Whine or Worship

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What Now? A Study in Acts (Pt. 17)
Whine or Worship? (Acts 8:1-4)
September 4-10, 2011



PRAY
Before you begin reading, reflecting, discussing, and applying, begin by opening your heart up to our Savior and Lord.  Praise Him and ask Him to incline your heart to His.   Invite Him to search your heart and make Himself known.

STUDY
Read Acts 1:8 and 8. Continue to read Acts to get more comfortable with this part of our history. We encourage you to make time to sit down and read all of Acts in one sitting at some point... the context of everything really hits home then.

DISCUSS
When were you in a situation/season that was difficult?  What was your perspective/attitude in that situation?  How is the world’s response different than the Christian’s in difficult situations?

LIVE
Evaluate your perspective in life... have you been praying for God to remove you from a situation or grow and use you?  Every situation is different... sometimes He will remove you while at other times He wants to grow and use you.  Seek God’s baptism of the Spirit and He will grace you with the strength and giftings to do what He wants you to do!

Prayer Focus

Church Family 

• Friend of Rob G. who is fighting cancer.
• Friend of Eugene D. who is fighting cancer.
• Shaela Warkentin (eyesight)
• Zain Krikau (Health)
• Mike K. (Health)

Foursquare Family

• Yukon Bible Fellowship (Whitehorse, YK)
• Barry Buzza (President of Foursquare Canada)

Other Churches 

• All Saints' Anglican Church (Mission, BC)

Our Community & World

• Mayor James Atebe & Council
• Premier Clark & MLA's
• Prime Minister Harper, Senate, & MP's
• Yemen, China, India, Turkey, and Israel.

Waking up from Hibernation

After getting called a pumpkin on Sunday, I guess it's not much of a stretch to call me a bear.  I woke up this morning at 4:45am ready to go for the day... this is normal for the fall, but not the summer.  I guess fall is coming early this year and my summer hibernation is over.

One of the reasons I write on this blog is to communicate the reality that being involved in formal/vocational ministry is a lot of fun and that just about anyone can do it.  While there are definitely difficult moments and seasons full of personal and family sacrifice, the joy and privilege that it is to serve in this capacity is simply awesome.  This is the reason that I often write about the personal side of my life and add some reflection about our Church.  This morning, however, I feel the need to communicate more of God's written Word (not just today, but into this new "year").

I was reading Psalm 149 this morning when the phrase 'he crowns the humble with salvation' jumped off the page.  As someone who often errs on the side of self-confidence/pride, I need to be reminded of this daily.  I think know this is the reason why I am often brought to tears in worship on Sundays, in my morning commute, and at random times when the grace of God hits me in a new way.  It is in these moments that I realize the foolishness of my arrogance, self-righteousness, and self-reliance.  It is in these moments that I realize the graciousness of our God.  Grace found in the form of patience, provision, health, family, friends, a Church family, and most importantly, salvation through Jesus Christ.  God has been been so good to me and to think that I often believe that the things which are good in my life are the result of my own doing or good fortune!  This brings me to the second reason for tears... shear gratitude. From gratitude God then moves me to action.  I know that God has blessed me not just so that I might praise Him, but that I might taste the fruit of their fulfillment as the goodness and greatness of our God is experienced in those who cross my path.  God said it best when he said that we are blessed to be a blessing.  My limited experience has taught me that the greatest blessing to me personally doesn't happen when I am blessed, but when I give that blessing away.  The fulfillment and pleasure that comes from seeing God's grace bloom and bless others starts with that place of humility where salvation is found.

If you're feeling confident in your self and self-made this morning, I hope that the power of the cross humbles you and that your confidence is replaced with what Christ has made you (this will render you grateful and not deserving/self-entitled).  If you're feeling beat-up this morning, I hope that you will see that the power of the cross builds/heals you and that your wounds are replaced with the love and hope we have in Christ.

That's what we're about and I guess in some ways, it's kind of like waking up from hibernation.

Monday Morning Thoughts

I'm surprised that the police didn't knock on my door Friday night.  Earlier that evening I got some plants given to me that I needed to dig up, transfer, and then plant that night.  By the time I got home it was pitch black, so I pulled out a work light to help me get the plants in the ground.  There I was, in the middle of my backyard digging a hole at night.  There were even a few points where I had to use an axe to chop out some roots.  I laughed pretty hard one time when I raised the axe above my head only to see my shadow (three times larger than life) cast on the back row of hedges... it was a perfect silhouette of something you'd probably see in a horror flick.  After some sweating scrambling around I was able to get them all in and watered by midnight.

We woke up at 6am on Saturday to head over to Victoria for my nephew's birthday party.  It was a long day, but so good to see and hang out with family.  On the way there, Ruby asked me cynically... "Dad, will there be any good food?"  Angela and I started laughing because she's only four and she already has my values and attitudes... 'cause it's not a party unless there is some good food'.  We were fortunate to be welcomed by lots of great food!  We feasted on fresh fruit, salmon, Ice Capp's, and cake pops (a delightful cream cheese chocolate cake mounted on the end of a stick and coated in icing).  We raced home with heart burn and were able to get home around 10pm.

Sunday was a fun day too.  Chad did a fantastic job of leading us in song to worship Jesus.  Aaron was rocking it in the sound booth.  The Chapman family served a great breakfast.  Eugene & Catherine survived the Freedom Sessions training seminar and gave us a short intro to this program.  Our faithful and generous team of Children's helpers and teachers did a phenomenal job as usual.  We read a huge chunk of Acts and we were inspired by Stephen's faith.  Angela attended a family friends memorial Sunday afternoon so I watched the kids.  We napped, made pizza, and played in the back yard.

It was a full and good weekend.  This week is another busy week.  However, I will be challenged by Stephen's example to not just fall into default mode, but to live dynamically in the Spirit following His voice.  I hope you have a great week!

Friday Mashup

It's Friday already?!  There are weeks that fly by and then there are weeks that just disappear.  This was one of those weeks.  Too much work and too little week.  I had some good meetings this week and got a lot done at the Bible College.  This morning I taught Isaac how to swing a pick axe and the rest of today is administrative stuff and sermon preparation.

Tomorrow we're hanging out with some of my family then on Sunday we get to worship God and dig in to Acts!  That's about all I have time for today.  I hope you have a great weekend.