Series: Salt & Light – 8: “Poetry & Prose from Jesus”

John 14:15-21

1. for the past several weeks we’ve been talking about what kinds of things we need to give ourselves to in order to be the salt of the earth & the light of the world:
® need to be filled with the Holy Spirit
® deal with our sin through confession & repentance
® proskartereo (devote) ourselves to Scripture, community, worship & prayer

2. Kristin Payne share…

3. today I want to talk about cultivating our relationship with Jesus. What does that mean, a relationship with Jesus? I/we believe that:
® Jesus God’s Son was born as a human being
® he lived, taught, healed, loved, called followers, set people free, ushered in the kingdom of God
® he died on the cross in our place to provide us with salvation
® he arose from the dead, is alive today, lives in our lives by His Spirit
® we have to say ‘yes’ to Jesus and invite him into our lives as our Savior & Lord
® then we have a connection to him, a personal relationship with him
® and like all relationships our relationship with Jesus has to be worked on
This is what I want to talk about his morning – working on our relationship with Jesus.

4. Jesus in John 14:21: whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

Almighty God, we can’t unless you do. We can’t truly understand your words about love and obedience and Jesus disclosure unless you illuminate our minds & hearts. Cause your Word to penetrate our minds, flood our hearts & move our wills. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

1. let’s dive right in. John 14:21 teaches us that we show our love for Jesus by obeying his commands – whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.

2. And more than this, the reward of our command-obeying love is this – Jesus shows himself to us: I will show myself to him.

3. the test of love is obedience AND the reward of love is the self-manifestation of Christ to us.

4. this is one of the most important ways we can work on our relationship with Jesus – follow his teaching. Live the life he lays out for us in the gospels.

5. Jesus reveals himself to his lovers. Who are his lovers? Those who obey his teaching. Not just those who have his teaching (14:21a). But act on what they have:
® words shift to action
® belief moves to behavior
® confession swings to duty
® faith gives way to works

6. Jesus is saying – words are cheap but actions talk.

poetry – prose
1. this week I listened to a fascinating discussion on NPR comparing the campaigns of Barak Obama & Hillary Clinton. The commentators were a political analyst & a professor of speech & rhetoric.

2. the statement was made – campaigning is poetry, governing is prose. Campaigning is poetry means campaigning is about vision, dreams, narrative, metaphor, alliteration & inspiration. Poetic language that captures people’s imaginations.

3. governing is prose means governing is about a plan of action, strategic steps, programs that will make a difference.

4. the statement was made – Obama is wining right now because he is a master at poetry while Clinton’s strength is prose. It’s the difference between I have a dream & I have a plan.

5. the key to strong leadership is coherence – turning your poetry into prose. Some leaders have poetry but no prose. Others have prose but no poetry. Rare is the leader whose poetry is translated into a plan that is workable.

6. Jesus is that kind of leader – all throughout the gospels he turns his poetry into prose.

7. John 14:21 is poetry. Jesus is casting a vision of what it means to love him. He is seeking to inspire obedience. He is painting a picture of the kind of follower he promises to reveal himself to.

8. but much of his teaching is prose. Poetry put to action. The commands of Jesus are the teachings of Jesus. For example I want to take you to 2 places in the gospels where the prose/plan of Jesus is made crystal clear.

Luke 6:27-31
1. I read this in my Wednesday morning Bible reading. This is prose, plan, the commands of Jesus. Doing this stuff is how we demonstrate our love for Jesus.

2. listen to the prose –
® love your enemies
® do good to those who hate you
® bless those who curse you
® pray for those who mistreat you

3. and if that’s not enough, keep reading –
® turn your other cheek
® let loose of your tunic
® give to those who ask
® do to others as you want them to do to you

4. this is how we show our love for Jesus. We activate his teaching. We live it out in our relationships.

Matthew 25:31-46
1. here’s more salt & light – the way we treat the…
® hungry
® thirsty
® stranger
® in need of clothing
® sick
® prisoner

2. and the punch line of Jesus’ teaching – I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me (25:40). Two things out of the mouth of Jesus that should startle us, grab out attention.

3. 1st he calls the needy of the world his brothers & sisters. No qualifications except that of need. Anglo + African American + Hispanic + Chinese + Serbian + Palestinian + Iraqi + Cuban. Male + female + married + single + adult + child + teenager + divorced + homeless + sober + not sober.

