Covenant Christian Reformed Church

THE CALL TO COMMUNITY (Discovering God’s Will Together; #12) The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:21-26) A. The Corinthian Church was a place of controlled chaos 1. Paul notes its membership: Jewish merchants, gypsies, Greeks, prostitutes, and pagan idolaters 2. Paul notes their battles with schism, incest, greed, and the Lord’s Supper

A Rule for Life (Discovering God’s Will Together; #11) Acts 2:40-42 “The real issue is not these forces, it’s the ‘meltdown’ of Christian behavior; North American Christians are virtually indistinguishable from the world” (Os Guinness) A. The church is facing a spiritual crisis 1. We need to get serious about our spiritual life! 2. Imagine we’re building or remodeling our spiritual “home” – the only question is “How serious are we about actually moving in...?” B. Deepening our walk with Jesus requires more than intellectual assent 1. We need a conscious, intentional, well thought out action plan 2. We need the discipline to follow it “Athletes, musicians, writers, scientists, and others progress in their fields because they are well-disciplined people. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to think that in matters of faith we should pray, meditate, and engage in other spiritual disciplines only when we feel like it.” (William Paulsell cf. Rules for Prayer) A RULE-DRIVEN LIFE A. How do we arrange our l

The Only Way Home (A Study of the Gospel of John; Message #58) (Jesus on Discipleship #7) John 14:4-6 A. Jesus is conversing with his disciples the night before his crucifixion A MISUNDERSTANDING (14:4,5) A. Thomas doesn't get it B. Jesus tries to clarify things for Thomas: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” 1. About three years before, Thomas heard Jesus say, “Follow me” 2. When a disciple follows a rabbi, the destination is far less important C. Jesus “way-knowing” is simply “Stick with me!” A METAPHOR (14:6A) A. Jesus is the master of metaphor 1. Listen carefully: “A metaphor is not literally true” a. A metaphor both is and is not what it says b. A metaphor is designed to stimulate our imagination; we can connect the visible to the invisible and open up to transcendence 2. There is more to everything than what we can see or hear or touch B. When we realize Jesus talks in metaphors, we can be more confused or our understanding can expand exponentially THE MESSAGE (4:6A) A. Scriptur

A Rhythm of Rest (Discovering God’s Will Together; #10) Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15 “Shabbat is, without question, the part of Judaism I miss the most. Sabbath shaped all our rhythms of calendar and time: the entire week revolved around Shabbat. (Lauren Winner; Mudhouse Sabbath) A. For most people, Sunday is anything but a day of rest B. God has given us the gift of Sabbath and Jesus “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, I will give your rest” (Matthew 11:28) THE PROLEGOMENA OF SABBATH A. The Sabbath is deeply imbedded in Creation “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2) B. At Sinai, God placed Sabbath into Covenant 1. Exodus reads “Remember [zakhor] the Sabbath day and keep it holy [kadosh]”; Deuteronomy reads “Observe [shamor, keep] the Sabbath day and keep it holy” 2. In Exodus (20:11) the basis for remembering Sabbath is Creation. In Deuteronomy 5:15, we observe Sabbath to keep