Series: Walking in the Way of Jesus... 6 Values of Discipleship... "Worship"

 Sunday Sept. 23, 2012                               
Matt 4:1-11

 A congregation was excited about its new, young pastor. He was energetic, preached inspiring sermons and worked with the youth.

Then one night he was late for the church council meeting.

Another time, he failed to show up for a committee meeting.

He even started coming late to worship.

Then one Sunday, he failed to show up at all for worship.

The council voted to dismiss the pastor.

Then the council had the following message posted at the church entrance: “We have fired our pastor for acting like the rest of us.”

PRAYER:

 

We continue in our series; “Walking in the Way of Jesus… 6 Values of Discipleship/Followership”. These are fundamental values… the modus operandi… that every faith community should be about. These values are… Prayer… Worship… Learning… Serving… Relationship Building… and Generosity. Last week we reflected on the importance of Prayer and why the community needs to be speaking and listening to God thru prayer as it discerns God’s direction for ministry.

Today our focused value is “Worship”

Over the past 30-40 years worship has been anything but an experience of God in many churches. I’ve been part of churches when the conversation turns to adding to or making changes in worship is all but an all out war… so much so that you’d think the world was coming to an end. For many churches, worship has been a lightning-rod of conflict. The Style… Music… Forms have all caused conflicts in the church. I’ve often wondered why it is so difficult to get along when it comes to worship. Why so much divisiveness?... and the temptations for conflict are great. Worship is but one of a whole host of temptations that take our focus from God.

 

In our story today, Jesus is tempted to take his focus off of God by Satan. Satan is giving his best effort to shift Jesus’ focus.

Looking at our story… Jesus fasts… Satan tempts with food.

          Jesus is taken to the top of the temple… tempted with status.

          Jesus stands on the top of a mountain looking out over the world… Satan tempts with   

           power

                                    Jesus… you can have it all… tempted to focus & worship Satan.

Jesus says, NO!!! “Worship & Serve only God

What are you being tempted to worship?

Several years ago I interviewed in Appleton, Wisc. And was asked the preverbal question, “How Long are your Sermons?” I responded, “Why is this important to you?” The person said, “The Packers play at noon and I must be home at 11 to prepare.” Worship started at 10:00 and the person had a 15 minute drive home. I was told later that he always leaves early during football season. For this person… there wasn’t much worshipping and serving only God.

For much of the churches worship has often tended to reflect what we want or like… our traditions… our way of doing things, and what we get out of it. Rather than us giving our total inhibited devotion to God and thus experiencing God’s grace. Not our favorite sports team… or our children’s sports activities or whatever takes us away from God.

Rabi Abraham J. Heschel says,
Worship is more than paying homage. To worship is to join the cosmos in praising God. The whole cosmos, every living being sings, the Psalmists insist. Neither joy nor sorrow but song is the ground plan of being. It is the foundation of life. To praise is to call forth the promise and presence of the divine. We live for the sake of a song. We praise for the privilege of being. Worship is the climax of living. There is no knowledge without love, no truth without praise. At the beginning was the song, and praise is man's response to the never-ending beginning.

 Why is Worship such a Core Values?

Psalm 95... emphasis is Sing Joyful Songs… Praise God… Worship w/Thanksgiving… Bow Down & Worship… and Listen to God’s Voice.

Acts 2…

Meeting Together… Praying… Learning… Sharing … Selling Possessions… Breaking Bread… and Praising God.

Eph. 5: 19…

When you meet together, Sing Psalms, Hymns, Spiritual Songs, and Praise the Lord with all your Heart.

There are no prescribed orders of worship in the bible… Paul states that worship should be orderly, but there are no particular styles… types… or liturgical forms that we should follow. Luther states in the Book of Concord that worship must have 4 elements for worship to be God Honoring & Worshipful. Luther’s elements of Worship, Gather, Word, Sacrament, Sending.

What we do in between these elements, Luther called Adiaphora or Not Essential.. they might be good things to do, but they are not needed to grow in faith.

Our worship of God isn’t meant for us to hold on to the goods.

