Joy: Week 5 Sermon Prep Zephaniah 3:14-17

This week, Dan intends to take a more devotional approach to the passage on Joy. To prepare for hearing this sermon, perhaps we should do the same.

Take time to read the passage each day. Journal about what sticks out to you. What troubles you? What encourages you? Do you see elements of these words coming alive in your own life or hopes? Note the mutual joy: instructed for the hearers and also promised from God. What does that say to you about Joy, God, and the nature of our relationship with Him? 

Zephaniah 3:14-17 (NASB)

Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion!
            Shout in triumph, O Israel!
            Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
            O daughter of Jerusalem!

      15The LORD has taken away His judgments against you,
            He has cleared away your enemies.
            The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
            You will fear disaster no more.

      16In that day it will be said to Jerusalem:
            “Do not be afraid, O Zion;
            Do not let your hands fall limp.

      17“The LORD your God is in your midst,
            A victorious warrior.
            He will exult over you with joy,
            He will be quiet in His love,
            He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Joy: Week 4. Sermon Prep for October 23, 2016

Have you ever felt a surge of joy bubbling up inside you and then you catch it in your throat to keep from exploding with a shout or a song or exclamation? Maybe you tame it down to a slight smile. When it comes to Rejoicing in God, our passage this week says to let it all hang out!  

READ Philippians 4:4-9

What strikes you in these verses? What challenges you? What raises questions? What offers encouragement?

ReRead Verse 4:

Because at North Harbor, we’re about practicing elements of our spiritual life so that we can really see life transformation, try practicing what verse 4 talks about as many times as you can manage [shoot for at least 3 this week]: Rejoice in the Lord! When you get together with your group, share when and where and how you rejoiced. Say it outloud, sing it, write it down, do something to remove whatever inhibitions might typically hold you back, and when you feel love for God, joy in Him, let it out!

Note: this verse says “Rejoice in the Lord always.” What does this command say about God’s expectations around joy and how much He expects it to be dependent on our circumstances? Have you ever had joy in the Lord in an unlikely time?

ReRead Verses 6-7

I love how this verse is essentially acknowledging that things come up for us all the time that cause us concern AND it offers us something to do with this daily reality: talk to God about these things.

            Traditionally, Christians conclude prayers by saying, “Amen.”  This comes from the Hebrew word “aman” (ah-MAHN) and shows up in the bible for the first time in Genesis 15:6, where it is translated as “believed.” Feel free to check out the context and story around the word there to see if it offers additional insight on these Philippians passages. But the point is, as Peter Enns puts it, “Amen” isn’t just how we signal that prayers are concluded, it is a declaration of trust. We’re telling the Lord, “We’ve said our peace, gotten this stuff off our chests, and now we release this matter into your hands. Now we TRUST you with it.”  (See Peter Enns book: The Sin of Certainty, page 95)

What does it mean to you for the peace of God to be able to surpass every thought? Have you known that protection? What was or what would that be like?

ReRead Verses 8-9

These verses hit home with strong conviction for me right now. I’ve been having trouble pulling myself away from the news lately, and that lack of self-control works directly against the intent of these verses, and I am fully aware of the negative consequences. Many thoughts pass through our minds throughout the day (and night?), but what does your mind tend to dwell on? What is one thing that fits this prescription that your mind would delight to dwell on for the coming week?

Peace comes up a second time in this short passage here. What do you learn about who God is, and how His peace is related to our joy in these verses?

Read Psalm 23

If you hadn’t found something lovely for your mind to dwell on, this passage is never a bad idea! Do you see any connections between this chapter and the verses in Philippians? What do you come to know about God looking at them together? What are God’s desires for you as far as where and how you dwell? Where do you see joy in Psalm 23? 

Joy: Week 3. Sermon Prep for Oct. 16

READ Matthew 13:44-46

Note: translations vary, but in some, verse 44 says “in his joy, he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.”

What strikes you about this passage? What questions does it raise for you? Does anything resonate with you personally? Does anything make you uncomfortable or confused?

Consider the relationship between desire and delight. How does the Kingdom of God provide satisfaction of desire in this parable?

REVIEW Galatians 5:22-25 [the sermon theme for this year]

READ all of Matthew 13.

Note that in multiple illustrations to explain the Kingdom of God, this chapter uses imagery of good fruit. What does that ad to your understanding of the Kingdom of God, the Fruit of the Spirit, and in particular, what JOY has to do with these things?

