28 October 2007--Worship is Expresseing My Love to God

focusPoints: Love the Lord (the first and greatest commandment)

Matthew 22:37-38 (NIV).
"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."

"Expressing my love to God" is called WORSHIP.

I worship God:

1- By SINGING to Him.
Scriptures: Psalm 147:7 (LB); Psalm 66:8, 95:1 (NLT)

2-By TALKING to Him.
Scripture: Psalm 116:1-2 (NLT)

3-By LISTENING to Him.
Scriptures: Leviticus 23:3 (NIV); John 10:14, 16 (NIV)

4- By IDENTIFYING with Him.
Scriptures: Matthew 5:14-15 (NLT); Mark 8:38 (NIV)

5- By being COMMITTED to Him.
Scriptures: Romans 12:1 (Message)

6- By GIVING to Him.
Scriptures: Acts 4:32-35 (NLT); II Corinthians 8:7-8

(Fookes: Stockwell UMC Worship Message, 28 October 2007)

forwardPoints:

“Starbucks is full of thingys—mugs, water bottles, plates—that are already becoming as collectible as Coca-Cola artifacts. While we must not worship any thing, the life of faith needs thingys to help it flex its muscles. The virtual nature of so much of our culture is making us even more hungry for tactile, iconic, multisensory experiences and thingys to hang on our walls and bodies. Faith is itself a brand, an identifier that sets us apart, singling us out as a peculiar people.

(Sweet: Gospel According to Starbucks, 116)

fellowshipPoints:

Most faith communities come together to experience, as Sweet would say, a “thingy” called worship.

Those of us who engage in this experience regularly, often do so without thinking about what it means … why it’s important … how we benefit from it .. how it equips us to benefit others.

Those of us who don’t engage in this experience regularly, often find it unapproachable … clique-like … full of unusual customs … unsure of what it means … unable to find its relevance.

As Sweet says, a faith-life needs worship to help it “flex its muscles.” For those of us who have been flexing for awhile, are we getting a full workout or just going through the motions? For those of us who haven’t, is it time to go to the gym?

findingPoints:

Sweet identifies some “bad connections” (146-154) as being only connecting with God, only connecting with self, only connecting with others, only connecting, and only connecting with nature.

Looking at your own spiritual life, what was a peak, positive experience for you spiritually? Who was involved? What happened? How did you feel? What made it special for you?









What role did worship play in your peak experience? Before it? As a part of it? After it?









What gifts and graces that you possess were enhanced by your peak experience?









faithPoints:

Meditate in prayer on discovering through worship how you can “flex your spiritual muscles” to enhance your spiritual fitness and experience more peaks in your spiritual life.

14 October 2007—The Most Powerful Weapon in the World

focusPoints: We either speak blessings or cursing. Whenever we speak, we are setting spiritual forces into motion

Strategy
1. Words are important. (They have an impact.)
2. Words can be lethal.
3. Learn to handle delicately "word problems.”
a. Discuss with those who are part of the problem or solution.
b. Deal with words straightforwardly, privately.
c. Deal with words lovingly.
4. Evaluate when to speak.
5. Reduce your "Rights."
6. Refuse to Tear others Down.
7. Have a "Word goal."
8. Sanctify your tongue.

(Fookes: Stockwell UMC Worship Message, 14 October 2007)

fowardPoints:

• Technology reduces everything to binary codes of zero and one.
• Politics reduces everything to legal codes of legislation.
• Religions reduce everything to moral codes of principles.
• Jesus reduced everything to a one-word relational code: love.

(Sweet: Gospel According to Starbucks, 154)

fellowshipPoints:

In keeping with our task to be disciple makers and the local congregation's charge to be a platform supporting individual Christians in fulfilling that commission, that instead of discovering Weapons of Mass Destruction, we should concern ourselves with developing Ways of Mass Discipleship. That really solves so many challenges in society near term and in spirituality eternally.

In other words, we should try an appreciative inquiry approach—when we want to tear down, how do we re-phrase to build up.

In simpler words, we should say what we really want (outcome), not what we really want to say (output).

findingPoints:

Synthesizing Fookes and Sweet, give thought to developing a personal strategy of the following:

Technology is an essential ingredient to encourage because …







Politics can unite divisions by …







Religion would be more meaningful once …







I can apply Jesus’ love relational code when …







faithPoints: Meditate in prayer how you can be a catalyst to make the desires expressed above be manifested now.

Log on to check what others are discovering and to share your discoveries, concerns, frustrations, and triumphs.

THE MOST POWERDFUL WEAPON IN THE WORLD

For Sunday, October 14, 2007

Message title: THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON IN THE WORLD

Pastor Jim Fookes

Scripture: JAMES 1:26
JAMES 3:3-12

James gives us six word pictures in this third chapter of James that
help to depict the power of the tongue.

They are---a bit, a rudder, a fire, an animal, a spring, fruit.

What kind of talk does James have in mind?
1-ANGRY talk
2-IDLE talk
3-NEGATIVE talk
4-COMPLAINING
5-CURSES (vs. BLESSINGS)

Note: Curses are put downs we put on other people. We either speak
life to other people or we speak death. We might add a sixth kind of
talk that is often prevalent today and that is CYNICAL talk.

So how do we get control off the tongue? What do we do about it?
What strategy should we use?

STRATEGY
1-Words are IMPORTANT. (They have an impact.)
2-Words can be LETHAL.
3-Learn to handle DELICATELY "word problems.
a. Discusss with those who are part of the PROBLEM or SOLUTION.
b. Deal with words straightforwardly, PRIVATELY.
c. Deal with words LOVINGLY.
4-EVALUATE WHEN to speak.
5-Reduce your "RIGHTS."
6-Refuse to TEAR others DOWN.
7-Have a "WORD goal."
8-SANCTIFY your tongue.

Other scriptures to consider: Proverbs 10:19; Ecclesiastes 3:7b.

Here's part of what's happening ...

Facilitated by Stockwell United Methodist Church Senior Pastor Jim Fookes and Lay Leader Mark Eutsler, faithPoints realtime gatherings will be ...

Sunday, October 14 \
Integrating The Gosepl According to Starbucks, personal journies, and the Pastor's teaching
Sunday, October 28 /

Sunday, November 11 \
Integrating Unbinding the Gospel, personal journies, and the Pastor's teaching
Sunday, November 25 /

Sunday, December 9 \
Integrating Provocative Grace, personal journies, and the Pastor's teaching
Sunday, December 23 /

Sunday, January 13 \
Integrating The Book of Hard Choices, personal journies, and the Pastor's teaching
Sunday, January 27 /

Sunday, February 10 \
Integrating Keep the Call, personal journies, and the Pastor's teaching
Sunday, February 24 /

Watch for online posts every week, including the Action Steps postings offering practical, everday application ideas.