-       If our worship is not missional we are no longer a community of faith focused on God

-       In worship the spirit empowers us to share or God stories.

-       In worship the spirit stirs us to be compassionate.

-       In worship the spirit moves us tom be creative in our mission.

-       In worship the spirit engages us to look beyond this place to serve others in our community.

God doesn’t need our worship… God demands our worship not out of duty, but out of our gratitude for what we’ve been given. Our worship shouldn’t be what we get out it, but what I give so that others can experience the grace of God.

When our worship is focused on God worship will be Engaging… Relevant… Vibrant… Authentic… and opens us up to experience the Love & Grace of God.

 

See You Out On The Road






 

Series: Walking in the Way of Jesus... 6 Values of Discipleship... "Prayer"

Sunday Sept. 16, 2012                           Mark 11:12-14, 20-26

 

Pr. Jim Harrish tells a story of a man who came home from work one day to find that his wife had hung a plaque on the wall that read: “Prayer Changes Things.”
It reads: Prayer changes us.
               Prayer changes others.

               Prayer changes the church.

               Prayer changes the world.

Within 24 hours the plaque had been removed. She asked, what’s wrong? Don’t you like prayer? He said, Sure, I like prayer… I just don’t like change.

Prayer

We begin today reflecting on the 6 values of walking in the way of Jesus…. These Values… Prayer… Worship… Learning… Serving… Relationship Building… Generosity are meant to help us, to encourage us, to empower us in growing and living our lives closer to God thru Jesus.

God tells us in Duet. 6… “The Shema” to love our God with all our heart, soul, and strength. To memorize his laws, to teach them to our children, and to talk about them all the time.

The values of walking in the way of Jesus are the values God desires us to live by. In fact, we say we do this… we even tell our kids they are to learn these values… the truth is… as the church we don’t do these values very well. What we say and what we do is often times two different things, and in part the reason the church is not attractive to younger groups of people. Our young people see through all of this… they see the hypocrisy. We as Christ followers need to do better… and why we need to re-examine what we value.

Today we begin by reflecting on the Value of “Prayer”

Prayer… seems like a no-brainer… of course we pray! Yet… many of us struggle with prayer. We struggle to find words that express what were feeling. We struggle with inadequacy… being worthy enough… speaking. We struggle with whether or not we are even in the right posture. Yet… Jesus tells us in our story today that “Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you have faith.”

People have told me… Pastor I prayed, and I prayed, but I don’t seem to receive. I prayed for God to heal my mother… father… or whomever… but God didn’t heal or God wasn’t listening…. because they weren’t healed. This is an issue for us as Americans because we tend to get what we want… we’re a very impatient people.

Kathleen Norris in her book “Amazing Grace” says, “sometimes people will say things like, Your prayers didn’t work, but thanks, as if a person could be praying for only one thing. A miracle… A cure… but in the hardest situations, all one can do is to ask for God’s mercy, Let my friend die at home, Lord, and not in the hospital. Let her go quickly, God, and with her loved ones present. One Benedictine friend, a gentle, thoughtful man who has been in constant pain for years and is now confined to a wheelchair, says of prayer, Often… all I can do is to ask God, Lord, what is it you want of me? From him I have learned that prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine. To be made more grateful, more able to see the good in what you’ve been given instead of always grieving for what might have been. People who are in the habit of praying know that when a prayer is answered, it is never in the way that you expect.”

Jesus’ friends had difficulties with prayer as well. Jesus asked his friends to go with him to pray… they often weren’t overjoyed. Jesus wanted them to stay awake and pray with him in the garden… they couldn’t… They even ask Jesus how to pray, then teaches them what we know as the Lord’s Prayer. Actually… Jesus taught them two forms of prayer.

o    1^st Individual Prayer… Mark 1:35… Jesus gets up early in the morning to go into the desert to pray… go out in nature.

o    Matt. 6… Jesus tells his friends to go into a room alone and pray… Jesus instructs them to take time alone to be with God.

o    Jesus took time to be alone with his father.

Most of us don’t have a problem here… most of can do this because it’s private… no one is looking.

