YAM eNews Week of July 13, 2003
Online version available at: http://torrancefirstyam.blogspot.com/
If you would like to contribute to the YAM eNews, send an email to tfbyam1@hotmail.com.
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IN THE eNEWS THIS WEEK
Calendar
Summer Events
NewsFlash—Something’s Happening in the YAM Room
[Your Contribution Could Be Here]
The Gathering—What is church? AKA “Orientation”
What do YOU want YAM to BE?
Tuesday Bible Study—Romance… Sacred? The Song of Songs
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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: “What is church?—AKA Orientation” taught by Laura
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: Romance? Sacred? Song of Songs
An online version is available weekly at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/
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SUMMER EVENTS
Experience Prayer Space—Living Bread
Saturday, July 19 @ 8:00 pm
Movie Night—send your theme ideas to Megan
Saturday, July 26 @ TBA (evening)
WNBA Basketball: Sparks v. Charlotte
http://www.wnba.com/sparks/
Saturday, August 2 @ 6 pm
Hollywood Bowl
Yoyo Ma’s Sounds of Brazil
http://www.hollywoodbowl.com/tix/performance_detail.cfm?id=1476
Sunday, August 10 @ TBA (evening)
Experience: Holy Wind
Saturday, August 16 @ 8 pm
Getty Museum
http://www.getty.edu/museum/
Saturday, August 23 @ TBA
COLLEGE BRIEFING
***SIGN-UPS HAVE BEGUN!! INVITE A FRIEND!!***
August 29 to September 1
Forest Home
…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
Dodger Baseball—early September
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NEWSFLASH—SOMETHING’S HAPPENING IN THE YAM ROOM
This afternoon a transformation took place. The world has been reoriented. The walls have changed (and there’s lots more to come). You’ll be amazed at what you find.
We’ll be having another workday in a few weeks—see Jeff Barnhart for info—so if you don’t mind getting your hands in it, join on in.
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[YOUR CONTRIBUTION COULD BE HERE]
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THE GATHERING—What is church? AKA “Orientation”
[also available at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/]
Today we looked at the church as a learning community.
Matthew 11 tells us about apprentices (vv. 2-6, 28-30), revealers (vv. 7-15, 25-27), and rejecters (vv. 16-19, 20-24). Revealers are chosen by God—like John the Baptist—or are God—like the Father and Jesus. Apprentices and rejecters choose. Between them there is no middle ground; you are either an apprentice of Jesus or you are a rejecter of Jesus. Who are you?
What is apprenticeship? It is Jesus call. He does not call us to bide our time while we wait for heaven. He does not call us to be good or act nice. He calls us to COME to him—that’s relationship, not religion. He calls us to TAKE UP his PLOWING HARNESS. A plowing harness joins two oxen or workhorses together so that they can pull a load together. Jesus is calling us to harness ourselves to him, to join him in his work. Finally, Jesus calls us to LEARN from HIM. Unlike religious rules that push us around, Jesus is gentle and humble. Harnessing ourselves to him gives us refreshment rather than the struggle and weight of religious rules. Apprenticing with Jesus is about harnessing yourself to him. His harness fits perfectly and his burden won’t weigh you down.
Here’s the keys:
1. What you do flows from who you are.
2. What you do reveals who you are.
3. The key question: Who are you? Are you an apprentice to the Messiah or are you a rejecter of the Messiah? There really is no middle ground.
Last week we looked at the church as relational community. Three metaphors used by the bible are “body” (the church is made up of many parts, but there is only one body), the flock (the church is made up of many sheep, but there is only one shepherd), and the temple (the church—the people of God—together are the place where God dwells).
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WHAT DO YOU WANT YAM TO BE?
Given all of this what do you want YAM to be?
- accountability
- fellowship
- encouragement
- comedy club
- eating yams
- prayer
- meditation
- music
- to be an environment where you can grow in strength and commitment
We did some dreaming this morning. Here are our dreams:
- to fly like in Matrix and live in the forest
- to go yachting
- to go to Scotland and play bagpipes
- a jewel-encrusted tuba
- to live in a pretty, warm place with lots of animals
- to write books about God for a living
- to play professional tennis
- to go fishing
- to go backpacking in the Sierras
- to be late for work because I had trouble deciding which car to drive
- to own a Ferrari dealership
- to be in a coffee bar band
- to get a PhD
- cars
- to live on a floating island
- to own yankee stadium
Imaging through these desires and dreams. Look for connections. Look for trends.
Next week we’ll put our dreams together with the next reality about the church: the church is a serving community.
- Laura
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TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY
YAM Tuesday—Romance… Sacred? The Song of Songs
Song of Songs 1:1-2:7
Here’s the lowdown on the Song of Songs—See the bible study blog [http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/]
for the full summary—and more explanations.
Well, this last Tuesday was intense. Boy, does Song of Songs have lots of metaphors or what! For those who were at the study and felt a little overwhelmed… agreed… next time (July 27, we don’t meet this week due to VBS) we’ll change the format to make it a bit less like a tidal wave… promise.
Anyhow, here’s the big picture for the week:
The woman is looking for her lover among the shepherds, but does not want to appear to be a “loose woman” (after all, what proper woman would be wandering around among the shepherds?), so she asks him where they are. He tells her to follow the sheep’s footprints. They then begin to praise one anther and to revel in their love. She is compared to a horse, to doves, and to wildflowers. He is compared to myrrh, to an apple tree in the forest, and to shade. What in the world does all this have to do with anything? Good question.
Verse seven gives us the moral of the story:
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.
In other words, this romance thing is serious. Don’t stir up someone’s emotions for your own pleasure. Don’t get into stuff that should be left until after you’ve made that lifetime commitment in the presence of your community (we call this marriage, by the way).
Next time we’ll look at 2:8-3:5.
--Laura
