05

W EEK

De
vot
iona
l

ATIMEOFRENEWAL
VI
NTAGECHURCH LA
Wemadethi
s
j
ustf
ory
ou.
I
t’
str
ue.
Wewr
otet
hisgui
dewi
thyoui
nmi
nd.

Whet
heryouhavespentdecadespor
ingt
hrough
devot
ional
sori
fthi
sisyour r
stexpl
orat
ionwi
th
one,
wehopet
hesepagespr
ovi
det
ool
stohel
p
deepenyourf
ait
h.

I
nher
e,youwi
l
lndasummar
yoft
hemessage
f
rom l
astSunday
,somer
e ect
ionquest
ions,
pr
ompt
sforpr
ayerandsomepr
act
ices.

01 Re
ad

02 Re
flec
t

03 Pr
ay

04 Pr
act
ice
Thi
sgui
dei
sent
ir
elyy
our
sto
per
sonal
i
zebutwer
ecogni
zehow
eas
yitcanbet
olos
esi
ghtoft
he
ul
ti
mat
egoal
ofanypr
act
ice.
Her
ear
e
af
ewt
ipst
hatmaybehel
pful
:

01 S
tar
twhe
rey
ouar
e.
Whetheryouhave5minut
esint
hecar
oraful
lhourint
hemorni
ngtost
il
l
your
self
,star
twher
eyouare.

02 Ke
epi
tsi
mpl
e.
Youdon’thavetobeasuperChr i
sti
an
wit
hasemi narydegr
eet ore ect
,grow,
andreceivepr
ofoundinsi
ghtfrom t
he
HolySpir
it.

03 Pr
ayasy
ouc
an.
Fancywor dsdon’
tgetyouextr apoint
s.
Whenpr aying,
tak
etimet ol
isten,and
payattent
iontoyourthoughtsand
emotionsasyouwait.

04 Don
’tg
iveup
.
Notever yweeki sgoingtoendi na
l
ife-changingrevelat
ion,butitdoesn’
t
meannot hi
ngi shappening.Formati
on
takestime. Keepshowi ngup.
01 READ

READ

Don’ tworr
yify
oumi ss
edt hesermon(or
for
g otmostofi
tal
ready)we ’
vegotyo
ur
back. I
fyounee
dit,r
eadt hroughthe
fol
lowingsermonsumma rybe fo
regoi
ng
further.
05
W EEK

Le
t’st
alka
bout

Renewi
ng
Format
ion
Wear ecall
edtoappr enti
ce
underJesusasHi sdiscipl
es.Our
l
ivesaredevotedt obeing
formedintoHisl
ikenesssot hat
wemaydot hethingsJesusdi d,
withthecharact
erandhear tthat
Hedidt hem.
01 READ

Se
rmon
Reca
p
1.
IntheGr eatCommi ssionJesusmakesi tclear
thatthegoal ofHi sdisciplesist ogoandmake
mor edisicplesandt oteacht hem howt olive.
a)Howeveri nt hemoder nwor l
d,Christians
arenotal waysknownf orbei ngl i
keJesus-
theonewhom wear edisicplesof .
b)Asdi sciplesofJesusourl ivesare
supposedt obeformedar oundHi m andi n
doingsowear etransfor med.
c)Therei sat raponei therside-t oconf orm
tothepat t ernofthewor l
d, ortoconf or mt o
aChr isti
ansubcul turet hatal sodoesnot
resembl eJesusandi sinsteadast range
shadowcul t
ureoft hewor l
d.

2.
Weneedt or et urntothetruest andardfor
disci
pleship:t otalcommit mentt otheperson
ofJesusChr istandnot hingelse.
a)WhenJesus, rat
herthanChr i
sti
anor
wor l
dlycul tur
e,i
sourst andardfor
disci
pleshi pwewi l
lonceagai nbecomea
peoplewhocanbl essourcit y.
b)Fi
vehel pful markersf
orheal thydisci
ple-
shiptoJesus:
3.
Jesuscandoyourl i
febet terthanyou.
a)Wheni tcomestolivingahumanl i
feJesus
i
st hebesttoeverdoi t.
b)Inrel
ati
onshiptohim wegetaccesst othe
personwhocoul dl
iveourl ivesbett
erthan
us.Aswespendt imewi t
hJesushe
teachesushowt olive.

