Advent Candles with Open Door

If you are looking for a place to study the Christmas story with a twist.. Open Door is the place for you. We begin each Sunday morning at 10am, Huguenot Road Baptist Church, upstairs in the middle building..by the coffee pots. We start where everyone else does, but we rarely end in the same place. ;-)

Hope to see you through the OpenDoor, Jeff

 ======================
How is the birth of Christ relevant to my life?

WEEK by WEEK Overview for Advent 2009:
The first four lessons in this unit draw inspiration from a traditional interpretation of the Advent candles as the Prophets’ Candle, the Bethlehem Candle, the Shepherds’ Candle, and the Angels’ Candle. The final lesson, which occurs after Advent, celebrates the theological meaning of Jesus’ birth as described in the prologue to John’s Gospel.

In the first lesson, taking our cue from the Prophets’ Candle, we delve into some of the prophetic words about the Messiah in the book of Isaiah. As we study these Old Testament prophecies, we will ask ourselves, How is God present in my life—yesterday, today, and tomorrow?

In honor of the Bethlehem Candle, we move in the second lesson to the little town of Bethlehem, a most unexpected place to serve as the birthplace of the King. Through what unexpected sources might God want to bless us? As we think about ancient Bethlehem, we will ponder this question.

The third lesson reminds us of the Shepherds’ Candle. Shepherds were considered untrustworthy and irreligious, so it is surprising that God chose shepherds to receive the news of Jesus’ birth. We also may sometimes feel unworthy of God’s love. The lesson invites us to think about the kinds of people God uses.

In the fourth lesson, we focus on the Angels’ Candle and ponder the angel’s difficult message to Mary. What hard thing might God call us to do?

Finally, in the fifth lesson we explore what it means that “the Word became flesh and lived among us” (Jn 1:14). We conclude our study by asking a practical question: How is the birth of Christ relevant to my life?

Lessons will use Smyth and Helwys Formations as the base for discussion. Outline above comes from their online overview summary materials.

Thankful for Stewardship Summary Sunday & fellow fanatics..

Luke 18 and the story of the young, wealthy, ruler's encounter with Jesus is a powerful lesson for us as we seek to find our way in a world of uncertainty. 

• The illusion of control is enticing and insidious. Wealth, health..
• "Coming to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than putting your head in an oven makes you a biscuit."
• We are commanded to love one another and "keep our kin" by the true King. 
• The problem posed in following Christ aren't as hard as they appear.  We should seek the perspective of a child as we entertain options. 
• Cost of Discipleship: Jesus asks us for all that we are..all that we have and all that we will be in the future..
• Linear problem solving approach to life just won't get it done.  
• We can't solve all of the world's problems nor are we obligated to.. 
• As we journey together to seek the goal, we learn that the goal is actually the journey itself. 
• Our salvation and the results are assured. 
• The price of our failure has already been paid. 
• The young ruler's freedom was respected above all.. We don't know that he didn't return to Jesus at a later date, but Jesus demonstrated his love, respect and compassion.. rather than forcing.
• Peter Pan required a happy thought and some "magic" to fly. 
• Peter Pan's childlike spirit freed him from his "anchors/distraction"
• Our strengths and resources sooo easily become our greatest weaknesses. 
• Fulfilling obligations and accountability/responsibility in a "get it done model" are not the path to Christ.
• Coming to church, and doing all the right things is not the path to Christ.  It isn't enough to present the illusion or facade of discipleship.  Christ asks us to be fanatical.
  

Keepin our Kin

Talking points from the discussion for those of you that missed today..
Scripture was from Luke 16

• Are you your brother's keeper?  YES
• Kin: is traditionally a relationship imbued by blood or marriage, but can extend far beyond our cultural "norms" how we define it is generally up to us.
  
• The "keeping" part is not simple. requires balance between blind service and control/ownership.
• Is Jesus a communist/socialist?  This was a rhetorical question... but we aren't sure he would be a capitalist. When he was asked, he said render unto Caesar what is his.... studied this last week with separation of church & state ideas.
• Idea that we should use Jesus and Matthew 25 to support a socialist agenda really fired some folks up. We didn't really discuss this in depth, but it stirred a lot of passion. 
• Closing thoughts:  Discernment regarding actions and benevolence are individual choices, and the accountability is ours alone. We should listen to the prophets and read the bible, then decide for ourselves.

MISSED THIS FROM MY LESSON PLAN.. Bonus thoughts: 
1. The price for our failure, and our brothers' failure has already been paid by Jesus on the cross.  Our obligation/imperative is simply to love our "kin" and be God's light in the world.. sharing his love.
2. It is not our obligation to right the wrongs, solve the problems, nor to judge the wicked. We are here to journey together and love one another through good and bad. Sometimes we can help.  We should always want to help. How to help, is ultimately the question. 

That is what " keepin kin" is all about in my "neck of the woods".

Fanatical Focus on the Future through FAITH

What is the cost of discipleship?
time, money, power, attention..

Where is our/your focus? future or past

What is the church's(HRBC) mission?
Our mission at HRBC is to glorify God by being a loving, Christian community that reaches out to all people through worship, spiritual growth, proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ, and ministry to needs in our world. (Acts 1:8)


Where do our resources come from?
God, experience, skills, gifts...

Facilitator Thoughts to interject if/when appropriate.

• The illusion of support is a foundation for failure on a gigantic scale.  If the foundation is false, the "building" will crumble.
  
