This Sunday at church, our pastor did the intro to our summer study - of 1 Corinthians 11-14 - about worship - coming together. He's going to cover why we worship certain ways etc. He covered 5 things that he wanted us to think about to start off, and choose one that we want or need or feel called to work on in our lives:
1 - I will make coming together a priority. The church needs me and I need the church. (1 Cor 12:27, Hebrews 10:25)
2 - I will come together with the proper recognition of God-given authority, and will not confuse the issues of submission and distinction. (1 Cor 11:3)
3 - I will come together for the purpose of unity, instead of for the purpose of self-gratification. (1 Cor 11:33, 12:12)
4 - I will come together ready to participate with my gift in an orderly fashion and motivated by love. (1 Cor 12:7, 13:13, 14:12)
5 - I will come together prepared - what God has done in me Monday through Sunday should strengthen the church on Sunday. (1 Cor 14:26)
I'm good with #s 1-4, but the one that stood out to me was #5. Meaning that, throughout the week, I need to be more in the word, preparing my heart. I'm not very good at that. Sometimes I am, but it's not always been the priority in my day-to-day life that it should be, or in our family's life. So, this week, I'm choosing to make it a priority. Jock's actually out of town this week at a conference for work, but Kaylen and I are reading the Bible most every night, and praying each night - which we'd done before but not regularly and deliberately - and the nightly we've always done, but was mostly just a memorized rhyme prayer that has lost its meaning somewhat over time.
Kaylen is just eating this up - she's so excited to be reading the Bible again. It's one of the first thing she asks me when we get in the van at daycare - rather than whether we can go out to eat or go to the park to play or play outside with the neighbor kids. A while back we'd read through her children's Bibles, but got through all three of them rather quickly, and they're starting to be a little juvenile for her already - she's growing up too fast! I really think she's ready for a "real" Bible. Yes, she asks what words mean, but that's OK - it'll increase her vocabulary too!
I'm also going to get started on another study for my own personal growth (but I'll blog about that soon, separately). The study book I'd ordered for myself finally came in, and when I went to pick it up today I also looked around for a couple books that would also help me with reading the Bible with Kaylen, rather than just randomly picking a place to read from... Well, I found a good devotional book for kids, and another great book on the shelf - 'Just for Me! the Bible.' I decided to do Kathy's challenge with Kaylen. We'll do that a couple evenings per week - with the reading and the activity, and the other devotional book a few other nights.
What are your plans this summer for worship and growth in your relationship with Christ? Any of those 5 things our pastor challenged us with ring a bell with you?
2 comments:
Lisa,
Long story short but Derek and I went to Peru on a mission trip 3 summers ago. I came back with such a sense of amazement at how the church there was truly the church I read about in the New Testament. (I literally saw over 100 people at a time say they wanted a relationship with Jesus.) The church was so deliberate in their faith; they really viewed people in light of eternity. Anyway, when we came back I felt like I needed to be more deliberate in my faith, by sharing every week with a large group of people what God was doing in my life every week. So for about two years now, I have emailed a group of probably 20 people every week telling them how I've experienced God that week. (Since I've started a blog, I also share essentially the same information on my blog. But I leave out anything too personal or prayer requests for specific people, things that I don't want just anyone reading.) It has really made me focus more on what is going on with me and God and it makes me take at least one day out of the week, where for at least a few minutes, I'm reflecting on my relationship with God. And I hope my emails help to show the way transparent Christian living is, still full of mistakes and doubts, but covered with grace and love. Anyway, the reason I say that is because that fits perfectly with your thoughts on the sermon. I don't know if that's something God wants you to do or not but I thought I'd tell you what I felt God wanted me to do.
And I'm glad you thought of Kathy's challenge for the summer, because I was reading your words, that's exactly what I was thinking of. I hope Kaylen enjoys it.
Kayla
Lisa,
Okay just looked at Kathy's blog. Kaylen looks like she is ready to explode with giddiness. Too cute!
Kayla
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