There is a challenging complexity to the ownership involved in the work that brings about the Fruit of the Spirit. As much as might consider ourselves to have a responsibility to garden in such a way as to bring about fruit, passages like Dan has been preaching on [John 15] indicate God as the gardener doing the pruning. Joy too, is such an emotional thing, that it is hard to forcibly manufacture. Has true spiritual joy ever sprung up in your life? What do you think did contribute to that experience? Between your experiences and these passages, what does it look like to participate in God’s purposes and see fruit born in your own life?

READ Philippians 3:7-11

Describe how you see joy being illustrated in these verses. How do these verses illuminate a qualitative difference between that which holds joy and that, which does not?

For more study into this passage and theme, check out John Piper’s series: “Jesus and the Journey to Joy” [part 4 touches on these particular verses]

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/do-we-have-to-enjoy-god-to-believe

Apply Yourself to This Message:

Where have you discovered the Kingdom of God? How have you sacrificed to take hold of that treasure? How might you make this discovery or sacrifice?

How deep are your desires? For what do you settle that God wants to more deeply satisfy in another way? 

JOY week 1

Sermon Prep for October 2, 2016. Week 1 of Joy [Fruit of the Spirit]

note: feel free to take just one question grouping over ~5 days, one/day to allow yourself to be steeped in the scripture over a longer period of time, allowing it to sink deeply into your heart

READ John 15: Jesus as the True Vine

What strikes you? What encourages you? What challenges you? What questions does this passage raise for you?

Continuing in our series on the Fruit of the Spirit, this passage launches us into the topic of Joy. This may be somewhat surprising as the chapter begins with the challenging topic of pruning. What do you learn about Joy in this chapter? What does that teach you about pruning?

REVIEW Galatians 5:22-25

What do you learn by holding these two passages together?

Apply yourself to this message:

What would it look like for your joy to overflow?

Apply your group to this message:

Think back to last month’s topic: Love, which is so bound up in these verses with joy. What would your group look like if you followed Christ [were discipled!] in the way He calls you to in these verses? What would it look like for joy to overflow in your group context?

Love Week 4, PS: Feed my sheep

Slight change of plans, folks. Dan ended up preaching on John 21 this morning. So in addition to spending some time in 1 Corinthians 13, you can check out this story about Jesus and Peter.

Give it a read and contemplate this question that Jesus is asking Peter, and also you:

"Do you love me more than ____? If you do, feed my sheep!"

How do you fill in this blank, and how do you answer this question?

LOVE Week 4: C.U.D. Sermon Prep Guide: September 24

Welcome to or Welcome back to Communities Under Development with North Harbor!

Background: The mission of North Harbor’s Community Development Ministries is to provide opportunities for people to grow in relationship with the people of Jesus’ Body, the Church. We hope that through growing in relationship with people of the Church, you might have a stronger sense of belonging to Christ, His Body, and our community in particular. 

Communities Under Development (a.k.a. “CUD,” formerly "small groups") consist of 6-12 women and men that do life together and weekly meet in the MidCoast area for seasons of ~10 weeks at a time. Together they pray and talk, with a focus on sermon content, in order to learn how to be more like Christ (disciples). 

Each week by Tuesday night, I’ll post a Sermon Prep guide to allow you to dig into the Biblical passage that the next Sunday’s sermon will be based in. Our CUD groups discuss the content you explore through these guides and the sermons. Our hope in this approach is to streamline the process of choosing group discussion content, unify your experience of learning to be more like Christ by coordinating group discussions with sermons, and unify our groups’ experiences by having them digging into the same material – thereby enabling more cross group dialogue and affinity.

Our mission at North Harbor is to lead people toward a growing relationship with Jesus. So it is our hope that through the tool of sermon prep, you would be invited into meeting directly with God, with the aid of His word, in order to de-emphasize and aid the preacher’s teaching, empowering your ownership on your spiritual journey, and dignifying the power of your personal time with God to have a significant impact in transforming your life and relationship with Christ.

Sermons at North Harbor this school year are going to work through the Fruit of the Spirit [Galatians 5:22]. Each month will focus on a different aspect of the Spirit’s fruit, September kicks things off with a focus on LOVE. To catch up on previous sermons visit: http://www.northharbor.org, choose the menu “What to expect” and select “Recent Sermons.” But let’s get into this week’s text!!

STUDY GUIDE:

READ 1 Corinthians 13

[note: this is a familiar passage to many people. To keep yourself from glossing over the richness of this message, try reading it at least once in a translation that’s less familiar to you. Try https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13 to test out some new translations]

What strikes you? How might God need to speak to you with this passage today?

Read verses 4-7. Highlight the descriptions of love that stick out to you. If you highlighted more than one, underline the one that is most curious to you in this moment. Try to think of a story [personal or fictional or whatever] that illustrates love acting this way (the love-describer you were most curious about). How does this story contrast the lack of love described in verses 1-3? What do you learn about love through these contrasts?

