How God Will Change the World Through Church

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How God Will Change the World Through Church

Welcome Home: Finding our place in God's plan

We keep being bombarded with lies. That creates destabilizing. We need to learn to trust. 

APPETIZER: LOVE AS WORSHIP

The brutal cycle of loneliness: Loneliness > Hypervigilance/Critique > Suspicion of others and/or preoccupation with self > Others move away > Loneliness

We need communities of patience and perseverance to break the cycle!

North Americans are the loneliest people in the world

Let's begin by normalizing loneliness…

Hey, I'm hungry. Wanna grab dinner together?

Hey, I'm lonely. Wanna grab dinner together? This should be normal

The church is not given God's mission and is not on God's mission – the church is God's mission!

Jesus helps us gather up all of our spiritual intuitions and impulses and channel them into a movement of other-oriented agape love. This will change the world.

1. Jesus binds love of God to love of neighbour into a bi-directional spirituality. Don't even think about one without the other.

"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 neighbour as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." -Jesus (Matthew 22:34-40)

God wants to bring us together. Not race but grace. 

The religious impulse is not going away. We are a worshipping creature. 

Jesus says the 2 have to go together. 

2. Jesus reverses the direction of emphasis in our vertical love from love FOR God to love FROM God.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." -Jesus (John 13:34)

Make sure you know much you're loved and then love others. Share the love. 

3. The Church practices neighbourly love as our worship service.

"For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.'" -The apostle Paul (Galatians 5:14)

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." -The apostle John (1 John 3:16)

He did something for us. We worship God by loving our neighbor. Hug passionately. Welcome to my space. Take the initiative to pull others close. 

Go around and be invitational. 

"Accept/Embrace/Receive/Welcome one another, then, just as Christ accepted/embraced/received/welcomed you, in order to bring praise to God." -The apostle Paul (Romans 15:7)

Love is the one command. Love your neighbor to show you love God. Bring praise to God. 

DINE IN: MIND BLOWING LOVE

Ephesians 3:14-21

About this passage…

All one sentence in Greek

Completing a thought begun in Ephesians 3:1... a prisoner

Thoroughly Trinitarian (Father, Son, and Spirit intertwine)

Exceptionally emotional (prayer posture was normally standing)

Prayer that we TOGETHER might be empowered by God's Spirit to know (experientially) what is unknowable (intellectually) - the extent of God's love for us expressed through Christ

Whatever we can imagine, God's love is greater

Prayer is for this life (all generations) and eternity (for ever and ever)

Paul is praying for the church. 

I pray that you would learn how much God loves you.

V14 Paul recaptured what he was starting to say in verse 1

Getting to know Jesus better and Paul the human. We get mentored by Paul. 

May God strengthen you with God's power in the Spirit. To make wise decisions. 

Power with other saints to grasp how deep is the love of Christ.

Amazing love. Mind blowing. Love that surpasses knowledge. Experience beyond words. 

Imagine how much God loves you and it's beyond that. 

Apart from the church Jesus is theoretical. 

God wants to change the world through the church. 

Jordan asks. Did Jesus change his teaching? A new command I give you love one another. 

Step 1 love God and your neighbour

Step 2 love God by loving your neighbour

Louise how can we convince our neighbor? Not forcing. 

Pray Paul's prayers in your own words. 

We pray for others to give them eyes to see God's love. Change the world. 

TAKE OUT: WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?

John 13:34-35

Matthew 5:13-16

We are surrounded by dark forces that lie to us about our lack of love. When we accept how loved we are, we will love others better and be the light of the world Jesus says we are.

Remember to use these questions like a menu, not a checklist. These questions are not mandated material you have to cover but options to help guide your discussion as much or as little as you like.

HANGOUT [Warming Up to the Topic – in one Large Group]

1. What about the Sunday teaching stood out to you?

2. Have you tried any of the next steps in the Take Out? Talk about your experience.

HEAR [Listening to God through Scripture – in Discussion Groups]

3. Read Ephesians 3:14-21.

a) What stands out to you in this passage? (If processing your thoughts around this question is all you have time for, this is enough!)

b) Paul sees God as the ultimate family, from which human families derive their identity. In what ways is the idea of "family" indigenous, inherent, intrinsic to God's identity and experience? What are some implications of this?

c) Talk about how verse 18 and John 13:34 relate to and reinforce one other. Describe how this partnership expresses the basis for Christian ethics, Christian worship, and Christian spirituality as a whole. Pretend you are trying to explain this to someone who is not a Christian and has very little working knowledge of Jesus and the Christian faith.

d) Why do you think it is important for us to get a good grasp at how much God loves us in this life? Why not just get by, move ahead, and wait to discover the fullness of God's love after we die? What's the big deal here and now?

e) What are some traits from your immediate and/or extended family (or think of other healthy loving families) that you have been emotionally nourished by? Talk about examples of traits and traditions that have built you up in love over the years. What are some things we could do to make our church experience more like this?

