Mattie's and I Last small group of 2010

This is my outline I used for my last small group before Christmas. Mattie and I decided to run our finial small group of the year a little differently. Instead of just presenting a passage and some framework we decided were going to share more of what we learned while preparing for the small group and ask some thought provoking questions before we go into are usual “what stood out” method. Don’t get me wrong I love the “what stood out” method it gives everyone a chance to talk and, isn’t telling people what is in the chapter it allows people the chance to figure that out on their own before going in a group discussion format. However, Mattie and I felt that each week there are things we learn or notice that we simply run out of time before we have a chance to share them. So to change things up we decided we would do a blanket overview of two thirds of the passage (me-1/3 her 1/3 and 1/3 untouched) before completely opening it up to the group who would indubitably have some insight we did not catch, because the bible truly is living water.

My one third of Luke 1-12

We started, as I would ask you to, by reading the passage slowly and carefully marking anything that might stick out to you. This would include anything that speaks to you makes you curious, or question even seemingly small things like the repetitiveness of a particular word.

Luke 2:1-12 (New International Version, ©2010)
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Vacancy for Jesus?

It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that Christmas started out the extravagant winter monopoly, it is today. That simply isn’t the case, as I am sure you notice while reading over the true Christmas story. The birth of our Christ and savior Jesus was not one of famed limelight. In fact Joseph and Marry had to take to the streets after Jesus was born to avoid the evil plot of King Herod.

Matthew 2:13
When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So not only did Jesus come into a world that did not want to make room from Him, (can someone read Luke 2:7?) but then He and His family was pushed out of their own hometown.

Before we move on, last week we talked a little about apologetics, defending your faith. I want to scratch the surface of that iceberg, by authenticating the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ unwelcomed birth, with a little extra biblical text. Like first, would Joseph really have to go back to his home town? This is an insert from a papyrus found in Egypt that confirms one would have to travel back home in order to register. "Because of the approaching census it is necessary that all those residing for any cause away from their homes should at once prepare to return to their own governments in order that they may complete the family registration of the enrollment and that the tilled lands may retain those belonging to them." There is another ancient inscription found in Antioch that confirms that Quirinius was the governor of Syria in 7 BC. These are just two minor examples, that get straight down and dirty, to insure that a statement is legitimate; you would want to make sure the extra biblical text is creditable, but that’s a whole another story.

Now back to our homeless Savior, Jesus being God in the flesh, could have been born with a silver spoon in His mouth, made out of solid gold even (pause for laughter)… but much like the free will He gives us to turn from Him, He came to this world allowing the world He created to reject Him and outcast Him. Jesus must have been the youngest person to ever have a bounty on His head. You would be hard press to find a fetus that could get into that much trouble. What could he/she have done, a 300 style kick knocking a Prince over a cliff throw the mother’s stomach? Then imagine a little baby coming out with the tiniest little hand cuffs (pause for a mixture of awes and laughs).

Yea it’s funny to think about it in that way, but kinda essentially that is what happened, Jesus was born with a bounty on His heads because He had exponentially growing rap sheet. Well if Jesus never sin how does He have a rap sheet, how can someone not make room for a birthing mother and most importantly what kind of persons tries to kill a baby, I mean honestly? He has an increasing growing rap sheet because he came to bare our sin, and free us of its captivity. Sin is anything thing that goes against God’s will, it creates separation from us and God. We hurt Jesus constantly because we do not measure up to Gods standard, but if He didn’t take the blame then the wrath of God would destroy us all. It’s because of Jesus, that our records are white as snow. Why then could no one around make room for a pregnant woman, carrying the Messiah no less?

Well let me ask you this, do you make room for the Messiah in your own heart, or is He still in a manger on the outskirts of your heart?

A.) What does it look like to make room for Jesus in your heart?
a.) What kind of external actions change, internal?

And lastly why is that man trying to kill a baby? Well as we all know hatters just mean you’re getting somewhere and Jesus came out of the womb accomplishing more than any King ever did.

Update

I haven’t posted in awhile, but fortunately this time it is for a good reason. I have been planning time examining my walk at least once a week, but instead of posting my external thought process I have been sharing it with the small group I am co-leading with Mattie, called We are 12. So I did not feel like my walk, or relationship with Christ was any less then it was last year. Now this may be very well and true only God can judge one’s heart. With that said, I just finished reading a paper I wrote last year and the obvious Christ influence decorated the page like bright lights. This year I have only had a few papers, and still I wonder if I have been sprinkling culture in my work in order to insure I don’t ruffle the fathers of my possibly non-Christian teachers. Sprinkling cultural on Christ-like things is comparable to mixing NaCl with another substance, it loses its taste.

