Growing in God

Weekly Reading

Monday: Genesis 44:18-34, Matthew 5
Tuesday: Genesis 45
Wednesday: Matthew 6
Thursday: Genesis 46, Matthew 7
Friday: Genesis 47:1-27, Matthew 8
Saturday: Psalm 6-8
Sunday: Joshua 10-21

Sermon Notes

Key Passage: Romans 12:1-2
1 Timothy 4:7-8
Hebrews 4:12-13
Matthew 6:9-13
Acts 13:2

Romans 12 (Phillips Translation)
1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” - James Clear, Atomic Habits

“Spiritual disciplines are not about making you more precious to God. They're about making God more precious to you.”   - Matt Smethurst
 
“No, the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne — everything — to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life!” - Jesus Storybook Bible

“The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation.”
“To read the Bible and not to meditate [is] an unfruitful exercise: better to read one chapter and meditate afterward than to read several chapters and not to meditate.” - Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

"More than any other Discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us." - Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline

“The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world …If you don't feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.” - John Piper, A Hunger for God

Many disciplines that we could review that we will not today:
  1. Simplicity
  2. Generosity
  3. Silence
  4. Solitude
  5. Celebrating
  6. Sabbath

Today:
  1. Word of God
  2. Prayer
  3. Worship through Song
  4. Fasting

Apply these three ways:
  1. Personally 
  2. Household / Family
  3. Church

Physical Responses in Worship
  • Singing
Psalm 47:6 - Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
  • Shouting
Psalm 27:6 - And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
  • Bowing
Psalm 95:6: Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
  • Standing in awe
Psalm 22:23 - You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
  • Dancing 
Psalm 149:3 - Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
  • Playing Instruments
Psalm 33:2-3 - Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song;  play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
  • Clapping
Psalm 47:1 - Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
  • Lifting Hands
Psalm 63:4 - So I will bless you as long as I live;  in your name I will lift up my hands.

Discussion Questions

3DQ - 3 discipleship questions to ask each other: What is God saying to you? What are you going to do about it? How can I help?

Resources

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