Deuteronomy is much like a sermon that restates and summarizes the laws already mentioned in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. The laws have not changed but the audience has. The older generation died off and the next generation is now ready to enter the Promised Land. Moses calls together the entire Israelite camp and begins to preach to them.
Moses urges the Israelite to take God’s commandment with the utmost seriousness, as if they are a matter of life and death! There are at least seven basic principles repeated throughout Deuteronomy that Moses wants the Israelites to understand to avoid following the footsteps of their parents and grandparents. We, as Americans, are very much like the Israelites. Much of the last few generations in
1. God is Spirit, unique, one-of-a-kind and all-powerful (4:12-16, 35, 39; 6:4; 7:9; 10:17).
2. God’s relationship to His people is based on personal love (4:37; 7:13; 33:3).
3. Our lives ought to be all about loving God (6:5; 7:8; 10:12, 15; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 19:9; 30:6, 16, 20).
4. Our greatest weakness is similar to
5. The Israelites were the ambassadors or representatives of God and so are we. Therefore we must present accurately by living holy as He is holy and teaching our children to do the same (11:18-28).
6. Obedience to God’s laws would be greatly rewarded but disobedience would be greatly punished (Chapters 28–30).
7. Remember the Lord and do not forget Him or His words. Do not try to replace His truth for some kind of ‘new’ truth or ‘your’ own truth (6:12, 8:11-19, 25:19).
Questions:
Which principle do you think our partners model the best and why?
Which principle do you think we are weakest in and why?
What are some simple ways of strengthening our weakness and becoming more holy?
Andrew,
ReplyDeleteI think there is a lot of love in our church. You can feel it when you enter the building. I think this is vitally important because we have all probably been to churches where you go in, sit down, listen to the music and the service, then get up and leave. During the whole time there not one person shook your hand, gave you a hug or even said hello. Thank God CLCC is just the opposite. The love at CLCC makes people feel welcomed and loved.
Suggestion regarding questions #2 - I think we could use more informal fellowship time. For example; the church picnic last summer was a great way to meet new people and interact in a friendly environment (plus the food was outstanding). Also, our Thursday night men's Bible study has been a great way to get to know partners on a more intimate level. Perhaps we could expand our horizon's to try to get more people involved by introducing various activities that are of interest to them....and no....I am not volunteering to head up an activities committee to put this in motion. I am sure there are some very talented and creative people who are already doing this for the church.
ReplyDeleteRight ON Fred, I agree and people that are NOT in life groups are missing out BIG-TIME.
ReplyDeleteQuestion #3 - For me personally, I need to develop a keener awareness of those within my sphere of influence who are hurting , who are in need of love, encouragement and support. I can get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of my own little world that it is almost like I have blinders on. I need to slow down and give the Holy Spirit room to operate in my life so I can minister effectively to those around me. I admire those at CLCC who seem to be able to do this effortlessly.
ReplyDeleteI think we all can identify with you on that. Even those that are a little more developed than the rest of us lose focus and/or get hurried.
ReplyDeleteI just came back from a five day vacation and it was work just to slow down and NOT have an agenda. Our RPMs get revved up so high in our daily grind that we even turn our vacations into a list of events that we 'need' to do before we get home. We did pretty well at relaxing and doing the unplanned things but it was unnatural for the first few days.
The book that taught me the most about allowing the Holy Spirit to guide a crazy-busy life was "The Life You've Always Wanted" by John Ortberg.
How about we have a pot luck dinner at the church some Friday night. We can bring some board games. That is a real nice way to fellowship as a body. Brenda is the go to on this one.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to questian 3
ReplyDeleteWe can read our bible and become more stronger in that. We can also pray to go and ask him to strenghthen our weaknesses and become more holy. We can also talk to one of the strong members of the church and ask them how you can change your weaknesses.
Wow! there is a lot of excellent advice in your comment Emilio. You are very wise for your age.
ReplyDeleteyeah he is (smile) keep it up man i really like reading these post
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