Wash, Rinse, & Repeat Mountain Life Church Life Pack June 10, 2012
Wash, Rinse, & Repeat Sermon Notes June 10, 2012 Write any notes from the week here An outline of the model prayer 1. Worship Him 2. Get in on what He is doing 3. Depend on Him for provision 4. Intimately let Him eradicate bitterness 5. Ask Him to protect you from giving in to evil 6. Return to worship I. The Goal of Prayer: To resemble Jesus (v.12) A. Entering the ring with God 1. Inviting Him to search my heart 2. Inviting Him to give His perspective 3. Inviting Him to teach us how to give and receive grace B. Honest with God 1. Wrestling with our offenses and emotions with God 2. Don t avoid earthy conversation with God C. Eradicating Bitterness 1. Agree that dirt is dirt 2. Forgiveness is a choice 3. Truth is the engine, emotions are the caboose 4. Walk in love, not in vengeance II. Victory in Jesus (v. 13) A. Asking for help with temptation 1. I got nothin 2. You are my only hope! B. Victory over evil 1. Destruction of strongholds 2. Rejoicing in my inability to save myself 2 19
Table Talk Teens Read Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors Sermon notes can be written here Question One: This request in Matthew 6:12 focuses on man s relationship with God and it starts with the forgiveness of sin. In your own words, describe what forgiveness means. Question Two: Also, this request recognizes that sin, as a moral debt, reveals one s shortcomings before God. How does it make you feel as you experience God s forgiveness? Question Three: By experiencing God s forgiveness, we recognize that, if mercy is to be sought from God, then mercy must be shown to others. Share a time when you forgave someone. Question Four: In asking for forgiveness of sins, a person expresses his faith that God will forgive him. Such a person can show the evidence of his faith by forgiving others. Describe how your faith is strengthened by forgiving others. 18 3
Life Group Questions for June 10, 2012 Transforming Conversations Series Message = Wash, Rinse & Repeat Ice Breaker: What is the most tempting dessert for you? Read MaJhew 18: 23-35 1. What do you observe about this passage? 2. Giving forgiveness and grace is totally dependent upon receiving forgiveness and grace. The ungrateful slave received from the hand of the master complete forgiveness, yet he did not have forgiveness to give to his fellow slave. What do you think was going on in the heart and mind of the unforgiving slave? 3. Do you tend to hold a grudge or is it easy to forgive? Please explain. 4. When Jesus tells of unforgiveness, He typically includes punishments like jail and even torture. Have you ever been turned over to the torturers? Please explain. Read Romans 5: 15-17 and Romans 8: 34-37 5. Jesus taught us to pray that God would keep us from giving into temptation. Romans 5: 17 tells us that we can live triumphantly over sin. Do you feel triumphant over sin? Please explain. Elementary Matthew 6:12 Table Talk Day 1 - Read Matthew 6:12. What is a debt? (something owed to someone) Read the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-33. How many times does Jesus say we are to forgive others? (seventy-seven times) Day 2 - Take a trip to your closet and put on many layers of clothes (5-8 shirts, couple pairs of socks, etc.). Fill a backpack with water bottles and add this to your wardrobe. Walk around the house for a bit. This is a visual/physical representation of what it is like to not forgive others their debts. Rather, we hold on to them and in so doing, we burden ourselves. Take the many layers off and as you do, think about people whom you hold a grudge against, or are upset with, etc...most likely we are holding on to something that we have not forgiven them for. Ask God to help you to forgive those debts. Day 3 - Just as we forgive others, we want them to forgive us. If you turn the water faucet on and cup (open your hands), you are able to receive the running water freely (take a slurp). If you clench your fist tight you are unable to receive the water freely. This is what it is like when we hold on to hurt, anger, resentment towards others...we are unable to freely receive all that God (the running water) has in store for us! Let's choose the path of grace and forgiveness in our lives! 6. God s plan is to make us overwhelmingly conquer sin in our lives. This does not means sinless perfection, but rather, victory over sins that continually haunt and defeat us. Do you struggle believing this? Please explain. 7. Pray for one another. 4 17
Table Talk Preschool & Nursery: Review some things that we can pray for with your child: Thank God for who He is; ask His help to do things His way; ask for daily things we need; forgive the wrong things we have done; and help us not be tempted. Let s practice together. What does the word forgiveness mean? Have you ever done something and we asked you to say you were sorry? What does it mean when you say you are sorry? God is loving, peaceful, kind, good...do you think there is a God that gets angry? Do you think there is a God who wants to punish us if we make a mistake? Learning Points: Children will be able to explain forgiveness in their own words. Children will understand that God is Love. Personal Devotion Pages The following pages are designed to help you enjoy a regular time alone with God. We have divided up the curriculum to help us grow wherever we are at in our relationship with God and in our knowledge of His Kingdom. LEVELS: Since we are a Colorado church, we use skiing imagery to communicate the different levels of intensity and time involved in relating to God. BEGINNER: If you are new in your relationship with God, we encourage you to try the exercises under this symbol: INTERMEDIATE: If you have walked with God for some