Relationship 1.4 - September 26, 2010

Practice #1 – Relationship
1.4 – Being a Spiritual Leader

A Context for Elijah:
1 Kings 19:14-21 (New International Version)
He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him." So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you." "Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?" So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.

4 Truths of Spiritual Leadership:
1. We all have to replace ourselves
No matter how much we have done in the Kingdom, we will all die.

Acts 13:36 (New International Version)
"For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.

2. We have to know whom to choose
Ephesians 5:15-16 (New International Version)
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

3. We have to talk WITH them, not AT them
1 Kings 19:21 (New International Version)
So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.

They lived life together… This is the Discipleship Model.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (New International Version)
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

4. We have to know when to step down.
Deuteronomy 2:2-3 (New International Version)
Then the LORD said to me, "You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north.

Some Questions to ask:
1. Who has God brought into your life that He wants you to be a Spiritual Leader for?
2. What does it do inside of you to know that God wants you to be a Spiritual leader?
3. What obstacles do you face in becoming a Spiritual leader?
4. What is the cost if I don’t do my part in Discipleship?
5. Who will I ask to hold me accountable to owning my piece of handing off The Faith to the next generation, the next circle of influence, the next group of Spiritual leaders?

Relationship 1.3 - September 19, 2010

The 9 Practices

1.3 – Being A True Learner

Philippians 3:7-9 (New International Version)

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

What does it take to be a true Learner?

Luke 9:57-62 (New International Version)

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." 
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

3 Obstacles to being a true Learner…

1. Comforts

Romans 8:18 (New International Version)

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

2 Kinds of comforts we fight:

· Comforts of the past: past successes, hurts,

o Lot’s Wife, Children of Israel

· Comforts of the present: nice life, neat things, security in false things

· It is often more comfortable to hold on to what we know than it is to experience what we were created for.

· You cannot live by faith and make decisions in fear.

2. Priorities

Exodus 20:3 (New International Version)

"You shall have no other gods before me.

· If you ask someone if they are busy, they will almost always say yes. Not very many people will look at you and say – I am doing NOTHING!

· Everyone is busy. What we need to make sure of is that we are busy with the right things.

· The Phrase: “I DON’T HAVE TIME.” Is an excuse – not reality. Our priorities won’t let us do it. We always have time for our priorities.

· When your priorities are about things in this life, your kids grow up with the same priorities.

· Your kids are not better off if they don’t see you live by faith.

3. Obligations

Luke 14:26 (New International Version)

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

These are hard statements!

Joshua 24:14-16 (New International Version)

"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

· Jesus isn’t playing. And Neither can we.

Some questions to ask:

1. Do I live my life looking backward or forward?

2. What other obligations to I let get in the way of fully following Jesus?

3. What priorities do I have that may not align with God’s design for me?

4. What is God asking me to let go of so that I can truly be a learning disciple, not just a stagnate follower?

Storming the Cave - September 12, 2010

Storming the Cave
Aaron Couch
September 12, 2010

Reasons for Personal Fasts:
1. To Plead With God.
Daniel 9:1-3 (New International Version)
In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom- in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.

2. To Petition the Lord for a Special Request
Psalm 35:13 (New International Version)
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting.

3. To Seek God’s Face in an Especially Focused Way.
Luke 2:36-37 (New International Version)
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Reasons for a Corporate Fast:
1. During a Time of Corporate Repentance
1 Samuel 7:5-6 (New International Version)
Then Samuel said, "Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the LORD for you." When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.

2. To Seek the Lord’s Direction in Times of Trial.
Chronicles 20:2-4 (New International Version)
Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar" (that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.

3. To Ask God for Protection During a Specific Time or Event.
Ezra 8:21-23 (New International Version)
There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions. I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him." So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.

What is Fasting?
1. Fasting is choosing to tell God we love Him more than we love the things we give up.
Philippians 3:19 (New International Version)
Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

2. Fasting is a set period of time to seek God’s face for a specific purpose in a more intense way.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (New International Version)
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Some things to release in a fast:
1. Food – Juice fasts, Daniel Fasts, abstaining from certain kinds of foods, Water fasts, Coffee, etc.
2. Things that dominate your time – TV, video games, electronics, cell phone, texting, Facebook, reading books, watching movies, Shopping, etc.
3. Things that take the place of God in your life – Relationships, Exercise, Makeup, etc.

For CARE Groups this week:
Some things to pray about this week:
1. We need a solution to our space problem.
2. We need clarity on the next step.
3. For people to come to know Christ – Give us Souls!
4. That we would be brave enough to storm the cave and fight the dragon. That we would be completely dissatisfied with sitting on the sidelines.
5. That God would do a miracle in our midst. In our lives, in our homes, and on the Palouse.

Practice #1: Relationship #1 - September 5, 2010

Discipling Relationships
There’s No Place Like Home

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (NIV)
 1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.

 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Christians can experience lasting discipleship in their homes by relying upon four key relationships that God created in families.

Heart Relationship
-   We cannot give what we do not possess
-   We are handing off a relationship with God to others
-   Our heart is the executive center of our very being
-   Focus on behavior can miss the heart entirely

Spontaneous Relationships
-   Jesus used teachable moments often
-   Teachable moments occur when hearts are open and curious
-   Spontaneous relationships have to be spotted and accessed
-   Quality relationships spring out of time spent together

Routine Relationships
-   Routines are not bad
-   Routines build life rhythms
-   Routines can serve as memorials
-   Routine investments outweigh crash courses in anything

Community Relationships
-   Discipling the generation that is yet to come
-   Supportive relationships reinforce faith
-   Supportive relationships provide alternate modeling
-   The church is God’s family – Generations


Questions to Ponder

1.  What relationships do I think are essential for me to grow as a follower of Christ?
2.  When I think of disciple making do I think more program, system, class, or way of life? Why?
3.  How could my “home” make one step to become more of a relational environment for making disciples?
4.  Which of the four relationships am I growing in? Which of the four am I struggling with?