Reaching the World - June 6, 2010

Introduction:
  •    Our culture breeds numbness. How?
     o    The American dream says get my comfort all figured out
     o    The American dream says get more than I need so I don’t have to worry about anything.
     o    The American dream says comfort is king.
  •    With our comfort and wealth as king, there is no room for Jesus on the throne.
  •    Our goal is comfort, and numbness is the goal.  Not feeling anything is good.  No wonder
          Buddhism is working so well in America.  Nirvana is the state of ultimate being that suggests
          that we can be free from all this cycle of scramble and toil.
  •    Pop-Buddhism’s expert Eckhart Tolle says, that this peace of being, is not out there, it is in you.
           (The box you the beggar sit on contains the treasure you have been looking for, -The power of
           now) You work it out, you figure it out.  It is within you.  So we work towards numbness and
           nothingness so as to somehow obtain this peace within us.
Tension:
  •    Think about how your life is organized…I need a break; I need some peace and quiet.  I need to
         get this retirement thing figured out so I can just finally relax.  I need to get to this place of peace
         and quiet soon.
  •    We are striving for numb.
  •    This is not what Jesus modeled or asked us to be like.
  •    He models awareness and seeking .

In this kind of culture how do we cultivate spiritual awareness into our lives?

Jesus and His Father:

•    John 5.17-20 – NLT “But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” So the                   Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he         called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.   
    So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he
        sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son
        and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater
        works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.

•    John 12.49-50 – NLT “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has                     commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal                   life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

•    John 7.16 – NLT “So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent           me.”

•    John 7.29 – NLT “But I know him because I come from him, and he sent me to you.”

•    John 14.6-7, 9 – NLT “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to             the Father except through me. 7 If you had really known me, you would know who my Father               is.[a] From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” “…Jesus replied, “Have I been with            you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has               seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

  •    John 17.11 – NIV  “…so that they may be one as we are one.”

  •    In these passages you see an intimacy between Jesus and His father.


The solution is INTIMACY with a Person…JESUS.

1.    Intimacy with Jesus Relationally

  •    John 15.4-5 – NLT “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
  •    Abiding/Remaining
  •     John 6.56-57 –NLT “Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in                   him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on             me will live because of me.
  •    Communion is a picture of submission (Ezekiel’s call)
  •    John 10.14-15- NLT ““I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just          as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.”
  •    John 10.3-4 – NLT “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and           come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his                own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.
  •    Knowing His voice/home group/Time together

2.    Intimacy with Jesus Practically

  •    John 13.13-15 – NLT “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I           am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each               other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.”
  •    John 14.12 – NIV “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been              doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
  •    John 15.12  - NIV  “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
  •    John 15.10 – NIV “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed              my Father's commands and remain in his love.”
  •    A life of doing what Jesus did.

Conclusion:

1.    This numbness only goes away as we press into Jesus.
2.    This numbness always creeps back in…no days off.
3.    This numbness walks hand in hand with a sense of entitlement that we carry…we deserve nothing.
4.    Awareness is knowing Jesus’ character, ways, likes, dislikes.
5.    Awareness is seeing where Jesus is working.
6.    Awareness is doing what Jesus does.



Questions/feedback or help getting someone in Spokane connected to Jesus and His church:
Richie Shaw – rshaw@reallifeministries.com

Pray with us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rlmspo

Practice: Study 3.4 - November 22, 2009

The Practices #3 – Study
3.4 – The Lessons Learned

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 (NIV)
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.

The Bible shows us the mistakes of the past so that we can learn form them. The questions is whether or not we will let them teach us…

Matthew 13:13-15 (New International Version)
This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 
"'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'

What lessons does the Bible teach us?

1. What is true reality?
1 Corinthians 15:19 (New International Version)
If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Psalm 17:13-15 (New International Version)
Rise up, O LORD, confront them, bring them down; rescue me from the wicked by your sword. O LORD, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life. You still the hunger of those you cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children. And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

2. What is our purpose in life?
Deuteronomy 6:13 (New International Version)
Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

1 Samuel 7:3 (New International Version)
And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the LORD with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.

Matthew 4:10 (New International Version)
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "

Matthew 22:36-39 (New International Version)
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " '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 neighbor as yourself.'

3. What do we have to be thankful for?
Philippians 4:11-13 (New International Version)
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

1 Timothy 6:6-9 (New International Version)
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.

Thankfulness comes when we focus on how much we have. A Lack of thankfulness comes when we focus on what we don’t have. The question is which do you choose to focus on?

How do we get to that place?

Psalm 119:9-11 (New International Version)
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; 
do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart 
that I might not sin against you.