Religion is Easy

Sunday Review: Thursday Edition

Justin Wise spoke about fear last night at Immersion. Here are the highlights:

Mark 4:35-41 "That day when evening came, he [Jesus] said to his disciples, 'Let us go over to the other side.' Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him, and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?'

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disicples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?'"

• Reality isn't just what we see. It can go beyond what we see and feel here and now.
• "Did I make a mistake is surrendering blindly to the call of the sacred heart?" -From the journal of Mother Teresa.
• Who of us have not felt like God isn't hearing our prayers?
• Sometimes it seems like God is sleeping on a hammock in Heaven and isn't getting up anytime soon. 
• In this passage the storm was real. The water was real. These were not imaginary fears.
• Jesus was sleeping!!! He doesn't seem to care. Ultimately, Jesus knows who he belongs to. Jesus know the power and promise of his Father.
• Do we buy what we sell? We preach joy and peace, but let's see what happens when you're thrown into the fire. 
• Over and over and over God tells us not to fear.
• Sometimes the instinct of fear is helpful, it's there for a reason. For this reason, the response of the disciples is legit! They are literally about to die! A lot of us however LIVE in this constant state of fear. It's exhausting.
• Even if you die, Jesus holds your very soul. Death no longer has the final word. It is not the end because Jesus transcends death itself. 
• If we're not fearing for our lives, it's something else. We're fearful of what other people think of us. We're fearful God doesn't love us. We're fearful that we're all alone in this world.
• Jesus not only commands the disciples to not be fearful, he rebukes them for being scared for their lives. He says "You guys should know better! Don't you know who I am? Don't you know who you are? You have nothing to fear! I am with you!"
• He speaks to the waves and they stop. The Greek here tells us that the storm was fueled by evil, or that it was somehow demonic. So Jesus tells this demonic storm to sit down and shut up. It listens to him.
• What are you fearful of? What are you constantly doubting? What keeps you up at night? Where do you doubt God? What makes us think that Jesus can't conquer.
• Yes, there's metaphor here. But it's more. Jesus can literally calm storms. He can control events around us if we have faith!!!
• Our problems are not a match for our Creator.
• We all have fears, but the mistake would be to stay there. God wants to open us up to everything he's doing. Let's join him. Let's see his reality.
• "Lord I believe, but help my unbelief." Mark 9:24
• Let's pray seemingly absurd prayers. 

This was a really really really great message from Justin. You can tell because this is more notes than I usually take. Watch the whole thing here.

Sunday Review: Gateway, Part 2

Today was my second experience at Gateway Church here in DSM, and it was just as wonderful as the first.

Paul started a series called Echoes of a Voice (an idea from N.T. Wright perhaps?) and spoke about our longing for justice in a broken world.

Here are the highlights:

• "liberty and justice for all" - we recite these words in elementary school when we say the Pledge of Allegiance. But what does it mean?
• There are few things that upset us more than injustice. It strikes a nerve in the core of our being.
• We long to put things right in the world, and even within ourselves, but we can't seem to do it. 
• We are no more advanced than ancient civilizations when it comes to justice. We've gotten no better.
• Justice means the right exercise of power and authority.
• What is God's plan for justice? Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be working.
• WE are God's plan! His plan is not working, because we are not working.
• Renewal can start today.

A verse to meditate on:

• Micah 6:8 "What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." 

Loved the message. Loved the service.

Sunday Review: Created to Praise

I'm hoping to be more regular about my blogging. I always intend to, it just never happens. I'm rollin out some new features this week as an attempt to stay on top of things. This is one of them. Every Sunday I'll give a brief synopsis of the message I heard at church. This morning it was from Jon Anenson at Lutheran Church of Hope City Branch.

"Created to Praise" - A look at Psalm 146

¹ Praise the LORD. 
    Praise the LORD, O my soul.
² I will praise the LORD all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

• The Psalms are all about worship, and that God is the only One worthy of such praise.
  
• Most Psalms begin and end with praising God. The content in between is different, whether joyful or mournful, but it starts and ends with our glorious God.
  

⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
       whose hope is in the LORD his God,
⁶ the Maker of heaven and earth,
       the sea, and everything in them—
       the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

• So now we ask the question, 'Why do we praise?'. Two answers, because He's God, the Creator of all. Second, because He always remains faithful, in spite of our failure.
  
• We often base our desire to praise on what He's done for us lately.
  
• Is my love for God fueled by my circumstances?
  
• What is it that motivates your praise? Is it conditional?
  
• What is it that stirs your heart about God? His character, or his handouts?
  

⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed
       and gives food to the hungry.
       The LORD sets prisoners free,
⁸ the LORD gives sight to the blind,
       the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
       the LORD loves the righteous.
⁹ The LORD watches over the alien
       and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
       but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

• Our Holy God is deeply entrenched in the mess of the world, to make it whole and restore it.
  
• We're not here to be perfect. We're here to worship. God does all the work, we just take part in it.
  
• We are partners in God's plan for restoration. Example: Meals From the Heartland. This city has bagged over 4 million meals for people all across the world. We are partnering in God's plan. 
• We go to church to be fired up and encouraged, then sent back out into the community to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
  

A grrrreat message this morning.