Last night was out second monthly Gathering. It was a small group but a very good time. The standard vbcc crowd and the incubating seed of St. Patrick's Church. We did the catacomb candles in the sand station - 3 in the center (trinity) and each person lights their candle from that one and sticks it in the sand. There's a photo down there. We chanted the short evening office > reading > I did a short teaching on dying, rising, being centered on God from 1 Peter (the notes to that are below the photos). We had a great discussion surrounding that > very good time of singing in worship - Pete, Matt, and Debi did a wonderful job of leading that time.

vbcc gathering ::: teaching ::: april 5, 2003

“Realize that you were delivered from the futile way of life your fathers handed on to you, not by any diminishable sum of silver or gold, but by Christ's blood beyond all price: the blood of a spotless, unblemished lamb chosen before the world's foundation and revealed for your sake in these last days. It is through him that you are believers in God, the God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. Your faith and hope, then, are centered in God." —1 Ptr. 1:18-21

"Realize that you were delivered from the futile way of life your fathers handed on to you."

Lent — The season of crucifixion - of dying in order to be reborn - in order to share in the resurrection. What is the point? Here's one thing. Many of us did not have a “way of life" handed down to us that was a very positive thing. Possibly all that was given us was abuse and negativity - not the best legacy. Well, you don't have to live in that futile and worthless way! Sometimes we just take what's handed to us. We don't see it as optional, we just let life happen to us and roll with it. This is not necessary. Sometimes we need to roll against it!

Realization — Getting something solidly lodged in your mind as real and true.

This is what we must do with the fact that we have been delivered from these futile ways that were handed down to us. We must do the “work" that belongs to that realization - getting it into ourselves.

Actualization — What's real in our minds actually becoming real in our lives - out here!

How can we be so confident that it's true? Because it wasn't like somebody paid money for it - not some earthly and temporary guarantee. It was bought with the ultimate sacrifice. Through Jesus - Man & God - laying Himself down totally for us - opening His Life to us so that we could have it! Not just look and say “there's Jesus the God-Man - look how cool He was." No. So that we could look and be transformed into what we're looking at - and be cool too!

It's not ourselves, though, that will get us there. We don't even get started without Him.

"It is through Him that you are believers in God... your faith and hope, then, are centered in God."

Centered in God — “but you don't understand - I have this happening to me and that happening to me." OK, well, join the club. Things suck sometimes - sometimes really bad. But where is our faith and hope centered? Where is it focused? We've got to look on through the crap and see Him. We have to allow Him to be our center no matter what.

Centered in God — Here's that term again. I love this phrase. We have to be doing the work that belongs to making Him the center. He won't be the ACTUAL center if all we look at is this and that around us. There must be a center thread that goes through all of life - a center thread that is there even in the middle of a world of crap. So, let's take this opportunity to refocus - to realign the center - to die and be reborn - to give ourselves up and dive into the Life of the Resurrection.

| posted by + Alan | 11:24 AM | |