4.
Jesuscar riestheload.
a)Lif
eishar dandweal lcarryburdens
throughlif
e.
b)Jesuso er sushisyoke.Thisrepresent
s
histeachingsasar abbiandalsohis
capacitytocarryourbur denswithusashe
teachesus. Byfol
lowinghisyok e(
his
teachings)wewi l
lndourbur dens
all
eviatedinrel
ati
onshiowi t
hhim.

5.
Jesushasawayofdoi ngt hings.
a)Asamast err
abbiJesusdi dnotj usthave
i
deasbutheal sohadpr actices,patternsof
behavior.Ashi
sappr enticeswear e
supposedt obelearningnotonl yhowt odo
thethingsJesusdidbutt odot hem t he
wayt hathedidthem.

6.
Jesuschangesus.
a)Ourdi scipl
eshi
pt oJesusi sajourneynota
stati
cl ocati
on.Weshoul dchange, and
continuet ochange,fortheentir
et yofour
disci
pleshipjourney
.
b)Wechangebyconnect i
ngourl i
vest othe
presenceofJesusandal sobydoi ngthe
spiri
tualdisi
cpli
nes(orpracti
ces) ofJesus.
 Jesusdr
7. awst hebeaut youtofus.
a)Discipleshipintothel ienessofJesus
k
doesnot at enoutouruni
t quedier ences
andmak eusal lhesame.
t
b)Wear eeachuni queimagebear ersoft he
ti
runeGod, sowhenwebecomemor el k
ie
Jesus, webecomemor elk
ieour selves.He
strpsawaywhatwasneversupposedt
i o
bet hereandr evealswhowewer eal ways
madet obe.
c)Thismeansourdier encesanduni queat
ti
rbutesar ecel ebratedandf urher
t
accent uatedaswecont inuedownourpat h
offormat ion,
d)Whenwest i
rpawayt hefalseself,andput
ourlivesint hehandsoft hemak erwe
becomemor efulyal
l vet
i oblessot hers.

Beingfo
rmed
f
o rther
ene
wal
ofLA.
The nt hee leve
ndi sciples
we ntt oGa lil
ee,tothe
mount a inwhe reJe susha d
toldt he mt og o.Whe nt hey
sawhi m,t heywor shipe d
him;buts omedoubt ed.
The nJ e susc amet ot he m
ands aid,“Al lauthor i
tyi n
hea vena ndone arthha s
bee ngi ve nt ome .
The re f
ore
goa ndma kedisciplesof
allna tions ,baptiz
ingt hem
int hena meoft heFa the r
andoft heSona ndoft he
Hol ySpi ri
t,20a nd
teachi ngt he mt oobe y
ever ythingIha ve
comma nde dy ou.And
sure lyIa m wi thy ou
alwa y s
,t ot heverye ndof
thea ge.”
MATTHEW 28:
1720
02 REFLECT

REFLECT

Takesomet imet oreflecto

nwha tGod
wassayingtoy outhroughthisweek’
s
message.Got hr
o ughthefol
lowing
quest
ionstohe l
pdi s
cernwha tGodis
say
ingtoy ou.
02 REFLECT

Whatres
onate
dwith
yo
ufromthesermo
n?
Didy
oufeelGod
s
peaki
ngthro
ughit
?
The r
ei satension
betwe entheChurch
needingt obea
Co mmuni tythatis
dist
inc tandsetapart
fromt hewo r
ld,and
itbeingune c
essari
ly
comp licat
edand
we i
rd. Haveyou
experiencedthis
tension?Ho wdoy ou
navigat ei
t?
Do e
sJesushav e
permis
siont ote
ach
you?Doy o ufol
low
whereheg oesanddo
whathes ays?Oris
J
e s
usclosertoa
spi
rit
ualg uruinyour
l
ife-some onewho
offersadvicethatyou
cantakeo rleav
e?
Spiri
tualf ormat i
on
caneas il
yt urni ntoa
Christianv ersi
o no f
“proj
ec tself”ani c
e
butsome what
narci
sis t
ice nde avor
.
Ho wc any oub e
formedi nt othe
l
ikenesso fChr is tin
awaywhe r
eo ther
peoplef e
e lthe
tangi
b leb less
ing ?
03 PRAY

PRAY

Bef
orey oumovefrom r
eflecti
onto
pr
ayer.Takesomet i
metowa i
tonthe
HolySpiri
tandle
tHi ms pe
ak.

