Currently Reading The Divine Conspiracy : Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God By Dallas Willard see related

The entries below are in order of the newest class to the oldest class.  It is STRONGLY recommended that you start at the beginning and work your way up the pages.  The content of this class builds on each other.

The actual layout of the class follows Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5-7, using a funnel as the guide.  Getting the early stuff "worked out" makes the later stuff make sense.

Currently Listening I See Things Upside Down By Derek Webb see related

Lyrics from song played at the end of the final class.

i see things upside down
(words and music by derek webb)

what looks like failure is success
and what looks like poverty is riches
when what is true looks more like a knife
it looks like you’re killing me
but you’re saving my life

chorus
but i give myself to what looks like love
and i sell myself for what feels like love
and i pay to get what is not love
and all just because i see things upside down

what looks like weakness can do anything
and what looks like foolishness is understanding
when what is powerful has not come to fight
it looks like you’re going to war
but you lay down your life

chorus
what looks like torture is a time to rejoice
what sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
when what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
and i say i don’t know you
but you say it’s finished
when what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
and i say i don’t know you
but you say it’s finished

Currently Reading The Divine Conspiracy : Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God By Dallas Willard see related

Condemnation, Judging, Asking, & Consequences of Missing Parts 1-5
7/20/2005
Condemnation, Judging, and Asking
Matthew 7:1-7:6
Subject: Trying to manage or control those closest to us by blaming and condemning them and spoon feeding them our solutions to their problems

::Log in front of eyes demo::

the board to remove is condemnation, which screws up correction and advice

For this teaching to work, anger, contempt, etc must already be taken out of the heart

Judge not – become the king of person who doesn’t want to criticize others for their failures

Condemn – communicating to someone that they are, in a deep and unfixable way, so bad they should be rejected

X: Bring guy up – pretend he flirts too much with girls & ask the class how it should be handled

How to Correct Others

1) Be 100% sure of the sin – any doubt at all ends any chance at being able to correct
2) Only spiritually mature correct (Galatians 6:1 – “If anyone is caught in a sin, the spiritual ones among you correct him”)
3) Correction is not about “fixing them,” but exposing what will happen if they don’t change & bring them back on the path of Jesus – to restore
4) The correcting person exits the situation and knows they won’t commit the same error (to remove problems with thinking they are better than the corrected)
                  X: It was said of St. Dominic of the 13^th century “He convicted and corrected offenders with gentleness and kindness in such a way that no one was upset, even though the penances were sometimes severe”

Pigs & Dogs – Matthew 7:6

This passage is not about Old McDonald’s farm, but about pushing the things of God on people whether they are ready for them or not

Paraphrase: Don’t give dogs something sacred to eat or try to feed pearls to pigs!

The fact is, there are some people not worthy of caring for spiritual nuggets or advice you have, and it isn’t what they need

            X: brand new Christian girl and we tell her to stop dressing how she does because its impure, even though she doesn’t even know what purity is!

Be wise as a serpent (timely and precise) and harmless as a dove (innocent and genuine – looking out for the person’s future) – Matthew 10:16

The Request – Matthew 7:7-7:11

Approach correction by making a request, not an order

            X: Back to boy that first

After the request, offer to truly help them to make the change – even through a long process

Golden Rule – Matthew 7:12

Only way this works is if you do it with confidence in God because you see others humbly

The only way any kind of relationship truly works as if Jesus is in the center of it

            Relationships that are only spiritual are dangerous – have your XBOX, HBO, and slumber party friends

            They aren’t a friend unless you can laugh with them

The Recap/Consequences of Missing Funnel Parts 1-5 – Matthew 7:13-7:27

4 Illustrations of the Right Path

1) Narrow Gate
           the way of the kingdom lifestyle with a renovated heart is a long, challenging path

2) Trees & sheep
           be weary of hanging with Christians who look like they “have it together,” but if you pay attention more to what they do than say, you realize they are manipulators

3) Deeds & following
           don’t get so into the spiritual bling bling that you are following yourself and your dreams rather than Jesus
           even those that bring miracles can miss out on everything

4) Houses on rocks or sand
           follow these 3 chapters and your life will be so founded and grounded that you’ll be an enigma to the world

 Matthew 7:28 – after all this class, I can’t help but be astonished at how different we are to live

 ::Play and pray “I see things upside down”::

Currently Reading The Divine Conspiracy : Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God By Dallas Willard see related

The Lord's Prayer Revamped

Note: These are not to simply be recited, but prayed through – with each portion addressed.

