We will not be getting together at Mountain View Academy to worship God this Sunday. Instead, we’ll be getting together in our LTGs (small groups) to hang out, watch the Super Bowl, and eat food together. Invite friends and have a good time. If you’re not part of an LTG, use this as an opportunity to check one out. Check out the LTG page for details and more information about each of the LTGs that are currently running.
Our passage for this morning is a really familiar one: Luke 2:1-7, the birth of Jesus Christ. There are a few things about it that I think are easy to skip over because we’re so familiar with it.
The first is that this Jesus is Joseph and Mary’s first born child. For those of you who have kids, think about the time when you were having your first born. Recall the feelings. All that anticipation. All that excitement. And yet, at the same time, all that fear. All that anxiety. Joseph and Mary were likely an emotional mess.
The second is that the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, that trip that they took late in Mary’s third trimester was an 85 mile trip through some steep inclines. And if you’ve ever ridden an animal, you know that that’s still a physical exhausting mode of transportation. Think of the time when you were late in your third trimester. How far were you able to walk? Jospeh and Mary were physically exhausted. They were running on fumes.
And lastly, Bethlehem was Joseph’s “own city”, verse 3. Though it’s unclear whether Joseph’s parents were still alive, it’s almost certain that Joseph still had close relatives in Bethlehem. And considering Middle Eastern hospitality, it would’ve been inconceivable for Joseph and his new family to stay the night in some random barn as it’s portrayed in many of our Christmas pageants and plays.
Joseph and Mary likely stayed in one of his relatives’ home as did many of his other relatives, hence, why there wasn’t enough room for their entire family to sleep. With everybody coming back to their hometown to be registered for the census, there was likely a family reunion in the house where Joseph and Mary stayed. There’s music, dancing, massive amounts of food, laughter, and hugging. Jesus is getting passed around the room from family member to family member. And at the end of the day, after the party’s subsided well into the night, Joseph and Mary lay him down in a manger, a step below the living area but under the same roof.
There is very little that’s silent about this night. Very little is calm. And there’s little sleeping in heavenly peace.
If anything it’s a chaotic night. They’re emotionally and physically exhausted before they even get to Bethlehem. And when they do get there, they’re greeted by Joseph’s extended family who are excited to see the new addition to their family.
But Jesus is there with them. And for that reason, one of the lines from Silent Night rings true. It was a “holy night”. Being holy isn’t about being composed and calm, about having it all together with your sins properly managed. Being holy is about being with Jesus, abiding in Him.
I know that many of you are in a place right now where you feel like life is too chaotic to be connected to Jesus. Well, our relationship with Jesus is a two-way street. Jesus reaches out to us as well. Jesus loves you.
But will you notice? Will you notice Jesus loving you in the midst of the chaos of your life?
To notice, consider group life, being part of an LTG. When we live life alone, in seclusion it’s all too easy not to notice Jesus. Our spiritual vision gets near-sighted as we just live through the routines of our lives. But as we share about our lives, chaos and all, others in our LTGs can speak into them revealing Jesus at work in it. And as we pray together through the chaos of our lives, we can tangibly feel Jesus ministering to us through His body, the Church.
Discussion Questions:
31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 34 “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
35 “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him.
So, I just wanted to say I appreciated what we studied today on prophecy in the NT today. I thought it was very clear and well done, but it was also challenging to me and I’ll even admit I was rebuked about the amount of time in my life spent seeking the Lord through my own personal time in the Word and in prayer. I want to clarify though that it’s not that I feel guilty or accused, but that it was the Word speaking clearly to me about the fact that I just need to spend time in His Word again, getting to know what He said and how it applies to my life. It’s what would serve as the proper lens through which I would be able to view things like this prophecy about California that’s on the table right now, but also something that would serve to connect me more deeply with God. So, I’m really thankful for what we learned at church today and that the Lord spoke to me. Did anyone else feel blessed at church today?
Well, this past Sunday some GREAT stuff happened. All of us together wrestled with foundational questions about the nature of God (judgment and wrath? does he speak today and how?), the veracity of Scripture in regard to hearing from God and sharing prophetic words, and about the nature of being in relationship with this God. Whether we knew it or not, some of our core assumptions and outlooks on the Christian life are being exposed and purposefully examined. That is why this past Sunday was FANTASTIC. Already, the fruit of this prophetic word in the life of the church is top-notch. I believe we are closer to the heart of God than a month ago, and that the best lies ahead.
Over the next few weeks, you’re going to see many of the questions raised this past Sunday addressed in a series of blog posts here as well as some more formal and informal discussions/teaching on Sunday mornings. In two Sundays, we will get a chance to look directly at New Testament passages on prophecy, but before that happens, we want to make room for many of you to comment: what’s your experience with prophecy, and what has the Lord taught you to date? Feel free to go ahead and post a comment anonymously or with your name.
Before I close this posting off, I wanted to embed the discussion of prophecy a bit more in larger context. Most of us react to the word “prophecy” or “prophet” with a measure of fear either because of our experiences of abuses [false prophets] or because of our Western discomfort with the supernatural in general (I’ll share my experience in a comment below). But despite our confusion, discomfort or even skepticism, prophecy remains something that is of critical importance in our relationship with God and the Scriptures. If you did a word search for prophet[s], prophecy, prophesy, or prophetess, how many times do you believe they would come up? My latest search found a variation of the word used in 583 passages of Scripture, 190 of them in the New Testament alone. What does this tell us? If nothing else, that prophecy is a big piece of Scripture itself as far as content or mode of communication. This should come as no surprise to us given that there are books of the bible and an entire genre of Scripture called prophecy: all the Old Testament books from Isaiah to Malachi. The Hebrews [back then and today] actually demarcate all of the Old Testament outside of the first five books of Moses [Genesis to Deuteronomy called the Pentateuch or Torah] as “the prophets,” so included in their estimation of what is called prophecy is everything from Joshua to Malachi. So their phrase “the Law and the Prophets” covers ALL Old Testament Scripture. All this to say that prophecy comprises a large portion of biblical revelation in which we need to have some level of trust, comfort and understanding as followers of Jesus Christ.
