Anatomy of the Soul - Prayer and Our Restlessness

A Prayer Guide

1. Read psalm 62 Aloud

2. A Guide to Understanding Psalm 62

Psalm 62:1 is the thesis of the entire Psalm. It can be translated either “For God alone my soul waits in silence” (ESV) or “I am at rest in God alone” (CSB).  Using both translations we can summarize the message of the Psalm to the restless and anxious heart like this: “You can live from an inner calm, quiet and confidence in God no matter what is happening around you”. How is this possible?  

Where Rest is Found: Psalm 62 is a one of the Psalms of trust. These prayers of trust were written for times of restlessness; times when our faith feels shaky, faint and unstable. They ground us back onto the reality of what is. Remembering “what is” is so important during times of restlessness because underneath most of our restlessness and anxiety is the question – “What if…?” What if this happens? What if this doesn’t happen? What if people don’t like me? What if I fail? What if I lose my job? What if I underperform? To silence all the what if’s we need the Psalms of trust to remind us of what is.

Psalm 62 tells us, “Here is what is: Rest can be found. It’s found in God alone”. God is a rock – if your life is built on Him, you won’t be moved. He is a stronghold – if your life is lived in Him, nothing can get to you. He is salvation – if your life is in trouble, He can rescue you out of anything. If God is really these three things and we really believed them – we would always be at rest.

When Rest is Lost: Even though David believed at some level what he said about God in verses 1-2, in verses 3-4, he wasn’t experiencing the rest that should come from believing it. He lost it. He couldn’t silence all the “What if’s?” in his life. His security was being attacked and threatened. What if he wasn’t secure? His status (“position”) was being threatened, too. What if he lost his position as king? His strength was failing. He was a “leaning wall”, “a tottering fence”. What if he couldn’t hold up under the pressure? This is where David turned to prayer. But it was just any prayer – it was a pouring out of all his restlessness to God. He went into God (took refuge) and – even though his circumstances didn’t change – everything changed inside. He wrote Psalm 62 to help others find this rest.

How Rest is Recovered– David shares two key lessons he learned from his restlessness.

1.        When our faith is misplaced, we lose our rest (verses 9-10). David didn’t’ deny or fight through his restlessness on his own. Instead he admitted it and poured it all out to God. In prayer David realized human status and significance (whether “common” or “important”) is a vapor. Human strength is a false hope – it only leads to oppression and robbery to maintain control. If we set our hearts on wealth, it will never be enough. In bringing his restlessness to God in prayer, he saw clearly – none of these things could be trusted to give him rest. 

2.       When our faith is mixed, we lose our rest (verses 5-7) – David returns to what he said in verses 1-2. He preaches it to himself, “It’s in God alone that my soul is at rest!”. He had to tell himself (again) not to trust in anything but God. When the "What If's" became loud, he had to remember the “mathematics” of rest = Faith in God + nothing = rest; Faith in God + anything = restlessness. Whatever we add to God is what we are really looking to for rest. When we add to God, we are saying God isn’t enough. He’s not a stable enough rock, a strong enough fortress or powerful enough savior for us. David recovered his rest by trusting in God alone.

How Rest is Guarded – David concludes his prayer with a final emphatic reminder. He essentially says, “God had to tell me what He’s already told me so many times. It’s what I need to hear over and over again to guard against a restless heart.” It’s what God is shouting to us—power (strength) comes only from Him. Unfailing love (grace) comes only from Him. The power and grace of God come together at the cross. The cross is God shouting to us, “You can rest! My strength is for you (not against you!), my gracious love will never forsake you! You can trust me!”   

A Guide to Praying Psalm 62

Take time to silently listen to restlessness – Ask God to open, search, examine your heart. Listen to your restlessness and anxiety.

• Pray: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.” (Psalm 139:23

• St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.” Take time to reflect on where you are restless. What “what if’s” are noisy and loud in your heart? If you are in a group share these with the group.