4. for the last 3 years of my brother Tom’s life he held up a sign asking for money to buy food at the corner of State Street & Glenwood in Boise. I would like to think that when people gave him money they were doing it for Christ & to the Christ who identified with Tom in his need.

5. 2nd he says that whenever we serve the needy we are serving him. I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me (25:40,45). In both a mysterious & plain manner, when we give food to the hungry at our Food Panty we are actually giving food to Christ.

When we raise $54,000 for Habitat for Humanity to provide homes for the working poor in our community we are actually giving Christ a home.

When we get behind the mission of The Canby Center we will actually be touching Christ in every man, woman & child the Center touches.

When we send a team of youth & adults to Mexico in June to work in an orphanage, we will be serving Christ in each of the orphans we love touch help & serve.

Wrap-up
1. and best of all we will be showing Christ that we really really love him! The test of love is obedience.

2. and better yet, the reward of love is the self-manifestation of Christ to us. What does this mean?

3. Christ will become bigger & larger to us. We will see him more clearly. We will hear his voice more convincingly. We will understand his heart w/ increasing passion.



Music i listened to while sermonizing – the beatles; chris tomlin; gateway worship; charlie hall; david crowder band;

Books i read & studied while sermonizing – the intimate merton by thomas merton; lent and easter: wisdom from thomas merton by jonathan montaldo; the living church by john stott; the new christians by tony jones

Series: Salt & Light – 7: “The Breaking of Bread and Prayers”

Acts 2:42-47

The breaking of bread and prayer. Read Acts 2:42-47

Dear God, we want to live in a manner that is pleasing to you. We truly want to live like your followers. Right now speak into our lives through your Scriptures. Send your Holy Spirit to illumine us, inspire us, teach us, and convict us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

1. the breaking of bread. My favorite bakery is located 1 block from my favorite bookstore, Powell’s City of Books. The Pearl Bakery opened its doors in 1997 & today is known as one of the finest artisan bakeries in Portland.

2. my favorite is their Pain Au Levain, a sourdough bread made in the traditional French style using Levain – a culture of flour & water in which wild yeast and flavor-producing bacteria naturally occur. The result is bread that has a dense crumb, chewy crust & slightly sour flavor.

3. the breaking of bread.

4. the prayers. The 1st prayer book I bought (I now have 13) cost me $3 in 1982 – The Book of Common Prayer. I was a student at Fuller Seminary. The common part intrigued me, common meaning to be used with others.

5. occasionally I would skip chapel & slip off to All Saints Episcopal Church for their mid-morning prayer service. Normally there was just a hand-full of us, the presiding priest & the prayers from The Book of Common Prayer. These were rich times for me, a chance to turn the theology I was studying into living prayers.

6. the prayers.

Proskartereo
1. a little review from last week. Those who were filled with the Spirit on Pentecost devoted themselves to teaching, community, breaking of bread, prayer. Devoted translates the Greek word proskartereo which means steadfast, carry on, continue in. It’s a word of commitment. It bleeds discipline.

2. I gave 3 examples of proskartereo –
® early morning coffee guys at Thriftway
® early morning coffee guy Paulblo
® Rick the swimmer at the Canby pool

3. we have 2 things coming together in Acts 2 – the Divine & the human. The Divine – all of them were filled with the Spirit (2:4). The human – they devoted themselves. Their devotion, their proskartereo-ing was empowered by the Holy Spirit.

4. we can’t live this life of following Christ without God’s help. And the work of God requires our best effort, best discipline.

5. are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Do you have an discipline in your life when it comes to spiritual practices?

6. last week I covered the apostles’ teaching & fellowship – this week the breaking of bread & prayer.

The breaking of bread
1. the breaking of bread is a reference to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The 1st Christ-followers met in homes for worship. Church buildings came 300 years later. Worship revolved around a shared meal. The Old Testament Scriptures & the teaching of Christ were shared. Praise was offered up. Prayers were prayed. Dishes & leftovers were moved aside & the wine & bread were brought out to remember the life, death & resurrection of Christ for our salvation.

2. this appears to be a daily practice. Communion not once a month or once a week but once a day. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and at together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God…

7. the breaking of bread means a meal/worship service that exalted Christ.

the prayers
1. Acts 2:42 literally reads the prayers. Most scholars believe that this refers to public, corporate prayer, the prayers of the gathered church.

2. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. NOT for offering sacrifices for Christ himself was their sacrifice for sin. BUT to pray the Jewish prayers that had been prayed for hundreds of years centered upon the Psalms.

3. one day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer – at three in the afternoon (3:1). They were going to pray the afternoon prayers.

4. the Spirit-filled 1st church was devoted to corporate prayer and worship that centered upon the Lord’s Supper. The breaking of bread and prayer.

enlarging the picture
1. a closer reading of this description of the Spirit-filled 1st church reveals the following about their worship: 1st it was formal & informal; 2nd it was reverent & joyful.

1st worship is formal and informal:
2. daily they gathered in the temple courts for worship. The 1st believers did not immediately abandon the temple or institutional worship. They attended the more traditional, structured, formal prayer services of the temple.

3. today we would say the followed the liturgy – they prayed at set hours & prayed set prayers.

4. but they also gathered in one another’s homes. They ate meals together & celebrated the Lord’s Supper as they did so. There was a freedom of structure in this informal setting. This would have been a small group experience.

5. we find in Acts 2 both formal & informal gatherings, large group at the temple & small groups in their homes.

2nd worship is reverent and joyful:
1. everyone was filled with awe. Awe could easily be translated fear. This seems to include both Christ-followers & non-Christ-followers.

2. God had visited their city. He was in their midst. He had poured out his Spirit upon them. Miracles were rolling off the fingers of the apostles.

3. awe & fear settled upon the people. Everyone Luke writes. And they responded to him in humility and wonder.

4. next they broke break in their homes with glad & sincere hearts, praising God.

5. Glad translates a verb that means an exuberant expression of joy! God sent his Son into the word. He has now sent his Spirit into the hearts of his people. They are elated, jubilant, in a state of high excitement.

6. the fear/awe doesn’t cancel out the joy – the gladness doesn’t cancel out the fear. They provide balance.

7. formal & informal worship; reverent & joyful worship when the church came together to break bread & to pray.

Now what?
1. I go back to all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and they devoted themselves to. The intersection of the Divine & the human in our lives. Divine empowerment & human discipline.

2. I have a little prayer I’ve started praying – I can’t unless you do.

3. Luke has painted this picture before us of the breaking of bread & prayer. In its corporate setting. Marked by fear & joy. Expressed formally & informally.

4. it comes by the filling of the Holy Spirit. It comes by discipline, proskartereo.

5. we can’t unless God does. Unless God fills us with his Holy Spirit we will not be disciplined enough to devote ourselves to the breaking of bread & prayer, corporate worship & prayer.

6. how can we prepare ourselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit? At the risk of giving you a formula, here are some steps we can take:
® confess & repent of all known sins
® trust Christ for his forgiveness
® commit & yield every area of our lives to Christ
® ask to be filled with an ever-increasing fullness of the Spirit
® expect that the Spirit is going to empower us & gift us to love follow serve obey worship our Triune God of grace

7. confess + trust + commit + ask + expect. We can’t unless he does. When the Holy Spirit fills us we have what it takes to devote ourselves to the breaking of bread & prayer.

Music i listened to while sermonizing – sting; patty griffin; the decemberists; bruce springsteen; chris tomlin; the american boys choir

Books i read & studied while sermonizing – the intimate merton by thomas merton; joyful exiles by james houston; the great awakening: reviving faith & politics in a post-religious right America by jim wallis; lent and easter: wisdom from thomas merton by jonathan montaldo; the living church by john stott; the Spirit, the church & the world by john stott; acts by ajith fernando; surprised by hope by n.t. wright;

Series: Salt & Light – 6 “The Learning Community”

Acts 2:42

Stuff…
1. thanks to Mike Higgs for filling in for me last week – he did an excellent job talking about confession & repentance

2. this past week Henry Zweigart died. He was 101 years old. He helped start CAC in 1960 & was a faithful member for 48 years. He leaves behind his wife of 81 years, Jessie, who is 99 years old & lives at Rackliff House & his son Bill who lives here in Canby – Criag Ostbo

Review
1. Jesus intends for us to be the salt of the earth & the light of the world. This means as followers of Christ we must remain distinct from the surrounding culture AND permeate it as a transforming presence.

3. how are we going to do this, be this? The book of Acts is our guide.

