J E S U S THE GIFT-GIVER JOURNAL A YEAR OF FOLLOWING JESUS

Transcription

1 J E S U S THE GIFT-GIVER JOURNAL A YEAR OF FOLLOWING JESUS

2 They re waiting. Waiting like no one has ever waited. Waiting like it s the end of the world or like the world already ended and is about to rise from its own ashes. A bunch of Jesus disciples holding up in Jerusalem, crowded together like outlaws. Most think their leader dead and buried, disgraced and already forgotten. But they know better. They know He is risen and alive. And more than alive: He is wearing death s scars like victory trophies. As a result, death and all they once dreaded has become mere distraction. What matters to them now is their Lord and His word. And His latest word to them is to wait. Then on PENTECOST, the wait ends. Like the bright wings of the Spirit swan-diving into creation, like the radiant dove alighting upon Jesus at the Jordan, the Spirit comes in a flurry of wind and fire, crashing into the disciples hideout. With the Holy of Holies in the Temple now empty, these ordinary people find themselves full of the Presence of Almighty God. Pentecost, like other liturgical seasons, continues the story and chapter that precedes it. If Easter, in other words, leads us to practice living as though Jesus is risen and Lord, Pentecost challenges us to grapple with what it means that Jesus lives and rules through everyday people, by his Spirit. And however we view that challenge as sobering? invigorating? mysterious? we may trust the Spirit of Christ to guide us into the unchanging yet ever-surprising beauty of God s redeeming love. This journal has been created by our Pastoral staff with the hope that it helps each of us hear the Holy Spirit of God and empowers us to follow Him. In the pages that follow, you ll find weekly readings, activities, prayers, art, and room to take notes about your journey, reflections and responses to Sunday sermons.

3 LITURGICAL CALENDAR/ PENTECOST & ORDINARY TIME 6/4...PENTECOST SUNDAY 6/5...ORDINARY TIME BEGINS 6/11...TRINITY SUNDAY 12/3...ORDINARY TIME ENDS/ ADVENT BEGINS

4 PASTOR S NOTE/ RICK MCKINLEY On the Church calendar, Pentecost is a single day celebrating the giving of the Holy Spirit. This year we are extending that celebration by spending four Sundays celebrating Pentecost through a sermon series titled Jesus the Gift-Giver. In the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit arrives to the waiting disciples as a rushing wind and tongues of fire. This imagery is taken from the Old Testament. Each time God filled the tabernacle or the temple, the same essential scene occurred: Glory filling the place where God would reside with His people. This place is first the desert tent that the people of Israel built for their wandering worship festivals and later the gold-laden Temple that Solomon built in the land that God had promised Israel. In Acts, the scene is similar but radically reconstructed. The temple, that place of God s dwelling presence, has been reshaped into the physical bodies of the followers of Jesus. This is not a lesser glory but a fuller one. The longing for every heart was, and continues to be, union with the God who created us. This longing was fulfilled at Pentecost. Jesus, our Emmanuel, God with Us, now lives in us by His Spirit. The reason for the Old Testament celebration at the filling of the Tabernacle and the Temple was that God had come to live among His people. Now a greater temple and tabernacle is given to us; God not just with us, but in us. This Pentecost we want to celebrate and experience the gift of Jesus, His Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is both power and presence, gift-giver and comforter. It cannot be optional for the people of God in Portland to express the hope of Jesus, learning to walk in the power of the Spirit and express His gifts to each other and to our world. The Spirit is our very lifeline to life itself. I hope we do it with confident anticipation. The Spirit that filled the disciples in the upper room is the very same Spirit that is ours today. I m praying you will experience the joy of being united to Jesus as His love, faith, and power is poured out upon us by His Holy Spirit.

5 WEEK 1/ GIVER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT READING Read: Numbers 11:24-30 Moses rejoiced that others possessed the Spirit of the Lord and were empowered by it. Read: 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 Jesus promises the coming of the Spirit a soon-to-arrive reality surrounded by mystery. Read: Acts 2:1-21 The day of Pentecost had arrived! The promised Spirit coming upon believers with great power. REFLECTION The Spirit has arrived and new creation has begun. This is the imagery of Pentecost renewal, hope and life. Jesus says that all who believe in Him will receive Him through the Spirit and that all who seek to quench their thirst in Him will be flooded by an abundant rush of new life. Jesus depicts the Spirit not as a quiet prompting in the midst of life (though we know this also to be true), but as a rushing and overflowing river of living water that cannot be contained. In Acts 2 we see that the Spirit s descent, accompanied by wind and fire, came not as a quiet event to a select few, but to all believers in a miraculous and tremendous fashion. The Spirit s arrival was announced to everyone within earshot of the strange tongues being uttered. The wildness and uncontainable nature of new life is apparent. He comes in unexpected ways, fills us to overflowing and guides us along paths we never dreamed of so

