When I was given the chance to preach a couple of weeks back, I was debating playing a recorded song. The song had spoken to me strongly and profoundly when I first heard it and perhaps stronger when I thought of it in context of heaven. The band is a folk-rock group out of London called Mumford and Sons. You can listen to the song here. The song is called “After the Storm” and the line that continues to grab me goes like this

And there will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears.

And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.

Get over your hill and see what you find there,

With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair.

I have grown weary in failure and frustrated at a lack of consistency in my ability to love my neighbors. Clear is the command of Jesus that we are to Love God and Love others; the beauty is in the simplicity of these words but only once a human attempts to live this out does he or she discover the monumental task at hand. I constantly fail my friends and family and vice versa. My good intentions to serve go awry when there is a hint of pride, self-service and arrogance. My idea of sacrificing for a brother or sister is tainted by an expectation to get something in return. A friend lent me a great book that explained this better than I could. The following is an excerpt from Henri J.M. Nouwen’s In the name of Jesus (p. 38).

[There is an] unconditional love [that] the evangelist John calls God’s first love. “Let us love,” he says, “because God loved us first” (I John 4:19). The love that often leaves us doubtful, frustrated, angry, and resentful is the second love, that is to say, the affirmation, affection, sympathy, encouragement, and support we receive from out parents, teachers, spouses, and friends. We all know how limited, broken, and very fragile that love is. Behind the many expressions of this second love there is always the chance of rejection, withdrawal, punishment, blackmail, violence, and even hatred. … These are all the shadow side of the second love and reveal the darkness that never completely leaves the human heart.

Nouwen goes on and provides hope to all who have experienced the aforementioned (p. 40)

The radical good news is that the second love is only a broken reflection of the first love and that the first love is offered to us by a God in whom there are no shadows.

My nature, human nature in general, is often reactionary. I am driven to do things because someone did something first for me. The reason we love God is because He first loved us. His love is perfect and without shadows, as Nouwen put it; it was not spurred on by anything we did; it came from His nature and His nature is love (I John 4:8). We can never match this love because His was first, and ours was a reaction. As I mentioned before, my discouragement with my incomplete love exists but it is overwhelmed by hope!

Finally the lyrics of this song become relevant. “There will come a time, you’ll see, with no more tears and love will not break your heart but dismiss your fears.” There is a day in which this second love, the human love, will become like the first love. A day when we are face to face with Jesus and he gives that sweet first love which was always there, yet the love we return is just as sweet. We must live in constant awareness of our task to love God and our neighbors and not give up because we can never fully do so. Be encouraged by the knowledge that when we get over our hill as the song says, over our life here on earth, He waits for us to love and be loved perfectly.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes have trouble wrapping my head around “Good Friday.”  Not in what God wrought, but more in the name.  It seems a paradox when we consider the trial and passion of our Lord, to think of it as good. It is in fact a time of mourning and sorrow.  It is a time to consider how human sin caused this death.  But it is also a time for us to remember God’s great love for us that He should submit and be obedient unto death for us.  It is in that way a “Good Friday” for us as we take this time to be reminded of this great love for us and to commemorate the wonder of it all.

For centuries the Church has commemorated this day in a multitude of ways.  Through history it has been a time of fasting and abstinence, a laying aside of ourselves to consider how Jesus laid aside himself for us.  St.  Augustine wrote this about Good Friday:  “For us he was unto thee both the victor and the victim, and therefore the victor, because he was the victim for us he was unto thee both Priest and the sacrifice, and therefore the Priest, because he was the sacrifice… I meditate upon the price of my redemption”  (Confessions X, xliii).

However you choose to lay yourself aside this day, take the time to remember Him and what He has done.  Below is an outline for Good Friday devotions.

Good Friday Devotional Outline (Printable Version)

Morning

1. Ask God to help you lay aside yourself and to give this day to Him. Let His Spirit lead and open your heart to Him.
2. Read Psalm 22 and Psalm 54
3. Consider how God brought this about for you and the entire world
4. As the Lord speaks to you, take time to journal and or draw something that God has shared with you.
5. As God opens your heart let Him lead you to prayer.  Pray for what He places utmost upon your heart.