But Jesus also taught that they… Jesus’ followers are to pray together as a group… in the same room. Luke 11 Jesus teaches them as a group… around a meal to pray.

o    The context of Luke 11 is that they are at Mary & Martha’s house sharing a meal.

o    For Jesus… group prayer is a prayer that opens them up to the kingdom of God, and to seeing what God sees… from which they through God will move mountains.

Let’s start by talking about What Prayer is Not.

Pr. Mike Foss states, “Prayer is not a special formula… prayer is far more than a single creedal formula that makes us feel good.”

And prayer is not for God’s benefit, but for us to share our lives as a trust & dependence on God. Prayer is not limited to special people… like pastors or those trained, or prayers like the ones someone reads from a book… you know canned prayers… for me there not prayers because they’re not ours!!

Robert Capon says, “Prayer is not going to God (he’s already in you), or seeking God (he’s already found you), or opening yourself to God (you couldn’t keep him out if you tried), or becoming spiritual (he’s already sent you the Spirit… who would rather show you Jesus than help you display your spiritual prowess). And it’s certainly not buttering God up with abject apologies for your existence… because in his Beloved Son, he already thinks your dandy. Prayer is just talking with someone who’s already talking to you.”

What is Prayer?

            Pt. 1: Is a Conversation with God.

Just like talking to your parents, or family, or friends… simply having a conversation with another person. It’s not all that difficult… we all talk to people. Prayer is the same thing… it’s talking to God in our language. When I fully understood this it became much easier to pray. It didn’t matter how I spoke it… if it was coming from my heart, that’s all God wanted… and it’s about God, not about whose hearing me.

Pt. 2: Is Connecting to God.

Becoming one with God… drawing close to God thru prayer. Seeing what God sees. God desires to be close to us, and God desires us to be in conversation with Him. Are you connecting with God on a regular basis? God desires to connect with you.

Pt. 3: Is an Attitude of Love.

It’s an opportunity to become intimate with God and others. Prayer is an opportunity share our lives, to dump our baggage, to let go of ourselves and join in with God. To be honest about our lives and to seek forgiveness and grace thru love.

Pt. 4: Is about Talking & Listening.

Prayer is a two-way conversation… our words… our language… our hearts… our hurts and pain… our ears and our ears collectively. Too often we do too much talking and not enough listening. If fact… it is our biggest problem and why we often miss what God is doing and wants to do with us.

Why is this Important for Community?

Pt. 1: To place Trust in God’s Hands

Prayer is an opportunity to let go of ourselves and our self interest. To trust in God to let go of our agendas and to be open to God’s agenda.

Pastor & Theologian NT Wright wrote about the Lord’s Prayer, “What then might it mean to pray this kingdom prayer today? It means, for a start, that we look up into the face of our Father in heaven, and commit ourselves to the hallowing of his name, that we look immediately out upon the world the he made and see it as he sees it. The kingdom come: To pray this means seeing the world in binocular vision. See it with the love of the Creator for his spectacularly beautiful creation; and see it with the deep grief of the Creator for the battered and battle-scarred state in which the world now finds itself. Put those two together and bring the binocular picture into focus: The love and the grief join into the Jesus-shape, the kingdom-shape, and the shape of the cross, then you begin to understand prayer.

Pt 2: To Listen & Discern God’s Direction.

What are Cross’s Values? What is Cross’ Mission? In what ways does Cross change? These questions and others need to be asked and to be blanketed in community prayer. How would a congregation know if what it wants to do is what God wants them to do? How would you know if God really wants you to do this or that ministry if you didn’t have a team of people praying to discern if it’s the right thing to do? How would you know? Community prayer outside of praying on Sunday morning is the only way you will know.

Back in 2002 while on internship at Spirit of Joy Lutheran, Orlando, Fla. They had the rug pulled out from underneath them when the developer of the development told them they couldn’t build in the spot he was going to give them. It was a spot in the middle of the town center he was building. After this they gathered to pray and discern what God was up to. They were a congregation that dreamed big, and they believed they had discerned that God wanted them to be in the middle of a town so that they could serve the community. So… they gathered a team of pray-ers and gathered at a former Builder Square on Tues evening to pray and to discern what God wanted of them. They had an inclination that maybe God was calling them to this corner of Orlando, perhaps in the Builders Square building… do you know how big one of these building are? 100,000 sqft. They continued praying at this spot until I left and for 2 years until God spoke through another developer about the bowling alley across the street. A 30,000 sqft building of which they bought and of which 2 years later they are doing a tremendous ministry on one of the busiest corners in the Orlando area.

