Psalm 47: A Difference Kind of Noise

After all of the turmoil of Psalm 46, where God intervenes and commands "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10a) to stop the fighting, you wonder what reaction of the nations will be. Grudging submission? Woeful assent? Beautiful smiles masking angry hearts?

No, in Psalm 47, we see an entirely different picture, presented almost as the aftermath of the previous psalm:

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! - Psalm 47:1-2

There is an outbreak of celebration. It is a strange picture, because the author envisions a place where God has defeated the enemies of Israel (subdued the nations under us, vs. 3) but the other nations are not just tolerant, but jubilant, about it.

For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. - Psalm 47:7

Every other would-be king must give way to the king of kings. Every would-be god must give way for the one true God. And that's a good thing for everybody. How? The author predicts a day when:

The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted. - Psalm 47:9

Rather than a God of one country; contending in a universe of other national deities, God in fact is the ruler of all the nations. In the Old Testament, it was never clear how this sort of prophecy was supposed to happen, unless a non-Jew "became" a Jew and came under the law or was ruled by the Jews as a subject people.
 
Notice that the author says they will be assembled as the people of the God of Abraham. Not the God of Israel or Jacob (cf. vs. 4), but Abraham. This is significant, because Abraham was a God-follower but was not under the Law of Moses, making him (as Paul puts it) "the father of us all"

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all - Romans 4:16

Jesus paved the way for us to join into the promises of God, allowing us to take advantage of the promise given to Abraham, because we are "in Christ" when we trust him.

"...remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ." - Ephesians 2:12-13

The turmoil and chaos of Psalm 46 has been brought to a happy conclusion. The noise of battle and wars and death has been replaced with the clapping of hands, songs of praise and the shouts of joy of Psalm 47, because God has taken his rightful place as the ruler of a people promised to Abraham and bought by Jesus.

Psalm 46:9: Be Still

He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." - Psalm 46:9-10

We often quote part of this verse when talking about the turmoil and business of our inner lives-reminding ourselves to stop and take time for God. But really, these words revolve around the squabbling of nations who have neglected or ignored God. "Nations are in an uproar; kingdoms fall" (vs. 6)

So the nations fight over who will be in control; who will control the resources; who will control their destiny. They kill and maim and destroy, assuming that the very things that they long for-peace, prosperity and security-are really under their control. So they really have no place for God any more.

But God will not be ignored. "I will be exalted among the nations." (vs. 10) He breaks the bow, spear and shield and quiets the chaos of the nations. Every tool and instrument that they would use to exert control is made impotent. Even the earth on which they war melts (vs. 6b) at his voice.

Why? The answer is actually found earlier in the Psalm. Everything that the nations fight over is available from God already. Security? "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way." (vs. 2a) Prosperity and happiness? "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God" (vs. 4a)

The very things the we fight for are available with God, who, after watching our struggle, finally intercedes and says enough-is-enough "Be still!" Four times in the Psalm, the author refers to God's presence as the source of peace for our lives (vss. 1, 4, 5, 11).

Perhaps we need the same lesson as the nations. Perhaps much of our struggle in life is an attempt to control and acquire those things which are available freely from the hand of God.

SDG.

By the way, the album Coram Deo contains a beautiful song, "There Is A River" which is a beautiful meditation on the beginning of this chapter.

These people fought to gain supremacy. They fought to gain control The nations did not recognize God. Instead, they fought among themselves for supremacy. But the good things that they lon

In this case, the; whose peace has been shattered because they have neglected God "But these words were not directed at peace of mind but world peace. Where is God? Taken apart from its context, this has been used to scold us about our busy lives which neglect God. But this is really not just about peace in an individual's inner life, but restoration of peace to a world in turmoil. Let me quote just a few more verses:

If I Could Tell You One Thing...Church (Mark 12:28-34)

These were the notes for the Sunday morning sermon at the Cornerstone family camp.

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"

 

"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

 

"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

 

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Introduction - Jesus Tells Us What Is Most Important

This is probably one of the few places in the gospels where Jesus is asked a question with good intentions, and Jesus approves of the answer. Sometimes we read the New Testament and assume that everyone was off-track, but that is not the case. There were those who were seeking, there were those who wanted to know the answer. 

 

In the Bible, whenever Jesus approves of something you should take notice. In the Bible, whenever someone approves of Jesus you should take notice.