Noon

1. Ask God to draw you to and into His word, ask Him to speak to you by His Spirit and His word.
2. Read Lamentations 3:1-9, 3:19-33 and I Peter 1: 10-20
3. Consider how it is that God brought you to himself and continues to work in your life
4. What stands out for you? Ask God about those things.
5. Pray for those who are in need of Jesus.

Evening

1. Read John 13:36-38 and Matthew 27:45-50
2. Ask God to bring to mind all that He has put on your heart this day.
3. Pray

Note on Fasting:
If you feel led to fast, we recommend a fast from solid foods beginning when you wake up and ending after the prayer meeting on Friday night.  In place of breakfast and lunch, read scripture and pray (using the above devotional).  If you do choose to fast, make sure to drink lots of liquids.  Keep your head up, don’t complain (Matthew 6:16-18), replace each hunger pang with a prayer and pay attention to Christ’s movement throughout the day.

We’ll be gathering for prayer and a meal at 6:30pm on Good Friday at 1319 Solano Ave. (Church on the Corner).

Part One: New Personhood
Romans 5-6 tells of a simple truth.  When the gospel comes into your life, you become a new person.  You used to be a slave to sin.  Now you have died to sin and so are no longer a slave to it (6:6).  You have gone from slavery to freedom.  You have a new identity.  Of course, you still struggle with sin.  That’s because you have not yet fully embraced your new identity.  A slave who’s lived a lifetime of subservience to a harsh master often finds it difficult, even uncomfortable, to embrace a sudden freedom.  The impulse to acquiesce lingers on.  A familiar hell sometimes wins out over an unfamiliar heaven.

I think this is why Paul highlights baptism in the discussion of the new personhood Christ brings (6:1-5).  Baptism is a means for driving home the point that we’ve been given a new identity.  Baptism symbolizes our union with Christ in his 1) death (dunking), 2) burial (submersion) and 3) resurrection (emergence from the water).  A person is baptized in front of his or her family and loved ones and they serve as witnesses to the fact that a new identity has come.  The deeper the impression of this new identity, the stronger the impulse to live according to it, in freedom and newness.  The gospel changes us, in part, by bringing us a new identity.  But this is an identity that we need to come to embrace.

“I’m a Christian, now what?” you ask.  Be baptized.  Let your community help you embrace your new identity.

So how do we carry out accountability?   In this post I’d like to make a few (not exhaustive) suggestions aimed at increasing our comfort level with this critical discipline.

Advice for those on the receiving end:

1. Remember that all people struggle with self-deception; you are not alone.  Even King David, who had to be one of the most well-adjusted humans on the planet, needed a Nathan to call him on his lack of integrity.
2. Always fight against oversensitivity.  I once worked with a college athlete the year after he graduated.  Because of his athletic context, he was used to large doses of critique and accountability.  He thrived on it.  Applying this mindset to the church setting he grew rapidly.  I have also worked with “more seasoned” types who have spent years being acknowledged as “at the top” of their game.  How awkward it was to watch them try to duck and dodge legitimate critique of their work.
3. View yourself as God’s beloved project.  If we are confident in God’s love instead of our level of spiritual attainment, criticism is much easier to handle.  In fact, we welcome the opportunity to learn and grow.

Advice for those called to be on the giving side:

1. Assess the receiver’s maturity level before bringing truth.  Some truths are too much for the moment.  At the same time, I’ve learned that I tend to underestimate what people can handle.
2. Assess the quality of your relationship.  In our culture, accountability is pretty unwelcome where there is little relationship.  But it is VERY welcome where strong relationships are developed (more than I used to imagine).
3. Assess the timing.  Are there other people listening in, adding unnecessary pressure?  Is there adequate time to air out the issues?  Is there humility and peace on your part indicating the presence of the Spirit?
4. Pace yourself.  It is tempting to let out everything when the floodgates are finally opened.  This can overwhelm.  See point 1.
5. Keep the long view in mind.  Your receiver may stop carrying your picture in his or her wallet once you deliver your message.  That feels bad right now, but in the long run, it may not be. Oftentimes people will return after a cooling off period to thank you for your input.

