My job for the evening was to guide us in a time of Lectio Divina.  Lectio Divina is a an ancient practice of Scripture reading which helps the reader pull the most out of God’s Word.  You can do this with any passage but we used Psalm 34.7-9:

⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,
   and he delivers them.

⁸ Taste and see that the LORD is good;
   blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
⁹ Fear the LORD, you his holy people,
   for those who fear him lack nothing.

These are the three questions we had people reflect on and journal:

1.  Listen to the Holy Spirit minister God’s Word to you. What one word or phrase especially touches your heart?

2.  Enter the passage. What emotions do you have? What personal struggle or longing in your life today is God speaking into? (Be specific.)

3.  Reading: Receive what Christ has for you today. What is your personal invitation from the Lord? What do you sense God might be saying to you?

Once again, you can choose any passage.  I would highly recommend that you start with Psalm 34 and breakdown the passage in 3-4 verse segments and do this exercise everyday this week.  It will both eye-opening and rewarding.

On another note:  After the service we send home baggies with packets of salt, pepper, sugar, and mustard.  We encouraged the participants to find a quite place at home and to taste each of the spice packets and answer this question, “how is tasting God like salt?” etc.

When challenging his leaders in relation to serving students he said there are three things he asks them to do:

1.  Pray

You can’t lead someone spiritually if you haven’t asked the Spirit to guide and help.  Prayer is one of those “must” that rarely ever happens.

2.  Prepare

Be ready to for what might come up with students.  Know what they are going through.  And if you are teaching a lesson, definitely take the necessary time to know and ingest the topic you are discussing.

3.  Pursue

Teens like to know they matter and one of the best ways to do that is to pursue them.  I’m not talking about during church or the EPIC teaching times, but outside of GPCC and EPIC.  Contact them through Facebook, text, or call them.  Meet with them for a shake or a burrito.  Show up at one of their sporting events.  Really, just love them throughout the week.

Thanks Adam, for this great reminder!

5 C’s of Life-Giving Communication

(Proverbs 18.21; Ephesians 4.25-32)

Introduction:

Over the past month we have been studying the book of Proverbs in a series we have titled, Street Smarts.    Our base verse for the series is Proverbs 1.20, “Wisdom calls aloud in the street.” The goal behind the series is to point out that there are two different types of wisdom, wisdom from God and earthly wisdom.  Earthly wisdom is often referred in this world as having street smarts.  We want to have street smarts but not so much in the way the world thinks.  We want to have heavenly street smarts and we want to know what it means to live life according to how God desires us to live it.

In the series we have already looked at giving, compassion, fear, hard work, and purity.  Today we are going to look at the tongue.  I will never forget in middle school, sitting in the main service and hearing our pastor announce the topic of the sermon and hearing it was on the use of the tongue.  I remember frantically getting out my Bible, notebook and pen and feverously taking notes to realize halfway through that this had nothing to do with kissing which was very disappointing to me.  So just to clarify this morning, this has nothing to do with kissing and everything to do with glorifying God with our speech.

Read Proverbs 18.21

The writer of Proverbs has much more to say about the tongue.  Listen to some of these warnings:

Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

Proverbs 12:18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 15:4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 17:20 A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.

Proverbs 17:28 Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

Proverbs 21:23 He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity.

The tongue, according to God, literally is either a spring of life or a pit of death to not only ourselves but to others around us.  So how can we make sure that our speech is life-giving instead of speech that brings death?

5 C’s of Life-Giving Communication

Read Ephesians 4.25-32

1. Be Correct (Ephesians 4.25)

• Speak Out
• Speak the Truth
• Speak the Truth Lovingly

Example:  Someone who is in the church that we feel may be harming themselves spiritually.  Our obligation is to first speak out, but to speak the truth and to do so with love.

2.  Be Current (Ephesians 4.26-27)

• It is not always sinful to be angry
• It is sinful not to solve problems daily
• Failing to keep current gives the Devil an opportunity

Example:  Pastor Pow-wows where we check to make sure there is nothing between any of us that may give Satan any room to cause division.

3.  Be Constructive (Ephesians 4.29)

• Don’t use “unwholesome” words

1.     Your momma’s so dumb it took her an hour to make minute rice

2.     Your momma’s so dumb she stayed up all night studying for her blood test

• Speak only edifying words

Challenge:  How many of your conversations today ended up with the other person feeling better about who they are?  How often, even in sarcasm, do we tear each other down and rarely give thought to building each other up with our words.

4.  Be Controlled (Ephesians 4.31)

• Exercise Self Control.  Don’t allow the situation to control you
• Put off unbiblical reactions: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, malice

5.  Be Compassionate (Ephesians 4.32)

• Make the decision to act in a Christlike fashion
• Don’t allow yourself to react to the unbiblical actions of others.
• Put on biblical actions and attitudes: kind, tender-hearted, forgiving

Challenge:  If words such as, I’m sorry, How can I help?, is there anything I can do, etc. not in your vocabulary then perhaps you need to start working on being more compassionate with your speech.  The phrase, “If you don’t have anything nice to say than it is better to say nothing at all” is true on some levels but what is best is to work on creating a vocabulary that is full of compassion than just being silent.

