Monday, April 14, 2008

• Retreat Details (part one)

   

  

  (more pictures appear in photoblog!)

  well, i am back from Women's Retreat. i had a good time, and learned a lot. the speaker was Andi Bull, who also goes to our church. the message was about consecrated character. we talked about having consecrated ears, mouths, eyes, and hearts, and how our character is influenced by each area. Andi taught about how women are the "keeper" or guard of the home and that character flaws impede us from being good and efficient guards. we are to guard the love and peace in our home by always aiming to improve our character to match Jesus' character when He was on earth. she spoke on Godly discipline being a loving and healthy necessity to our spiritual growth, and that we need to distinguish God's discipline and the enemy's attacks.she taught on the importance of balance in all areas of our being and our lives. she used the parable of the sower as reference to the types of hearts people can have, and how we all have each type of "soil" in our hearts, and how each of us are responsible the the "soil" of our own heart.

  Mark 4:1-20 (NIV)

  The Parable of the Sower

   1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times." 9Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." 10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that, 

  
     " 'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
        and ever hearing but never understanding;
     otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'^[a]"

   13Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." 

  this is one of the only parables that Jesus Himself interprets for us, so we know the interpretation is correct. Andi talked about verses 10-12, and how a lot of people misinterpret those verses to mean that God didn't want to save the people, but there is a deeper meaning to those words. she re-read that section and explained that Jesus wanted the people to seek after the Truth, not just be handed it on a silver platter without having to do anything to earn their way to wisdom. God wants to know just how badly we want to seek after and know Him. if He would have said everything plainly, there would be no way to tell who really wanted to follow Jesus enough to meditate on the mystery of His words and trust Him.

  there were four sermons that contributed to the overall message. each sermon branched out into other areas of character, and then came full circle back to the main point. in the first sermon, we focused on consecrated ears. Andi spoke about who we are as women and as individuals. of course, she went back to the first woman, Eve. she taught the ways that Satan was able to decieve Eve into sin, and how that relates to us. i'll just take it from my notes here:

  Genesis 3:1-8

  The Fall of Man

   

   1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

   2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

   4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

   6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

   8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

   

  Methods Satan Used to Decieve Eve:

  1. self-focus- he got her to think about herself, taking her focus off of all God had given her, and looking at the one thing she couldn't have. he makes you focus on the things you lack and make you think that you need those things to be complete (whether it be a thin waist, a new pair of shoes, or a boyfriend/husband.)

  2. the bait of offense- he exaggerated what God had said to lure her into speaking with him about it.  he exaggerates the situation to draw us into conversation, even if sometimes we only speak back to refute what he is saying or to defend God. all he cares about is getting our attention.

  3. speaking his language- he got her to exaggerate and twist God's words in an attempt to defend God. he uses his exaggeration to illicit our own. there is no balance in exaggeration, and whenever we lose balance, we lose sight of the whole picture, and of God.

  4. thinking his thoughts- he enticed her to ponder the possibilities of sin.  he will convince us that the sin will bring happiness and prosperity to our lives, when in reality, sin brings only distruction.

  5. shortcuts- he offered her a way to immediate knowlege without working to gain it. it is the same thing Jesus sought to prevent by speaking in parables. Satan will show us ways to cut corners and take shortcuts that defy God's will for us.

   

  the next sermon was on consecrated tongues. she used James 1:22-24.

  James 1:22-24(NIV)

   22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

  she used the prase, "Word in, Word out" to remind us that if we are to call ourselves Christians, we must not only read and understand the Word of God, but we also must obey it in our daily lives.

  she told us that we find ourselves in confrontation in which we feel like speaking in an unGodly manner, that we should harness our tongue by faith, and let God deal with the issues. she read to us from the book of James about the importance of our words.

  James 3:1-12

  Taming the Tongue

   1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

   3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

   7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

   9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

  she talked about how we are judged by God based on both our actions and our words.