 

Now there were some 618 commandments in the Old Testament. Each one of them was the “word of God” (queue the deep voice and reverb effect). What happened when two laws covered the same incident, but didn’t agree on the outcome? Does God contradict himself? No. So what do you do? There are entire books, the Mishnah (OT) and later, the Talmud, that record the observations of the famous rabbis on how to interpret and resolve these issues. 

 

One way to resolve this is the idea of precedence: Certain commands had a higher priority or importance over others. Jesus himself scolded the Pharisees (Mark 7:8-13) because they were saying, “Well, I would help you Mom and Dad, but I dedicated all my money to God.” They made a bad choice, setting up a “command” based on bits and pieces of the law and making it more important than the 5th commandment “To honor your father and mother” 

 

I call this the Reverse Mafia mentality: Mafia mentality says: Bump off as many people as you like, but give to your mother and the church. Reverse Mafia mentality says: Give to the church, but bump off your mother.

 

So when this teacher hears Jesus’ answers (verse 1), he puts him to the test: “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” If I was left on a desert island with a palm tree and just one page of the Bible, which page would it be? (Perhaps the tastiest one). What he’s asking: If God Could Tell Me One Thing, what would it be? What’s the big picture, Jesus? Which has the highest priority, Jesus? 

 

Jesus gives him a 2-for-1 deal: "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

 

Jesus is saying three things: 

 

These Two Commands Are The Key To Understanding Everything Else God Wants To Teach You.

1. Love God.
2. Love People
3. Never Forget The Big Picture. 

These Two Commands Are The Key To Understanding What God Wants From Me.

 

The world’s largest crossword puzzle hangs on a grid 7 feet by 7 feet. It contains 91,000 squares, with 28,000 clues printed in a 100 page clue book. One reviewer commented that he wouldn’t let his employees leave for lunch until they had solved at least one clue.

 

Is that how the Bible seems to you sometimes? Thousands of pages, obscure names and places, different culture, heresy lurking around every page if you interpret something wrong?

 

Jesus gives us the key: Every other command or principle or guideline in the Bible is a logical outworking of these two commands: Love God, Love your neighbor. The rest of the commands were designed to fulfill these two. If you come up with some interpretation, some addition or subtraction or division of the word of God that runs counter to these two, you’ve got it wrong.

 

The people of Jesus had a tremendous problem: they felt like the world was going to hell under the iron fist of a pagan superpower (Rome) ruling them. Why? The explanation that they could come up with was that they must not be “spiritual” enough and not keeping the commands of God strictly enough. So they began creating more and more regulations designed to keep everyone as pure as possible, closing every possible gap of interpretation of God’s law. In Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls containing the oldest fragments we have of the Old Testament writings, there was curious architectural feature: an abundance of ritual baths for purifying people. Now, ritual bathing was certainly not a big part of God’s plan for his people, but they wanted to be pure all the time so they spent tons of effort trying to wash all the time.

 

In another place, Jesus tells off the teachers of the law. Listen to this: 

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. – Matthew 23:23-24 

So tithing is good. But they were worried they weren’t tithing enough. Every pastor’s dream. Should we tithe from our garden? Our cow’s milk? How about our grass clippings? Jesus commends them for their tithing, but scolds them for forgetting the big picture: justice, mercy, faithfulness.

 

Love God. Love people. Grab ahold of these with every ounce of who you are. Then let them loose to work way out into every attitude, habit and action.

 

If you ever come to a cross-roads, where the leading of God isn’t clear, here are the three big questions you can ask yourself:

1. Is this decision likely to draw my attention, my strength, my passion, my willpower towards God or divert my attention, strength, passion and willpower away from God?
2. Is this decision about another person the same decision I would like God to make about me?
3. Did I lie about #1 or #2?  

Love God

Loving God is not about doing church God’s way, but about doing life God’s way. 

 

To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices

 

How do you view God? If you believe there is a God, then what is your reaction to him?

 

The ‘burnt offering and sacrifice’ approach is to give stuff to God in order to either get him off your back or sweet talk him into doing what you want. This is an attitude of fear, because you are always concerned about God’s opinion of you which might change at any point. So you want to keep him happy.