If this is the case it’s not because of a fear of offending my teacher that I dim my Christ influence. I am not a person who finds strong faith of any religion offensive. I take their boldness as something to value, and hopefully I will have the courage to share ideas planting seeds for Christ, but not expecting to see it grow immediately. Thanks to Christ patience is not as hard for me anymore. Side note: I have found Christians, non-Christians and Atheists alike who have pushed their ideas in an offensive manner however. Back on the subject at hand the reasons I may be slightly dodging the fact and truth all the good I have comes from Christ, is it takes humility and if you are turning in the paper to a teacher that has been wronged by religion you better believe that paper is going to be graded harshly. With that outlook I am only looking at the negative side of things, and not the viewpoint I am sure Christ would take. Ok, maybe one or all my teachers have a bitter taste of “Christianity” in their mouth. This would probably be due a mislabeled Christian, meaning someone who clocked themselves with the blanket of Christianity but did not allow Christ to give them the warmth of His love.

Should I write my papers differently, hypothetically knowing that the grader has been wronged by religion in some way? Maybe a little, but in a way that amplifies faith and the way to live. I am not saying to blatantly ignore the prompt and write of Christ powerful love, but Christ is in all aspect of life, he even deserves our thoughts to be focused on Him. [Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest] - Hebrews 3:1. And/or [And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’] –Mark12:30- So whether you are writing about yourself, the global effects of media, or even a fictional story, I encourage the prominent influence of Christ to be boldly noted. This avenue might cause a few unnecessary point reductions, hopefully because of an accidently bias not intentional hatred, and it may also cause your actions to be studied under a magnifying glass by that teacher. However if we remember that [Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ] - Philippians 3:8- including grades and also the fact we are called to follow the example Christ set… and being under a microscopic great accountability to help you follow Christ and succeeding under the watchful eye of a critic is a strong witness.

This isn't the best written paper but I had a lot of ideas bouncing in my head and God uses are short commings to bring Him glory as well, something I like to keep inmind esp when I think I am better then another of Gods masterpices!

He is My Crutch, and That is Why I Stand Strong

I lead a Sunday school for the college students at Gatecity a few weeks back. I spent a good amount of time planning and taking notes on what to say, and it ended up being a pretty good class if I do say so myself. Was it my preparation, no. How about my thought provoking questions, no. In fact I did not use one single note or prepared question. The night before I was suppose to lead the class around 11:59 pm while I was putting the finishing touches on my message, I decided to give my message completely to God. I wanted to see what he had in store for me, the results were outstanding

The plan, of this non-planed study, was to take the stigma off having a Christ filled conversation. A spiritual high does not need to be attained in the confines of a Church structure, or with a formal meeting of the spiritual minds. When the belief in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, is the most important detail of your life, as it should be, then you should not need a planed agenda to bring up His Almighty name.

This approach of trying to have a untailored conversation in an every-day kind of situation was slightly complicated. Considering it was not in every-day kind of situation, chillin with friends. It was a Sunday school at Church kind of situation, making the spontaneity part of my message hard to display. Another small hiccup in leading was, I was still a leader of a message, so I could not fake that fact that I did have an idea of what I was going to say. It is hard to go to sleep knowing 5-15 people are investing about an hour of their life they can't get back, in what you have to say, and not think at least a little about what you are going to fill that time with. Granted I knew and know if I want to make sure their investments returned plentiful I need to depend on the only One who is truly good, God. That is truly what I tried to do, but that doesn't change the truth that there was a hiccup in trying to demonstrate that God can be seen everywhere. Everywhere evens includes our classes, the music we listen to, and especially the people we encounter, and we should not be afraid of noticing, and bringing it up to the ones around us.

I will be the first to admit it didn't go perfect, but we as the human race can't achieve perfection, and besides it wasn't bad. We started out sharing our highs and lows which is what was the best part of our week and what was the worst, something that might need prayer or need to be given to God. Afterwards I kind of awkwardly tried taking off the stigma by pointing out the observation that you will be hard pressed to find a profitable movie in western civilization that does not have a Christian motif. This point was made clear to me in one of my classes at Ecu matter of fact, it was a New Testament class but still it was taught in a secular viewpoint. After this people started sharing other places they noticed Christian motifs, or heard of a inspiring story sparked by a few people out of church focused on God.