time and would like a little more challenge and more time involvement, try the exercises under this symbol: Bible Verse: And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matt 6:12 Prayer: Dear God, teach me to forgive, as you have forgiven me. Let me be a light for all the world to see. I want people to know that I love you. Forgiving is the best thing that I can do. Amen. Activity: Teach the children how to pray. Explain that they may want to remember to include 3 things: Praise God, Thank God, Ask God. They can do this by filling in the blanks. God, You are (good, awesome, wonderful etc.) Thank you for (thank God for all He has done) God, please help (ask God for needs) Affirmation: I am forgiving of myself and others. I learn from my mistakes. I have the power to keep changing for the better. ADVANCED: These exercises are for people who have walked with God for some time and display maturity in their relationship with Him. These exercises provide a practical way to encounter God and His truth on a regular basis. There are no rules here. Please don t hurry through the process. Slow meditation and memorization seems to soak in better than cramming. Enjoy! 16 5
Day One 1. Take at least an hour to pray through the prayer guide you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks. 2. Meditate on John 21. Think about how Jesus treated Peter after Peter denied even knowing Him. Write down your observations here. 3. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to pray and pursue it for at least an hour per day this week. Read Genesis 50 and Memorize Psalm 51: 7. Read Genesis 50 and Memorize Psalm 51: 7-10. Read Genesis 50 and Memorize Psalm 51: 7-13. Day Five And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. ~Matthew 6:13, NKJV We ve made this prayer so much a part of our liturgy that many of us have failed to mine it for all its riches. It s become a mundane part of weekly worship for some, a conglomeration of memorized verses for others. When I was in high school, the prayer was nothing but perfunctory for me. To this day, as I hear that last line, all I can think of is an operatic tenor voice climactically belting out the Amen - sustaining the last note with vibrato for dramatic appeal. It takes a patient, hungry soul to find the nuggets of beauty and profound truth within this well worn text. Think about it. Jesus invites us to pray that His and our Father will protect us when temptation comes. He enjoins us to pray that the Father would directly assist us in avoiding the evil pitfalls that avail themselves to us each day. My guess is that if more of us prayed this prayer as an outline for our own words, we would avoid evil more often, focus on Him more intently, and enjoy abundance of fulfillment on a daily basis. The challenge is this: we ARE tempted to avoid prayer. We ARE tempted to talk ABOUT God rather than talk TO God. We are tempted to read the paper, cruise the internet, and scope out the depth of conversation on FaceBook rather than talk to the Creator of life and redeemer of our souls. For many of us, we find taking time to pray - and pray intently and passionately - one of the most difficult things in all of life. My final exhortation is this: Jump into this with both feet! There is no greater reward in life than encountering the living God! 6 15
Day Five 1. Take at least an hour to pray through the prayer guide you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks. 2. Meditate on Psalm 19: 13-14. Speak this prayer out loud to God and then repeat it. 3. Look back over the last two months and see if you can see a greater level of victory over sin in your life. If not, talk to the Lord about it. If you do see victory, take time to thank Him for bringing it about in your life! 4. Finish your Bible memorization today. Day One And forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. ~Matthew 6:12 Jesus model prayer now teaches us to practice rubber-meets-theroad kind of honesty with God. So far, Jesus has taught us to hallow (lift high above everything else) the name of our Father. He has taught us to align ourselves with His kingdom and join Him in what He is doing around us. He then instructs us to trust God for the needs we have. Now Jesus turns a corner. He trains us to have a transparent, honest relationship with God. Jesus invites us into a vulnerable discussion with the God who sees all of our faults, as well as all of our innermost feelings about Him - and about others. Asking God to forgive us as we forgive others is plunging us into the realm of sensitivity to Him and what makes Him happy, as well as what grieves Him. For most of us, prayer has become mundane for two reasons: we have not yet learned to worship and we have not yet learned to have a raw, uncensored conversation with God. David is our model for both of these. He worshiped God with a passionate heart, while simultaneously telling God to annihilate his enemies! Reading the Psalms regularly teaches us to tell God what we REALLY feel. Such a prayer life lifts us out of religion into righteousness, out of the perfunctory into the passionate. Have you told God lately, I know I m not supposed to feel this way about so and so, but I DO! Have you told Him that He is difficult to hear or that His ways sometimes frustrate you? Are you honest with God? Get there quick! There is no better way to pray. 14 7
