Recapitation 2008.02.27

Last night we had a great discusison about James 3. Yep, the whole chapter.

Some observations:

James talks a lot about the tongue and compares it to a rudder on a ship, a bit in a horse's mouth and a fire consuming a forest. He also mentions that humility comes from wisdom. There are two kinds of wisdom; wisdom that comes from heaven which is "first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere", and earthly wisdom which is "unspiritual...[and] of the devil". In verse 10 James seems to be calling his readers, which are Messianic Jews, hipocrytes by saying "this should not be".

The size of the tongue is emphasized based on the metaphors when James writes, "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts."


Some interpretations:

Based on the metaphors it is difficult to "tame" the tongue, but it was discussed and widely accepted that we can help control it by being wise and keeping our personal sin (such as bitter envy) in check. Much like a fire can be harnessed to keep you warm or can destroy an infinite number of things if left unchecked, the tongue is powerful in both good ways and bad. With that said, Bernie stated that the "sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me" saying is pretty much crap. Words are powerful and the tongue has the power of life and death.

Here he may also be warning teachers against teaching with the afore-mentioned "earthly wisdom". This ties back to an earlier verse in James (James 1:19) that says we ought to be "slow to speak". Think carefull about what you say because your words are very powerful.


Some application:

James refers directly to teachers here, but it was mentioned that if you are trying to guide someone in any way, including giving advise to that person, you should avoid being selfish and "harboring bitter envy". Maybe it's not about being right all the time. If your goal is to be right and not to edify the person you're talking to, then you're probably being selfish. In the same vain, talking junk about someone is not helpful either and does not come from heaven.

We were challenged to think about where in our lives we may be "starting fires" with our words. Much like a fire, once the words are said there's no taking it back. Once the fire has touched something it's burnt and there's no "un-burning" it. The only place to go from there is grace and this is what these verses lead us to toward the end.

Living in community with people is practically a guarantee that you will be hurt by something someone says. Recognizing that and applying grace in that situation will go a long way toward maintaining the type of community God has in mind for His church. This application of grace will likely look different to different people and in different situations, but grace is needed nonetheless.

Thanks to Bernie for facilitating the discussion. Grace and peace to you.*











* Yes, I borrowed that from Mars Hill. It's a powerful phrase though. You should listen to Rob Bell speak on grace and peace. It's the January 6th teaching.

Announcements 02.27.08

Saturday, March 1 - Silver, John Enzor's band, is playing at Ruckus Pizza at 10PM. Come out and watch John rock, literally.

Sunday, March 2 - The group of people from Visio Dei who are interested in serving Africa and her people is meeting again. The meeting will be Sunday at 8PM at Corey and Danielle's house (address to come). If you have a heart for Africa, please come out.

Wednesday, March 5 - It is the 1st Home Group of the Month so we will be eating dinner together again. Alicia is planning dinner that night and Julianne will send out an evite. There was talk of chili, but I'm not sure what the final decision was. Look for the evite in your inbox. Dinner is at 6:30 at Mandy and Daniel's house. If you plan to eat, plan to bring about $5.00 to chip in.

Saturday, March 8 - Drag Bingo. See Bernie's previous post for more details.

Sunday, March 9 - Visio Dei Leadership Development. The bi-monthly Visio Dei leadership development meeting is scheduled for next Sunday afternoon, 4PM - 6PM. At this meeting we will be performing our "expression" of what it means for us to be a missional community. We will also spend some time planning for the next two months of our home group. Everyone is welcome to come out. It is not limited to servant teams. It is open to anyone interested in growing as a leader in the Visio Dei community. Also don't forget there is a potluck afterwards.. so bring a dish to pass (your last name determines what you bring..see the weekly that Jason sends out or the previous post of announcements)

Saturday, March 29 Kickball. You know that group of people interested in serving Africa, that was mentioned above, they are organizing a kickball tournament for Saturday, March 29. Put it on your calendar and start thinking about who you could invite to play on your team. It would be great to get a few teams out of our home group. This is an excellent opportunity to invite some of your friends from work, school, etc. to a fun event for a good cause.