Consider a relationship you’ve been in where you experienced love at work. Consider life before this love began. Read verse 12. How does your loving relationship shed light on the infinitude of God’s love? How does the infinitude of God’s love shed light on how you pursue knowing God more fully?

Apply yourself to this message:

As often as 1 Corinthians 13 is read as part of wedding ceremonies, and we may associate it as being a romantic passage of scripture, read in the greater context of the letter, it is a massage about how Christians should live together in community, how we should do Church, or religion. Try not to point fingers at some general group outside yourself, but rather look within and consider how verses 1-3 might have a refining effect on how you approach your own Christian practice. It can be easy in religious settings to strive after great spiritual accomplishments, and it can often feel fruitless, discouraging. If you consider where you’re spending your “spiritual efforts” lately, do they fall into any of the categories discussed in verses 1-3?

Apply your group to this message:

Community groups are just getting restarted, so there’s a decent chance you’re studying this passage with some new folks and figuring out how to form yourself as a group. Groups can have many focuses: speaking truth to one another, seeking knowledge together, gaining understanding of mysteries, having faith to bring about miracles in our lives, giving of ourselves through service or donations. While these can all be very good endeavors, how does this passage guide the focus of how we should do group life together? Don’t just give the obvious one word answer, but try to flesh out what this would really look like for your group in practice. 

What Sort of Man: Pt. 2 Tempted

We're starting off our second decade as a church by spending some time getting to know Jesus even better. Use these study guides on your own to prepare for sermons and to discuss in our Community Under Development, which meets Wednesday nights at 7pm at the church office.

Getting to Know you:

What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done because you were hungry? 

Getting to know the bible:

1) What state do you think you'd be in after going without food for 1 day? How about 40 days? What state do you expect Jesus to be in after going without food for 40 days?

2) Read Luke 4:1-5

What strikes you? 

3) Read Deuteronomy 8. 

Deuteronomy 8 heeds the Israelites to remember and obey. What are the Israelites told to remember? What do youobserve about the type of obedience the Lord expects from them? 

4) what is similar between these two passages? 

5) how do Luke 4 and Deuteronomy 8 help you answer, "what sort of man is this Jesus?" 

Applying myself to this message:

6) What do you feel like you are entitled to that you currently have or think you should have? (Rights, privileges, possessions, etc. be specific). Take another minute, get honest and thoughtful. Try to answer the question again. Based on how Jesus behaves in Luke 4:1-5, how would you describe his sense of entitlement ?  What do you learn about him and yourself in this comparison? How might you thank or praise Christ for who He is?

7) Luke 4:4 quotes Deuteronomy 8, "Man shall not live on bread alone.'" What do you live on? On what do you rely to getby from day to day? How is that different from what God was trying to teach the Israelites in the dessert? How is that different from how Jesus faced the temptation of Satan in his state of hunger and vulnerability? 

Consider picking one "bread" (one thing you rely on to get by from day to day) and try resisting using it for one day, maybe one week, and as you struggle with that temptation, meditate on Christ as a man who knows that struggle withyou, and as the God that supplies your source of life (Deuteronomy 8:3 - maybe even read/recite/memorize this verse in place of consuming your "bread"). 

For further Reading:
Hebrews 5.7-9

Hebrews 4.14-16

Sermon Prep for January 11: Part 2: Thy Kingdom Come – Leviticus, Exodus, Beatitudes, Today the Day of Salvation

Getting to know you: What is something you have pursued in your life? A goal, a person, an object . . . something you’ve been willing to focus for, sacrifice for, been determined to secure for yourself? How long did you pursue it? Did you attain it? What was that like? Did anything change in your thinking/feelings/behavior in the process of that pursuit?

 Getting to know the Bible:

1)    Off the top of your head, how would you define or describe what is the Kingdom of God is or is like?

2)    What would the Jews have thought the Kingdom of God was about at the time of Jesus’ birth?

a.     Read Exodus 19:3-6

3)    What did Jesus say the Kingdom of God was like/about?

a.     Read Luke 4:14-30

b.     Read Mark’s version of the above story in Mark 1:14-15 [note both accounts immediately follow the temptation in the desert and are followed by Jesus’ cleansing of the man with the unclean spirit]

c.     Read Matthew 5:3-12

4)    What does Jesus’ take on the Old Testament show us about what God has always had in mind with regards to the poor and the Kingdom of God? Read at least two of the following:

a.     Deuteronomy 14:22-29;

b.     Deuteronomy 15:1-18;

c.     Leviticus 19:1-10;

d.     Leviticus 25:1-28;

e.     Leviticus 19:11-19 (do not favor poor or wealthy)

 How do I apply myself to this message?

