Seismic Shifts
Session 4 “From Snacking to Feasting”
RBW (inspired from “seismic shifts” book)
Introduction:
+Short Seismic Shift intro clip
+Star Trek Intro Clip:
Congregational Reading:
+ James 1:22-25 (NIV) Let’s now go where no man has gone before on a regular enough basis, the Word of God.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror +24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
(Going from seeing ourselves through our parents, through the opinions and perspectives of others and finally seeing ourselves through God’s Word and God’s perspective).
The word of God is the mirror we look into to groom our souls.
+Dallas Willard in Renovation of the heart, “in order for our lives to be changed we must, “take small steps which quietly and certainly lead to pervasive inner transformation.”
That’s precisely what we’re talking about and doing in this series. Small shifts, big changes.
So, how well are you doing? Maybe it’s not that difficult to check yourself.
+Reflex. When a doctor checks your reflexes, by hitting your knee… your leg kicks and responds long before your brain has even figured out what has happened. It’s natural. When something unexpected happens to you in life, how do you respond, by doing what comes naturally or by doing what comes supernaturally?
+The Show, Trading Spaces: What it be like if we traded places with God, which room of our lives would he go after to bring a change? Which interior room of our hearts would God want to transform? Would it be the room that we had made exactly the way we wanted it to be?
What is it that we have set up in our lives that appears to us to be exactly the way it should be but that God really wants to come in and change, remodel?
What is your natural reflex, attitude, thought pattern, response… that God wants to do a make–over, to seismically shift, from being a natural response to a supernatural response?
Reading scripture is one of the main ways that this takes place. Look at what scripture itself tells us about what will happen when we read it.
+2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
These are the 4 Ways in which the scriptures change us… through it’s teaching (it’s message), through rebuking (it’s ability to force us to face who we aren’t and who we must become), through correction (it’s guidance through life’s hard lessons), and through training (this is how to become a better Christian after God’s own heart).
This is what Luther and Gutenberg, Zwingli were all about. Getting the bible into the hands of people in their own languages so that they could be changed by the message of the bible.
And believe it or not, this is precisely why I chose to use this episode from Star Trek…
Take a look at this short.
+Short Star Trek: Tribble Clip
+Comments on the clip:
These cute little furry creatures, multiplied, they were everywhere… they were in all the rooms and storage compartments, they were in the cabinets, and in the drinks… these little cute furry things were eating and eating and eating… yet even though they were surrounded by food… ultimately in the episode we find that they died from hunger.
+Isn’t this the situation today? We have the word everywhere. It’s on the Radio, and TV, CD’s, DVD’s, it’s heard on the Internet, over PC’s, beamed through satellites, quoted in Books, read in conferences, and every once in a while we wander into a church and hear it coming from hyperactive pastors. There are over 40 English translations of the NT alone, plus all of the revisions and updates to each of these. But, most Christians are dying from scriptural and spiritual illiteracy. We’re saturated and depleted and both at the same time.
We have sooooooo much all around in the cabinets, and cupboards, verses are written on our drinking mugs and embroidered on our hand-me-downs and keep sakes, printed boldly across T-Shirts… but not in our hearts, the Word is not being breathed and lived like it should be.
You see, unless we do something with what we’ve heard, and what we’ve read, we’re like that person who looks at himself in the mirror and forgets what he sees… The non-enactment of the Word of God leads to the non-conformance to the Voice of God and the non-transformation of the people of God.
James says, don’t just listen… Do what it says!
+Short Drama: from TV, etc. to the word. What’s so too important that you can’t look at it right now? … I don’t have time right now… I’ll get to it later.
Q: How many Dad’s are hear today? How many of you have helped one of your kids or your wife put a toy, a gift, a piece of furniture from IKEA together?
How many of you try to wing it without the instructions, run into problems or extra pieces and decide to hit the instructions written in broken English before giving up?
In this small shift we’re asked to reprioritize our lives to make sure we make time to hear from God.
To make sure we make time to read the instruction manual, the “How-to’s” of building not a toy, gift, furniture but a healthy spiritual life.
David said,
+Psalm 119:105 (NIV)
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
+Psalm 119:103 (NIV)
103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
The Bible claims to be a surgeon’s scalpel, where it cuts… it heals:
+Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)
12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Ephesians chapter 6 calls it a sword… a weapon to fight off evil.
Jesus used the Word to battle temptation when tempted by the Devil.
And He said that “man couldn’t live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. That’s how important it is. It’s the sixth and most important food group of all.
For spiritual health. Just like the tribbles we’re surrounded by spiritual food, but our souls are starving to death for a Word from God.
+Maybe one day you open up the Word and it’s the surgeon’s scalpel that works deep in your heart… healing. Then maybe the next day you open up your Bible and it feels like you just took a bite of your favorite fruit, a big scoop of salsa, or a sweet taste of honey. Maybe on another day you open the scriptures and God places a sword in your hand for a battle you’re facing. Another time you read and the light comes on, illuminating the next step in an area of your life. This can only happen when you take the time to feast on the Word of God!
Recap: The shift starting this week: from snacking on the word of God (a little bit here and there)
to Feasting on it.
A regular time feasting on the Word, praying through the words, realizing the Creator is speaking a message just to you… not just bible reading, or even just bible study, it’s God’s word for you… it’s devotional, it’s applicable, it’s practical, it’s essential, it’s immortal.
Pass out the Domino.
Reaffirm our step. + “God, please give me / a greater desire to read Your Word.”
In the Morning pray, “God, please give me a greater desire to read Your Word.”
During the day pray, “God, please give me a greater desire to read Your Word.”
Before bed this week pray, “God, please give me a greater desire to read Your Word.”
Closing Prayer - +Then Closing Credits Star Trek Video