Pour out your restlessness to God (verses 3-4, 8)

• Describe in detail the “what if’s” that are causing you to be restless and anxious. (Verses 3-4)

• If alone, write these things down in a journal.

Repent of misplaced and mixed faith (verses 9-10)

• Ask God to show you where you are looking for security, status, significance and strength. As you become aware, tell him where you are looking for these things.

• In prayer, remind yourself that no amount of approval, control or wealth can ever give you rest.

• Remind yourself of the fleeting and temporary nature of the rest these things can give.

Rest in God alone – (verses 5-8, 11)

• In prayer, place your faith in God alone. Use the descriptions of God in the Psalm to praise God for who He is in your specific situation:

o    Rock – Nothing can move Him. If He’s “my” rock, nothing can shake me.

o    Stronghold – Nothing can get through Him.  If He is “my” stronghold nothing can get to me that He doesn’t allow for his purposes.

o    Salvation – Nothing can stop Him from rescuing those who trust in Him. If He’s “my” salvation, there is no trouble he can’t get me through.

• Preach the gospel to your own soul (and to the souls of those in your group). Allow the gospel to shout to you in your restlessness and anxiety.

o    Ask God to help your unbelief, rehearse with gratitude these gospel realities:

1. My Security is in Jesus – Nothing can separate you from his love.

2. My Significance is in Jesus – You are just as loved, delighted in, righteous and glorious to God as Jesus, simply by faith alone.

3. My Strength is in Jesus – The power of Jesus is FOR you and is working all things for your good.

Anatomy of the Soul - Prayer and Our Anger

Read psalm 109 Aloud

A Guide to Understanding Psalm 109

(1) The Reality of Our Anger – The Psalms give us the full expression of human emotions. They take us into the sublime – to feelings of awe and joy. They also help us explore the parts of our soul we’d rather ignore; stuff like depression, anxiety, shame, and rage. A spirituality that didn’t help us deal with the hard parts of reality would be deficient. So the psalms speak to us. Here. Now. Right where we are. Not where we want to be or think we should be, but where we are. Many people will spend a lot of effort trying to make theological sense of why poems like this are in the Bible when the bigger theological problem is not that anger is in the Bible – it’s here among us, in our hearts.

(2) The Reason for Our Anger – Everyone is angry. Your anger may manifest in a variety of ways. For some, anger is like a nuclear bomb: hot, explosive, incinerating. For others, anger is a cold war. We withdraw, brood, nurse a critical attitude. It may be more aggressive or more passive. But it’s there. In all of us. A lot of the time. So what is anger? Anger could be described as a release of energy towards a perceived threat. It’s a destructive force. That might sound bad. But Scripture is full of passages that describe God’s anger. So how do we make sense of anger? Anger actually is a God-given capacity to humanity. Anger and getting angry is part of what it means to be made in God’s image. When God created Adam and Eve in Genesis, He made them with a sense of justice, right and wrong, good and evil. Anger is our capacity to get upset, to speak and act forcefully against problems, wrongs, and injustice. The problem is: rather than use our God-given ability to obliterate evil, Adam and Eve gave in to evil and so now our sense of justice is warped, skewed, and directed towards selfish purposes. So anger is rooted in God himself. We are made in God’s image with the capacity to release destructive energy to defend something good and destroy something evil. This might still make us uncomfortable but that probably says more about our social or economic position. The oppressed and the abused find the anger of God a comfort. Rather than a problem or theological conundrum, God’s anger makes him worthy of worship.

(3) The Resources in Our Anger – Psalm 109 gives us at least three resources in anger. First, it invites us to be angry. Paul actually commands Christians to “be angry” in Ephesians 4. Why? Because anger is rooted in God’s holiness. An absence of appropriate outrage in the face of evil is just as big of an ‘anger problem’ as expressing anger sinfully. Second, Psalm 109 calls us to pray angry. Look at v. 1. This is a prayer. David is not cursing his opponent to their face or insulting them in person. He’s talking to God. Praying your rage and your fury is an act of deep-seated trust. Third, Psalm 109 teaches us to limit our anger. In this psalm and in the historical record, David never takes vengeance into his own hands. We limit our anger by handing vengeance and retribution over to God.