The ‘love with all your heart’ approach says God has done some much for me so I respond back. “We love because he first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19  

But when we talk about loving God, we keep wanting to elevate ourselves to God’s peers. In fact, one of the results of the “self-esteem” movement that started in the 70s and continues today is that many college age students from church backgrounds view Jesus more as their peer rather than as their Lord. Jesus called his disciples friends. Doesn’t’ that mean we are buddy-buddy? (“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business.” John 15:15). But Jesus turns around and says (vs. 17, “This is my command. Love one another) 

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. – John 14:21a 

This command doesn’t have any expiration date. There are no holidays. There was no personal spending money. There is no “mine” as opposed to “God’s”

 

If that seems extreme, it’s because it is. But it is only a symptom of our crazy world that loving God seems “unnatural” and doing our own thing seems “natural”. Need help? God is ready to help you re-align your priorities so that you can say, with all your heart: “God, you are my one thing.”

 

Love People

Loving people is a natural extension of loving God, because God loves people.

 

Jesus and the teacher tie these two ideas together. From an interpreting-Gods-law point of view this is important, because it implies, unlike other commands, there will never be a conflict between these two commands. If there is, then you are misunderstanding what “Love your God means”. 

If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. - 1 John 4:20 

Part of loving other people is humility, placing the needs of others before ours and feeling their joys and tears and fears as if they were our own.

  

Think about sins for a moment. When we talk about sins it is always a relationship. Either our relationship with God or with other people. God wants us not to focus on our planet Earth or whales or the mortgage, or our car, or the project at work, or 401K, but on our relationship with Him and and the people around us. 

• Which is more important to you? Your children or your retirement? 
• Which is more important to you? Your project or your co-workers? 
• Which is more important to you? Your car or the people in it? 
• Which is more important to you? Your home or those you invite into it?
• Which is more important to you? Your day planner or Outlook calendar or the person who needs your help?

 

Conclusion
This man who came to Jesus was himself a teacher.

But Jesus says he is just “close to the kingdom of God” What is missing? The messiah is missing. Like John the Baptist (“the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”). He needs one more thing.

This teacher. He wants to love God. He wants to love people. But he, like so many others, wanted these things desperately and is frustrated by his failure and the failure of his entire country.

But he has come to the right place: Jesus.

Paul talked about this one missing thing. He too, was a brilliant teacher, a devoted follower of the law, but he was missing one thing: Jesus. Here is how he described it:

For I delivered to you what I received as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and raised on the third day, according to the scriptures. – 1 Cor. 15:3-4

You can be as close to the kingdom of God as this man was to Jesus, but don’t miss this “one thing”

 

If I Could Tell You One Thing...Introduction (Matthew 6:33)

(these are my notes for the introductory message at the Cornerstone Family Camp)

 

You are picked up off the street, brought down to the police station in the back of a black and white squad car. After taking inventory of what was in your pockets and taking your picture, you are one phone call. Better make the right choice.

 

When Helen and I thought we were about to head to the Philippines as missionaries I called my high-school English teacher, who was a Christian. About to retire, she had encouraged me so much. I wanted so much to let her know about what was happening in my life!

 

Here it is. This place. This evening. My channel. If I could tell you one thing, what would it be? We are going to unpack that question of “the one thing” over the next few days. But if I could tell you one thing, tonight, here it is: Trust God.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. - Matthew 6:33

Jesus tells us, in his most famous sermon, to seek God first. If you just walked up to someone on the street and told them, "You know, you should really put God first in your life." you are likely to get a variety of puzzled responses, ranging from "God who?" to "I'm doing all right on my own right now" More telling, though, are those people whose response is some variety of: "If I really got to know God well, would I like him?" Is God good? Does God really have my best interests at heart? Is it worth finding out the question to that answer?

That's part of the reason God put down the good, the bad and the ugly of his relationships with people in the Bible. If you compare the Bible with any other work of "religious" writings, you will notice that (a) the people are pretty messed up and (b) God deals with them in a straight-forward manner. That's a 2,000 - 3,000 year track record. Why? Because he want's us to seek him first. And if we are going to seek him, we are going to have to trust him.

 

From the survey that folks filled out before this camp:

“If I could tell my friend one thing about God, it would be that He will never disappoint you and He is the only one who won’t. Let yourself trust in Him.”

