Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came up and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19) Therefore, as you go, recruit new followers from all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you each and every day until the end of the age."
The Messiah Jesus here gives us what is called the “Great Commission” or “Grand Charge”. Like a general commanding HIS army the Messiah Jesus now tells HIS followers that they are to go out and convert the world. Every nation, every tongue, and every people are to be challenged to become HIS followers, enroll in HIS school of thought, and align their lifestyles with HIS teaching. The claims of Jesus’ Messiahship are to go global as they are acted on locally.
What is a commission? It is a job or task given to a person or a group, especially an order to produce a particular product or piece of work. In this case it is also the authority granted to a person or organization to act as an agent for another. The CHURCH is here given authority by Messiah Jesus to act as HIS agent in the world for recruiting new followers and training them in HIS way of life. This is to create a “community of the KING” that reflects the kingdom of God into a broken world. The church acts as an embassy of peace from the kingdom of heaven offering reconciliation to all who will come and submit to the KING and learn HIS ways.
This is very hard to do in practice. First, most disciples are at best partially discipled. Most believers in Messiah Jesus have not been “trained in everything that the Messiah taught” in a way that leads to practical life change in every aspect of life. They became Christians and did not enroll themselves into any clear and disciplined school of instruction and life training. So the first person that we must make a “disciple” is ourselves.
What would this mean? It could mean many things but here are a few that I think would worth considering if we are to make ourselves disciples aimed at learning how to consistently live for Messiah Jesus.
1. Attending church every Sunday ready to fully participate in worship by arriving early and having a bible and a notebook ready to take notes on the sermon. If you were taking a college course and arrived at the course without a notebook or text book what would that normally mean about your focus and dedication to the class. The “key lecture” of the week takes place on Sunday and this lecture is to form the “key application” for the next seven days. How alert should you be to make sure you understand the message and use it in your life?
2. Get involved in every learning activity you can at your church. How many hours do you watch television? Compare this to how many hours you spend learning the ways of Messiah Jesus. If the church’s purpose is to train followers of Messiah Jesus to live for Messiah Jesus this can only be done when the followers show up to the training classes. Are you showing up to get trained? How could you train others to get trained if you have never become trained yourself?
3. Prayerfully decide on what abilities and passions you have. What can you do? What do you want to do? Now look at the various ministries of your church and choose one or two that could use someone with your abilities and passions. A ministry would be a broad area of service in the church such as “Outreach” or “Education”. If you are not sure then talk to your pastor and get his guidance. Once you have chosen a ministry then look at all the activities that have to happen to make this ministry function and then commit yourself to doing these activities. This will put feet on your faith. The best way for us to learn to be a disciple is by learning on the job in some particular ministry where we can apply what we are being taught.
4. Take your faith to the rest of your life. After each sermon ask yourself these key questions.
How does what I have learned today ask me to make personal changes in my own life? How can I use this in my private worship and spiritual growth process?
How does what I have learned today ask me to make changes in how I treat those in my family?
How does what I have learned today apply to how I treat those at work or in my neighborhood?
How does what I have learned today impact how I act a member of my community, city, state, and nation?
Sometimes our faith does not seem very real to us. One of the reasons for this is that we have compartmentalized our faith into a very small space in our lives. Church is one hour a week on the weeks we make it. There just is not a whole lot of “space” in our schedules or lifestyle for faith. We have already committed this “space” to other concerns, desires, and interest.
If we are to grow in our faith we must give it more “space” in our lives. If our faith is to become real we must have a reasonable plan to make it the ultimate concern of our lives. So how discipled are you in your life? Where could you improve your own discipleship? This will be the first step in making other disciples. We must first learn to disciple ourselves.
Showing posts with label spiritual disciplines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual disciplines. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Silent Before God
Psalm 62:5-12
5 For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Selah)
9 Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, 12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work
We live in a noisy age. We have T.V. radio, ipods, and mobile phone. Rarely do we stop hearing or talking. We most likely have more noise in our lives than any other generation or culture before us.
There comes a time to tell our soul to be quiet. One of the spiritual disciplines or exercises that have been traditionally practiced is that of silence. This is a time in which we do not speak in an effort to get our soul to “wait in silence” before the LORD. To learn to be silent is part of our spirituality.
Habakkuk: the earth should be silent in the presence of God in the temple (Habakkuk 2:20)
Job reduced to silence at the end, aware of his foolishness in the sight of God (Job 40:1-3)
Revelation 8:1: silence in heaven from human awe in the presence of God
Arthur Michael Ramsey (1904-88), Archbishop of Canterbury said about silence:
“Silence enable us to be aware of God, to let mind and imagination dwell upon his truth, to let prayer to be listening before it is talking, and to discover our own selves in a way that is not always possible when we are making or listening to noise. There comes sometimes an inner silence in which the soul discovers itself in a new dimension of energy and peace, a dimension which the restless life can miss. . . Into the Christian’s use of silence there may flow the wonder of God the creator, the recollection of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, the recalling of scenes in his life, often a passage of the Bible, the glories of nature in which the finger of God is present, gratitude for personal blessings or the words of poets who tell of wonder and beauty”
In his silence the psalmist here comes to trust God as his one true hope, his rock, his salvation, his fortress, his firm foundation, his deliverer, the protector of his honor, his mighty rock, his refuge, the source of all power, the one who always loves him, and the judge of all human beings. This vision of God causes the Psalmist to want to proclaim to all humanity that they should trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well. The LORD is trustworthy, caring, secure, and unchanging.
