the community blog of vine & branches christian community - a journal of who we are and what we're going through as a community of faith
Pray with us
> 22nd week in ordinary time
> psalter week 2
> morning prayer
> evening prayer
> night prayer
> lectionary reading
click here to donate to palmer's medical bill fund through vine & branches. your gift through paypal will be tagged for mark's needs. note: paypal does charge a small fee per transaction, can't help that. thank you!
atom xml feed
Recent Posts
> You knew it was going to happen - digital camera >...
> Last evening we had our first official "thing", or...
> Here's a quote from Gordon Cosby of Church of the ...
> Wow! It has been a long time since I have written ...
> We had a good meeting last night as Liz said. Matt...
> Back home. Our community met last night and I talk...
> Heeeyyyy!! Sorry it took me so long to get back. I...
> Sitting here in Boise, Idaho in an internet cafe w...
> Last night we had a very cool meeting. We got toge...
> Nobody's posted here in a while. I guess we're all...
Archives
> April 2002
> May 2002
> June 2002
> July 2002
> August 2002
> September 2002
> October 2002
> November 2002
> December 2002
> January 2003
> February 2003
> March 2003
> April 2003
> May 2003
> June 2003
> July 2003
> August 2003
> September 2003
> October 2003
> November 2003
> March 2004
> May 2004
> June 2004
> July 2004
> August 2004
> September 2004
> October 2004
> November 2004
> December 2004
> January 2005
> February 2005
> March 2005
> April 2005
> May 2005
> July 2005
> August 2005
I intended to put this up last week but never got to it. This is the little teaching I did at our first monthly Gathering - taught for about 10 minutes or so and then we openned up for comments - that wendt very well - some good things were brought out.
vbcc monthly gathering ::: teaching for march 1, 2003
We possess the prophetic message as something altogether reliable. Keep your attention closely fixed on it, as you would on a lamp shining in a dark place until the first streaks of dawn appear and the morning star rises in your hearts. First you must understand this: there is no prophecy contained in Scripture which is a personal interpretation. Prophecy has never been put forward by man’s willing it. It is rather that men impelled by the Holy Spirit have spoken under God’s influence. —2 Peter 1:19-21
We are the prophetic message of God to this world. The source of this “prophecy” is God, not us. We must keep our attention closely fixed on that source and live in a way that is constantly aware of His presence and of how that presence interacts with and effects our lives – how it transforms us. It is a matter of this course of life, this prophetic life, closely fixed on the source, that we become shining lamps in a dark place.
As the streaks of dawn appear and the star arises in our own hearts, it then rises in the world around us. We are the dawning of the Kingdom of God on earth, along with Christ – in Him.
We must understand, though, that “I” am not the prophecy. “I,” myself alone, am not the prophetic message to the world. Vine & Branches is not the whole light in the dark place – neither is Church of the Apostles, or Vineyard Central, or Ordinary Community. Being here together tonight we are living that prophetic message. So, it’s not about our personal thing. We are parts of a whole.
And this is all ultimately about God breaking in – into our lives, into our world, influencing us by the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, we should be people filled with and impelled by the Holy Spirit – a prophecy to the world spoken under God’s influence.
| posted by + Alan | 10:12 AM | |