L-T Hopper
Looking and planing for the year ahead.
I told my Growth Group I would post this here on the website. It is an overview / commentary on the book of Genesis, written by Mark Driscoll for Mars Hill Church in Seattle. (www.marshillchurch.org) I am finding this quite good to read. I like that Mark presents more than his own opinion/view (although weighted towards his own). If you decide start reading it I would love to start a discussion here using the comments section below on different people’s views.
If you do participate in the discussion I just want to remind you that a lot of these topics the Bible remains silent on (or at best gives us very little to go on), and the big picture here is not so much these topical things but that God is the creator, He is a personal God and He is sovereign over all things.
For Christ’s renown,
Shane
L-T Hopper
Genesis 1:1 – 2:3
We started Genesis 1-11 on Sunday and it was great to get under way. And what a start it was. Of course we started in Genesis 1 and were introduced to the main character of the story of the Bible. The main character who is on centre stage is God himself. God is at the centre of all things and His Son Jesus we are told in John 1 was present at creation and in fact he was more than present. Through Jesus all things were made.
It is our natural inclination to have ourselves at the centre of all things instead of Jesus.
This Sunday we will be thinking about who we are and what is our purpose in life. What are we in the world for? What has God made us for? We will be reflecting on what it means to be made in the ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ of God.
I was challenged by my own sermon a few weeks ago when I spoke on the need to have a ‘plan’ so we grow in Christ.
This was backed up by the Spirit in my preparation for last week’s sermon on Genesis 1. As I considered the wonder of God and what we learn about Him I was struck by the order you find in God’s creating and so His creation. This is clear from the repetition of many phrases as well as the numbering of the days and so on. This shows God is deliberate, planned and purposeful. I realised I need to be more deliberate, planned and purposeful in my life.
I am weak and so need a plan and a system if I am going to be disciplined in my regular personal Bible reading and prayer. To be disciplined in my Bible reading I am reading the Bible in a year.
I also have a plan for my prayer time but I needed to update the system. I have a document on my computer which is simply a table on one page which is my systematic prayer tool. It was originally inspired by a book by Don Carson called ‘A Call to Spiritual Reformation’ (see the Library for this book). It contains a very helpful system for praying regularly for the things it is good to pray for. I spent sometime over the last couple of weeks on my prayer table to update it. This has helped me immensely. It doesn’t matter what system you use but as long as you plan to pray and then pray.
http://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/A-Call-to-Spiritual-Reformation-ctsr_20/
L-T Hopper
Genesis 1:26 – 2:25
Title: Prayer for our Nation
Location: Lakeshore Church
Description: Gathering for Prayer at Lakeshore Community Church of Christ
for Fire and Flood devastation.
Wednesday 18th February, 2009, 12-1pm.
Cnr of North Buderim Blvd & Lakeshore ave, North Buderim
Start Time: 12:00
Date: 2009-02-18
Marshill church Seattle produced a series of bios on some of the champions of our faith. They intorduced them one at a time duing their “Rebels guide to Joy” series. I was asked to share this link for those interested.
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/rebels-guide-to-joy/clips
For Christ’s renown,
Shane.
Today I was reading Tim Chester’s blog (http://timchester.wordpress.com/) who co-wrote an excellent book called “Total Church.” His church in trying to live out their ‘church values’ weekly came up with this helpful acronym. Here it is for your you.
Each week we respond to the identity that God gives to us in his grace by trying to B. L. E. S. S. others through what we do.
B. We bless
Each week we aspire to bless others in our Christian community and local neighbourhood in word, action or gift at least three times.
L. We listen
Each week we aspire to listen to God, looking for him to guide us through his word and Spirit. And we listen to people around us to understand their stories and the story of our culture.
E. We eat
Each week we aspire to eat or have a drink with people outside our immediate family at least three times, offering friendship and community.
S. We speak
Each week we aspire to tell people the story of Jesus and our story of Jesus, making Jesus a normal part of our conversations. And we speak to God through prayer, recognising our dependence on him in all things.
S. We sabbath
Each week we aspire to spend time in rest, praise, play, partying and creativity.
Genesis 2:4-25
L-T Hopper