Saturday, May 3 2008 AIDS Walk+Ride. Speaking of fun events for a good cause, don't forget to sign up for the AIDS Walk. Not like you could since Shannon mentions it every five minutes.

Thanks Shannon for helping me update this. :)

Happy Friday!

Favoritism Forbidden

Check out my post about a recent 20/20 segment on my blog. I think you will agree that it is definitely a case of people showing favoritism.

If you have time, read the article I link there.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you think this relates to the passage we went over a few weeks ago, either here or on my blog.

Recapitation, 2/20/08

Hello friends! We discussed James 2:14-26 last night. Much of this was similar to the beginning of the chapter, but we pulled out a few main ideas that stood out. This may be a bit rough, but here's the main thoughts:

We observed several key words that were repeated and stood out: faith, deeds, action, foolish, dead, righteousness...and a few key names: Ambraham, Rahab, demons. We though it was interesting that Rahab and Abraham were the two examples used. More on this later.

Next we noted that demons seem to be able to have a theoretical understanding of faith. If we have this theoretical knowledge, but it is not paired with action, we are no better than the demons. Interesting thing to be thinking about if you're sitting in a cubicle at seminary...

We wondered what it means to be "justified" by faith. We are familiar with the idea that only faith in Christ can save us, so where do the works fit in? Faith without works is empty, spirit-less, and James compares it to a dead corpse. To be justified by works gives life, courage, energy, and a path for our faith to follow. It connects us to our fellow believers and also brings us closer to God. We can communicate and demonstrate our faith through our actions.

Juliann mentioned that postmodern thought often focuses on the lack of an objective truth. Therefore, how can we know that we are saved or justified by our faith? Action is one way our faith is made real for ourselves also.

We also touched on what kind of deeds do we need to be doing, and how do we know that they are the right actions guided by God/faith and not by our own logic? James seems to emphasize that our actions should serve the whole person, providing our brothers and sisters with physical needs. Greg brought up a point that if we are keeping our focus and prayers on God, we should have courage to try out our actions and trust God to guide us along the way. It is easy to be wrapped up in a holding pattern of not acting, just worrying about where to step next. Through our faith, and by activily seeking to grow in our faith, we can be bold and step out in action. Checking back in with prayer may help us. I think this points to the freedom in Christ that we are invited to enjoy. Freedom to act-- in Christ. It gives a purpose to our actions.

We considered Rahab and why James included her in this section. We noticed that she already had the knowledge that God is the one true God, and her actions of hiding the spies and risking her life showed that. Faith and deeds.

Amanda gave an example of bringing cookies to the work crew at thier house. She wanted to uplift them, but wasn't sure if they would understand this or even appreciate the gesture she was giving. But she took courage and did it anyway, and I think the workers appreciated them very much.

So we talked about homework a few weeks ago...
Here's our challenge!
Find a way to put your faith into action this week. Be brave. Don't show favoritism. Use prayer. And tell us what happened next week. I already forgot about this until I saw Kim's email, so thanks for the reminder! Enjoy your week!
-Alicia

Drag Bingo - March 8

Here is your notice for next month's Drag Bingo. I have fallen in love with this fundraiser for the Alliance of AIDS Services and think you will, too, if you can come out and join our volunteer team. I think we talked recently about doing something outside of the box - well, this may be it for some folks!

Please let me know if you're interested in helping out. Jobs during the event include helping with concessions, working the door, and collecting raffle tickets. Mostly, though, you get to play bingo for free then help clean up at the end. After talking to the Volunteer coordinator, I may ask some folks to help us set up earlier in the day, too.

Date: Saturday, March 8
Time: 5:00 or 5:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:00) until about 10:30 p.m. (Early set-up would be around 3:30, I think)
Where: Durham Armory (we can organize carpooling as the time approaches)
What: Campy fun for a good cause!

E-mail me if you're interested in helping out.

It ain't over 'til the fat "lady" sings:

Announcements 02.20.08

Hello everyone.. it was great seeing most of you tonight! We missed ya'll that were unable to come!

Here are some announcements that were made just to keep you up to date!

Jeramie and Alicia are going to be recapping each home group and posting it on the blog! So check it out if you miss a week! Thanks for volunteering you two!

