Mountain Life Church

Peace in the Chaos Mountain Life Church Life Pack April 29, 2012

Peace in the Chaos Write any notes from the week here Sermon Notes April 29, 2012 Ma.hew 6: 9 I. God s Names so Far A. Elohim - Communicates the Creator Redeemer and the Trinity B. Yahweh or Jehovah - I Am. Communicates God s existence C. Jehovah Tsidkenu - The Lord my Righteousness D. Jehovah M Kaddesh - The Lord who makes me Holy II. Jehovah Shalom- The Lord is Peace. Judges 6: 22-24 A. Gideon - The Great Chicken Warrior 1. Gideon needed to know God was with him 2. Gideon had a hard time with his self image B. Peace and Fear 1. Fear is natural. We often define ourselves through our fear as Gideon did 2. Peace is supernatural, and comes only from God. Peace begins to reign as we define ourselves In Christ. C. Jesus Promise in John 14 1. Peace that passes understanding 2. Paul experienced it and taught it (Philippians 4: 4-8) 2 19

Table Talk Teens Pray Always The literal translation of the words pray always is come to rest. The Lord encourages us to come and rest on Him daily. This rest, however, has little to do with the absence of conflict or pain. It is a rest in God in the midst of a very intense, busy daily life and struggle. Read the following verses on prayer and share your thoughts. Matthew 21:21-22 We can pray with confidence that God is able to answer our requests. Luke 18:9-14 Pray with an attitude of humility. III.Jehovah Shammah - The Lord is there. Ezekiel 48: 35 A. The tangible presence of an omnipresent God B. The Biblical theme of I will meet you there Exodus Solomon Jesus IV.Jehovah Rophe - The Lord Heals. Exodus 15: 25-26 A. Jesus is I AM - The power of our Savior I AM your Savior I AM your Healer I AM your Deliverer B. Taking time to thank Him for His healing John 16:23-24 Pray with confidence in Jesus name. Ephesians 6:18 Pray all the time. 18 3

Life Group Questions for April 29, 2012 Good News! Series Message = Peace in the Chaos Ice Breaker: Tell about the most peaceful scene you have ever seen, or the most peaceful moment you ve ever experienced. Read Exodus 15: 25-26 and Ma.hew 9: 35. 1. Tell what you observe about these passages. 2. Do you think there is any foreshadowing given to us through the BRANCH thrown into the bixer water? Tell what you think. (Answer: Jesus was prophesied to be a righteous branch who came and brought healing to Israel). 3. If Jehovah Rophe means The Lord who Heals You, do you see Him as your healer? Has God shown Himself to you as your Healer? Please explain. Read Philippians 4: 4-8. 4. What sticks out to you about this passage? 5. Jehovah Shalom means The Lord our Peace. Have you experienced overwhelming peace from God in your past? Please tell about it. Table Talk Elementary Day 1 - Today we will focus our attention on God's healing. Read Exodus 15:25-27 & Matthew 8:13-15. Both of the passages show us that our God is a god who heals. Ask you parents if they have ever been healed of something, or if they know someone who has been healed? Have you ever skinned your knee or broken a bone? God created our bodies to heal from those wounds. We can also heal from words that wound us, God's grace and mercy allow us to do this! Today, take time to thank Jesus for His healing power! Day 2 - God provides. Read the account of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22. Are you familiar with this story? What a great example of God providing for His faithful people. 1 Peter 4:11 tells us that God provides us with strength. Take a moment to thank God for all that He provides you with (food, clothing, shelter, friends...). Most important is that God provided us with His one and only Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to save us from our sins! Praise Him! Day 3 - God is our Shepherd. What is the role of a Shepherd? (To watch over His flock). Read Psalm 23. Have you heard this passage before? What is something that stands out to you as you read this passage? Let's end this week by writing out Psalm 23. Sometimes when we write out a passage or a verse, we think (meditate) on what we are writing. Thank God for being our Good Shepherd and for leading us! 6. Do you see yourself growing in your capacity to dwell in peace when chaos ensues? Please tell about it. 7. Pray for one another. 4 17