 

“If I could tell my mom or dad one thing about parenting, it would be that…Let go and trust God in what He has begun. He will finish”

When Paul re-told the good news about Jesus to the people of Corinth, here's what he said:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures and that he appeared – 1 Cor. 15:3-5b

Notice that phrase: "according to the Scriptures" What Paul is referring to are all of the promises and prophecies in the 1st half of the Bible, talking about Jesus, his life, death and return from death. Why did he say that? Because God keeps his promises. Why is that important? Because God wants us to trust him. Paul goes on in that same chapter to describe how Jesus was seen by hundreds of people after he came back to life. Promises kept and verified.

 

When we were in Shonto, AZ, working among the Navajo, we were working up on 20 foot ladders, painting the trim on a mobile home. We would work in shifts of 2, one of us would hold the ladder and the other climbed up with the paint and the brush. I had Ryan Sullivan on my team and he was always saying to me “I’ve got your back.” You want God have your back. But you have to trust him.
 
You have to trust him in the three areas that Jesus mentioned in his sermon:  

1. You have to trust God that: You Are Loved
2. You have to trust God that: You Can Change.
3. You have to trust God that: You Have A Purpose. 

You Are Loved


Let's work backwards from the end of that verse:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. - Matthew 6:33

If you are going to seek God first; if you are going to put God as the top priority in your life, then you have to trust that God really loves you. You don't want to second guess God's opinion of you.

Earlier in his sermon, in Matthew, chapter 6, Jesus has gone through a laundry list of things that people worry about--food, shelter, clothing, personal safety--and says (vs. 32) “…your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” God knows that we need them, and Jesus reassures us in verse 33, that if we seek God first, he will take care of all of our needs.

It says: "all of these things". Not some of them--all of them.

Take a moment. Get out a pen and a piece of paper. We're going to construct a worry list. Before you came to camp today, you were worried about something. Maybe it was your job, or a money situation. Maybe it was a health situation. Maybe it was a relationship situation. Write them down. If there is something you're worried about that's not on the list, your list is too short.

That's part of the trust: can you place your livelihood and your safety into His hands? Do you trust God? Do you believe he knows what you really need? Do you believe that he will take care of them? Seek him first and all these things will be added. Why? Because God loves you.

 

You Can Change

 

“But seek first...his righteousness” – Matt. 6:33

 

You can trust God to change you. It says to seek first his righteousness. Inside you is a bubbling stew. It is bubbling because, when you trust God, and Jesus has paid your debt, he changes your insides, your want-to. But that changed inside still needs to work its way out and convince the rest of you, your attitudes, your habits and your behaviors, to get with the program.

 

Sometimes we want to short-cut the process, by saying that “the stew is good enough” or “it will get there anyway” Sometimes we want to renegotiate. When we say that we are saying that we really don’t want the kind of person that God is making us into, or that it is not worth it.

That's part of the trust: Am I willing to place my personality into his hands. God knows what kind of person you could be and God knows the kind of person you are now and God knows the best way to get you from point A to point B. He is less concerned about what things you can do than what kind of person you are. That's righteousness: turning you into the kind of person who does the right thing at the right time for the right reason.

 

You Have A Purpose

 

Seek first his kingdom... Matthew 6:33

 

You can trust God’s plan for your life. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, what do we say at the very beginning: “Our Father, who is in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Did you catch that? God’s kingdom comes when what He wants happens here just like it already does in heaven.

 

We have had many examples in recent weeks of people who live in a kingdom; in a nation; but are actively working against it (Russian spies, Hutaree)

 

God’s kingdom advances, not with the shifting of political borders, but in the shifting of allegiance, the transformation of hearts; the step across the border from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. And when you have a ‘kingdom’ soul, the kingdom goes wherever you go. When you are with God, every place you go can become ground-zero for new life, for transformation.

 

But what about you? Did you spend so many years in school, so you could get a job, so you could work really hard, so you could retire, so you could die? Is that your purpose? Some people wish they could take it easy. Some people wish they could get some rest. But I want my life to count.

 

God wants to change the world one heart at a time. Not to make people crabby, self-righteous, pessimistic and socially awkward, but to make them into joyful, humble and fully alive. That is why you have a job. That is why you have a family. That is why you have neighbors and relationships and money.

Conclusion

 

God calls each one of us to seek him first. In order to do that, we have to trust God. It is not an easy thing.

