is everywhere. Yet, we want to deliver the message the same way?

    1) Where have you been guilty of saying/thinking/feeling “that’s the way we’ve always done it?” What do you think the underlying emotions are?

    2) Tossing the old just for the new can be just as bad. How can the old inform the past, and how can the new transform the past?

    3) All too often we operate as if it is old versus new. How can we operate old and new?