What does the reality of the Kingdom of God and its nature do to instruct how we can a) think about God’s plan for the world around us b) feel towards God, and feel towards people around us and c) live our lives accordingly?

Sermon Prep. for Sept. 7: Ephesians 2.1-10: Saved by Grace

This coming Sunday, we will re-enter our sermon series on Ephesians. If you would like to prepare for Sunday's sermon, you are welcome to use the below study guide as a resource. This guide will also instruct our community group discussions. To join a group, contact zoefaithreyes@gmail.com.

Ephesians 2.1-10: Saved by grace

Getting to know you: Recount a memorable walk or hike you’ve taken that involved following a guide. What was the setting like? What was your guide like? What made the walk memorable?

Pray that God would open "the eyes of your innermost self" (Eph. 1:17) to God's light.

Day 1:

Getting to know the Bible: Read Ephesians 2.1-10

Write down your initial impressions.

What one word sticks out to you most in this passage?

You and the Bible: From what do you need Christ to save you?

Try sketching a picture of you traveling on a road based on these verses.

Day 2:

Getting to know the Bible: Read Isaiah 30.18-22

Based on this passage, how do you think God feels about showing you grace and mercy?

You and the Bible: How does this passage make you feel about walking in God’s way?

Day 3:

Getting to know the Bible: Read Psalm 1

Express verse 3 in your own way [whatever suits you: write, draw, graph, sing . . .]

You and the Bible: How does this passage make you feel about the idea of walking in God’s way?

Day 4:

Getting to know the Bible: Read Luke 7.36-50

If Jesus says that in serving “the least of these,” we serve Him (Matt. 25:40), how might the woman in this story show us how to serve “the least of these?”

You and the Bible: How much have you been forgiven?

Day 5:

Getting to know the Bible: Re-Read Ephesians 2.1-10

Does a new one-word stick out to you in this passage after spending time in the others? What’s the difference between works-based-salvation and salvation-based-works?

You and the Bible: Why were you made alive? For what purpose(s)? (vs. 10)

Ramping up to re-enter the Ephesians Sermon Series

Starting in September, we will re-enter our Ephesians sermon series. You can catch up on Dan's sermons on Ephesians 1 here under "Letter to the Ephesians." And/or you can spend some time in Ephesians 1 for yourself using the following guide. 

Use as much or as little of this study guides as you find edifying. You might consider breaking up each of the following 4 sessions over 4 days of study.

Consider praying Ephesians 1:16-29 repeatedly for your community group as you anticipate (re)joining them this fall.

To learn more about our group offerings visit our Community Groups page. To sign up for a community group, please email Zoë Reyes, Community Development Director, at zoefaithreyes at gmail.com with the type of group you're interested in, the nights your available and/or a particular group leader you'd like to join. 

Session One: Ephesians

Read through the whole book of Ephesians to get an overview. Just read.

Session Two: The Wealth of His Grace

Read Ephesians 1:1-10

1) How do we form our identity in Christ? 

2) What has God delivered you from in particular? What would your life look like without the work He is doing in and for you now and throughout your life? [see vs. 4-10, esp. vs. 7] 

3) We aren't chosen for our own sake, but for the sake of what God wants to accomplish through us. In what ways might God want to bless (or how is he already blessing) others through you or your Christian community? ( N. T. Wright. Ephesians)

3b) For further study:
Read Genesis 12:1-8.  How do you see this passage relating to what Paul is talking about here in Ephesians? How do you see this passage relating to you personally?

4) What is God’s plan? (see vs. 10)

5) What do you learn in these verses about Jesus and our relationship to Him? 

Session Three: Inheritance and the Spirit

Read Ephesians 1:11-14

1) Is there a particular statement that you find particularly thought provoking or penetrating?

2) What is our promised inheritance (v. 11)? (N. T. Wright. Ephesians)

3) What do you learn in these verses about Jesus and our relationship to Him?

Session Four: Knowing the Power of the King

Read Ephesians 1:15-23

1) What do you learn in these verses about Jesus and our relationship to Him?

2) Paul doesn't imagine that all Christians will automatically be able to recognize the power of God. It will take, as he says in verse 17, a fresh gift of wisdom, of coming to see things people don't normally see. And this in turn will come about through knowing Jesus and having what Paul calls "the eyes of your innermost self" opened to God's light. What should and shouldn't using this power look like in our daily lives? How have you experienced this power in your life? (N. T. Wright. Ephesians)

3) What is the church?

4) What does it mean to be the fullness of the one who fills all in all?