4. we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. The power & presence of God in our lives. To be filled with the Holy Spirit we have to deal with the sin in our lives. Sin quenches & grieves the Holy Spirit. Sin calls for confession & repentance.

5. Ash Wednesday confession & Psalm 51…

6. the Holy Spirit will birth in our lives an attachment to God’s Word and God’s people. This is what I want to talk about today. God’s Word – learning. God’s people – community. We are to become a learning community.

Proskartereo
1. Acts 2:42-47 is a description of the first group of Spirit-filled Christ-followers. Luke reports what they gave themselves to, what they were passionate about.

2. this is also a prescription for what every church should strive after, give themselves to, be passionate about.

3. and Luke’s description/prescription of the life of the church begins with the word devoted. Proskartereo is the Greek word. This word means to be strong, to be steadfast, to carry on, to continue in. Proskartereo is a word that bleeds discipline.

4. for example:
® every morning at 6am there’s a number of ‘old guys’ who are devoted to drinking coffee together at Thriftway while they tell stories & solve the world’s problems
® Paublo shows up at 6am as well, gets his 20 oz Americano, reads the Thriftway ads & watches TV before going out to his landscaping jobs
® every week at the Canby Pool Rick shows up to swim at noon & sometimes in the evening. Dedicated, disciplined, the one person I’ve seen there more than anyone else

5. the old guys, Paulbo, Rick are devoted to something. They stick to it. They don’t give up. They’re disciplined. They carry on. They continue in.

6. 2:42: the Spirit-filled 1st church was devoted to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread & prayer. They dedicated themselves to these spiritual habits or disciplines. By the filling of the Holy Spirit.

7. here we have 2 non-negotiables for spiritual growth – the filling of the Holy Spirit & personal discipline. We can’t do this by ourselves. Prokartereo calls for the power of the Holy Spirit to help us. c
1st apostles’ teaching
1. Jesus was a teacher. The gospels are full of his teaching. He taught his followers. And now we see that his disciples, the apostles, are teachers. And the Spirit-filled 1st church dedicated themselves to their teaching.

2. the Holy Spirit opened a school in Jerusalem that day. The apostles were the school teachers. Jesus had appointed & trained them. They had 3000 students.

3. notice that these Spirit-filled Christ-followers were not seeking some mystical experience. They didn’t despise their intellect or theology. They valued the life of the mind.

4. and they didn’t think that the Holy Spirit was the only teacher they needed. They were eager to learn all they could from the apostles.

5. The Spirit of God always leads the people of God to study and honor the word of God. The church is under the authority of the Scriptures.

6. we’re not told what the apostles’ teaching involved. It’s safe to assume it included everything about Christ’s life, teaching, death & resurrection & the way of salvation.

7. over time the apostles’ teaching was collected together & it became what we know today as the New Testament. So for us the apostles’ teaching is the 27 books of the New Testament.

8. the Holy Spirit is going to lead us individually and as a church to be devoted to studying the teaching of the Scriptures. Proskartereoed to the Bible. Does this describe me? you? us?

Fellowship
1. the Greek word for fellowship is the noun koinonia. The adjective koinos means common. The verb form means to share. Koinonia refers the common things we share together.

2. what do we find these early Christians sharing together?
® 2:42 – teaching, breaking of bread (eating meals & celebrating the Lord’s Supper), prayer
® 2:43 – awe at apostolic wonders & miraculous signs
® 2:44-45 – time, possessions, goods, giving to the needy
® 2:46 – daily worship in the temple & meals in each other’s homes (large group worship + small group gatherings)
® 2:47 – worship, the favor of others, evangelism

3. this is a description of fellowship, koinonia.

4. what they did, they did together. What they experienced, they experienced together. What they were called to, they were called to together. What they learned, they learned together. What they prayed, they prayed together. What they possessed, they possessed together.

Our learning community
1. the Spirit of God leads the people of God to hunger for the Word of God. A Spirit-filled church is going to be a Bible-study church.

2. a Spirit-filled church is a learning community. Individual study is not enough. We need to study together under the leading of the Holy Spirit.

3. there’s a group of younger guys who meet at Starbucks @ 5:30am for Bible study. I sometimes run into them. Back in the corner, coffee in one hand, open Bible in the other, starting their day together. A learning community.

4. Sunday morning worship
Common ground classes – SS classes – Youth classes
Small groups – couples, women, men
Bible studies – women, men
Daily Bible study, reading