• We must maintain a fanatical focus on the opportunities available to us in the future.
• We must remember that we are beloved of God and that he will provide for our needs. 
• We cannot OUTSOURCE our ministry obligation via the church, the cooperative programs, the staff, or children.
• The church is a tool to educate, empower, support and embolden individual. It is not the goal in itself.
• Maintaining what we have in the present is an anchor which can distract us. 
• Our past is indeed a base of security and comfort, but it is also a burden and an excuse for inaction. 
• We must remain vigilant as it is the small distractions which are easiest to miss and that have the most impact over the long term. 
  
• A fanatical focus on hope for the future, presents opportunities in every day, minute, meal, conversation, performance...  We begin to see messages and levers for change in everything from movies, to our workplace, to our familes, and yes in our GIVING.  
• time & money matter... resources are required for support and change.
• Stewardship is an important focus for all of us.. A Steward has an obligation to "care for the passengers" on their journey. The job is by its very nature, temporary and is a means to an end.. Remember the end,  and do NOT focus so much on the means.
  

What is our mission?  now THAT is the question we each have to ask... and are we stewards, or do we maintain an illusion of control in place of a stewardship of others awaiting the "return of the king.


REFERENCE RESOURCES:
Luke 9:57-62 (MESSAGE)

  ⁵⁷On the road someone asked if he could go along. "I'll go with you, wherever," he said.
   ⁵⁸Jesus was curt: "Are you ready to rough it? We're not staying in the best inns, you know."
   Jesus said to another, "Follow me."
   ⁵⁹He said, "Certainly, but first excuse me for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father's funeral."
   ⁶⁰Jesus refused. "First things first. Your business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God's kingdom!"
   ⁶¹Then another said, "I'm ready to follow you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home."
   ⁶²Jesus said, "No procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day." 

Luke 9:23-27 (MESSAGE)
 ^{23 -27}Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat—I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I'm leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn't, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God."

Luke 14:25-27 (MESSAGE)

  ^{25 -27}One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple.


Movie reference: Return of the King  ...Tolkien

• The steward was to secure and "keep" the city for the king. He was NOT the king.
• In the face of the real battle, each member had to hold the line and do their part. All were needed.
• Stewardship does not equal control but without the stewards, the city could not have survived.

Fanatic:
a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, esp. for an extreme religious or political cause. ---- informal a person with an obsessive interest in and enthusiasm for something, esp. an activity

STEWARD:
1 a person who looks after the passengers on a ship, aircraft, or train and brings them meals.--a person responsible for supplies of food to a college, club, or other institution.
2 an official appointed to supervise arrangements or keep order at a large public event, for example a sporting event.--short for shop steward .
3 a person employed to manage another's property, esp. a large house or estate--a person whose responsibility it is to take care of something : farmers pride themselves on being stewards of the countryside.

Baptist nation?, Christian nation?: Religious Freedom

• We are a nation of Christians, not a Christian nation. yes, there is a BIG difference.
• Two major forms of Idolatry to look out for:  Nationalism/Patriotism,  SELF 
• We are here for the sole purpose of loving one another and letting God's light shine through us. We are called to demonstrate God's love to the world in accordance with the great commission.
• Jefferson was most proud of 3 things:  UVA, Declaration of Independence and the VA Statute of Religious Liberty.
• It is amazing that the founders ratified the first amendment of the constitution.
• Freedom is messy, but it is ordained. Free will, freedom to choose God or not..
• We must maintain a perspective which balances history, present issues and a reasonable/diverse view of the future implications for our decisions/actions.
• We are NOT in control. GOD is.
• Government and all authority exists from GOD. 

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

--- Marianne Williamson.
VA Statute of Religious Liberty Reference:  http://www.vahistorical.org/sva2003/vsrf.htm

Jefferson on Politics & Government:  http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm

Constitution 1st Amendment:  Freedom of Religion and Press:   http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am1

Roman 8 (Message)--   http://www.Biblica.com/bible/verse/?q=Romans8&msg=yes
v28  ...we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

Jeremiah 29:5-14 (Message)-- http://www.Biblica.com/bible/verse/?q=Jeremiah29&msg=yes
⁵"Build houses and make yourselves at home. "Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country. ⁶"Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you'll thrive in that country and not waste away. ⁷"Make yourselves at home there and work for the country's welfare. "Pray for Babylon's well-being. If things go well for Babylon, things will go well for you." ^{8 -9}Yes. Believe it or not, this is the Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel's God: "Don't let all those so-called preachers and know-it-alls who are all over the place there take you in with their lies. Don't pay any attention to the fantasies they keep coming up with to please you. They're a bunch of liars preaching lies—and claiming I sent them! I never sent them, believe me." God's Decree! ^{10 -11}This is God's Word on the subject: "As soon as Babylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. ¹²"When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. ^{13 -14}"When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree. "I'll turn things around for you. I'll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you"—God's Decree—"bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

Romans 13:1-10 (Message)-- http://www.Biblica.com/bible/verse/?q=Romans13&msg=yes
^{1 -3}Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it's God's order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you're irresponsible to the state, then you're irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you're trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.
 ^{3 -5}Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen and you'll get on just fine, the government working to your advantage. But if you're breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren't there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it. That's why you must live responsibly—not just to avoid punishment but also because it's the right way to live.  ^{6 -7}That's also why you pay taxes—so that an orderly way of life can be maintained. Fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your leaders.  ^{8 -10}Don't run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don't sleep with another person's spouse, don't take someone's life, don't take what isn't yours, don't always be wanting what you don't have, and any other "don't" you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love