The other reality that comes to him in his silence is; do not put any ultimate trust in human beings. We are frail, broken, and inconsistent. Both rich and poor can be deceitful. Therefore, be on guard towards other human beings but fully release yourself into the loving care of God alone.
What if you fasted from noise for a day? No electronic noise. No unnecessary talking. What if you were totally in silence for one full hour and simply sat before God and your own soul? What might you see and know in that silence? This psalmist gained a lot from being silent before God.
Christological :NAU Matthew 14:13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; ….
ESV Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
ESV Mark 6:31 And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
ESV Luke 4:42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place…
Moral: NAU Psalm 56:11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
NLT Psalm 146:3 Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.
Eternal: ESV Ezekiel 44:4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.
NLT Isaiah 41:1 "Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea…..
Prayer: Help me to quiet my soul like a baby is made quiet by drinking from the breast of its mother. But I have stilled and quieted myself, just as a small child is quiet with its mother. Yes, like a small child is my soul within me. Allow me to know that quiet of being with you in love.
Contemplation: Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God”
Action: Plan one hour of total silence before God. Put it in your calendar. Go to a lonely place. This could be an empty church. It could be an empty beach. For an hour just “be” before God. Center yourself in his love, promises, and commitment to you in Jesus Christ. Gently turn from any “inner noise” and come back to seeing yourself simply before God as a little child. After this then write down what came to you during this time.
5 For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Selah)
9 Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath. 10 Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 11 Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, 12 and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work
We live in a noisy age. We have T.V. radio, ipods, and mobile phone. Rarely do we stop hearing or talking. We most likely have more noise in our lives than any other generation or culture before us.
There comes a time to tell our soul to be quiet. One of the spiritual disciplines or exercises that have been traditionally practiced is that of silence. This is a time in which we do not speak in an effort to get our soul to “wait in silence” before the LORD. To learn to be silent is part of our spirituality.
Habakkuk: the earth should be silent in the presence of God in the temple (Habakkuk 2:20)
Job reduced to silence at the end, aware of his foolishness in the sight of God (Job 40:1-3)
Revelation 8:1: silence in heaven from human awe in the presence of God
Arthur Michael Ramsey (1904-88), Archbishop of Canterbury said about silence:
“Silence enable us to be aware of God, to let mind and imagination dwell upon his truth, to let prayer to be listening before it is talking, and to discover our own selves in a way that is not always possible when we are making or listening to noise. There comes sometimes an inner silence in which the soul discovers itself in a new dimension of energy and peace, a dimension which the restless life can miss. . . Into the Christian’s use of silence there may flow the wonder of God the creator, the recollection of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, the recalling of scenes in his life, often a passage of the Bible, the glories of nature in which the finger of God is present, gratitude for personal blessings or the words of poets who tell of wonder and beauty”
In his silence the psalmist here comes to trust God as his one true hope, his rock, his salvation, his fortress, his firm foundation, his deliverer, the protector of his honor, his mighty rock, his refuge, the source of all power, the one who always loves him, and the judge of all human beings. This vision of God causes the Psalmist to want to proclaim to all humanity that they should trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well. The LORD is trustworthy, caring, secure, and unchanging.
The other reality that comes to him in his silence is; do not put any ultimate trust in human beings. We are frail, broken, and inconsistent. Both rich and poor can be deceitful. Therefore, be on guard towards other human beings but fully release yourself into the loving care of God alone.
What if you fasted from noise for a day? No electronic noise. No unnecessary talking. What if you were totally in silence for one full hour and simply sat before God and your own soul? What might you see and know in that silence? This psalmist gained a lot from being silent before God.
Christological :NAU Matthew 14:13 Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; ….
ESV Mark 1:35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
ESV Mark 6:31 And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
ESV Luke 4:42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place…
Moral: NAU Psalm 56:11 In God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
NLT Psalm 146:3 Don't put your confidence in powerful people; there is no help for you there.
Eternal: ESV Ezekiel 44:4 Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple, and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple of the LORD. And I fell on my face.
NLT Isaiah 41:1 "Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea…..
Prayer: Help me to quiet my soul like a baby is made quiet by drinking from the breast of its mother. But I have stilled and quieted myself, just as a small child is quiet with its mother. Yes, like a small child is my soul within me. Allow me to know that quiet of being with you in love.
Contemplation: Psalm 46:10: “Be still and know that I am God”
Action: Plan one hour of total silence before God. Put it in your calendar. Go to a lonely place. This could be an empty church. It could be an empty beach. For an hour just “be” before God. Center yourself in his love, promises, and commitment to you in Jesus Christ. Gently turn from any “inner noise” and come back to seeing yourself simply before God as a little child. After this then write down what came to you during this time.
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