March | 2019 | Oikos: It's a household word

Posted by myoikos in #2017 on March 30, 2019

The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year. [NRSV]

When dependable isn’t

As much as the people complained about Manna being boring God did all the work

God has something better

Our Part of God’s Work

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Psalm 27 “Faith Sleeping”

Posted by myoikos in #2019, #2mileneighbors, #mysundaysermons, #sleepinchurch; #sleep; #rest on March 16, 2019

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh– my adversaries and foes– they shall stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident. One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!” Your face, LORD, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help. Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation! If my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will take me up. Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they are breathing out violence. I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! [NRSV]

Sleep is vitally important to our health and renewal of body and soul. Many folks have trouble sleeping or staying asleep for a variety of reasons, which makes it even more important to control the factor that we can influence.

Affirmation of God:

Many times we take the worries, stress, and fears into our sleep which can be seen in our racing minds, worried hearts and wrestles states. We begin our resting recognizing once again that God is at work in our situation.

Psalm 27 is a useful tool for maximizing our rest. Beginning with acknowledging God has our back and has our life, we can lay aside all things knowing God is with us.

The Lord is my Light
The Lord is my Salvation
I have NOTHING to Fear
The Lord is my Strength
The Lord is my Life
I have NOTHING to fear

This prayerful hymn begins with setting the stage with the focus on God. Rather than unloading the garbage of the day in a spiritual data dump, think of beginning sleep as an orienting prayer that places our attention and presence in God.

As a typical alternative, the TV or some screen is our light. Worries about money, debt and demands waiting for us at the break of day reveal our weakness. We hone-in our weariness, regrets and mind-reading of the day’s events and the projects of what tomorrow will bring.

Try the new model. Begin rest placing ourselves before God.

You are my light tonight
You are my meaning
You are my strength
You got me safe, I have nothing to fear, to worry, to distract, etc.

Naming the Struggle

After taking the time to place ourselves in the presence of God, then we ready to let go of what we have been holding. Some things we care are useful responsibilities, even though meaningful and good, can be stress for and tiring.

Some things are beyond our control. We live in the presence of evil. There are people, forces, organizations, ideologies, and the like that will sap up every bit of energy and attention, our health and our minds, even to the point of death.

There in the Psalm acknowledging of God’s place, our place and then the things and people who are encamped around us. So that even if we are in a good place with God there are things waiting to tempt, harm, challenged and confuse us.

A Reminder of Confidence

The model is to be confident in God in the face of evil. “I will be confident in ..asking God.” God let me live in your strength, light and love, all the days and nights of my life.

In our sleep it one of the most intimate times of being present with God. We might think it is the response to exhaustion or simple time for our bodies to rest and renew, but SLEEP can be a time to renew our trust and faith.

Some times we try doing things to distract or wear ourselves down to fall asleep. Most times we read a book or watch a show or screen we are overloading our minds to reach a point of auto-shutdown.

This Psalm consists of a hymn of faith, as all Psalms are, and it calls us to worship.

Naming the Joy in the world and in our experiences,
Singing songs of praise
Calling for Grace to surround and cover us
Seek to find God face to face, heart to heart.
- Even if my family and friends can’t or won’t help, you are with me.
- You are with, You have not given up on me.
Remind God and Ourselves how God might handle or show up in the responsibilities, threats, challenges, and work that awaits us. Anticipating the ways our faith will the renewed when God indeed helps us.

Hope:

Believing God’s Goodness will restore, heal, help, bless, lead, strengthen and give power in what awaits us.

Wait in the Lord (Hope in Practice)

Finally, trust that preparing for sleep to be more about God than ourselves, helps us to lay aside, even if for a few hours, to remember what we pick back up and what we face tomorrow will be good, because God is good, strong, and true.

Use Psalm : Some times we begin by reading and listening to word, When we take the pattern of Affirmation Who God is, Naming our struggles and anticipation how God will help us, Worshiping God for all God has done, and Rest in Hope.

Short List:

a. Make your sleep about God and not yourself
b. Name your worries and name of God might do with them
c. Name your struggles and anticipate what God will reveal
d. Name your fears and picture how God will use you.
e. Worship, remembering joy, singing songs and praise God
f. and wait on God to renew and revive us.

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Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Our Response

Posted by myoikos in #respondtogod, first fruits, Praise, response, tithe on March 9, 2019

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.[NRV]

The People of God Response to the delivery of the Promised Land

The people were instructed to recite the story of the journey and struggle of who they were and who they had become.

This is a story of multiple generations and the summation of many stories. It is the before and after the Chip and Joann Gains ritual near the end of the show, right before the big reveal they tell where they started with a base, a dream and a plan. Looking the picture of the starting point come the… commercial.

So after the commercial is the reveal and response. Are you ready to see your dream home? your forever home? The most typical response is “Oh my God.” What in the world does this have to do with Deuteronomy and the Promised Land.

This passage calls for the people’s response to their new home in Canan, the prize over the Jordon, the Promised Land. When you arrive say these words or sing this song:

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall

take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.

2. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.”

When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God:

3. “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor;

4. he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien,

5. few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.

6. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors;

7. the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

8. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

8. b. “Where are the forty years wandering in the wilderness?”

9. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.”

10: ACTION: You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.

11: IN WOSHIP TOGETHER: Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.[NRV]

So What is this to us? We weren’t there?

This passage not only teaches us about the Hebrews entering the promised land it is a model of our PRAISE, Worship, and Celebration to God’s leading us:
Q: What had God brought us through to where we are today…think of the struggles, loses, failures, illnesses, divisions and look where we have come to this day..
God has loved us through the lean times

God has guided us thought our foolishness

God has blessed us when we didn’t have what we thought we needed or deserved,

Where are we now?

We have one another.We had breath of this day, this moment?

Think of the division of the nation, and the church these are signs that we all have forgotten the God is leading us. We have placed our trust in our own ideals instead of the heart and mind of God.

We are not in the Promised Land at the moment: We are lost and the world with us. BUT we need to remember where we are headed.

This is where we begin to remember were God has shown up before

and commit ourselves to looking for God to save us in this time.

We are called to gather in worship, praise and celebration of God’s work and not our own.

Let us share where God is showing up in our families and church family and retell the stories and introduce for those who have never heard or were unwilling to hear.

Our Response is to Remember, Retell and Celebrate God’s work in our generations and in our present

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Oikos: It's a household word

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