YAM eNews Week of June 15, 2003
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IN THE eNEWS THIS WEEK
Calendar
Coming Up
Service Opportunity—Summer Sunday School Volunteer
[Your Contribution Could Be Here]
Studying Romans With Pastor Charlie: Living Under The Law, Romans 6:14
The Gathering—Oh my God, you’re God, Part 3—Lord of warfare
Soul Work—Lectio Divina on Psalm 103: 8-14
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CALENDAR
SUNDAYS
Worship @ 8:45 am—Main Worship Center
Current Study: Pastor Charlie is teaching through Paul’s Letter to the Romans
The Gathering @ 10 am—YAM room
Current Study: “Oh my god, you’re God!” taught by Laura
Coming Up: Orientation… yup, Orientation :)
An online summary is available weekly at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/
Eating together (most weeks) @ 11:45 am
TUESDAYS
Bible Study @ 8 pm—YAM room
Current Study: Big Rocks, taught by Laura
Coming in July—Song of Songs
An online version is available weekly at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/
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COMING UP
SATURDAY, June 21
8:00 to 10:00 pm
EXPERIENCE
Consuming Fire
alt.worship event
TFB Youth Room
SUNDAY, June 22
10:00 am
“They’re here…”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!FRESHMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SUMMER EVENTS… at least so far (send in your ideas!!)
Sparks games
Baseball
Weekend retreat
Taco Saturday
Pool Party
MTA Los Angeles Art Tour
LABOR DAY WEEKEND, August 29 to September 1
COLLEGE BRIEFING
Forest Home
In our world we are often faced with hard and challenging situations.
What do you depend on during these times?
Jesus Alone!
…CHRIST IS ALL THAT MATTERS… Colossians 3:11 NLT
Cost: $145, $25 non-refundable deposit due at sign-up
Scholarships available, ask Laura or Tom
Visit http://www.gospelcom.net/foresthome/collegebriefing2003.htm for info
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SERVICE OPPORTUNITY—SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL VOLUNTEER
Helpers needed urgently for the Preschool Sunday School class beginning June 8th, one Sunday a month on a rotation with other volunteers. Both guys and girls needed.
Contact Lynne Foster ASAP if you can help:
tfbce@pacbell.net
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[YOUR CONTRIBUTION COULD BE HERE]
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STUDYING ROMANS WITH PASTOR CHARLIE: LIVING UNDER THE LAW, ROMANS 6:14
BASIC CONCEPT OF GRACE
G – God’s
R - Riches
A - at
C – Christ’s
E - Expense
The above definition is good, but it does not capture the heart of grace. Grace is kindness, generosity, and love that is undeserved and unearned.
Grace teaches that God’s attitude toward us is one of acceptance and love
Grace is a statement that says each person is helpless, trapped in sin and incapable of pleasing God or winning His favor.
Grace is a proclamation that God in Christ has acted and has come to the aid of all who will trust Him for their eternal salvation.
Grace is a way of living; relying totally on Jesus to work within us, enabling us to live truly good lives.
SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF GRACE
GRACE IS AN ATTRIBUTE OF GOD—This is part of God’s DNA; it is the way he is wired.
Psalm 145:8
GRACE COMES THROUGH A PERSON - JESUS CHRIST—Grace is about relationship.
John 1:17
Romans 5:15
GRACE IS ETERNAL
2 Timothy 1:9
GRACE IS FREE—It can’t be earned; you can’t pay for it—it’s already been paid for by God.
Romans 3:24
Titus 3:5
GRACE CAN BE RESISTED.
1. We resist grace through bitterness.
Hebrews 12:15
2. We resist grace through pride.
James 4:6
GRACE IS LIMITLESS.
Romans 5:20
THE BENEFITS OF GRACE
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE.
Ephesians 2:8,9
Ephesians 2:8,9
WE ARE FILLED WITH GOD’S SPIRIT BY GRACE.
Galatians 3:2
MIRACLES COME BY GRACE.
Galatians 3:5
OUR PERSONAL GROWTH COMES BY GRACE.
2 Peter 3:18
1 Corinthians 15:10
By the grace of God, I'm not what I used to be.
By the grace of God, I am what I am.
By the grace of God, I'm not what I'm going to be.
This is about balance—“I work” balanced with “God works in me.” It’s both.
WE OVERCOME SIN AND TEMPTATION BY GOD’S GRACE.
Titus 2:11,12
Philippians 2:13
Wrong conclusion #1: God’s grace gives me a license to do whatever I want.
Romans 6:15-18
Wrong Conclusion #2: God’s grace removes the natural consequences of my actions.
Galatians 6:7
WE CAN HANDLE OUR TRIALS BY GOD’S GRACE.
2 Corinthians 12:7
Hebrews 4:15,16
2 Timothy 2:1
GOD GIVES US ABILITIES TO SERVE HIM BY GRACE.