Day Two 1. Take at least an hour to pray through the prayer guide you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks. 2. Meditate again on John 21: 15-22. 3. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any and all bi^erness you have against others, yourself, or against God. Write down what He says to you and then take time to forgive as an act of your will. Day Four And don t let us yield to temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ~Matthew 6:13 Jesus has taught us to work through forgiveness in our prayer. Now He focuses on talking to the Father about temptation and evil. The progression of the model prayer goes like this: 1. Worship Him 2. Get in on what He is doing 3. Depend on Him for provision 4. Intimately let Him eradicate bitterness 5. Ask Him to protect you from giving in to evil 6. Return to worship Steps 4 & 5 speak of Jesus acknowledgement that walking with God influences our inner life and inner struggles. The two invisible kingdoms, that of Heaven and of Hell, are continually at odds with one another - and Jesus reminds us that the battlefield occurs primarily within ME! Jesus model prayer reminds us daily that God desires to deliver me from temptation and evil. He offers a way of escape from every temptation (I Corinthians 10: 13) and is available to deliver us from all evil. 4. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring the scriptures alive in your life in such a way that you desire to immerse yourself in them daily. 5. Continue memorizing and meditating on the scriptures for this week. Jesus prayer is a prayer of submission. I submit to You as my King and my God. I submit to Your kingdom and not that of the enemy. I submit to Your provision, refusing to be independent from You! I submit to Your grace which will protect me from giving in to temptation and evil ways. Lay all of yourself down today at His throne. 8 13
12 Day Four 1. Take at least an hour to pray through the prayer guide you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks. 2. Meditate on Psalm 139: 23-24. 3. Tell God about what is bothering you, offending you, or hurting you at this time. Go ahead and say it to Him verbally. Now listen for His perspective. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Day Two Some friends of mine just got married last summer. As we ve touched base over the last year, I ve enjoyed hearing their colorful and insightful observations about the adjustments required for the first year of marriage. We all have things to work through when we get married. These two have realized that she is an external processor and he is an internal processor. Where these two got these colorful metaphors, - I don t know - but basically she needs to talk her feelings out with someone listening, and he needs time alone to work through what he s feeling. He doesn t understand why she needs to talk about things before she has completely figured out why she feels the way she feels. She doesn t understand why he doesn t share his feelings more, even if they re messy. My guess is that these two are a picture of many marriages. As Jesus teaches us to pray, His invitation to work through forgiveness with God is open to both internal and external processors. External processors can verbally talk frankly, unrehearsed, and uncensored to God. Internal processors can purposely invite the Holy Spirit into their inner monologue, turning their consternation into a revealing, but silent dialogue. Instead of stirring around lots of emotions and how to communicate them, an internal processor can have an inner conversation with God while inviting Him to give His perfect perspective. My sense is that I fail to adequately work through my wounds and offenses because I don t look Him in the face and talk about them. We often say it s great to pray about these things, but we need a human being - someone with skin on them - to help us make sense of our pain. This is a negation of the love, power, and goodness of God, who yearns to heal us if we will but let Him. 9
Day Three 1. Take at least an hour to pray through the prayer guide you received at church. You can also download it on the church website: www.mountainlifechurch.com, under Sermon/LifePacks. 2. Meditate on Psalm 51. 3. Write down the most difficult temptations you are dealing with on a daily basis. Ask the Father to overcome through you and give you victory over temptation. 4. What area(s) of your life do you think you have NOT YET given over to God. Write them down here and surrender them to Him. Day Three Physicians and psychologists have found verifiable evidence that there is a connection between bitterness and physical illness. Persistent bitterness may result in global feelings of anger and hostility that, when strong enough, could affect a person's physical health, says Carsten Wrosch, a professor in the Concordia University Department of Psychology and a member of the Centre for Research in Human Development. Unlike regret, which is about self-blame and a case of "woulda, coulda, shoulda," acrimony points the finger elsewhere laying the blame for failure on external causes. When harbored for a long time, says Wrosch, bitterness may forecast patterns of biological dysregulation (a physiological impairment that can affect metabolism, immune response or organ function) and physical disease. These findings are echoed throughout scholarly journals. Even people who do not have a Biblical worldview understand the need to deal with bitterness and unforgiveness quickly before there are greater unforeseen consequences. God created us with a spirit - the inner man - that reflects His glory. We have a need to forgive, to give mercy, and to lavish grace. God knows - bitterness is the cancer of the soul and perhaps the number one reason for bottlenecks between Him and us. We must keep an eternally vigilant guard against offenses and hard feelings. If left to metastasize, bitterness will leave us miserable, lonely people. This is why Jesus includes the statement, forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors, in His model prayer. Keeping our spirit clean keeps us in constant fellowship with the Father and with other people! 10 11