from 1 Samuel 1:9-20 Table Talk Preschool & Nursery: Tell you child the story of Hannah praying to God 1. Why was Hannah so sad? (Because she did not have any children.) How did Hannah ask for God's help? (She prayed.) 2. What did Hannah pray for? (A son.) 3. Do you think Hannah was happy that she prayed to God? (Yes, because God gave her a son.) 4. Can you share a time that God answered a prayer for you? (Allow for answers.) Learning Points: God will always hear our prayers. It makes Jesus very happy when we pray. If we ask anything in Jesus' name, He will do it. We can pray anytime, morning, noon, or night. Bible Verse: "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." John 14:14 Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for this chance to spend some time with You. I am grateful for being able to sit here and talk about all the great things You have done. I am thankful for the opportunity to ask for Your help whenever I am in need. I am so glad that You are always right here to listen to what I have to say. Amen. Activity: Ask your child if he or she has anything for which to be thankful. Find out if your child knows whom to thank for these things. Also, take this time to remind your child that if there is ever a need, we are always welcome to talk (pray) to God. He is always listening to our prayers. Then, take some time each day this week to pray with your child and thank God for at least one specific thing. Choose something different each day. Remind your child that what 16 we need to be most thankful for is that God sent His Son for us. 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: 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! 5

Day One 1. Take at least 25 minutes 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. Read Judges 6: 11-24. Focus on verse 24. In verse 24, we find the opposite of peace. What is it? 3. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you to pray and pursue it for at least 25 minutes per day this week. Memorize Romans 8: 15 Memorize Romans 8: 14-15 Memorize Romans 8: 14-16 Day Five Jehovah Rophe Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, Take heart, son! Your sins are forgiven. ~Matthew 9:2, NLT Jesus stunned the religious community with that statement. It implied that He had authority to heal AND to forgive sins, which means He believed He was God (only God can forgive sins). Jesus knew that He was Jehovah and acted accordingly. Jesus knew He was Jehovah Rophe and acted accordingly. Most of us acknowledge that Jesus saves. In the Greek, the word for save is sokzo? New Testament scholars have found that the ancients used sokzo for many different meanings depending on the context. Throughout the New Testament, sokzo has been translated to mean three different words: Saved, as if saved from certain death and from peril; healed from diseases of the mind, emotions, and body; and delivered from the influence of demonic power. So, go ahead and say it... Jesus saves! He did it all on the cross. He saved me from an eternity apart from God, He healed me of all my maladies, and He delivered me from the domain of darkness and transferred me to the Kingdom of God (Ephesians 2). My job is simply to receive His salvation, healing, and deliverance by faith. Thank You, Lord! I receive it! Okay, this is much easier to say than to do. Many of us go through life with maladies and faithfully pursue God for healing to no avail. The only Biblical answer I have for this is... Keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking. Thank You, Jesus, for being Jehovah Rophe for me and for my loved ones today! 6 15

Day Five 1. Take at least 25 minutes 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 MaXhew 9: 5-8. What things did Jesus tell the disciples to do to show that the Kingdom was near the people? 3. Write down the names of friends, loved ones, and co- workers who need mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical healing. Ask Jehovah Rophe to touch them today. 4. Finish your Bible memorization today. Day One Jehovah Shalom When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the LORD, he said, Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face. The LORD said to him, Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die. Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and named it The LORD is Peace (Jehovah Shalom). To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. ~Judges 6:22-24, NAS Gideon is perhaps the biggest chicken in the Old Testament. A cursory study of this mighty leader will reveal that he fought victorious battles and performed awesome acts of valor with his palms sweating and his knees knocking. Here, at the beginning of Gideon s reign as judge of Israel, the Lord reveals an important part of His character. He is a God of supernatural peace. This particular message was especially relevant to Gideon. As the youngest man in the least family of the least of the tribes of Israel, he struggles to see himself as God sees himself. The messages have been so reinforced inside his head for so long that he struggles to hear the good news that God is for him. God gives us His peace as perhaps His greatest agent of confirmation. His peace tells us that the God of the universe favors us, He loves us, and He is with us to perform what He commands. The greatest thing God s supernatural peace does is counteract fear. Fear cannot remain in control when His peace enters our hearts. His peace will always overcome fear, even if the feelings of fear remain. His peace gives us the courage to act in spite of our fear. Father, I receive Jehovah Shalom today. I choose to walk in peace and not in fear. 14 7