 

Maybe it is hard for you to trust that God loves you, either because you don’t feel loveable, or because love has always been such a fickle, disappointing thing, or because God doesn’t seem real. That’s honest. But he has a remarkable track record of adopting new children and loving them.

 

Maybe it is hard for you to trust that God can change you. But he can. He created you. But don’t tell God “I’ll trust when you change so-and-sos heart” Ask him to work on your heart. On your attitudes.

 

Maybe it is hard for you to trust that God is taking you anywhere. Maybe your life seems aimless. But God has a plan and he delights in asking each one of us to take part with him, changing the world one heart at the time.

Is your heart ready to change? Maybe you haven't come to the point where you are ready to trust God. Let me ask you a question: what would it take for you to be convinced? Be honest. If that happened, are you ready to accept the consequences and seek God first? I warn you, don't answer my question unless you are ready to follow through. Because God "rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Heb 11:6)

Make the choice. Trust God. Seek him first.

 

If I Could Tell You One Thing...Relationships (Galatians 5:22-23)

These were group-time lessons used for Cornerstone's Family Camp. The room was split into three groups. The speaker introduced the topic (Key Idea) the led the groups through a series of questions and then had them brainstorm actions. Each topic took 20 minutes.

Key Idea
God changes us so that he can change the world.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23

The external signs of the change God has made in us are sometimes called fruit. They are new attitudes. The new attitudes lead to new habits. The new habits lead to new behaviors. It is not a linear, straightforward process. It proceeds in leaps ahead, false starts, wrong turns and backtracking, but those who have been followers of Jesus for can see that they are no longer the people they were.

But those changes in attitude (called ‘fruit’) are not the end goal. In gardening, fruit has a purpose. It is the seed-bearer. It is meant to be the nutritional encapsulation of the seed which nurtures it to life in a new, sometimes harsh environment.

The seed is the word of God. Our ‘fruit’ are the seed bearers. As in Jesus’ parable of the sower (Matthew 13), God is scattering the ‘seed’ but he is doing it through his people, who wrap that seed in the ‘fruit’ of godly, loving attitudes.

When you love, when you show joy, when you live at peace, when you ‘patient’, when you are kind, when you are good, when you are faithful, when you are gentle and when you restrain yourself, you are making a home for the word of God in someone’s heart.

Not every spent fruit has a happy ending. Some seeds die. But it is true that if there are no spent fruit, then there are fewer nurtured seeds. And, if fewer nurtured seeds, then there is no harvest.

Questions
These are questions you should ask yourself about this passage:

Why do you think Paul used the term ‘fruit’ to describe these God-enabled attitudes?

Compare with Col. 3:19-21. What characterizes these ‘anti-fruit’? What is the result?

Who do you think are bickering in this church? (cf. Col. 5:26)

Why does Paul use the term ‘crucify’ (vs. 24)? If crucified, why do we struggle so much with our sin?

Actions
Do a roll-call of your relationships. What kind of ‘fruit’ have been typically displayed in each (if any!)? Which of the fruit do you most need?

If I Could Tell You One Thing...Church (Ephesians 4)

These were group-time lessons used for Cornerstone's Family Camp. The room was split into three groups. The speaker introduced the topic (Key Idea) the led the groups through a series of questions and then had them brainstorm actions. Each topic took 20 minutes.

Key Idea
The church is God’s means of growing servants.

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. – Ephesians 4:4-6

There is no practical spiritual growth apart from the church. Why? Because the church is the training ground for servants, where those who have been transformed by the grace of God practice what it really means.

The problem comes when a diverse group of high-powered and high-pride individuals come together, it can strangle God’s mission in a community. Getting off our agenda and onto God’s agenda. Building up others instead of building up ourselves. These are tough habits to replace. What should a church focus on to help its people grow? The Bible teaches us in the first half of chapter 4: unity and service.

Questions
These are questions you should ask yourself about this passage:

Why do you think that unity is such a big problem in churches?

What are the antidotes presented in this chapter?

Action
If we want to be the healthy, growing servants, list three things we should do, based on this chapter? Don’t use the word “remember” or “understand” or similar words in your answer.

Ruth: A Sweet and Bitter Providence

On July 25th, the 10:30am Sunday School at Cornerstone class will be reading the Book of Ruth, along with John Piper's book A Sweet and Bitter Providence "examines the book's relevant, unchanging themes and its dangerous ability to inspire twenty-first-century readers in the cause of love." starts on Sunday mornings at Cornerstone during the 10:30am Sunday School class. Listen to the author share about the core purpose of the book in this short video.