6 WEEK 1/ CONTINUED that our lives might be a light, a flicker of a hope that ignites the fire of renewal in others. Like Joshua, we often have a limited view of what the Spirit can and wants to accomplish. However, like Moses, we can rejoice when the Spirit is manifested in us and in others. Let us not be like those in Acts 2 who mocked and denied that anything new was afoot. Let us, like Peter, live in the tension of the mystery and unexpected ways of the Spirit as He leads us to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. Remember that the Spirit always points to Jesus through our gifting, through various roles and through the miraculous. May we step into this season anticipating that the Spirit will guide us to places and relationships that point us and others to Christ! ACTIVITY Watch The Bible Project s video on the Holy Spirit. We ve added the video to our blog to make it easy to find: blog.idcpdx.com. After watching the video, consider the following: This video explores the Hebrew word ruakh used in the Bible to describe God s personal presence. The imagery associated with this word includes wind, breath and energy. What images or words do you associate with the Holy Spirit? Why? Here, we also see God s Spirit traced through the Bible s storyline. How does seeing these examples of the Spirit empowering humanity influence what you think He could do in your life and your future?

7 WEEK 1/ NOTES Light by Erik Railton

8 WEEK 2/ FATHER, SON & SPIRIT READING & REFLECTION Read: Isaiah 40:12-18, There is none that can compare to God. He is immeasurable and His wisdom is beyond comprehension. He is not like an idol made by the hands of Man from earthly elements, for He is the one that created everything. He is everlasting, and His understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah s depiction of God gives his people hope that the God of all power will redeem and gather them in his arms. Read: Matthew 28:16-20 The disciples worship Jesus because they know He is God! Jesus claims this divine status Himself, saying that all authority (spoken of by Isaiah) in heaven and on earth belongs to Him. However, in Jesus, we find the God that Isaiah calls incomprehensible and immeasurable, in human form. This is the mystery of Christ that the incomprehensible God has drawn near to His people and lives in our midst. The one that possesses all authority is also the one that says I will be with you, always, to the end of the age. Read: Ephesians 4: 1-16 Jesus has given us the Spirit so that God will be with us. He has given us one faith, one baptism and one hope so we can be united. He gives us various roles and gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers) so that we can be encouraged and built up more fully into His image. This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, a day dedicated to the worship of our God that is 3 in 1 Father, Son, and Spirit. As we celebrate Jesus the gift-giver, may we let this passage remind us that He is the gift giver because He is God. This week, let us celebrate the incomprehensibility of our God like Isaiah. Let us praise Jesus who is called Emmanuel (God with us), and let us rejoice in the gift of the God-with-us Spirit.

9 WEEK 2/ CONTINUED ACTIVITY What about the Trinity do you find easy to connect with and understand? What do you find difficult? Why? This week, ask one person that same question, praying that God might expand your view or reveal more of who He is to you. Enter in with a listening posture and an openness to receive from the gift-giver, Jesus. After doing this, look for ways to praise and celebrate our incomprehensible God. Let the Spirit guide you. Don t be afraid to say yes to what He invites you to; it may be an adventure you don t want to miss out on!

10 WEEK 2/ NOTES Celebration: Trinity by Scott Erickson One of 10 images depicting the Imago Dei Practices idcpdx.com/benedictionart

11 WEEK 3/ DIVERSITY & UNITY READING & REFLECTION Read: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 Paul writes to the Corinthians about being a united body in Christ. While we are unique both in our gifts and our abilities, we are all united in Christ through the Holy Spirit that resides in all Christians. Paul writes that we need each other so that the body can function properly. While I may not be a hand, the body still needs hands, and while you may not be an ear, the body still needs ears! Similarly, we may not all be prophets or have the gift of healing, but we still need each other. The coolest part of this passage is that it tells us we all have something to offer the body of Christ. Step into the gifts that God has graced you with. If you aren t sure what those are, ask Him and others in this community! Read: Romans 3:21-28 In this passage, Paul writes to the Romans about grace. Specifically, he writes about the fact that grace is a free gift given from God. We don t achieve righteousness through our meager actions or our attempts at living rightly, but through the blood of Jesus that was offered up freely in order to save us from our sins. If you accept the free gift of grace that God offers us, when the Father looks at you, He sees Jesus in your place. When the Father sees your fellow believer, He sees Jesus in their place. So then, the Body of Christ finds unity in what Christ has done for each us; the bestowing of righteousness through His grace. This is a truly wonderful gift given by a truly loving God. Read: Acts 15:5-11 In this passage, we read about an instance in the early church in which the Jewish believers wanted to make sure the Gentile believers had gone through the right processes to become real

12 WEEK 3/ CONTINUED members of their club. Imagine for a moment that Imago Dei Community made it a requirement for everyone to have a cross tattoo or a fish bumper sticker on their car to receive membership. The point that Paul makes by telling this story is that the community of believers is going to be diverse and that diversity is going to cause drama sometimes. But we are all saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus, exactly as we are. God gives us the gift of community and calls us into unity in the midst of diversity. ACTIVITY As 1 Corinthians 12 denotes, we are invited to participate with Christ in a holy calling, both as a community (the body) and as individuals (one of its many parts). We call this practice vocation. Take some time this week to consider and observe some of the gifts and abilities you can uniquely apply to this calling: Write down a few of your strongest skills, personality traits and/or assets. (If you have trouble naming these, ask someone who knows you well.) Think of a way you can apply each of these gifts to demonstrating Christ s love and grace to others in your daily life. Do them! Now, write down a short list of the things you re most passionate about. Work these lists of gifts and passions into your prayers this week, asking God to reveal how He might use your gifts, what goals He might be calling you to set out and who might come alongside you to make an even bigger impact through collaboration.