HUDDLE [Making it Personal and Praying Together – in Huddles]

4. What is one thing you can do this week to invest more into your immediate family, extended family, and/or your church family? Talk about what God has been saying to you this week, and/or about how you are doing in your lives, and pray for one another.

The Lonely Hearts Club

www.TheMeetingHouse.com

 

The Lonely Hearts Club

Welcome Home: Finding our place in God's plan

APPETIZER: WHAT DO YOU HUNGER AND THIRST FOR?

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." -Jesus (Matthew 5:6)

RIGHTEOUSNESS: Relational rightness, justice, loveliness; being in right relationship, with God and others; a gift of grace declared over us and infused into us by God.

Secular approach: We focus our fight for justice on laws and systems without offering a solution to the human heart.

Religious approach: Creating safety through rule-keeping and rigid boundaries.

Kingdom approach: We focus our desires toward being in right relationship with one another, modelled and taught by Jesus.

THE ROOT PROBLEM: To be human is to be, at some level and at all times, in every moment and in all circumstances and experiences, deeply and disturbingly lonely.

"We live together, we act on, and react to, one another; but always and in all circumstances we are by ourselves. The martyrs go hand in hand into the arena; they are crucified alone. Embraced, the lovers desperately try to fuse their insulated ecstasies into a single self-transcendence; in vain. By its very nature every embodied spirit is doomed to suffer and enjoy in solitude. Sensations, feelings, insights, fancies—all these are private and, except through symbols and at second hand, incommunicable. We can pool information about experiences, but never the experiences themselves. From family to nation, every human group is a society of island universes." -Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception

Bruxy's favorite quote 

THE BRUTAL CYCLE OF LONELINESS: Loneliness > Hypervigilance/Critique > Suspicion of others and/or preoccupation with self > Others move away

Loneliness

Hypervigilance criticism self absorbed

Suspicion of others preoccupation with self

We need communities of patience and perseverance to break the cycle!

Let's be family. I'll never run away even when you become difficult

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." -Jesus (Matthew 6:33)

DINE IN: THE CHURCH AS GOD'S MISSION

Ephesians 2:14-22

Bruxy's favorite passage

Masks post at Bruxy.com

No after party

Paul is opening the need to get along between cultures. The Jews were victimized by their enemies. 

Christ himself is our peace. He destroyed the hatred. There is now no dividing wall. 

The purpose the why behind the cross. 

and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near,

Ephesians 2:16‭-‬17 NET

https://bible.com/bible/107/eph.2.16-17.NET

A single plurality and a plural singularity.

"You [plural] are the light [singular] of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your [plural] light [singular] shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Jesus (Matthew 5:14-16)

"We [plural] are the temple [singular] of the living God." -The apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16)

"You are like living stones [plural], being built into a spiritual house [singular]." -The apostle Peter (1 Peter 2:5)

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies [plural] as a living sacrifice [singular], holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship." -The apostle Paul (Romans 12:1)

The church is not given God's mission and is not on God's mission – the church is God's mission!

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." -Luke the Physician & Historian (Acts 2:42-47)

Love is nimble. Law just is. Love can be flexible. 

We love God by loving your neighbor is New Covenant

Adam and Eve didn't need words. Sin means separated. The Holy Spirit connects us. 

Acts 2.42.47 they shared 3 ways. 

Large gatherings Learning

Home groups Living

Communities interacting with all the people GIVE

You ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD AND SHOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST

TAKE OUT: MY NEXT STEP

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." -Jesus (Matthew 6:33)

How will you do this? Start by pursuing three spaces of grace…

SPACES OF GRACE…

Temple = Central large group [LEARNING]

Homes = Local small groups [LIVING]

Communities = interacting with "all the people" [GIVING]

Next Steps This Week

1. Sign up for Home Church (let's practice what we preach)

2. Take 15 minutes every day to invest in a close relationship (give the gift of your full attention to a family member or friend)

3. Do one thing every day to invest in a distant relationship (be intentional about connecting in some small way with a stranger or neighbour)

Further Study…

Together by Vivek H. Murthy, M.D.

The Search to belong by Joseph R. Myers

What is the Church by David E. Fitch

Anatomy of the Soul by Curt Thompson, M.D.

The Soul of Desire by Curt Thompson, M.D.

Remember to use these questions like a menu, not a checklist. These questions are not mandated material you have to cover, but options to help guide your discussion as much or as little as you like.

HANG OUT | Large Group

1. What about the Sunday teaching stood out to you?

2. Have you tried any of the next steps in the Take Out? Talk about your experience.

HEAR | Discussion Groups

3. Read Ephesians 2:14-22.

a) What stands out to you in this passage? (If processing your thoughts around this question is all you have time for, this is enough!)

b) Read God's Grand Plan in Ephesians 1:10. How does this connect with Paul's thoughts in chapter 2?

c) Paul encourages Gentiles to "remember" what life was like apart from Christ. Why encourage anyone to think back over the negative aspects of their life while also considering the newness that Jesus brings? What might be the benefit?

d) Jesus "destroyed" the Law through the cross, yet we can still learn from the Old Testament scriptures (see 2 Timothy 3:15-17). Talk about how we can use the Old Testament today. What are its benefits? It's limitations?

d) Paul saw grace, not race, as defining our identity. Being Jewish or non-Jewish was infinitely secondary in forming one's sense of self. The Christian household, the family of Jesus, the church was a completely new way of being human (also see Paul's language in 1 Corinthians 10:32). So, what are the benefits and dangers of celebrating our particular nationality or ethnic origin today? How can the church do a better job of uniting as one distinct "race" or family?

f) Take time to meditate on verse 22. Then talk about what God might be showing you.