If I Could Tell You One Thing...Money (Matthew 6:24)

These were group-time lessons used for Cornerstone's Family Camp. The room was split into three groups. The speaker introduced the topic (Key Idea) the led the groups through a series of questions and then had them brainstorm actions. Each topic took 20 minutes.
Key Idea
Money acts as a spiritual thermometer, showing our priorities.

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. – Matthew 6:24

There can only be one “first place” in your life. There are no ties. There are no committees. There is either God or something else. And the many something-elses in our life are constantly jockeying to take down God as king of the mountain in our life.

Some of these other things are good things, like love or beauty or excitement. Others prey upon our fears of insignificance or insecurity. The way we use our money is often a symptom or thermometer of our spiritual condition, because it is used as a band-aid for our out-of-control fears and desires.

Jesus highlights one specific symptom: how much attention we pay to the gathering or preservation of money. Think about how much time you spend checking your 401K, your investments, your bank balance, or shifting around money from savings to checking or optimizing your taxes. Are you managing your money or is it managing you? Does it seem like it demanding more and more time and effort? If money is short, do you obsess? If it is plentiful, do you check on it like McScrooge? Those are symptoms that money is trying to claw its way to first place in your life.

Questions
These are questions you should ask yourself about this passage:

The word translated “Money” here was actually the name of a pagan god (mammon). How is money like a god? (see also Colossians 3:5)

What happens to people when they try to serve two masters? What are the symptoms?

How do you think God tests where our true loyalties lie?

Action
What is one practical thing you can do to lessen the hold of money on your life?

List one or two people who are most likely to notice the symptoms in your life.

If I Could Tell You One Thing...Family (Deuteronomy 6)

These were group-time lessons used for Cornerstone's Family Camp. The room was split into three groups. The speaker introduced the topic (Key Idea) the led the groups through a series of questions and then had them brainstorm actions. Each topic took 20 minutes.

Key Idea
The family is God’s means of producing servants.

Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. – Deut. 6:3

God wants serving families more than he wants successful families. Well-educated but spiritually bankrupt describes much of our generation. Why? Because we have become convinced that families should produce superstars rather than servants. We have become convinced that a career is more important that character.

But we do not have the ability to make our children successful. We do not have the ability to make our children joyful. Those are in God’s control, not ours. And in these verses. In Deuteronomy 6, we see how intimately God tie together our spiritual walk with our family’s walk. Verses 4 and 5 are famous (and rightly so) as the Great Commandment. But verse 6 says: “Impress them on your children”

Questions
Why was this experience different for Israel from what happened in the past?

What is it about seasons of hardship (such as Israel’s slavery) that makes it hard to remember God? What is it about seasons of blessing (such as the promised land) that makes it hard to remember God? Write out 3 reasons each. Why is the transition between hardship and blessing critical?

Application
Find God’s advice for families in this chapter and paraphrase them as actions for today’s family.

If I Could Tell You One Thing...Work (Colossians 3:17,23-24)

These were group-time lessons used for Cornerstone's Family Camp. The room was split into three groups. The speaker introduced the topic (Key Idea) the led the groups through a series of questions and then had them brainstorm actions. Each topic took 20 minutes.

Work (Colossians 3:23-24)

Key Idea
Your job is your God-designed ministry.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. – Col. 3:23-24

God is the one who hires you and fires you and transfers you to another position. Not your boss. Your job is one way that God infiltrates the world, transforming it by his presence in his people. Sometimes we like to separate our home and family life from the “real world” of the job, but that is not how the Bible looks at it.

Every person you help at work is being helped by the hands and feet of God (Matt. 25:31ff). Every product you produce at work is an offering by you to God (Gen. 4). Every meeting you attend is more about the people in the room than the things you accomplish.

Questions
These are questions you should ask yourself about this passage:

As you read the chapter, why do you think Paul had to write these instructions in the first place (see also Col. 3:17)? What tendency was he trying to counteract?

What reasons do we give for slacking? What reasons do we give for over-involvement in work?

What motivations does Paul give serving in vs. 17, 23-25

Action
List three ways we can be God’s hands and feet at work? How can God’s kingdom invade my office or workplace?