(4) The Resolution to Our Anger – Psalm 109 offers a resolution to anger in the case of David. See first that the setting is a law court (vv. 6-7). It’s a public trial. The problem is that David’s accusers have committed a personal act of betrayal and are slandering David maliciously. He’s been betrayed by a close ally. But it’s not merely interpersonal, it’s also social. The betrayer has not shown kindness to the needy and suffering (v. 16). Note too that David is merely drawing on other parts of the Bible to inform his anger. Passages like Exodus 22:22-24 almost seem echoed here in Psalm 109. So how does David’s anger get resolved? Ultimately, David looks to the blessing of God in the face of human cursing (109:28). Where others’ condemn, God vindicates. In between Jesus’ ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit, Psalm 109 was a passage the church gave deep consideration. It shows us that even in the worst betrayal and false accusations, Jesus chose to take a curse on himself for the sake of his enemies. He received the just condemnation and absorbed God’s curse, so we could gain free vindication and hear God’s blessing.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.        What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.       Everyone is angry. How would you describe your experience with anger? Are you hot and explosive or cold and brooding? How has anger been modeled to you? How does Scripture help inform our anger?

3.        Anger happens when things go wrong. Describe what happens when things ‘go wrong’ for you? Maybe its someone else’s anger coming at you? What resources does Jesus give you?

4.       Anger is a destructive energy. How does it relate to our identity as image-bearers of a God who gets angry?

5.       Often times are anger goes wrong. Have you ever experienced anger going right? Describe what happened. What did you feel, think, or do? What was the outcome? What can constructive anger look like?

6.       Are there any “But-What-Abouts” rattling around in your thinking on anger? Share.

Anatomy of the Soul #2 - Prayer and Our Troubles

A Prayer Guide

1. Read psalm 77 Aloud

2. A Guide to Understanding Psalm 77

When Trouble Comes: Psalm 77 is a prayer for our times of trouble and stress in life. Verse 2 tells us the occasion for this prayer – “I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of trouble, I seek the Lord”. “Trouble” here can refer both to the outward cause of our trouble (challenging circumstances) and/or the inward experience of trouble (stress). This Psalm and many others show us that the day of trouble is also to be the day of prayer.  Many people struggle to speak their troubles aloud - instead choosing to keep it all inside. Psalm 77 teaches us our stress is not to be held inside and resisted; nor is it to relieved by distractions and pleasures – it is to be expressed to God aloud in prayers of lament. 

Lament goes beyond praying, “God! I’m in trouble! Get me out of this!” Lament is praying our troubles (or the troubles of others) to God. To lament is to describe the trouble we are facing and the feelings we have about our troubles to God. This is what the Psalmist does in verses 2-9. He speaks to God about his troubled soul, his struggle to pray and the questions that arise in his mind. Psalm 77 assures us God wants us to pray like this and he always hears the lament of those who seek Him in the day of trouble. 

When Prayer Brings More Trouble: There are many reasons we struggle with lament. One of the reasons is what happened here in this Psalm. When the Psalmist lamented aloud to God (just like he was taught to), what happened? He became more troubled. Prayer made things worse! He found no comfort (v2). He could only groan in weakness (v3). His troubles kept him awake at night and memories of better times brought more pain (v4-6).  When this happens, we think, “Prayer isn’t working! God isn’t listening!” But there’s an assumption we are making in our distress. It goes like this - if God doesn’t fix my circumstances or my troubled emotional state, He must not hear me. If God was listening, He would end my trouble! He’d end my stress!

Psalm 77 challenges this assumption. It shows us that before God deals with our troubles, He often wants to deal first with us. He doesn’t just want to bring us out of trouble; He wants to teach us in our trouble. This was true for Jesus: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered (Hebrews 5:7,8). There are some things we can only learn through lament. We learn God doesn’t exist to obey us; we exist to obey Him. We learn reverence for God and his will. He can be trusted even in our troubles.