Romans 12:6
GOD KEEPS US SAVED BY GRACE
Jude v. 24
Philippians 1:6
John 10:27-29
2 Timothy 2:16
Hebrews 7:24,25
WANT TO GO DEEPER? SEE “SOUL WORK” BELOW
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THE GATHERING—Oh My God, You’re God!
[also available at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/]
Part 3—Lord of warfare
Two different men. Two different generations. Two different centuries. Same God. Isaiah saw God in the temple. In his vision, God’s glory filled the temple, seraphim—really cool angels—flying around. When Isaiah saw God, the Lord of Warfare, he realized how messed up he was—how sinful. God is holy. Isaiah is not. So God sent one of the angels with a coal from the fire to cleanse his lips—OUCH! Result? God asks, “Who will go speak to the people for me?” Isaiah responds by jumping up and down, shouting, “Send me. Send me.”
Story two. Peter is a very good fisherman. He has been a fisherman since he was a little boy. Jesus is a carpenter—carpenters do not know about fishing. Jesus asks Peter to go out into the Sea of Galilee—a very dangerous place—lots of really big storms—into the deep water (the not safe place) and Peter complies. Then when Jesus—the carpenter—asks Peter to cast the net into the deep water, Peter balks, “But, Lord, we’ve fished all night and caught nothing. But whatever you say. [mutter, mutter, mutter.]” So, he lets down the net and catches so many fish that the boat begins to sink, he calls his partners to help and their boat begins to sink. Peter has seen God. Peter falls to his knees, “Get away from me Lord. I’m messed up.” Result? Jesus tells Peter, “From now on you’ll fish for people.”
So what’s the big deal here? One of the questions asked by both teams was, “What does God look like?” The answer? God looks like you. So, how good is your picture of God? How good is YAM’s picture of God? How good is TFB’s picture of God? When people see us, do the get a true picture of God? Or do they see a messed up picture?
- Laura
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TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY
YAM Tuesday—Big Rocks
[also available at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/]
[A "Big Rocks" guide will be available sometime in June. This guide can be used to lead communal manuscript studies on your campus. Send an email to tfbyam1@hotmail.com if you're interested.]
THE MENU
First: Read the passage a few times.
Second: What do you notice—who, what, when, where, how? Connections? Repeated ideas?
Third: Ask a bunch of questions about the passage.
Fourth: Map your discoveries using words, pictures, or symbols.
Fifth : Share your discoveries with your group and work together to answer your questions.
Sixth: Ask, “So what?” What difference does/should this passage make in our lives?
This Week: Big Rock Nine: Future--Daniel 7:13-14
Here’s a few thoughts from Tuesday:
- It has always been God’s plan to bring people from all languages, cultures, and nations into the People of God.
- Messiah will be the ruler and the one worshiped.
- God really is in charge.
Thinking it through:
- Daniel wrote his book in exile. He had been taken—by force—to Babylon. His people had been taken to Babylon. Things were not going well. In the middle of this, God sends Daniel a vision of the future. The end of things when the Messiah is on the throne and all peoples acknowledge him.
- Given the situation, think through how this vision may have helped Daniel and his people.
- Spend some time thinking through the story in chapter seven—read the entire chapter and make a mental movie. How do you feel? What are you thinking?
Coming up...
Big Rock Nine: Future--Revelation 20:11-15
Big Rock Ten: Why Do Theology—Matthew 22:37-40
Completed:
Big Rock One: The Word: 2 Timothy 3:10-17; Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Big Rock Two: God: Psalm 145:17-21; Hebrews 12:4-11
Big Rock Three: Man: Genesis 1:26-31; 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:4
Big Rock Four: Sin: Genesis 2:25-3:7; Ephesians 2:1-3
Big Rock Five: Christ--Isaiah 9:1-7; John 1:14-18
Big Rock Six: Redemption-- Isaiah 53:10-12; John 3:16-21
Big Rock Seven: Spirit--Ezekiel 36:22-32; John 16:5-15
Big Rock Eight: Church--Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ephesians 4:11-22
--Laura
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SOUL WORK—Lectio Divina on Psalm 103: 8-14 (NLT)
Read the passage SLOWLY—several times.
Spend time chewing the passage. Think of cows chewing the cud. Swish is over in your mind until you really get the full flavor.
Talk with God about what you have tasted in his word.
Rest quietly and listen to God.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious; He is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does He deal with us as we deserve. For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him. For He understands how weak we are; He knows we are only dust.”
If you would like to know more about Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) check it out at these websites:
http://www.valyermo.com/ld-art.htmlhttp://www.osb.org/lectio/about.htmlhttp://www.sp.uconn.edu/~salomon/ld/lectio.html
As always, read the web with wisdom, and when in doubt check it out.
