Moving from concept to conception.
Conception comes from the root word concept.
Luke 1:31 You will CONCEIVE and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. NIV
You can hear concepts without ever doing what it takes to conceive those ideas in the heart.
God is awakening things within us to transform world around us. The concept of prayer is not the same as conception of prayer. You’re going to have to take some time with this.
Reality Check: We do not take our spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside, time for conversations with God.
God calls us to arrange our lives around his presence and in doing so we become the expression of Christ to our world. We are called to model the sacrificial nature of the cross.
Numbers 2:1-2 “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. ESV
God asks for every house, every camp, to arrange their homes facing toward the tent of meeting. God was revealing that our lives should always face an encounter with Him!
Everything in our lives should be arranged toward experiencing God.
We’ve allowed the church to become a pulpit central gathering. In this time God is deepening us all to learn to be a presence central people who pursue a presence central gathering.
You never leave a legacy until you first live a legacy. It’s not about all you have decided to believe. Actions train better than words.
Numbers 2:3-9 On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard. The leader of the people of Judah is Nahshon son of Amminadab. 4 His division numbers 74,600. 5 The tribe of Issachar will camp next to them…numbering 54,400. 7 The tribe of Zebulun will be next… numbering 57,400…. according to their divisions, they will number 186,400.
Is it possible that God who chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (1 Cor 1:27) could have hidden deep treasure in the most unexpected places of Scripture to reveal how he loves to take that which is ordinary and overlooked and make it extraordinary to reveal his gracious nature of God in our fallen broken lives?
As we read on in Numbers, chapter two we find the tribes are all arranged very specifically around God’s presence. In this arrangement we find something powerfully revealing. Not only do we find 186,400 people from Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. We also find 108,100 on the opposite side of this structure from Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin. Then on the other two sides we find 151,450 people and 157,600 people from the tribes of Rueben, Simeon and Gad and Asher, Naphtali and Dan respectively.
If you observe this gathering from an arial viewpoint you’ll see the form of the cross of Jesus Christ. Putting God’s Word into practice by arranging our lives around his presence becomes an expression of the cross of Jesus Christ to our world.
God calls us to arrange our lives around his presence and in doing so we become the expression of the cross of Jesus Christ to our world. We are broken people in a fallen world with a Risen King, inviting us to embrace his eternal perspective.
The concept of prayer is not the same as conception of prayer. You’re going to have to take some time with this.
GP2RL: Sacrificially devote yourself to some expression of a deeper pursuit of God this week. What will that be?
Modeling The Cross
DISCUSSION GUIDE
UNDERSTANDING THE SEASON: God, The Creator, designed all creation to carry a certain pattern or a certain life-giving rhythm. Our bodies display rhythm in the way our heart beats, in our breathing patterns and even in our cellular activity. The rhythm of God seems to be sown into the fabric of all creation. The very idea that God’s mercies are new every morning points to a daily rhythm of seeking God. God’s wonderful plan is for us to be awake and engaged. We are to be spiritually awake to the revelation of Christ and practically engaged in the practices of Jesus. Our patterns reveal our priorities.
It is God’s plan for us to develop the rhythm of drawing close to His heart and hearing His voice together as a spiritual family. This explains the first question we start with in our groups:
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
FOR GROUP LEADERS: The focus of the day is how we put our faith into practice. Please ensure that each person has received a Core Values / Core Practices card. A great conversation starter might be to ask people to share, “How do you ‘practice’ your faith.”
Numbers 2:1-2 “The people of Israel shall camp each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. ESV
God calls us to arrange our lives around his presence. In our obedience we model the cross.
1 Peter 2:1-9 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. The Living Stone and a Chosen People. 4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ….9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. NIV
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
2. DISCOVER: Have each person give a simple 60 second summary of what these verses are saying, Encourage people to try not to add insights or application yet. Just simply summarize.
3. DEVELOP: What do you sense God may be speaking to you personally as we focus on these verses?
4. DEPLOY: We are to be doers and not hearers only. What will you do this week in re sponse to what you sense God is revealing in this time together?
Everywhere we go, we bring...
GP2RL: Sacrificially devote yourself to some expression of a deeper pursuit of God this week. What will that be for you?