How Prayer Brings Us Through Trouble – For a time, prayer brought more grief and trouble, but the Psalmist didn’t stay there. There is a dramatic shift in this prayer that begins in verse 10. The prayer moves from a meditation inward to a meditation outward. In verses 2-9, the first person (inward) meditation dominates (my trouble, my hand, my soul, my eyelids, my song I used to sing, my heart, my spirit, etc). This is the hard but important work of lamentation. But it’s not enough. We need to get outside of ourselves and our troubling circumstances and emotions. This happens when we make the shift to outward meditation on who God and what he has done.

In verses 11-12, the Psalmist says, I will remember the Lord’s works, yes I will remember your wonders of old, I will ponder all your work and meditate on your mighty works.” He turns his mental, emotional and spiritual energy to God and his redemptive actions in history. This takes him to the greatest act of redemption in the OT – the exodus. He “prays himself there” – seeing God’s power deliver his people. In meditation on God’ act of redemption, these things became real to him:

• God is more powerful than my troubles and feelings. (He is above the storm v16-17)

• God makes a path through my troubles. (Your way went through the sea v19)

• God is present with me in my troubles, even when we can’t see him (your footprints were unseen v19)

The Exodus was the greatest act of redemption the Psalmist knew of but we know of an even greater act of redemption – the redeeming work of Jesus. The gospel is the definitive place for us to look to remember who God is and what he does. Here’s what redemptive/gospel meditation might look like:

• Jesus came into the world of trouble. He bore all the troubles of humanity and our greatest trouble on the cross (our sin and separation from God). God is present with me in my troubles.

• The tomb is empty. If all the sin, the curse, the forces of evil and death cannot stop God’s redeeming power, nothing can stop his loving purpose for me. God is more powerful than my troubles and feelings

• The worst day in human history became the best day in human history. The day of darkness and evil became the day of deliverance and life. God made a way through the most impossible situation, the worst trouble of all! He turned the tables on sin and evil!  God will make a path through my troubles.

In prayer, God brings us out of our troubles through meditation on the gospel. Gospel meditation is “praying ourselves there” - into the story of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We fix our hearts, minds and souls on the solid truth of all of who Jesus is and all he did for our redemption. Even in our hardest day of trouble, these things will never change.

A Guide to Praying Psalm 77

1. Opening Prayers – Ask God to open, search, examine your heart. Ask God to help you see and speak your troubles aloud to Him.

• “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23, 24) “Help me see what’s happening in my own heart. Help me be honest about what’s there.”

2. Inward Meditation – Lament (verses 2-9)

• Begin with an affirmation of trust – “We cry to you God because you hear us.” (v1)

• Describe your troubling circumstances to God. Use detail and imagery. Don’t worry that “God already knows.” Tell him all about it.

• Describe your troubling emotions to God. Use detail, use imagery, tell God what you are feeling and don’t hold back - be real and reverent at the same time.

• Articulate the tensions you feel between God’s character and promises and your situation. Use verses 7-9 as a sample.

3. Outward Meditation – Gospel Mediation (verses 10-20)

• Affirm the holiness and greatness of God. Worship him that He is above you, greater than you and far above your understanding.

• Pray yourself into the story of Jesus. Open up one of the gospels, if needed. Meditate aloud on his coming, his life, the cross, the resurrection and the ascension.

• Pray the truth of the gospel into your troubles (examples):

  • Since you experienced suffering even from birth, Jesus, you know my troubles!

  • On the cross, you felt what’s it’s like to be alone in the dark. You took on the stress of sin and the trouble of the world! I cast my trouble to you!

  • Jesus, You overcame the world. You broke the power of sin and death. One day you will end all troubles. Break the hold of my trouble over me! Give me hope to endure.

  • ALSO – Through the lens of the gospel, we can look back at the Exodus or other moments in Scripture of God acting to redeem and rescue his people. Praying ourselves into these mighty acts of God take on even greater significance as we see them fulfilled in the gospel.