Pt. 3: Faith Communities that pray… Grow.

If Cross is going to grow spiritually and numerically there must be a prayer team that gathers weekly to pray. To pray for God’s direction… for her leaders… for her pastor… ministries… the concerns of the community… her people… others. To pray for the spirit to come and open us up to the ways of Jesus… in other words… to change us.

Closing:

If Prayer is an important value in walking in the way of Jesus and if Prayer is important for Cross Lutheran, and if Cross Lutheran is serious about the value of Prayer..,. then I encourage you to develop a prayer team that meets weekly. Community Prayer is a must if you are going to discern your values… your mission… and who your next pastor will be.

I’d like to close with one final story.

There is an old expression all of us have heard: Prayer changes things. We like the sound of the saying because it doesn't tell things exactly like it is. Prayer changes things, yes. But even more fundamentally, prayer changes people. Even more particularly, prayer changes the pray-er. Many of us want to be converted, but we don't want to be changed. To pray is to be continually converted, yes. But to pray is to be continually changed.

See You Out on the Road

 

Series: “Walking in the Way of Jesus”....“Walk On”

Sunday September 9, 2012                     Matt. 16:21-28

Two boys were walking home from church and sharing their reflection on the lesson. They had been studying the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. Little Peter said to his friend John, “Do you believe that stuff about the devil? Do you think there really is a devil?”

 John looked at him and said, “Naah, it’s just like Santa Claus… it’s your dad.”

PRAYER:

Today we start a new series titled “Walking in the Way of Jesus… 6 Values of Discipleship.”

The reason for this series is today we begin a discernment period that will help us over the next 3-4 months determine Cross Lutheran’s Core Values. I invite all of you to participate in our 1^st of 2 conversations and reflections following the 11am worship….
                                                THERE WILL BE FOOD!!!!!

 You may ask why?... Why talk about values?... We have Christian values! We all know them!... Well… What are they? And would you all be able to agree on them? The truth… we all have values we live by… Values on how we behave… Values that form the basis of our beliefs and judgments. And we each bring them into the faith community. These get integrated with others which form the basis of values you hold collectively.

o    Some values are spoken and we know what they are

§  Like… “we have weekly communion”

o    Some are unspoken that a few people know or that are assumed until someone violates them.

§  Like… Children can only commune after age 6

This is why it is important to discover what the faith communities values are… that they written down for all to see… that they are agreed upon and lived out, and so your values can be matched with that of a new pastoral leader. A faith community can no longer assume a pastor comes with the same understanding of Lutheran values that you have. So… for the next 6 weeks we will reflect on what I believe the 6 fundamental values every faith community should be about.

If fact… these 6 values should be the “modus operandi” of every church community.

They are: PRAYER…. WORSHIP… LEARNING… SERVING…    

                RELASHIONSHIP BUILDING… GENEROSITY

To understand these 6 values of discipleship or as I understand them as “followership” we must walk a spiritual journey, and this may be a challenge for some.

So we begin this journey today with the theme “Walk On”

The musical group U2 has a song titled “Walk On”. If you’re not familiar with this group, they are among the world’s most successful groups to date. They began as a garage band in Dublin, Ireland, and playing in their church and church start-ups. Though they no longer play in churches, many of their songs carry spiritual themes and connections…. This song, “Walk On”  does not have any spiritual connections per say, however, it does have some word images that have spiritual understanding.

Song Lyrics: “You’re Packing a suitcase for a place none of us have been, a place that has to be believed to be seen… Walk On”

Packing a suitcase… A place none have been… a place that has to be believed to be seen.

Do you see the spiritual connections?

Song Continues… “The only baggage you can bring is all that you can’t leave behind… Walk On… we can’t buy it, we try to sell it, it hurts, there is pain, we deny it, Just Walk On… Walk On.”