Dallas Willard Paraphrase

Dear Father always near us,

May your name be treasured and loved,

May your rule be completed in us –

May your will be done here on earth

In just the way it is done in haven.

Give us today the things we need today,

And forgive us our sins and impositions on you

As we are forgiving all who in any way offend us.

Please don’t put us through trials,

But deliver us from everything bad.

Because you are the one in charge,

And you have all the power,

And the glory too is all yours – forever –

Which is just the way we want it!

“Christian Lifestyle” Paraphrase

Father, who is always near us,

We pray that your Name be sanctified and respected.

May your kingdom take over,

And your way absorb this world,

Just like you reign in Heaven.

We request that you give us everything we’ll need for today!

Please don’t punish us for the things we have done wrong,

And we forgive those who have done wrong things to us or made us angry.

Spare us from bad things that might happen to us,

For we are human and want to live as you wish!

For you are in command, are all powerful, and always will be – which is awesome!

Currently Reading The Divine Conspiracy : Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In God By Dallas Willard see related

R4 – Reputation and Wealth

7.13.05

::Recap::

Two things that block a life constantly interactive with God

1)      Desire to have approval of others (especially for being devout)

2)      Desire to secure ourselves by means of material wealth

Reputation

Serving (Matthew 6:1-6:4)

Desire for having a religious reputation focuses on actions, rather than the heart behind them

            X: Matthew 23:5-23:7

This verse doesn’t say to hide your deeds, but don’t do a deed with the intent of it being seen

Intent is determined by what you expect to result

            X: if you serve Sarah so she sees you do it, you’ll get your reward on Earth

            Colossians 3 à do all you do as unto the Lord

3 Illustrations (not laws)

1) Offerings (Matthew 6:2-6:4) – in Greek culture, hypocrite meant “actor”

            left hand know what right hand does à don’t mentally invest a lot into doing good for others

                        if you have a right heart, it will simply flow from you

                                    x: “Your attention please – I am giving ___ a quarter right now!”

2) Prayer (Matthew 6:5-6:8) – don’t seek to look like a strong Christian to others by praying in public

            if you’re more concerned with how you look in praying, how can God answer what you say when what you really desire is a parade for your ability to pray?

            Real Christians pray with the same heart in secret and out à 6:6

            6:7 – prayer is not a mechanical process, but intelligent conversation about matters of mutual concern

3) Fasting (6:16-6:18) – when you fast, relax and act like you normally would!

            Kingdom people learn how to properly fast (Matthew 4:4 – bread alone/every word that precedes form mouth of God)

            When you fast, as John 4 teaches, you aren’t being deprived of food, just consuming a different type

            We don’t do as much fasting around here as we should, so problems with it haven’t developed like Jesus was dealing with

Wealth

Treasures (Matthew 6:19-6:24)

Treasures are what we try to keep because we value them (i.e. the message I preached at MYC)

Treasures go beyond money to things like reputation, material goods, relationships with others, our school, our job, etc

Jesus explains in this passage that no matter what your treasure, it isn’t eternal

            Invest your life in what God is doing because it is a treasure that transcends earth

Eye (Matthew 6:22-6:23)

What Jesus is saying here isn’t to never be seen doing something holy – that’s impossible if you’re to spread the gospel!

            If your heart is renovated, when you see things in life, you assess them for their true worth – as finite or infinite

                        ::Be transformed from inside out – mask demo::

::Camp fallout – everyone feels “out of place::

Two Masters (6:24)

We often make the mistake of seeing things with eyes we think are holy, but with an unrenovated heart

This causes us to serve two masters- two ultimate goals

            X: “I’ll be a Christian, but even though God told me to be a missionary, I’d rather be a lawyer like my parents want me to.”

            X: those that want to be in the ministry, don’t push your way there – “your gift will make room for you.”

The Fallout – Anxiety (6:25-6:34)

Word “therefore” connects the issue of treasures to anxiety

The reason we get frustrated about what we eat or wear or our height or our image to others is because we set our eyes on things on earth, not on things above (Colossians 3:2)

Some of the planet’s coolest people are, well, old

            They may not have the amazing highlights, the Mustang, or the HDTV, but they have a quality in their soul

This explains why 6:33 goes back and says to seek first the kingdom – if your aim is the things of God, He’s cool enough to make sure the rest falls into place

::Show student examples of people who aren’t “trendy” but have quality souls

You’ll notice we skipped the Lord’s prayer – in order to make everything fit into 5 weeks, this was the only option I had

Next week – Lord’s prayer & Chapter 7