HUDDLE | Huddles

4. Recall question 3c above. What has Jesus helped you "remember" differently?

5. Talk about what God has been saying to you this week, and/or about how you are doing in your lives, and pray for one another.

The Meeting House September 5

www.TheMeetingHouse.com

Cheryl Nembhard (Co-Founder at Exousia Media Group)

Maintaining a Posture of Faith

Jesus People

APPETIZER: WE'VE ALL BEEN THROUGH THE RINGER

Joshua 1:6-9

"Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance.

Joshua 1:6 CSB

https://bible.com/bible/1713/jos.1.6.CSB

If we're honest, many of us would agree that the past 18 months have served up some of the biggest challenges of our lives:

Global pandemic job losses, losses losses losses

Racial tensions

Natural disasters earthquakes 

Political upheaval Taliban persecuting Christians

Mass job loss

Trying to people in this is hard

So many of us have been deeply changed by the events that we have experienced and are left wondering what life will look like on the other side of this new normal.

How do we navigate from here? Joy? Freedom? Abundance? 

Joshua is encouraging. 40 years they looked for the Promised Land until their beloved leader passed away. Pain. Prayers being answered. 

In the midst of devastation God is still good. God is still leading. 

2020 was hard. 7 people in our family died last year. An Ocean of grief. Wave after wave. Getting crashed against the rocks. Why me? Why another one? 

DINE IN: OUR FUTURE IS STILL BRIGHT

In order to get into the land that God had for them, the people of Israel had to cross the river Jordan. No small feat, and they had already been through so much. But through it all God was faithful. Through it all God was still going before and leading His people.

God is faithful.

Step out of the prison of why. Shift to what? What can I be grateful for. My heart opened up to see the blessings of God in the storm. Some storms clear a path to something new. Speak on social justice. Crossroads See Her Love show. Words for 2020 

Resolute hope

Purposeful. Hope is the glorious holy posture of deviance against the darkness. Hope. Trust. Reconnect. God is calling us to Hope. Trust. Reconnect. God's promises. Trust humanity. Love our neighbor. Step out of the bubbles. 

God is still God. In everything. Still Good. 

Pray for strengthening faith. Plans for the future. 

Ps 42,11 why am I sad? I will hope again. 

Elijah had a posture of faith praying for rain. 6x no. Yes on the 7th.

He had seen the fire of God. God answers prayer. 

Abraham had faith. Willing to sacrifice his son trusting God to raise him from the dead. 

Only God is God. He doesn't want us to understand, just trust HiFree fall into God's hands

Paul and Silas sang in their hardship. 

Daniel's friends stood on faith in God's power. God can. I will trust no matter what. 

Hope is defiance against the darkness. 

and declared: May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him. He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him.

Daniel 2:20‭-‬22 CSB

https://bible.com/bible/1713/dan.2.20-22.CSB

God is calling us to live open handed. Not pandemic fatigue. Pray. Care. 

Self centredness. God is saying. Turn back. Worship. Trust. Not be apathetic. Ignite faith. 

God is good and faithful. 

TAKE OUT: GOD WANTS TO REIGNITE OUR HOPE

Hope in our God is this glorious holy posture of defiance to the overwhelming darkness that tries to surround us.

He is still God and He will never leave you without hope.

Stand in faith on the promises of God – Jeremiah 29:11

Encourage yourself – Psalms 42:11

Put your hope in the promise keeping God – Isaiah 46:8-10

Worship – Acts 16:26

Stand your ground – Daniel 3:17-18

Remember that we serve a Great God!

Remember to use these questions like a menu, not a checklist. These questions are not mandated material you have to cover, but options to help guide your discussion as much or as little as you like.

HANG OUT | Large Group

1. What about the Sunday teaching stood out to you?

HEAR | Discussion Groups

2. This week, we're going to apply the HEAR method to our Home Church discussion...

H- Highlight key themes in the passage

E- Based on your reading, explain what the passage means in its context

A- Draw application for our own lives

R- Respond back in Prayer (in Huddles)

a) Read Joshua 1:1-9. What are the themes of this text? Highlight the challenges that Joshua and the children of Israel were facing. Explain all the things that God told Joshua, including His promises to him.

b) Read Daniel 3:17-18. In what way does this passage impact your faith?

4. If you were to describe your current posture in this season, what would it be and why?

HUDDLE | Huddles

5. Talk about what God has been saying to you this week, and/or about how you are doing in your lives, and pray for one another.