YAM eNews Week of September 7, 2003
If you would like to contribute to the YAM eNews, send an email to tfbyam1@hotmail.com.
=============================
IN THE eNEWS THIS WEEK
REGULAR HAPPENINGS
WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL
STUFF FROM THE WEB
HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE
STUDYING WITH PASTOR CHARLIE—DEALING WITH THE TRAGEDIES OF LIFE
NUGGETS FROM THE SDGs
YAM SERVICE TEAM—Applications due September 21
=============================
REGULAR HAPPENINGS
WORSHIP @ 8:45 am—Main Worship Center
EATING TOGETHER, 4th Sunday @ 11:45 am
Next EATING TOGETHER is September 28
Now taking restaurant recommendations…
SDGs (SPIRITUAL DISCUSSION GROUPS)
The Gathering @ 10 am—YAM room
Current Study: "Seeing God in The Matrix" taught by Tom
NEXT WEEK: “How to lead a bible study” taught by Jonathan Pribble
An online summary is available weekly at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/
Communal Discovery @ 7:30 pm on Tuesdays—YAM room
Current Study: How it all began... Genesis 1-11
An online summary is available weekly at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/
=============================
WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL
Colossians 3:1-4 Msg
So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ--that's where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life--even though invisible to spectators--is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too--the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.
What fills your thoughts? Up stuff or down stuff? If you have trusted Jesus for salvation, do your choices match who you really are? Tom talked a lot about reality, belief, and knowledge. It applies here. The reality is that if you have trusted Jesus for salvation, you are a new person and you have been resurrected with him—even though it’s REALLY tough to see down here. You believe or you would not be a believer; you have taken that first step. Now about knowledge. Paul is not talking about intellectual knowledge here—though intellectual knowledge is important. He is talking about relational knowledge. He says that our life—our real life—is kept safe with Christ in God. In other words, living out this resurrection life is a direct result of living life with Jesus… hmmm…
So, look at the questions again. What fills your thoughts? Up stuff or down stuff? If you have trusted Jesus for salvation, do your choices match who you really are?
=============================
STUFF FROM THE WEB
Damah Film Festival
Emergent Village—stuff on the Emerging Church
.pdf rendering of a bike crash—my question, “How did he figure all this out?”
=============================
HOW TO STUDY THE BIBLE
There are three steps (well, four, sort of)
There are a few things to remember about Bible study. First, it is a lot like English class, because you are studying literature. God chose to speak to us in literature, so that’s what we have. Second, it is a lot like History class because you are studying ancient literature, from a time and culture and language far different from your own. Third, any one can do it. God gave us his Word in a format we would understand. Now, there are many levels of complexity—from basic to unbelievably complicated—but the basic steps remain the same. Bottom line? We study the Bible because in it God shows us who he is, who we are, and what his kingdom is like. We study it because we love God. Sometimes it is tedious, but if you are hunting for God in his book, it is NEVER boring. We might be boring, but God never is.
Now, on to the steps…
Step 0 (the “sort of” step, kind of a part of Step 1) Get a handle on the context.
- Historical (who wrote the book, the original audience, the culture of the day, what else was happening at the time)
- Literary (what type of writing is it? history, philosophy, drama, poetry, letter, wisdom, law)
NOTE: It’s a good idea to remind yourself of the context each time you study. Remember, the bible was written two-thousand years ago (at least) and in three different languages (none of which is English), by and to people from cultures very different from our own.
Now we turn to the passage you wish to study:
Step I: Observation—LOOK for:
- Purpose statements
- Repeated phrases
- The Point
- The characters
- The time and sequence (“once, then, now, will be, etc.”)
- Persons, places, ideas
- Logical connectives (“therefore, but, since, so, thus, because, for, that, etc.”)
- Verbs (past-present-future, active-passive, report-command-possibility)
- Nouns (actors, acted upon)
- Literary style of the passage (see above for list)
Step II: Interpretation
- LOOK back at the context
- ASK:
1. What DID it mean to the original audience?
2. What DOES it mean now?
- WRITE Truth Statements
NOTE: It is at this point—after doing your own study and thinking—that you check with commentaries and study bibles to: 1) find stuff you may have missed, 2) make sure you are not somewhere out in left field.
Step III: Application
- COMPARE today and then by asking, “How are we like them? How am I like them?”
- ASK: How will I/we respond? What will I/we know? How will I/we feel? What will I/we do?
- Put a time frame on your response—be specific.
- Laura
For more information, check out “Into Thy Word”
(which, despite the King James English in the title, is not at all King Jamesy, not that I’m anti-KJV, I like the KJV, and I’m not paranoid, really)
=============================
STUDYING WITH PASTOR CHARLIE—DEALING WITH THE TRAGEDIES OF LIFE
September 7, 2003
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23 NKJV
WHAT TO REMEMBER IN DARK VALLEYS
1. VALLEYS ARE INEVITABLE.
John 16:33
2. VALLEYS ARE UNPREDICTABLE.
Jeremiah 4:20
3. VALLEYS ARE IMPARTIAL.
Matthew 5:45
4. VALLEYS ARE TEMPORARY.
I Peter 1:6
2 Corinthians 4:17
5. VALLEYS ARE PURPOSEFUL.
1 Peter 1:7
Romans 8:28
WHAT TO DO IN DARK VALLEYS
1. REFUSE TO BE DISCOURAGED. “I will fear no evil.”
Colossians 1:11
2. REMEMBER THAT GOD IS WITH YOU. “For You are with me”
Isaiah 43:2
3. RELY ON GOD’S PROTECTION AND GUIDANCE.
“Your Rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
"The good man does not escape all troubles -- he has them too.
But the Lord helps him in each and every one."
Psalm 34:19 (LB)
=============================
NUGGETS FROM THE SDGs
[more detail is available at http://tfbyam.blogspot.com/]
The Gathering… Tom wrapped up The Matrix today. Here’s some stuff to think about:
- Have evidence for what you believe; don’t just swallow it hook, line, and sinker
- Investigate the bible for yourself.
- Belief is the beginning place; obedience is the continuation of belief (Tom’s current favorite verse is John 8:31-32, “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.")
Next week, we begin a new series. Jonathan Pribble will be leading a study on leading a study. Don’t miss it!!
Tuesday Communal Discovery… looked at Genesis 5-6, focusing on 6:9-22. Noah lived in a culture that was—by consensus of the Tuesday night group—a lot like Nevada: a culture full of hedonism and violence. Somehow, in the middle of this culture, with all its influences, Noah was able to remain righteous and blameless. How? Verse 9 gives us a clue: Noah walked with God. Noah’s life was not spiritually compartmentalized, shoving God into one area of life and keeping God out of the rest. Noah lived his life with God. This is a lot more than a 15-minute “quiet time” in the morning. This means taking God to work, onto the freeway, to math class, to parties, etc. How would your life change if you walked through life with God? Next week: Genesis 8:20-9:7.
=============================
YAM SERVICE TEAM—Applications due September 21
YAM Service Team Applications have been delivered. Applications are due Sunday, September 21, 2003. If you are interested in serving on the team, either in YAM or elsewhere in TFB, be sure to fill out an application.
In his letter to the Ephesian believers, Paul reminded them that the ministry happens in the members:
“He [Jesus] is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13 NLT
In other words, it is the job of every believer to be part of a community and to use their gift(s) to help make the community more like Jesus. How can you use your gifts to make YAM more like Jesus?
=============================
=============================