Anatomy of the Soul #1 - Prayer & Confession

PRAYER AND CONFESSION

A Prayer Guide

Read psalm 32 Aloud

A Guide to Understanding Psalm 32

The alternative to confession: In our time, most people think they can get along fine in life without a healthy “confession system”. The idea of sin is viewed as outdated, prudish and stifling. According to this line of thinking, it’s healthier for people to do away with the idea of sin rather than regularly confess it. But in Psa. 32 David shares his experience of choosing this alternative to confession. He chose not to acknowledge his sin, to conceal it and keep silent about it. What happened? Verses 3-4 vividly describe the effects - David’s spiritual energy, life and vitality were drained. He carried a weight around that affected him emotionally, physically and spiritually. What did he learn? The alternative to confession is to keep our sin to ourselves - to keep inside where it eats away at our soul.

The nature of confession: We might think the feeling of humiliation and shame that comes from admitting sin and wrongdoing is worse than keeping it inside and trying to move on with life – but this isn’t true. David says he finally realized what was happening, so he confessed his transgressions to the Lord and God forgave the “sinfulness of his sin” (v5). Confession breaks the silence. Confession is telling God (out loud) specifically how we fell short, strayed or rebelled against His will. David’s experience of God’s readiness to forgive all who confess resulted in a profound insight (verse 6). He says a faithful person is a person who prays “immediately” (also translated, “in a time of finding”). A faithful person breaks the cycle of long periods without confession. They come immediately to God in honesty. Instead of hiding their sin, they hide in God (v7) and they find that God is ready to protect them and surround them with joyful shouts of His saving love (not shouts of condemnation!). Those who learn to confess quickly and sincerely find confession gradually breaks them of their pride and stubbornness. They become humble and responsive to God’s instruction and guidance in life (verse 8) and less like a horse or mule that only come close by force (verse 9). 

The Results of Confession – The results of true confession are forgiveness and joy. Psalm 32 begins with joy (v1-2) and ends with joy (v11). Psalm 32 is David’s “teaching prayer” that reveals the unexpected source of joy in the human soul. What we thought would bring shame, scolding and spiritual gloominess (admitting our sin) instead brings shouts of celebration, happiness and the sunshine of God’s favor. If this is true, why we do sometimes feel unmoved when we ask for God to forgive us? We can ask ourselves two questions about this: 1) Do I assume forgiveness? Assumed forgiveness minimizes sin and sees it as God’s “job” to forgive us. We don’t feel the ugliness, seriousness or weight of what we’ve done. We say a quick prayer. What we’ve done is not that bad compared to others anyway. Assumed forgiveness won’t bring us joy. 2) Do I accept forgiveness? We confess our sin but we then we try to make up for it and beat ourselves up over our sin. We want to pay. We deserve it. We should have done better. This is unaccepted forgiveness. It magnifies our sin; making it bigger than God’s grace. Unaccepted forgiveness won’t ever bring us joy.

The confession that brings joy never assumes forgiveness and fully accepts forgiveness on the basis of God’s promise. A closer look at the source of joy in verses 1-2 helps us see how this happens. The word “forgiveness” (v1) doesn’t mean overlooking or excusing sin, it means sin is borne or lifted away. Our sins don’t simply vanish, there must be a sin bearer. Our sin also must also be accounted for (v2). The sin that is in my “account” must be charged somewhere. In Romans 4, the apostle Paul quotes Psalm 32:1-2 to show how it is possible that a confessing sinner can be called “righteous” (v11). Because Jesus bore all our sin and was charged with all our debt, by faith in Him we are credited his righteousness as a gift. The gospel shows us how all three of these things come together every time we confess: 1) the seriousness of our sin 2) the cost of our forgiveness 3) the completeness of our forgiveness.  Whenever these 3 things come together to drive us to Jesus – we experience the joy of confession.

A Guide to Praying Psalm 32

1. Opening Prayers – Ask God to search and examine your heart.

• “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23, 24)

• “Help me see my sin for what it is. Help me see Jesus for all of who He is for me in the gospel.”