So despite the complexity and the hiccups God worked through me, and other people in the room, to talk about how God is at work in every single life, and how regular situations can be amplified with the joy that comes from deliberately discussing and bringing glory to the giver of life Jesus Christ.

And the Dust Gathers

I was sitting on my bed hunched over a Rubbermaid container, were my computer and at the time my Bible laid, formulating a foundation for “The Boro Experience”, a small group I am trying to start up in Greensboro during the summer, when an unfortunate revelation accrued. The revelation was this; I bought a stack of paper back bibles somewhere in the ballpark of seven months ago, as I have been known to do from time to time as my supplies run low, but this last shipment has not run low. This last shipment of 7-12 bibles, have somehow made like bunnies and multiplied, or so it seems.

Those bibles are a tangible but hypothetical slap across my apathetic cheek. This apathy doesn’t stem from not peddling the hopefully addictive substance on the street fast enough. No, it stems from not being on the street with the substance, the light, the living water, at least attracting traffic, with a shining example of what’s inside the book. Does God take one day off giving all living creatures the air we breathe, or the gravitational pull that keeps us on this planet He made, or the life we take for granted? Then should we, those who are truly saved by His grace, take one day off trying our best to bring Him glory? I have not turned from His path and started walking in the opposite direction. I do not write my constructive criticism to myself from the depth of the lowest rocks, I simply write to urge all of His followers to take up God’s armor and wear it proudly in the world. Dust accumulated due to apathy is detrimental to one’s fire for God.

The Lone Wolf's Cry for Help

A blog post is well over due, not because of the amount of days that have passed since the last one, but because, the amount of stuff that I have been presented to write about but didn't. The primary reasons for this neglect is; I was finding less significant things to devote with the time God gave me, largely in part because of the difficulty I was having writing on a subjected I was trying to force out. I thought just because I had a sweet title I should finish writing the whole thing, even though I wasn't in a place in my life to do the subject justice.

I am sure I am not alone in being stubborn to having it my own way. It can be hard to walk a path that someone else picked out for you, even when that someone else is perfect and has plan for you to prosper. The flaw of being a lone wolf is a clear trait of mine when thinking of titles. I enjoy titling things, so when I have the responsibility to pick a title, I usual automatically dismiss all title people suggest to me. I am stubborn and prideful in thinking I can think of the best title.

That is the same thing that happen with my blog I had a great title picked out and a few well constructed sentences that rolled off the tongue, and suddenly I started thinking I, by my own power, I need to make this post a killer good one. Well that was riddled with flaws, first of all my goodness comes from the Father. [ Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow] -James 1:17-, and another thing it's not about how it reads but the authenticity and meaning behind the words I write. This blog is more for me then for anyone else, it is a way to stay close to Christ read back and see how he has worked through me, and the "you" sentences are directed specifically at me when I read them over again. Honestly, I need that sometimes, a straight call out or recall for encouragement, from someone I know and trust, me. "You" mustn't forget the reason behind your action or you have forgotten where you placed the heart.

This isn't a post on one issue there is a few things in there but I am not going to try to separate the issues, I am going to trust in God that He will provided what needs to be provided out of this to the reader, including , but, if I may be so blessed, not limited to myself.

I am, are you?

For my English class I had to write a paper to describe myself in 5 objects. We couldn’t use characteristic traits or desirable personality adjectives; this is not a E-date site quiz question. Anyways my paper is posted below, I found this assignment thought provoking on whom we are and how we betray ourselves. These are 5 objects that describe me what 5 objects are you…why?

I am a hanging Cross, a Bible that is being worn out, a simply ring, a receipt in the back of my draw, and I am a t-shirt. These are five things that I am, five things that best describes who I am. All of these things can be found on my body or in my room at anytime. This is because I believe what best represents who we are, are the things we represent.

I am a hanging cross above my bed, because it represents that the Lord is my peace and comfort. My nights are a little easier when I have that symbolic reminder that the Lord died for my sins, and I have nothing to fear. I keep my nights more restful by remembering what I have already received.