Friday February 22nd - our very own JOHN ENZOR is playing with the band Silver now. They are playing at 10:00pm at Slims this Friday Night. Get some friends together and go out and support them! check out this page or flyer for more details. The cost is $3.00

Wednesday February 27th - Home Group meeting 7:00 pm at Scott's house. He lives here (I hope this works right)

Sunday March 2nd - Visitor Reception right after the 2nd service, Lisa is going to be there to represent our Home Group. If you are interested in attending sometime and being the representative for our home group let Kim or I know. So far Lisa and Julianne will be representing our group at these events. (see previous post on announcements for more information)

Saturday March 8th - Drag BINGO.. see Bernie's post and talk to him for more details

Sunday March 9th - Leadership Development 4:00-6:00 pm We have to show a "Missional Community" in 5 minutes or less.... :) please try to be there. These are awesome times for our community to grow and learn together.
We will be having a potluck. If your last name starts with these letters this is what you bring..

A-F - Main Dish (ideas - meat casserole, spaghetti, chicken wings, mini sandwiches, etc)
G-M - Side Dish (ideas - salads, potatoes, veggies, chips, rolls, etc)
N-S - Dessert (ideas - cookies, brownies, cakes, pies, etc)
T-Z - Drinks (soda, tea, juice, etc)

Wednesday March 12th - Most likely we will be hanging out with the Oberlin Group again. More information to come.

Saturday March 15th - Amanda is putting on a play for the seniors at Visio Dei. Anyone can come! It is $5.00 and there are two shows on Saturday...2:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Go check it out!

Saturday May 3rd - AAS-C AIDS Walk + Ride - SIGN UP... Shannon has talked about it many times so go SIGN UP. Unless you are going to be out of town.. YOU SHOULD BE THERE!!!

Check out our Google Calendar and Home Group Spreadsheet if you want to see what is going on or if you need anyone's contact information.. if you don't have access to those let me know!

Have an awesome rest of the week! :)

later...

Announcements 02.13.08

Hello all... I wanted to post some announcements and upcoming events that we talked about at our Home Group Meeting on Wednesday..

I am going to update the snack/childcare list so if you would like to be taken "off" those lists let me know or if you would like to be "added" to them let me know

Sunday February 17th - Meg is organizing a girls movie...27 Dresses. You can meet at her house at 3:30 and the movie starts at 4:00 pm. Some of the girls are planning to go out to dinner afterwards. So email Meg if you are interested

Wednesday February 20th - Home Group Meeting.. 7:00 pm normal time at Mandy/Daniel's house :)

Wednesday February 27th - Home Group Meeting - 7:00 pm We need a place to meet this week.. so if you are interested in hosting us that night.. let Mandy know

Sunday March 2nd - Visitor Reception at Visio Dei.. We are starting something new for visitors at our church service. The first Sunday of each month we are going to be hosting a Visitor's Reception and they would like someone from each Home Group to attend. It will last about 30 minutes. This would be a time of sharing our history as a church body, ministry/philosophy/vision, etc. Your job would be to meet new folks and make them feel welcomed. If you can talk to others about Home Groups, Visio Dei and just life in general...then you would be great for this! Kim and I have some ideas of who we think might be good at this and so we may just ASK you to do it.. but if you are interested contact Kim or Mandy

Sunday March 9th - Leadership Development Meeting 4:00 - 6:00 pm... we have to do some preparing for this! :) We need to show in 5 minutes or less what it means to be a "missional community".. so if you have any ideas or want more information talk to Bernie or Daniel

Ok that is it.. enjoy your weekend! See ya'll Sunday if not before!

Peace Out

Recap 2008.02.13

Tonight we read James 2:1-13.

Favoritism Forbidden
1My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
8If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself,"[a] you are doing right. 9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. 11For he who said, "Do not commit adultery,"[b] also said, "Do not murder."[c] If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

Some observations:
James is apparently writing to Jewish Christians who may or may not have actually been poor. There are thoughts that they may have been an upper Jewish class of people that were not the poor Jews nor the rich Romans effectively making them a middle class of sorts.
James tells his readers not to show favoritism. In this case the favoritism is shown based on outward appearance. Most of us read into this to mean that the man in the "shabby clothes" was poor and the man in the "fine clothes" was rich.
The point was made that it seems that God shows favoritism in some cases. For instance choosing Israel to be the holy nation. However upon further discussion it was noted that God has the authority to judge because his motives are pure and never evil as ours often are.