What this song is talking about are values… and this is really where our journey begins. It begins by letting go of the baggage we think we need, and embracing the cross that Jesus says we need to carry.

So… let’s “WALK ON”

Our bible story today has Jesus telling his friends that he is going to walk a journey towards death. Peter didn’t like hearing that… he says “Stop talking like that Jesus.” This can never happen… Jesus says, “Get Behind Me Satan.” Jesus then tells them Vs 24, “If you want to follow me you must forget about yourselves, take up your cross and follow me.” Jesus challenges Peter & friends to change their focus.

Walking in the way of Jesus means letting go of self interest, and walking towards Jesus’ interests. 6 days later, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up the mountain from which they have this God moment from which begins to open up their understanding… like most mountain top experiences… they don’t last. However, at the core… Jesus uses these two experiences to move his friends from where they currently are to a place where God wants them to be. And… God wants us to move too… to be followers of his son… to have the same values & focus… and to place these values at the core of our being.

What does it mean to be a disciple/follower in the way of Jesus?

Why is it important for the faith community?

What does it mean?

The church has often confused being a disciple/follower with being a member. For many of us membership is about Voting… Marriages… Baptisms… Funerals… Friendships… a safety-net for the after-life. Essentially… “Privileges”  remember the Am Express commercial?

Lutheran Pr. Mike Foss in his book, “Power Surge” says about membership,

“Membership is about getting, Being a Follower about Giving, Membership…Dues, Follower…Generosity, Member… belonging to a select group, Follower… about changing & shaping a life by the Grace of God”.

Being a follower of Jesus means we must focus on Jesus. Vs 24… take up you cross… forget about self. For you to be willing to give up your materialized and commercialized life for a new life. Jesus did not have a membership list. Thousands followed, but few took following seriously. Had Peter & friends not tried to keep Jesus for themselves, Jesus would never have invoked Satan.

Why is this important? 3 reasons

First… Followers Orient Life Towards Jesus.

I’m not saying being a member of a church is a bad thing. Belonging to a place that brings some sort-of comfort can be a good thing, but it’s not what Jesus had in mind. Belonging doesn’t get you closer to God. Satan belonged. What I’m saying, is the church has primarily focused on making members rather than followers. I’m suggesting that being intentional in walking in the way of Jesus will being greater spiritual fulfillment than being a member. That by orienting your life & community towards Jesus will grow not only your faith, but also grow the community of faith.

Second…Followers Embody the Kingdom of God.

Acts 10 the story of Peter & Cornelious is a great example of how God challenged Peter to greater kingdom understanding. Peter had a set of cultural and familial values that were limiting and God wanted to open his eyes to the greater values & mission of God. Peter had been raised to be a good Jew. You couldn't touch that... you couldn't be with them... you couldn't go there and so on. When God tells Peter to go to Cornelious... well Peter's perspective... it was out of the question. Peter needed to adopt new and different values… God’s values. By embodying God’s values we grow closer to kingdom experiences and seeing what God see’s. I’m challenging you to do the same… to open your eyes to see what God sees.

Third… Followers Empower Mission Ministry.

Jesus wants Peter & friends to be empowered to carry on his mission. But… Peter is saying NO… Jesus you can’t leave us. You’re our leader… what Peter is really saying, “Jesus you do it and we’ll follow along.” Jesus you do the hard work… you carry the cross… Jesus is saying Satan Get Behind Me!!! What I believe Jesus is telling us is… ministry is a full participation sport if you will. Fully participating in the mission of God… and all of us have the gifts and passions to carry-out the mission of God.

Closing:

The journey of walking in the way of Jesus begins today. We do this by reflecting and talking about what we value.

In the next 6 weeks we will reflect on Prayer… Worship… Learning… Serving… Relationships… Generosity

Let’s Walk On…

Let’s stay focused on our task…

More importantly… Let’s stay focused on Jesus…

Let’s Walk in the Way of Jesus…

As Vs 27 states… “The Father will come with his angels to reward all people for what they have done.”

See You Out on the Road