When you look at what it takes to speak truth into someone’s life, you realize that no formula can safeguard the process.  This is why God has called people to “shepherd” other people.  It takes a person to sense the leading of the Spirit, to pray and wait and then move at the right time.  Is God calling you to be that person?

by Andrew Franklin

My failure to live up to the standard of Jesus has a long, consistent history that has been well chronicled in my lifetime; in fact, I write a new paragraph daily. I am constantly frustrated by my shortcomings, but I have come to understand that until I leave this earth, my sinful human nature will play a role in all I do. Ironically, I become more aware of my flaws the more I study the Bible and learn more about this Jesus. Yet I also learn more about forgiveness and grace.

I have been thinking about good deeds. I find myself drawn to the aspects of the Gospel that emphasize our need to love our neighbors, serve the poor, care for the sick and be active in our faith. I am aware of my sinful nature shining through in these well-intended actions - there is always a sliver of selfishness in selfless deeds; always a moment of reluctance in generosity – but that is not what hit me the other day. I was recently convicted of my motivation for doing such loving acts. Often, Jesus is not the driving force. There should be no other motivation than Jesus. The rest of the world does good for goodness’ sake and I look no different if my love of Jesus is not my motivation for loving my neighbors.

In Mark 14, we read of a woman (believed to be Mary) anointing Jesus’ feet with very expensive oil. Like the disciples, I would have been indignant at such waste. Notice, their reaction was not to save the oil, nor use the money for drinks at the local watering hole, nor a new set of wheels for their wagon; no, their reaction was selfless! They said that the money could have been given to the poor. “Amen!” would have been my reaction. It was not Jesus’. “You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But I will not be here with you much longer” (Mark 14:6-7; New Living Translation). He commended Mary’s act of devotion to himself.  As Oswald Chambers put it in My Utmost for His Highest, “Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did – not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him.”

Do we pour out ourselves, loving our neighbors because of a deep love for God and His creation? I don’t always. Yet this is the only way because as we give more of ourselves, we are filled with more of Him. “If you believe in me…rivers of living water will flow out from within…” (John 7:38). I encourage you, be reckless in your love of Jesus. At times it will look like service to the poor and needy and others it will be anointing our Lord’s feet. But, as Chambers reminds us, always, we are to “break ‘the flask’ of our lives, to stop seeking our own satisfaction, and to pour out our lives before Him.”

EmmausPartners.pdf

For those of you part of the Solano Community Church Home Group ministry, we’re about to embark on a journey that will be exciting, at times challenging, and, Lord willing, very fruitful.  We’re calling it Project Feed and the goal is provide all of us the opportunity both to grow in Christ and to learn more about how to grow in Christ.  Our method will be to feed on God’s word together.

The process starts with the Spiritual Growth Inventory, which will be taken during the Home Group meeting.  The Growth Inventory helps you determine your progress with respect to discipleship.  It doesn’t measure you against anyone else, only yourself, giving you some input as to where you are stronger and weaker.  You score it, you keep it, you share it only with the people you want to share it with.  Next, each person in the Home Group will choose one discipleship area (preferably one in which you scored to the lower end) to research and study up on.  (At the end of this blog, you’ll find a list of study tools.)  Over the next several weeks of meeting together, the various members of the group will have opportunity to share with one another what God is teaching them through their particular study.  It will be a living, breathing representation of Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom…”  We’ll grow, we’ll get to know one another and we’ll celebrate God’s goodness over the whole process.

We understand that at times this will be a stretching experience.   But we also believe it is hard to promote serious spiritual growth without risking something.  And we know we have a God who will always meet us with our needs.  So, let’s take a risk together and see what God will do.

Note: If you are not in a Home Group, now is a great time to join one.  Exact start date for Project Feed will depend on individual Home Group.