Thent akeyourti
megoi ngthrough
theseprayerpr
omptsanda cti
v i
ti
es,
all
owingt heHolySpi
rittodoHi s
work.
03 PRAY

I
magineacarpenter’
sworkshop.Ther
e
i
samastercarpenteratwork.Hehas4
appr
enti
ces.

Onei
ssitt
ingontheworkbench,havi
ng
f
unbutnotreal
l
ylear
ningfr
om the
mast
er.

Anotheri
sexpl
aini
ngtothemasterthe
waysinwhicht
heydisagr
eewit
hhi s
methods.

Thethi
rdisusi
ngt hecar penter
stool
s
buti
susingthem carelessly
,notawar
e
ofhowtheymighthur tothers.

Final
ly
,oneisstandingbythecar
pent
er,
l
isteni
ng,watchi
ngeager l
y,t
ool
sin
hand,wit
hahear ttolear
n.

Takesomet i
metopray
, andaskt
heHoly
Spir
ittoshowyouwhereeachofthese
apprenti
cesi
sare ect
ionofyou.

Therewill
beelementsofoursel
ves
re ectedi
neach,buti
tisthegood
studentwhom welongtobe.

AsktheHol
ySpi r
itt
oshowyouhowyou
canappr
enti
ceunderJesus.Whatdoes
hewanttol
ovingl
yteachyou?
04 PRACTICE

PRACTICE

He r
ea r
es omewa ystoputt hi
sinto
practi
ceanddi gdeeperintothistopi
c.
Thinko ftheseasst
retchg oal
s-for
thosewhoa reable-togrowa nde ngage
onade eperlevel
.Whe nknowl edge
mov esfr
omo urheadtoo urhearttoour
handswet r
ulyseetra
nsfo rmat
iont a
ke
plac
e .
04 PRACTICE

01
I
nvi
tat
iont
oaJour
ney/
/Rober
t
Mul
holl
and

Beaut
if
ulResi
stance/
/JonTyson

Thesebooksaregreatresour
ceson
for
mat i
onandhowt hechurchcan
thr
ivebybeingsetapar
tbutnot
weird.

02
Ki
ngdom Come/
/Mar
ch26t
h

Comeandcel ebr
atewithusaswe
worshipJesusandpr aytogether
.An
essenti
alpartofourfor
mat i
onisto
gatherwit
hthechur chcommuni t
y
andpressin!
04 PRACTICE

03
Thepur poseofcraf
tedpr ayeristopayattenti
on
tosomet hi
ngGodi sreveali
ngt oyouaboutyour
l
ife,
andt henwrit
eapr ayertopr ayregul
arl
y.You
canthinkofitasapersonalizedversionofthe
tr
aditi
onalLord’
sPrayer.

Tak esometi
met oinvi
tetheHolySpiri
tand
re ectonwhatyoubel i
eveGodisinvit
ingyou
i
nt oinyourl
i
fe.
Itcouldbeahabithehas
highli
ghtedt
oyouoradesi reofyoursthathas
beenst r
ong.

AskGodwhathei sdoingint hi
sspaceinyourl
i
fe
andtakesometimetolisten.Wr i
tedown
anyt
hingyouthi
nkhemaybesayi ng.
Nowwr i
teashortpr
ayerbasedonyourt i
mewith
God.Thepostur
eofthepr ayershoul
dbeoneof
i
nvit
ingGodtodosomet hingyouneedhelpwit
h,
andaskingf
orhi
swi l
l
.

Thankf ul
ness//ThankGodf orwhohei sorwhat
hehasdonei nt
hisareaofyourl
if
e
Honest y//Behonestaboutwhatitisyouar e
askingforandwhy .
Shareyourpastexper i
ences
withit.
Ask/ /I
nviteGodtochangeyourhear toryour
ci
rcumst ances(
basedonwhatheshar ed)
Trust//Endyourprayerwit
hapost ureoftrust.
Wr i
teast at
ementaboutwhoGodi s.

Pr
ayi
tregul
arl
y!