Hey guys hope things are going well with you. I have had the chance to touch base with most of you this week and have heard some good things and some tough things you are going through. Please be praying for the Gizzi's and the PO group as they switch to monday nights and try and meet more peoples schedules better. Be an encouragement to Mike as he is trying to provide community for the people in Port Orchard.
As our groups are getting bigger I want us to be thinking long-term and what the needs are going to be as more and more people are going to be seeking community in various geographic areas. That means be thinking now about the who, what, and where that could happen as your groups reach a point where replicating is a natural occurence. Keep me posted about potential leaders in your group and be thinking how you can give them opportunities to lead and grow up in that so that when the time comes we are having Timothys to send out to start new groups. Be encouraged in the now though about what is going on in groups, how people are finally beginning to feel safe in community, open up, etc.
This week a couple of thoughts struct me in studying Ecclesiates 9.
1. What is at the heart of vs. 1-6? Yes, death is the great equalizer, but it is only the great equalizer "under the sun". The thing we need to focus on is that "under the sun" is not our home. I think eternal perspective is shouting out at us from the pages of this book. But what does that really mean for us? Having an eternal perspective, and what does that mean for us as we live our lives "under the sun"? As Solomon puts it in vs. 10, we do have work to do now that we will not have when we are gone from this world nor will we have the chance when we are gone. What is this work he is talking about?
2. How are we then to live this life under the sun? I think we even need to be careful when we think about the question "will you (and God!) consider it to have been well spent or not? We really need to go back and read Ephesians 2:10 "we are his workmanship, created to do good works that he has prepared in advance for us to do". He is not saying do your best then when we meet, I am going to tally the score. He is saying I am leading you along the way, "you are my workmanship", understand that, and walk in that, period.
3. Vs. 9 "all the days of this meaningless life". Why is this life meaningless? What does he mean by that? (I think this would be a good conversation starter for your groups) Is it really meaningless? What then did Paul mean when we were created for some good work here? The statement is much deeper than the simple "this life is meaningless so I just need to stomach it until heaven". There is meaning in this life, but as Solomon has shown us time and time again, only in light of understanding and walking with the sovereign God of the universe is there meaning.
4. Think about the OT teaching on the afterlife and Solomon's perspective on that compared (read Systematic Theology for some help here) to the NT teaching on the afterlife. Do you thing the NT makes it easier for us to understand? (Good question to ponder for the group) How then should our eternal perspective be?
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1 comment:
Good stuff E we need to have that eternal perspective...our life is not just a "goal of heaven" based experience; we would do well to meditate on the fact that our Lord has given us a goal, told us we would never meet that goal here on earth, and yet demands we walk in it none the less...what does this mean? I think it means that this life is about the journey...what we learn, and how we love one another in it.
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