Resources for Researching Individual Topics
Opiso Resources (includes topic summary, suggested Scriptures, exercises and book recommendations)
Scripture search tool (select “keyword” or “topic,” type in word(s) associated with topic and hit “search”)

One of my favorite fasts is the Good Friday fast.  I love being encouraged by every hunger pang to reflect on the sacrifice of Christ.  I love praying and opening my heart in a special way to what the living Christ is doing in my life.  I love sinking my teeth into the first bite of food afterward (helps me think about  resurrection!).

Below is an outline for Good Friday devotions.  These do not require a fast, but if you’d like to add the fast to your day, please see the “how-to” note below.  Either way, we’ll see you at 6:30pm at 1319 Solano Ave. (Church on the Corner) for corporate prayer.

GOOD FRIDAY DEVOTIONAL PLAN (printable version)

Morning: The Roots of Redemption

1. Pray a short prayer dedicating yourself and this day to Christ.  Invite him to lead, guide and speak to you today.
2. Read Hebrews 9
3. How was Christ’s sacrifice like the sacrifices offered by the priests?  How was it different?  What is the goal of the sacrificial system?  Who is it intended to benefit?
4. Pray for the people you will see today.

Noon:  The Promise of Redemption

1. Pray  a short prayer asking God to speak through his word.
2. Read Isaiah 52:13-53:12.  Underline or note any verses that stand out to you.
3. Reflect on why your noted verses are significant.
4. Pray for several people you know who have need.

Evening: The Fulfillment of Redemption

1. Mark 15
2. Join us for prayer

Notes on fasting.  I’ll be doing a fast from solid foods that begins when I wake up and ends after our prayer meeting on Friday night.  In place of breakfast and lunch I’ll read scripture and pray (using the above devotional).  If you choose to fast, make sure to drink lots of liquids.  Keep your head up, don’t complain (Matthew 6:16-18), replace each hunger pang with a prayer and pay attention to Christ’s movement and/or promptings.

Scripture memory is like the flossing of the spiritual life in many people’s eyes.  It is obviously good for you but it feels, well, almost too good.  Flossers and scripture memorizors, they have no rebellion left in them.  They have totally succumbed to goodness in an irritating, Mormon-teenager-on-mission sort of way.  We don’t want to floss and memorize scripture out of fear that we might lose the last idiosyncratic shreds of our individuality.

Last night, I did something I haven’t done in months.  I flossed.  I don’t even know why I did it.  Probably just a glitch in the time/space continuum and I’ll be back to normal soon.  Scripture memory, on the other hand, has been needling its way into my life on and off over the past two years and, in the interest of promoting healthy spirituality (if not healthy teeth), here’s my journey with it.

It started with a group of friends who decided to memorize 100 passages together.  I could never have done it without them.  I needed the fear of being the only one who hadn’t memorized the verse at out monthly meeting to motivate me to get with it.  I think we all needed it.  Soon, however, something started to happen in all of us.  We began to notice that the scriptures, once memorized, were doing something to our souls, something really good.  God would lead us into an area of growth through a particular verse, he would encourage us in a dark time with another, he’d crystallize vision and spawn deeper enthusiasm with yet another.  Suddenly, when our group wasn’t meeting, I began to be aware that something was missing in my life, like a the kind of hunger one feels after a missed meal.  On certain days, a pertinent verse would come to mind and I’d go back and make sure I could still remember it.  It would become the mantra for that day, feeding my soul in the cracks between activities.  Eventually, I figured out a way to get the verses on my blackberry so that they would be always handy.  Now, when I think about memorizing scripture, I don’t feel like some irritating do-gooder, I feel like a guy whose often parched soul has discovered an endless well of heavenly drink.  It is not about memorizing scripture anymore.  It is about communing with my maker.

So, I don’t really care if you floss.  “Go ahead and rot your mouth with gum disease,” says the hygeinist.   But, I can say that memorizing scripture has changed my life.

Some Resources
List of 100 verses to memorize
Revised list in excel spreadsheet
Printable flashcards (side 1) (side 2)
Link to free gflash software for iphone and blackberry flashcards (you’ll need excel spreadsheet too)
Link to free Genius flashcard software for mac and download of 100 verses file (just post a comment and I’ll send it to you)