We started off with the video from the author on Chapter 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDkSYBY87zk
We live caught up in ourselves... We often go about life like we're invincible... We rarely stop to think that our earthly lives are yet a "blip" and that allows us to really lose focus on what's important!
Phil 4:4-6-- Rejoice in the Lord always.... how often have we heard, read, sung these words, without taking fully to heart? We act like anything we might be going through allows us this excuse- as though when we read "do not be anxious", it's okay for us to write in our own "unless..." Chan writes that Worry and Stress "communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in [our] live[s]is somehow exceptional" and that "both worry and stress reek of arrogance..." (42).
"Maybe life's pretty good for you right now... so that you can show the world a person who enjoys blessings, but who is totally obsessed with God.... Or maybe life is tough right now... God has allowed hard things in your life so you can show the world that your God is great and that knowing Him brings peace and joy, even when life is hard" (44).
1 Corinthians 10:31-- So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
We were challenged by a question that we can be asking ourselves daily... How can God use me to glorify Him today? and What did I do to glorify God today? We talked about how it really simplifies it to look at today, as opposed to looking at how God can use me to glorify Him for the rest of my life.
"The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His" (45).
In our short-sightedness, it is easy to find any excuse to not be rejoicing, to be worrying, to be anxious, to lose hope, to take control.... but when God commands us, He means now- even if YOU have a perfectly legitimate reason to not be obedient (it's not as legitimate as we think!). We spent some time talking about and sharing our excuses for disobedience... and we closed our discussion with a commitment to think about and consider what we can be doing RIGHT NOW to stop the excuses, be more obedient, and glorify God with our EVERY DAY.... maybe it's scripture verse memory cards to meditate on a verse right when you're prone to worry or not in a joyous spirit... and come ready to talk about what you think you can do to glorify God everyday at our next Bible Study in 2 weeks... Oct 12th!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
September 14, 2011
I. Intro
A. "I hope reading this book will convince you of something: that by surrendering yourself totally to God's purposes, He will bring you the most pleasure in this life and the next. I hope it affirms your desire for "more God"-- even if you are surrounded by people who feel they have "enough God." (21)
B. "We are going to look at how the Bible calls us to live our lives. It is important that we not measure our spiritual health by the people around us, who are pretty much like us. To begin this journey, we'll first address our inaccurate view of God and, consequently, of ourselves.... The core problem isn't the fact that we're lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He's great and deserves to be the center of our lives. Jesus came humbly as a servant but He never begs us to give Him some small part of ourselves. He commands everything from His followers." (22)
We all agreed this message made us squirm a bit! We talked about how, in our human nature, we are nearly obsessed with "measuring" everything we do- are we giving enough? are we doing enough? And most often, we are asking that as a means to get out of giving or doing more! (This is not your nicey-nice fluff Bible Study!)
II. Awe Factor: Check out crazylovebook.com for the Awe Factor video.
When is the last time you even thought about how BIG God's creation is? When we praise God for all that He has made, our praise is limited by what we understand... Allow this video to help you praise God in a new, bigger way!
III. Psalm 19:1-4, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun."
A. How quickly do we forget these truths?
B. How unimpressed are we, as we go about our daily lives?
C. How can aliven/awaken our memory to God's greatness and Jesus' grace?
IV. What is God like? His attributes, characteristics? (See pgs 30-34).
A. Holy
B. Eternal
C. All-knowing
D. All-powerful
E. Fair/just
We read Isaiah 6 and recognized God's characteristics as described in Isaiah's prophecy. We discussed how "easy" it is to remain focused on the characteristics that comfort and care for us- and how we naturally want to focus less on His characteristics that challenge us. It is intimidating to think that God is all knowing- but what a comfort to know that He loves us still! What better friend than one that knows you well and loves you despite it all! It is scary to think (Isaiah 6:9-end) that God is NOT tolerant of sin - that he even HATES it (Proverbs 8:13).... But what kind of parent would He be without discipline?
A. "I hope reading this book will convince you of something: that by surrendering yourself totally to God's purposes, He will bring you the most pleasure in this life and the next. I hope it affirms your desire for "more God"-- even if you are surrounded by people who feel they have "enough God." (21)
B. "We are going to look at how the Bible calls us to live our lives. It is important that we not measure our spiritual health by the people around us, who are pretty much like us. To begin this journey, we'll first address our inaccurate view of God and, consequently, of ourselves.... The core problem isn't the fact that we're lukewarm, halfhearted, or stagnant Christians. The crux of it all is why we are this way, and it is because we have an inaccurate view of God. We see Him as a benevolent Being who is satisfied when people manage to fit Him into their lives in some small way. We forget that God never had an identity crisis. He knows that He's great and deserves to be the center of our lives. Jesus came humbly as a servant but He never begs us to give Him some small part of ourselves. He commands everything from His followers." (22)
We all agreed this message made us squirm a bit! We talked about how, in our human nature, we are nearly obsessed with "measuring" everything we do- are we giving enough? are we doing enough? And most often, we are asking that as a means to get out of giving or doing more! (This is not your nicey-nice fluff Bible Study!)
II. Awe Factor: Check out crazylovebook.com for the Awe Factor video.
When is the last time you even thought about how BIG God's creation is? When we praise God for all that He has made, our praise is limited by what we understand... Allow this video to help you praise God in a new, bigger way!
III. Psalm 19:1-4, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun."
A. How quickly do we forget these truths?
B. How unimpressed are we, as we go about our daily lives?
C. How can aliven/awaken our memory to God's greatness and Jesus' grace?
IV. What is God like? His attributes, characteristics? (See pgs 30-34).
A. Holy
B. Eternal
C. All-knowing
D. All-powerful
E. Fair/just
We read Isaiah 6 and recognized God's characteristics as described in Isaiah's prophecy. We discussed how "easy" it is to remain focused on the characteristics that comfort and care for us- and how we naturally want to focus less on His characteristics that challenge us. It is intimidating to think that God is all knowing- but what a comfort to know that He loves us still! What better friend than one that knows you well and loves you despite it all! It is scary to think (Isaiah 6:9-end) that God is NOT tolerant of sin - that he even HATES it (Proverbs 8:13).... But what kind of parent would He be without discipline?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)