Some interpretations:
James appears to want his readers to abstain from showing favoritism because "if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers." It was also noted that he seems to draw a distinction between the "royal law found in Scripture" and the law by which people are judged as lawbreakers. James seems to be offering his readers the opportunity to live "as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom".


Some applications:
We talked a lot tonight about how this lesson would apply to the way we treat people asking for help on the street. It seems that the overall consensus is that it would be better to error on the side of too much mercy than to not help the person out for fear of being used or taken advantage of. It seems that God is not concerned with our being used, but is more concerned with us helping those in need. If this means getting more creative in the ways that you help the person (i.e. buying him/her lunch instead of giving them money) then we should be thinking of ways that this could happen.
Shannon brought up a good point toward the end of the lesson about the possibility that we were selling the passage short by just talking about homelessness and street beggars and suggested that the scripture recommends that we not show favoritism to anyone based on anything. This includes race, ethnicity, religious background, sexual orientation and a host of other ways to segregate or differentiate between people.

Recap: Wednesday, February 6, 2008

This past Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, in the spirit of Lent being a time of reflection, we took some time to reflect on where we have been, where we are, and where we are headed as a home group.

We started off with a get-to-know-you game led by Mandy. We answered a series of questions, then compared answers. We learned that nearly everyone, excluding Bernie, Kim, and Mandy, waited to the last minute to do our homework in high school. We also learned of several talents our group-mates posses: Greg can play the recorder, Alicia can play the violin, Lisa can ride a unicycle, etc..

Next, we discussed why we continue to show up on Wednesday nights. Here are a few of the answers people gave...

• For the relationships


• For the social interaction


• For the dialogue


• Because of the diversity, e.g. some married people, some single people, etc.


• To grow...
  
  
  
  • ...in knowledge
  
  
  • ...by learning more about ourselves
  
  
  • ...by learning how we can use our gifts
  
  
  
  


• For the accountability

Next, we moved into a discussion of what the mission of our home group is. We reviewed the values listed on the Visio Dei web site.

We started off by defining what growing as a learners per the values site. Then, we talked about what that means to us, practically. Here were some of the responses...

• Bible study


• Serving


• Taking action


• Recognizing what God's doing now, the on going story


• Recognizing that we are a part of the story

Then, we discussed some ways that we as a home group could be encouraging the individual members to be growing as learners. Some of the ideas were...

• To assign more responsibility to members


• To give updates, especially for those not in attendance, via blog, email, etc.


• To have a recap time at the beginning of a meeting to go over what happened the previous week


• To focus on teaching to the various learning styles in the group

After the learner discussion, we talked about that it means to be growing as a lover. Again, we took a look at the definition from the Visio Dei site. Then, we made of list of what that looks like practically. Some ideas we came up with were...

• Seeing needs and showing love


• That we are to be known by our love


• That love is a desire that leads to action


• That we are being challenged to love people different than us


• That love takes intentionality


• That love can start with a personal journey of accepting yourself

One idea that we came up with for how we can encourage one another to be growing as lovers was to keep a list of upcoming activities, no matter how far out they are. That way we will be reminded of what people in our home group have going on that they want other members to take part in. Another idea was to take a week and have everyone write down every time they think of or see a place where love could be shown. This activity would help everyone become more aware of new ways that they could be showing love.

We wrapped up our night with a discussion of what it means to be a giver. We discussed how this related to everyone discovering and growing in their giftedness. We also talked about ways people could be growing as givers within our home group. A few of those things were...

• Allowing people other than the servant team to be using their gifts


• Reaching out to new members to find out where they are gifted


• Encouraging people to do things that they are good at

I thought Wednesday night was a great night. I think our home group is an awesome community. We do a great job of providing a place for relationships to start and flourish. We love one another well. My hope is that by focusing on growing as learners, lovers, and givers, we can move from being just a great community to being a community on mission, a "missional community". If we stay focused on that purpose, I feel like we have the capability to do amazing things for God's kingdom.