Discernment: Attentiveness and Discrimination

This last week as I prayerfully began to discern my call and the church’s call at SCPC I began rereading from some of my favorite authors on discernment and mission. And I was drawn back to some of Wendy Wrights insights. And what insights they are!

Wendy writes, “Discernment requires that we pay attention. We must attend to both what goes on around us and within us. . . . Ideally, this attentiveness goes on much of the time, constantly spiritual sifting of the data of our experience. but there are times when discernment become much more focused, when a crossroads is reached or a choice is called for.”

This is such a time! A time to pay attention to what God is doing around us in our church family, in our community of St. Charles, and in the world in which we live. And for us to pay attention what God is doing within us, discovering who we are in Jesus Christ and to what God is calling us do.

By joining as a church family each Sunday to share and listen to God’s word and touch, by prayerfully reading and responding to the Mission Discernment scriptures each week, and by taking the on-line survey - we will begin to understand our mission as God’s people. It is a Lenten journey that promises to reshape us as God’s beloved and to move our church into a new and exciting mission. But we must take seriously the discipline of discernment by our collective attentiveness and discrimination. Or as Wendy has said, “Discernment is . . . assessing weight, watching the plumb line, listening for overtones, searching for shards, feeling the quickening, surrendering to love.”

May each of us during the next few weeks of Lent, surrender to the Love of Christ, as we journey to the cross and beyond!

4G Challenge - God in our midst, Always

November 18th, 2012. - Ezekiel 8:1 It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell on me there. In the beginning of today's readings I noticed how Ezekiel is with the Elders, that Ezekiel is not alone in his ministry and in sharing that leadership God's hand moved on him. I think there is something there, don't you? Shared leadership that opens up God's blessings. Let's do this prophetic thing together!

Ezekiel 9:4 The Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.” You see God even when he is ticked and hurt, and upset with our rebellious ways, God is always reaching out to us in hopes tat we will return to Him.

Cherubim - wow what a creature. God is so creative with his master pieces isn't God?

Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. If angels look like a Cherubim with 3 faces, man-lion-bull I think I'd know if I gave it hospitality how bout you :-)




Hebrews 13: 5 being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” WHAT A PROMISE!

Man there is so much good stuff in this chapter. Too much to Blog and it's too late to go on. So let me leave you with this: Hebrews 13.15-16 let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

4G Challenge - Keep your eyes on the living Jesus

Ezekiel 5:11 So as I live,’ . . . [I will respond to your dishonor] What struck me here is that so often we live and behave like God is not present, that Christ is not alive . . . But because Jesus is living and present in our world and in our lives or as we read "so as I live" He has to speak out against our lack of faith and lives that act like God has no part of it. Not to punish us to to remind us and others that HE IS ALIVE! 

Ezekiel 6:4, 8 So your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. However, I will leave a remnant . . .  I get a vision that because our church did not listen to God and follow as the disciples we were called to be our church dwindled and was in ruins. My friends we are the remnants that are called to return to God, to rebuild His church.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, . . . let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, . . . That is how we will rebuild God's church, with endurance and our eyes on Jesus! It's obvious from Hebrews that there is hard work to do. We will need to help other who struggle to keep up with us, to bring them into the church and community we are called to become. And the good news is that we can't keep God's community from being formed. But the question is will the community be at St. Charles Presbyterian Church and are you going to part of it? 

4G Challenge - Open your mouth and eat

Ezekiel's Wheel

Ezekiel 1-2  Today's beginning sounds like Apocalypse Now doesn't it! But often our deepest spiritual experiences are hard to describe and difficult to put into words. We shouldn't get caught up in Ezekiel's vision but realize that he was witnessing something unique to his spiritual eye but in the midst of it stood God. 1²⁷  there was a radiance around Him. ²⁸ As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And don't you just love how Ezekiel describes God's appearance, "like a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day."  And what we should take away from this vision is that Ezekiel didn't just stay in that divine ecstasy but fell away from it to respond to God and listen to God. You see, a spiritual high is worthless unless we use it as a time to connect with God and then take what God is telling us in that moment and share it with others. And often we are given these divine graces as a way to strengthen us for a difficult task that God is calling us to.
      And I love how God prepares Ezekiel to go to a hard and dangerous place - by feeding him with God's words.  ⁸Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.” ⁹ Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it.  My friends that's why we are reading the Bible everyday together - to be fed by God so that we can Go and make disciples and to be strengthened for a radical journey.

Hebrews 11:1-19  It's all about living by Faith baby!  Even when we don't understand, even when God's promises seems to be taking so long, even if we know what to do but we are getting weary of doing good, BY FAITH, we live and move and trust that God through Christ will make it happen. Ours is not to question why, but to live , respond, and radically follow in the Faith of Jesus Christ!

4G Challenge - A New and Living Way to Live Our Faith

Lamentations 3-5 Wow! Now we know why they call this book Lamenations. Personally I would name it "Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth." Hard to read how terrible things were for the people of Israel and how the people and the writer view God. 
 
But as we reflect on our own lives and our lives together as a church, it's easy to see the times when we too felt "afflicted" and we have been far from a sense of peace and happiness. 3:17 My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness. But the good news is that if just stop for a moment and look deep within ourselves, where God's Spirit reside, we will realize we are not alone, we will realize the Word of God lives in us giving us a future and a hope. 3:20-21 . Surely my soul remembers . . . . This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. That's what we have that the children of Israel did not have. The promise of Christ never to leave us, nor never forsake us. So even in our darkest times, if we but need to wait a moment, and seek after God, God will restore our souls, our hearts, and our spirit.  3:25 Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. 3:32-33 For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. 3:40 Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to The Lord? 5:19, 21 You, O Lord, rule forever;Your throne is from generation to generation.  Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored;
 
Hebrews 10:19-39 - Today's Epistle reading is a great companion to today's Old Testament reading because it shows how different and essentially easier way we have it because of Jesus Christ. We have a new and living way ²⁰ by a new and living way . . . to live our faith. And so we should have confidence that we can be dangerous Christians, Radical Devoted Followers of Jesus because we are not alone in this journey. Not only do we have Christ in us and around us but we have each other. That is one of the reasons we Gather as a church, to support one another and to be reminded of the Good News of God's Word. ²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; [so that] ³⁶ you may receive ^[what was promised.