2. Praise God for who He is and what He has done, is doing and promises to do using the language of the Psalm as a “springboard”.

• Praise him for his forgiving mercy. (v1-2)

• Praise him for His holiness and love expressed in his perfect will and commands to us.

• Praise him using the imagery of the Psalm – He is a hiding place, protector, a deliverer (v7), He is a God of joy, who seeks our joy (v11), He wants to surround us with his faithful (covenant) love (v10).

3. Confess things that have been weighing on your heart and draining your soul (verses 3-4)

• Acknowledge ways you have fallen short (sin), gone astray (iniquity), rebelled (transgression

• Express the ways sin affects you, your inner life and your relational life.

• Confess your pride. How you live like a stubborn mule (v9)

4. Thank God and rejoice in the specific ways Jesus lifted away your sin by bearing it himself. Rehearse your forgiveness until you “feel” it (verses 1-2).

• “Thank you that Jesus, the perfect and innocent One, bore my sin on the cross. Thank you that he bore every sin I ever committed or will commit!”

• Rejoice that God charged your sin to Jesus’ account and Jesus’’ righteousness to your account.

• Rejoice that God doesn’t see you as a sinner but as covered in the perfection, worthiness and beauty of Jesus’ righteousness.

5. Ask God to guide you away from fleeting joys of sin and into the greater joys of obedience (v8, 11)

• Ask God to give you the humility to receive his instruction, guidance and counsel on how to keep away from the specific sin(s) you have confessed.

• Ask God to make your heart soft and ready to confess your sin “immediately” and not wait until His heavy hand of Fatherly discipline compels you to confession.

Blueprint Vision #4 - Going Out on Mission

READ – Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3

2019 VISION PART 4 - GOING OUT ON MISSION

Antioch was where followers of Jesus of Nazareth were first called “Christians.” Of all the churches we read about in the book of Acts, the church at Antioch may be the community that gives us the fullest picture about what Christianity is all about and what it means to follow Jesus whether you’re living  in the first century or the 21st century. A defining trait of Jesus-followers in Acts is seen in the act of sending/being sent. Christians are those who are sent; they are on mission.

1. THE LOGIC FOR MISSION

The modern West is a post-Christian, post-truth, post-everything culture. Any conversation about mission has to take both the abuses of mission and the concerns of our neighbors seriously. The reality is that the idea of mission or the identity of being a missionary gets bad press in today’s social and political climate. For many people, the command of Jesus’ Great Commission – that His followers would go into their neighborhoods, work places, and all nations sharing the gospel is naïve, shallow, and extreme. To say, “If you don’t believe my way, then you are spiritually sick, lost, and need saving” is considered narrow-minded.

But imagine having a friend who shows symptoms of a disease you once had and beat. You know it’s life-threatening, the remedy required to bring wholeness, the effort needed to see the right doctor and receive the right treatment. What should you do? If you’re a good friend, there will be a dynamic of both love and truth in your interactions with them. You will be on mission to gently persuade them to turn to the cure. If you only loved them but didn’t know the cure, you couldn’t be on mission. Likewise, if you knew the cure, but didn’t love them, you wouldn’t be on mission.

When Christianity is dismissed as being narrow, what people really mean is: “I don’t agree with your cure.” Everyone agrees that there is something wrong with the world, some ailment that needs healing, or brokenness that requires repair. We all have views on where people need to turn in order to be saved. For early Christians, the cure, the remedy, the solution was “turning to the Lord” (Acts 11:21).  The Christian story is that God made us and even in spite of our turning away from Him engaged in a rescue mission by sending His Son to save us and remake the world. Jesus is Lord. Because that’s true, it’s the only cure for what’s wrong. That’s the logic for mission.

2. THE SHAPE OF MISSION

There were three marks of the church community in Antioch.  