13 WEEK 3/ NOTES Perspective by Tamsyn Cox

14 WEEK 4/ SET AFLAME READING & REFLECTION Read: Exodus 3:1-15 Moses encounters God in a burning bush, a shrub whose greenery is aflame with the power of God s presence yet is not consumed. This scene occurs at Mount Sinai in Horeb and is a foreshadowing of what will come later in the Exodus story. Moses leads his people out of Egypt and back to this same mountain, where they enter into covenant with God. However, when Israel returns here later, it is now the whole mountain that is covered in smoke because the Lord descended on it in fire. In scripture, fire is regularly associated with the Spirit of God, a picture of the holiness and power of the divine presence. God s Spirit can set our lives aflame with His power and holiness. It does not consume us but rather makes us more fully human, as we were always intended to be. This imagery is a foreshadowing of Pentecost, when tongues of fire descend upon the apostles, filling them with the Holy Spirit of Jesus and empowering them to proclaim His glory among the nations. Read: Romans 12 With our lives set aflame by God s presence, we become living sacrifices who are not consumed but more fully human as we offer ourselves to God. We give Him the fullness of our lives as an act of worship as we burn with passion for Jesus and His glory. Paul gives us a concrete picture here in Romans of what being a living sacrifice looks like: laying down our lives for our sisters and brothers in the Church, using our gifts to serve rather than seeking to be served, fleeing what is evil and clinging to what is good. We are called to love all even when it hurts, so that we might not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

15 WEEK 4/ CONTINUED Read: Matthew 16:15-28 Jesus fleshes out this picture even more as He describes what it means to sacrifice our lives to obey and follow Him. His is a victory achieved through suffering; finding ourselves by dying to ourselves, forfeiting the world in order to receive the world at the coming of His Kingdom. We do not embark on this trail alone. We follow in the footsteps of the One who has gone before us Christ, who gave His life as a living sacrifice, dying that we might live, to set us aflame with the goodness and power of His divine presence. ACTIVITY We give God the fullness of our lives as an act of Worship! Both Paul and Jesus explain what that looks like in the verses above. I would venture to say that we aren t always very good at recognizing those Christlike transformations in our own lives. Often we focus on the areas of our lives that we wish would image Christ more fully. This week, take 15 to 30 minutes to deeply reflect on your life and the influence the Spirit has had upon you. Name those transformations. Are you more hospitable or generous than you ever were before? Do you find yourself drawn to loving even when it hurts to do so? Now take these before God in prayer. Thank the Spirit for his transforming work in your life. Thank Jesus for the ways you ve seen His gift (The Spirit) working in your life to bring about His way of living. While you are praying, take some moments of silence to hear what God wants you to hear in those moments. What is the next step He s calling you to take in this sacrificial journey?

16 WEEK 4/ NOTES One Body United by Kenya Feldes

17 FINAL REFLECTION Take a few moments to reflect on what you ve learned about the Spirit in this season. Offer thanks for the ways you ve experienced the His presence and petition our God for the ways you long to see His Spirit work. Write your thoughts in the space provided.

18 BENEDICTION IMAGO DEI, AS YOU GO INTO THE WORLD, GO WITH THE EXPECTATION AND ANTICIPATION THAT THE SPIRIT IS WITH YOU AND FILLS YOU TO THE POINT OF OVERFLOWING. MAY WHAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED (THE HOLY SPIRIT) BE FREELY GIVEN TO OTHERS THROUGH YOU, AND MAY HIS PRESENCE EMPOWER YOU TO LIVE FULLY AND ABUNDANTLY AS SPIRIT-FILLED PEOPLE. MAY YOU SEE THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT IN YOUR LIFE AS YOU FOLLOW FAITHFULLY WHERE HE LEADS YOU.

19 CONTRIBUTORS RUBEN ALVARADO Associate Pastor Hospitality & Local Outreach JOSH BUTLER Associate Pastor Eastside Gathering & Global Outreach JOSH MCKINLEY Director of Students GENA SIEGEL Director of Women s Formation gena@idcpdx.com BEN THOMAS Associate Pastor Refuge ben@idcpdx.com Introduction written by: ALEX DAVIS Pastor s note written by: RICK MCKINLEY Lead Pastor Cover art by: MARTIN FRENCH martinfrench.com Booklet art by: TAMSYN COX SCOTT ERICKSON scottericksonart.com KENYA FELDES ERIK RAILTON erikrailton.com Journal produced by: AILIN DARLING Director of Communications ailin@idcpdx.com

20 IMAGO DEI COMMUNITY 2017 IDCPDX.COM