Day Two 1. Take at least 25 minutes 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 14: 26-27 3. Listen to the Holy Spirit for a few minutes by going over Philippians 4: 6-7. Meditate on this and then write down your insights. 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. Day Four Jehovah Rophe And He said, If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer (Jehovah Rophe). ~Exodus 15:26, NAS Jehovah Rophe - The Lord Your Healer. I never heard these words growing up. My denomination, in reaction to to what they saw as the excesses of faith healers, believed that we are not allowed to pray for God to heal - even though it s spoken of throughout the Old Testament and spotlighted in the Gospels. I was taught that I could pray for God s will to be done for one who was sick and to pray for them to be comforted in their affliction, but I was to never boldly pray for someone s healing! God forbid! Yet, the Gospels are full of people boldly asking Jesus to heal them. He seems to oblige them, too! If we re honest with the Gospels, the only time Jesus didn t heal was when a city or town didn t believe in Him. So, the natural question comes to mind as I make that last statement: Do you mean that God hasn t healed me because I don t have enough faith? First of all, I would never tell someone that and I hope you never would either. Second, I don t claim to have a monopoly on the mind of God in these matters. This we know for certain. God invites us to boldly pursue healing! God loves for us to storm the throne room with requests for healing. The results are up to Him. Boldly pursue the throne of grace to receive healing for yourself and for others! 8 13

12 Day Four 1. Take at least 25 minutes 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 Isaiah 53: 4-5. Then meditate on MaXhew 8: 16-17. What message is similar in both of these passages? 3. Write down sins that you cannot break free from right now. Praise Jehovah Rophe (Jehovah, our Healer) for healing you of your sin. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Day Two Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4:6, 7, NAS Paul reveals a huge kingdom secret in the above passage. Practical prayer that deals honestly with anxiety and worry through persistence and thanksgiving is tied inexorably to peace. As I pursue God in authentic relationship, peace is stationed as the sentry outside of my heart. His duty is to alarm us when fear, sin, or rebellion enters our heart. Peace guards our hearts all day long, and he will be sure to tell us of intruders. When peace takes up his sentry s position, he transports us into one of the most attractive of all the Christian virtues - peace in the storm. OnE of the great evangelists of church history is John Wesley. As a young man, he came to America to be a missionary in the 1700 s. His tenure was a complete disaster. He secretly admitted to himself, I am a missionary to the colonists, but who will be a missionary to me? This admission revealed that though he was a churchgoer, he was not a born again believer in Jesus. Upon his return to England, a horrible storm struck and the ship s crew and Wesley, were in mortal fear for their lives. *A group of Moravian missionaries happened to be having a worship service on deck at the time. Wesley records that, when the storm became intense, a terrible screaming began among the English. But the Germans looked up, and without intermission calmly sang on. I asked one of them afterwards, Were you not afraid? He answered, I thank God, no. I asked, But were not your women and children afraid? He replied mildly, No; our women and children are not afraid to die. Wesley then saw that something was missing from his life. He found it in Christ. *By A. Skevington Wood 9

Day Three 1. Take at least 25 minutes 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 Exodus 15: 25-26. The Lord Our Healer is mentioned in verse 26. What was the condition for God to be the people s healer? Because Jesus obeyed God fully and because we are in Christ, He becomes our healer! Take some time to thank God for being your healer. 3. Pray for anyone you know who needs healing of mind, body, or soul. 4. Take time to thank God that He is at work healing you from past sin, and for any physical malady you have. 5. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Day Three Jehovah Shammah The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. ~Exodus 34:5, NAS95. In the days of Ezekiel, God promised He would be in the midst of Jerusalem. He would be there, and His name would be Jehovah Shammah (Ezekiel 48: 35). But long before Jerusalem was her capital, God met with Israel in the Holy Place in the tabernacle. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There (Shammah) I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel. Exodus 25:21, 22, NAS. God s voice throughout the Old 9Testament has invited leaders and people alike to meet Him THERE. It s as if it s a secret rendezvous place where He would make Himself tangible and known - and then He would speak as a man speaks to a friend. The tabernacle of the New Testament is in the heart of any believer in Jesus. THERE God meets with us, speaks to us, gives us profound peace, and a knowledge of His presence. Jesus speaks as one who has had eternal fellowship with His Father when He invites us to go THERE to meet with Him. He insists that the Father will meet us THERE. It s the core of faith in Christ. Meet Him THERE! I will meet you THERE stands as one of the most intimate, awesome invitations in the Bible. Go, meet Him there! Stay with Him for a while until your soul is happy! 10 11