These five principles of speech are necessary for us to develop so that we can give life instead of death with our words.

Conclusion:

Just a reminder that one way we can have street smarts is to heed the words of Proverbs 18.21, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  The words that God desires to hear aloud in the street are life-giving words.  May all the words that come out of your mouth be pleasing to the ears of others but more importantly to the ears of God.

Here goes:

• Anna’s mom, Karen ‘Chucks’, passed away Friday, August 13th.  It is harder than we thought.
• The memorial service is Sunday, August 22nd in Columbiana, OH.  It is a private service.
• I have the privilege of overseeing the ceremony.  I am both honored and nervous.
• Very proud my younger brother is a doctor who walked us through a very difficult week.
• Very honored to have another brother and a sister who prayed us through the week.
• The kids start school next week–YAY!!!
• Praying Isaac’s year goes better than last year.
• Have to be out of house by August 31st.
• Currently have no clue as to where we may be moving.
• Excited that Grace Point has hired our first worship pastor, Aaron Zink.
• Feel incredibly blessed to serve on the staff I do and to serve the church family of GPCC.
• I miss all of my EPIC students and leaders, REALLY REALLY BAD!!!.
• EPIC, by far, has the best volunteer leadership team on the PLANET!!!!!!  NO JOKE!!!!!
• Currently reading the book, Radical by David Platt–Phenomenal!!!
• I hate seeing my wife cry!
• I hate seeing my kids cry!
• I am madly in love with my wife!!
• I am more madly in love with Jesus!!!

I will still keep My EPIC Journey but it will be more personal thoughts on life, God, and ministry and won’t be so much about EPIC.

Here is the outline from this past week:

Text:  Romans 15.7

1.  God accepts us

     a.  Unconditionally (1 Corinthians 6.9-11)

     b.  Completely (Psalm 139)

2.  We MUST accept others

      a.  Unconditionally

      b.  Completely (Galatians 6.1)

Here are the teaching notes:

The believer is to present his body as a living sacrifice to God. Note three facts.

1.  God demands the believer’s body. God is not only interested in man’s spirit; He is vitally interested in man’sbody. His interest could not be any stronger nor made any clearer. This is clearly seen by contrasting the world’s view of the body with God’s view.

2.  The believer is to present his body to God. The dedication…

·  is not to be made to self: living as one wishes; doing one’s own thing.

·  is not to be made to others: living for family, wife, husband, child, parent, mistress, companion, sexual partner, or employer.

·  is not to be to something else: houses, lands, property, money, cars, possessions, profession, recreation, retirement, luxury, power, recognition, fame.

The body is to be offered to God and to God alone. God demands the body, demands that it be presented to Him. God wants the body to be sacrificially living for Him.

3.  The believer is to present his body to God as a living sacrifice. Note the believer’s offering of his body is to be sacrificial. This is the picture of Old Testament believers taking animals and offering them to God as sacrifices. The believer is to make the same kind of sacrificial offering to God, but note the profound difference. The believer’s offering is not to be the sacrifice of an animal’s flesh and blood. The offering and sacrifice of the believer is to be his body: he is to offer his body as a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice means at least four things.

·  A living sacrifice means a constant, continuous sacrifice, not just an occasional dedication of one’s body. A person does not sacrifice his body to God today, and then take his body back into his own hands and do his own thing tomorrow. A living sacrifice means that a person dedicates his body to live for God and to keep on living for God.

·  A living sacrifice means a sacrifice of a person’s body wherever the body is. A particular place is not needed. The sacrifice of the body is a living sacrifice; it can be made while the body is living right where it is. And the offering of a living sacrifice is to be made right now while the body is living.

·  A living sacrifice means that the body sacrifices its own desires and lives for God. The body lives a holy, righteous, pure, clean, and moral life for God. The body does not pollute, dirty, nor contaminate itself with the sins and corruptions of the world: neither the lust of the flesh, nor the lust of the eyes, nor the pride of life. The believer’s body is sacrificed for God and dedicated to live as He commands.

·  A living sacrifice means that the body lives for God by serving God. It means that the body sacrifices and gives up its own ambitions and desires, and it serves God while upon this earth. The body gives itself to the work of proclaiming the love of God and of ministering to a world reeling in desperate needs. The body sacrifices itself to serve God and Him alone. The body is dedicated to God as a living sacrifice.

In summary, the believer is to dedicate his body to God as a living sacrifice in the home, church, school, office, plant, field, restaurant, club, plane, car or bus. No matter where the believer’s body is, his body is to be sacrificed for God. Sacrificing to God is not something that is transacted in a church. Sacrificing to God is transacted in every act of the human body. The world, that is, the whole universe, is the sanctuary of God; and the believer’s body is the temple of God. Therefore, every act of the believer’s body is to be an act of service to God.