This is why it’s VERY GOOD for us to be asking these questions about how God spoke to His people in the Old Testament and how He continues to speak to His people in our period called the New Testament as well. May I offer an action point that will help the curious journeyman or woman? Try reading one of the Old Testament prophetic letters — I’m reading Isaiah 1-20 now in my G3. And as you read it, ask the Lord some of your questions about His character, His judgment-mercy, His redemptive heart for the world, and about the place of our intercession and obedience in all of it. Ask Him to show Himself to you, and ask for an open mind. Many actually find a different picture of God than the caricatured wrathful and judgmental God. And in fact, many view the prophetic genre as rival to the poetic genre in containing some of the most beautiful and magnificent pictures of God in the entire bible. I imagine that this exercise of reading the prophets in such a way, repeated over time, may be more illuminating than listening to some long-winded guy talk for an hour about it at BayLight on Sunday morning : ).
Our initial journey and searching may take on the form of “research” or desire for “proof” or “validation,” but I believe at journey’s end awaits a God who is THRILLED to meet His children in a deepening and life-transforming way. Thrilled, to be journeying with you all. Mike.
This Sunday, we will carve out some time to openly discuss questions that you may have in response to the prophetic word about the Bay area . It is important that we process this together as many of us have different feelings, questions and perspectives on the matter. Some of you may agree and be ready to start doing stuff about it. Some of you may not be sure and may need to hear more from God and others about it. Some of you may not agree and may need to know if you’re still a community member in good standing if you don’t agree with the word. This discussion forum will be a safe place for us to talk about it.
To help facilitate this discussion time, we have been and will be gathering more questions in LTG’s this week. And in the event that you have other questions, feel free to email them to your small group leader, to a COT or staff member by Saturday morning.
Another avenue you can use to submit questions you have is by commenting on this entry. We have turned off the need to log-in for now if you desire not to be associated with your question. Chances are that many share the same questions you have, so please know that EVERY question is a good question.
We also want to ask for all of you to pray for this time together. Above all, we want to stay close to what we know God is asking of us. Would you pray for protection from fear and confusion and also pray for a spirit of clarity and unity among us? This represents a great opportunity for us to grow together as the body of Jesus.
Thank you everyone, and we look forward to journeying deeper into the heart of God and into the lives of people with you.
Not long ago, Jason shared the resounding question from Peter’s letter to the scattered church: in light of the reality of Jesus’ present and coming reign, what kind of people ought we to be? This past Sunday gathering we practiced being a PRAYING PEOPLE. As I’ve had discussions with people at BCC, it seems like many among us feel Jesus leading us to be a praying people.
One of the dangers that the Thessalonian church faced when confronting the nearness of Jesus’ return was idleness. Some stopped life as they knew it and lost focus. As we consider the prophetic word for the Bay Area, this is a danger we could run into as well. Do we stop working? Should I not go on vacation this year? Travel out of town or out of country this year? How about some of the current ministry doors we’re walking through — Castro elementary, the Tenderloin, sowing seeds in other oikos groups? As I consider a trip to Europe, India and possibly Africa in two months, I face these real questions as well.
One of the things the Lord has shown me in my conversations with some godly people at BayLight as well as my G3 readings through 1 and 2 Thessalonians is that what I need now is focus and redemptive purpose in the everyday, ordinary things I do. And the one thing I can immediately add to my life to help that is prayer. Prayer connects me with God, connects me with my supernatural design for which I was created, and connects me to a world in which God has strategically and purposefully placed me. In a sense, I am most fully human when I pray. And though prayer has never come naturally in my spirituality (It has always been work — a labor of love, sweat and tears), I have noticed that I feel most alive when I pray. Maybe your experience is the same? I know the experience of other godly people I’ve met or whose biographies I have read are also in agreement.
So how do we navigate the chaos of weighing a prophetic word and living life with love and urgency? Prayer. We not only NEED it, but the Lord is stirring something among us so that so many of us now WANT it.
One thing the Lord led me to try and to invite all of you to join me in is the 30/30 journey. For the next 30 days, I will be devoting 30 minutes a day to specifically praying for my not-yet-Christian friends, family, neighbors, fellow patrons, service-reps, school parents, and so on. It’s not a lot of time but enough of a regular discipline to help focus my eyes and my prayers beyond myself. I’m also hoping the Lord will give me insights into how I can pray for, love, serve, and make disciples of all these people God cares for. I’m trusting that God will give me and any of you who join me some stories to share about the power of prayer and the power of a God who delights to do a lot with even the little we offer.
So September 1 has started. Come join me in experiencing God in a new and powerful way! I want to encourage all of you to give it a try. There’s no harm or risk in trying. And if you go only four days, that’s totally cool too. Four days of prayer is better than none, and God will be pleased with whatever we bring to the table. In fact [for all perfectionists out there], He already knows the outcome of our attempts! If you want to give it a shake, shoot me an email; I’ll pray for you in this time, and we can swap stories afterwards.
Lord, make us a praying church.
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