I am a Bible filled with highlighted verses, because it represents my commitment I made when I was saved. It documents the fact that I am constantly trying to bring glory to His name, with my mind body and spirit. For I know the inspired word of God brings great wisdom to the reader, and strengthens their Christian walk. It is for those reasons I can be found in the Bible on my desk.

I am a matching set of rings, because it represents the earthly relationship I am in with my girlfriend. I received this part of me from Lane, even before we went out, as a theatrical addition to our witty banter. However at that time it was just a metal loop colored white and gold, it didn’t become part of me in till much later. It became a representative of who I am, the day I realized the ring foreshadowed the relationship that was to come. I am the ring that holds many memories of Lane.

I am a nine year old crinkled receipt to target, because it represents my loyalty to my best friend of ten years, Michael. On me you will find the price of two remote controlled cars plus tax equals a lifetime of memories. Although my ink is faded if you look close enough you can still see the red and blue cars racing the home made tracks around my house. I am not the cars, for the cars are lost and broken, but I am the proof that, my memories are real.

I am a T-shirt with no name brand, because it represents the fact that I am not concerned with impressing a society that is impressed with money. I don’t put high value on money but I put an even lower value on the label on my t-shirts. I am a humble shirt purchased at good will, and proudly made in America. On my chest I don’t have a man on a horse or a check mark, but I have the words “sould out 4 Him” with a picture of a cross. I believe the material things that represent us should and do reflect our identities, our faith.

College and Career: Sermon

This is my College and Career outline, but before I go into that I want to apologies for not getting a post out sooner. As I said early the time between posts does not necessarily reflect my walk. This time it defiantly did not, I have so much that God has blessed me with that I haven’t shared yet but want to. I just didn’t listen to my own advice and I was waiting to have a huge block of time with nothing to do so I could work on my blog, because that’s one way I get closer to God. When I could have just done a little here or a little there, or not worry so much about how it reads, His word never comes back void, I am not writing a great American novel, I am sharing the love He bestowed on me.
Now, this is my outline for the first half of my sermon

The Steps of Trusting

I contemplated the theme of the message I was going to bring today switching several times form what it means to be a Christian, to Christmas day has past but the Spirit is not done and many other in between. Why? Why was it so hard for me to know what His will was and is for me to lead on? I was in pray about it, I am doing it to bring glory to His name so why is He not answering me?

Interactive: How many of you have been in a similar situation, wanting Gods guidance but not knowing where you are being lead, or having difficulty trusting Him and following Him? It is hard when our fleshly temptations contradict the spiritual nourishment we need, the flesh or the brokenness of this world is growing in power daily it seems. Even when we keep in mind the Spirit is always stronger if we utilize the strength the Lord gives us, because admittedly doing what we our called to do can be difficult at times, for it requires submitting ourselves to our deserving God. However I find this process can sometimes be just as difficult, if not more so when many of the options before you seem good and godly. That is why I was and am so diligent about my selection on what message to bring. It’s because it doesn’t always have to be a fight against right and wrong. It’s about doing our best to follow the path that He HAS guided for us. Is anyone willing to share their story of a time when you had a chose to make and you either chose to follow the Lords path or chose to ignore His guidance? It doesn’t have to be a life changing thing the truth is God is relevant to our entire life. Some may argue that if we add up all our daily chooses we make in a year and could somehow measure the impact it had against three of the biggest chooses in our life the daily chooses would make a larger impacted.
(Feel free to take time to answer this question with a comment, but I urge you to at least take time to think about the answer for yourself)

Alright now my question is what’s the difference, why do we listen to Him one time but not some other time? He always gives us the means to not only hear Him but obey Him as well. It ultimately comes down to trusting Him to be the Lord of your life if you truly trust Him then you will know His will is what’s best for you. It also helps to dive in to His word this verse popped in my head when I was activity trying to figure what to lead on “…You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities… Matthew 25:21 I didn’t remember the line verbatim, or where in the Bible I read it I just knew it was the inspired word of God, therefore the truth.

I know Jesus could do a much better job of explaining just how significant that single sentence is. I would like you to follow along as I read Parable of the Three Servants, and underline and write down things you find interesting about this chapter or any thoughts you may have on these verses.
Matthew 25:14-30

(At this point I proceeded to read Matthew 25:14-30 than lead a group discussion on it. I lead it similar to how Inner Varsity or IV runs. This method is to make observations about the text, interrupt the meaning and apply the text to our lives today. Unfortunately I left my copy of that at home because I hand write it.)