First, they were a learning community. We see in Acts 11:25, 27 and Acts 13:1 that this church was characterized by teaching people, prophets communicating God’s truth, multi-ethnic leadership guiding early Christians. Why? Because believing in Jesus opens up whole new avenues for deeply learning about all of life through the lens of the gospel. If Jesus is Lord, now we have to work out the implications of that reality for our lives, money, family, work, relationships, and sexuality. None of it can be left untouched by Jesus’ lordship. We have to learn and re-learn what it means that all authority in heaven and earth belongs to Jesus.

We also have to learn our neighbors. There’s a subtle yet significant difference between Acts 8 and Acts 11. In both chapters, we see that persecution led to mission both to Samaritans and Greeks. In Acts 8 and Samaria, the Jesus-followers share “the Christ” (Acts 8:5) or the Messiah (a more technical, Old Testament title for the coming rescuer). But in Acts 11, the believers are sharing the “Lord Jesus.” Greeks and Romans would have had little to no understanding or expectation of a Messiah, and so the early Christians learned how to intelligently and winsomely share their faith by learning the language of the culture.

Second the church at Antioch was a sharing community. Acts 11:27-30 (which we looked at in more detail last week) is all about how early Christians viewed compassionate action in the community as central to the church’s mission. But if you look closely at the character of Barnabas you see a follower of Jesus who was willing to build up others, decrease so that others would increase, concern himself with the reputation of others and not himself. In short, Barnabas shared his influence, his gifts, his money, his reputation, his power in order to better someone else. Imagine what it would look like if all followers of Jesus did the same in our families, cul de sacs, classrooms, job sites, and offices?

Third, the church was a listening community. To listen intently – to listen with an attitude of humility and openness, is an act of love. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German theologian, pastor, and resistance fighter in Nazi Germany) wrote that “...often Christians, especially preachers, think that their only service is always to have to ‘offer’ something when they are together with people. They forget that listening can be a greater service than speaking.” Maybe the best service, the best way we can be on mission in the 21st century is to listen, listen, and then listen so more. Before you can speak the Word of God to people, you need to listen with the ears of God.

3. THE ENGINE IN MISSION

What was the fuel, the engine that kept mission going in the city of Antioch? What can keep us pressing on in mission with family, friends, and neighbors? The engine won’t be obedience to a command. We need a reality that will both humble us and energize us to keep our identity as “sent” people at the forefront of our imagination.

First we need to remember that this is Jesus’ mission. It’s His. It belongs to him and he’s invited you to join. In Acts 1, Luke writes that his first volume (the gospel of Luke) “dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach” That means Jesus is still on mission. He’s still active. He is still doing and teaching. It means he is the driver of mission, not us.

The second reality is seen in Acts 11:21. Luke records that “the Lord’s Hand was with them.” Luke is borrowing a phrase that occurs all over the Old Testament. Throughout Scripture you read that God’s Hand was either with someone or against them. The takeaway is that Jesus was with them.  The greatest catalyst and engine for you as you befriend your neighbors, as you disciple your kids, as you pour your energy into your work to help make the world a better place – it’s that Jesus’ Hand is with you. The phrase also implies that it wasn’t just that Jesus was providing them with a little push or support, but that these Christians were joining with Jesus on the frontlines. I think that’s the deepest motive for mission – simply being with Jesus where he is.

And the good news is that we join with Jesus on this side of Calvary – so the hands that are with you bear the scars of the cross, the place where the mission was accomplished, the victory won, the work was finished. See the Lord’s Hand was with them and it is with you because it was against Jesus. He took the justice for our apathy, our isolation, our callousness, and he took that all in His Hand so that we could receive His hand in love. Let’s remember this good news for ourselves and then go tell someone else.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.        What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?

2.       How would you define the “mission” of Christianity? How do you fit into that mission?

3.        The mission isn’t just about talking and doing, but learning and listening. What might be a way that you could better learn from and listen to friends who don’t believe the same things you do?

4.       When was the last time you shared the good news of Jesus with someone? Are we doing a good job “gossiping the gospel” among ourselves as a church community? How might we grow in sharing the gospel with each other and outsiders?