  Matthew 12:33-36 (NIV)

   

  33"Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

  our words are the window into our souls, into the core of our character.

  then she used a really cool simile of how we as Christians are like eagles. she taught us how eagle mothers dote on their chicks, nurturing them and meeting their every need. she bring food to them and put it in their mouths so they can eat without effort, until they are fat and fluffy. this life of luxery lasts 70-100 days (which is a long time in the life of an eagle!) then, as the chicks grow older, the mother eagle begins to bring food in a new way. she hovers over the nest with the food, just out of reach, so that the chicks have to reach up in order to grab it. as she flaps her huge wings over the nest, an updraft is created which helps to lift the chicks up a bit so they can eat the food, but they still has to make the effort. in this stage, the chicks are learning to use thier bodies and wings so that they can one day fly--and they doesn't even realize it! after this phase, when the chick is more developed, the momma goes and gets the food, but she swoops past the nest with it, teasing the chicks with it. the chicks start to question momma's loyalty to them, and then they get mad and start to complain. they become aggitated and chirp wildly and begin to move their bodies around in new ways. the momma continues this teasing for several days. during this time, the chicks have become leaner and stronger. the mother knows that her chicks are ready to fly, but they don't know it yet. finally, one of the chicks has had enough of the tmepting; when momma swoops by witht he food, he leaps out of the nest after her--and begins to fly! that is how eagles learn to fly--through hard work and perseverence, all under the watchful, wise, and loving eye of his mother.

  when she told this story i almost cried, becuse there is such a deep longing in my heart to "fly." but i am still in the early stages of my development. even though i have been in church my entire life, only the past 3 or 4 years have i really begun to dive into God's Word and *attempt* to walk out my faith. but that is okay because i know that God is not interested in immediate growth, but desires us to grow at a pace that is best for us and will enable us to bear eternal "fruit." 

  on that note, i learned a lesson that i knew i needed some help on: Little by Little. Andi used Deuteronomy 7:17-23, and several Proverbs, including Proverbs 10:2, 13:11, 20:21, 21:6, and 28:20-22. i won't post all those in detail, but the verses are links to them.

  and just as good things happen little by little, so do some bad things. she talked about being alert and active in our faith, lest we lose it. 

   Proverbs 24:30-24 (NIV)

  30 I went past the field of the sluggard,
         past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;

   31 thorns had come up everywhere,
         the ground was covered with weeds,
         and the stone wall was in ruins.

   32 I applied my heart to what I observed
         and learned a lesson from what I saw:

   33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
         a little folding of the hands to rest-

   34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
         and scarcity like an armed man.

  we also talked about being focused on the here and now-- not dwelling in the past, not anxious about the future. God shows you His path/will step by step, little by little.

  to end the sermon, she preached from another of Jesus' parables, this one in the book of Luke. 

  Luke 19:11-26 (NIV)

   

  The Parable of the Ten Minas

   

   11While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas.^[a]'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.'

   14"But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, 'We don't want this man to be our king.'

   15"He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.

   16"The first one came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned ten more.'

   17" 'Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. 'Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'

   18"The second came and said, 'Sir, your mina has earned five more.'

   19"His master answered, 'You take charge of five cities.'

   20"Then another servant came and said, 'Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.'

   22"His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'

   24"Then he said to those standing by, 'Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'

   25" 'Sir,' they said, 'he already has ten!'

   26"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.

  This is another parable that people often misinterpret. the master is God, and the servants are Christians. God is giving each person a gift, and leaving them with free-will to do with it what they choose. but as followers of Christ, we are meant to do God's will. we are supposed to use our gifts and talents to further His Kingdom. so when the master comes back, he rewards each servant according to the effort he put out to use his gift to bless God (the master). the one who was supposed to be a servant of God, but did nothing to bless Him, God did not reward, and the gift that was given to him was taken away. some people see this as harsh, but but it is really a justified response to the servants unwillingness to serve. the servant judged the master. he said he was a "hard man" who "reaps what he does not sow." that means that since the master expected the servent to put the gift to work, and the master would be the one who benefited instead of the servant, the servant refused to allow the master to profit at his expense. but what is a servant's role? to serve his master! we as Christians choose God as our master in exchange for eternal life. but we will not recieve eternal life if we refuse to serve our Master with the gifts He so graciously bestows upon us.

  another point that Andi made was that some people think that since they have had a hard life, God must be a "hard" or uncaring God, and that the gifts He gives are not enough (a mina was not considered a very large amount of money.), therefore they think they can not, and will not serve God. it's a sad truth. many Christians make no effort to change the world because they do not believe that God has given them "enough" to do so. in reality, people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mother Theresa were not any different than any of us; they were regular people who had impecible character and were faithful to God. we could all do any and all of the things that they did, or things similar, if we would take the initiative. 

  anyways, that was the first two sermons, one half of the whole message. i am going to leave it at that, and continue where i left off later. hope you all had a great weekend and i wish you a fabulous week ahead.

   

   

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