Church of the Nazarene -East Rock

When God Seems Silent

When God Seems Silent: Part 1 “Are You Listening?

“In our world of seemingly endless communication and connection, is it possible that we are missing the most important one of all?

Our connection with the Lord

What do we do when that connection begins to fade?

It is those questions and many more that we will seek to answer in our new teaching series “When God Seems Silent”. Over the next few weeks we will seek to understand how to approach life when God appears not to be speaking, when he seems silent.

The Lord has not left himself without a witness, without voice into our lives, and the world. So, if you are indeed saying, “God seems silent” our first response is to ask: “Are you listening?”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11-14

‬‬For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart…Perhaps, if you feel the silence today- Like God is on mute somewhere, I think this passage in Jeremiah would ask us a tough question

Are you listening? Really listening- Like, with all of your heart listening?

Whether it’s listening to someone else, or to God, it’s always an active pursuit. So today, if God seems silent, it may be that we have stopped acting to hear him…What would it look like to seek him- to listen with all of your heart?

Throughout this teaching series we are going to examine a few other areas of our lives and a few other causes that may make it seem like God is silent.

Next week, we will unpack the idea that SIN is the ultimate silencer. Unrepented sin will always block our relationship with God, and therefore our communion with him.

Then, in part 3 we’ll talk about God’s delay. In our fast-paced, 5G phone, gotta have it now world, its often easy for us to mistake God’s delay in acting for silence. We are often tempted to think that simply because we haven’t seen the answer to our prayers, that God isn’t speaking or moving.

Finally, the ultimate issue we must face in hearing from God is trust. Do we trust that he speaks, that he hears, that he acts as he has promised? When we doubt Him, that can easily make him seem Silent.‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7:7-8‬‬“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Listening is never a passive activity, will you take the first step out of silence?

http://bible.com/events/48960364

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Learning & Unlearning: Community
Learning and Unlearning: Part 4‭‭

John‬ ‭17:20-21

‬‬“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. Of all the things Jesus could have chosen in that moment, he prayed for unity, for communion and fellowship. If it was important enough for Jesus to consider in the hours before his death, are we willing to re-consider the importance of our relational intimacy?”

Content used to be a competitive advantage. For the most part, it isn’t any more. What is deeply scarce right now are community and connection… …people are more isolated than ever. That’s playing out the crisis in mental health, rising addictions and the fractionalized tribes we’ve seen form in our culture. Authentic, loving and genuine community are more scarce than they have ever been in our lifetime. Every church should be running to fill that hole. Community means connecting people to each other in groups, serving, friendship and relationships. Nobody should be able to out-community the local church.”-Carey Nieuwhof‭‭

1 John‬ ‭1:1-4‬‬

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.‭‭

Acts‬ ‭2:42-47

‬‬They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Learn + UnlearnIdeal vs. Reality“

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”-C.S. Lewis

You won’t experience the real riches of Christ if you’re not in real community In social isolation, we have learned the truth of Frederick Buechner’s words: “You can survive on your own; you can grow strong on your own; you can prevail on your own; but you cannot become human on your own.”-Peter Marty‭‭

Philippians‬ ‭2:1-5

‬‬Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Verses for further study/reflection

:Acts 2:42

Romans 15:26

1 Corinthians 1:9

1 Corinthians 10:16

1 Corinthians 10:16

2 Corinthians 6:14

2 Corinthians 8:4

2 Corinthians 9:13

2 Corinthians 13:14

Galatians 2:9

Ephesians 3:9

Philippians 1:5

Philippians 2:1-5

Philippians 3:10

Philemon 1:6

Hebrews 13:16

1 John 1:3

1 John 1:6

1 John 1:7

Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

Learning & Unlearning: Community

Learning and Unlearning Part 4

‭‭John‬ ‭17:20-21

‬‬“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Of all the things Jesus could have chosen in that moment, he prayed for unity, for communion and fellowship.

If it was important enough for Jesus to consider in the hours before his death, are we willing to re-consider the importance of our relational intimacy?

Welcome back to our teaching series “Learning and Un-learning”

Our series began by understanding that our message does not change, but the way in which it is communicated MUST change if we are to be successful in our call to reach our world.

The point of this series is that we want to see how we are to live out the timeless truths of scripture in our ever-changing world.

We have seen throughout this series that we are to share in Jesus’ heart, and his call to be a compassionate and peacemaking presence in our world.

Today as we finish up our series, we want to be honest about our tendency as believers to scatter- to be staunchly self-sufficient and self-reliant

Sadly, the pandemic gave us an excuse to disconnect. -And that’s a word that should never describe God’s children.

What Jesus prayed for us in John 17 is more than sitting beside one another on Sunday’s, it’s having true connection to each other through Christ.‭‭1 John‬ ‭1:1-4‬‬That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

Fellowship in this passage is the Greek word Koinonia.

Fellowship or koinonia- when John carefully chose that word, he was not thinking of pot-luck dinners, (unfortunately).It’s not just sharing the same room on Sunday mornings, it’s not even the casual “How’s work going?” interactions that we often have. It’s much, much, more than that.In fact, if you really understood the depth of that word – koinonia – it might, frankly, make you just a little uncomfortable.

Koinonia is about sharing personal, intimate, depth and meaning with fellow believers. It is a sharing of value and purpose. It is a sharing of resources as well as responsibility. It’s shared common life together.

Koinonia, fellowship is what the disciples had when the Holy spirit came at Pentecost in Acts 2Acts 2:42 – 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The coming of the Holy Spirit here in acts brings the first mention of koinonia, of fellowship at this kind of level. This reveals and affirms the truth that John gives in our passage, that it is only through Christ that we can have this kind of relationship with other believers.‭‭

1 John‬ ‭1:5-7‬‬

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Since God is absolutely free of sin and darkness, if we continue to choose sin, we continue to choose our own way- we don’t actually have fellowship with him.

But if we will esteem Christ above all- choosing him over ourselves- we have his life in us- and we share that life with others, and Christ cleanses us from the sinful nature that’s within us.

Sin and the serving of self are the ultimate disruption to true intimacy with God and with one another.

We must give ourselves to learning what it is to hold our intimacy in Christ as THE single most important factor in how we relate to other believers.

We must un-learn the ways of categorizing each other and learn what it is to live into our given unity in Christ Jesus.

After all, we ARE ONE in Christ.

Verses for further study/reflection:

Acts 2:42

Romans 15:26

1 Corinthians 1:9

1 Corinthians 10:16

1 Corinthians 10:16

2 Corinthians 6:14

2 Corinthians 8:4

2 Corinthians 9:13

2 Corinthians 13:14

Galatians 2:9

Ephesians 3:9

Philippians 1:5

Philippians 2:1

Philippians 3:10

Philemon 1:6

Hebrews 13:16

1 John 1:3

1 John 1:6

1 John 1:7

http://bible.com/events/48956533

Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

Learning & Unlearning:

The Polarized World

In every single one of your relationships, bring the peace of Christ with you.

Series Purpose:

We must gain a perspective on how living as a Christian may be different now that we are, for the most part, on the “other side” of the pandemic. We will grasp that there are things to “unlearn” – setting aside old ideas – and “learn” gaining new understanding for real outreach and discipleship post COVID.

Today’s focus:

This world is more divided, more polarized than ever before. And in the midst of the turmoil, our Savior declares: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

A recent international study declared emphatically: “No established democracy in recent history has been as deeply polarized as the U.S.”

In the midst of this polarized world, we must ask the Lord, “what is my mission?”‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭5:3-10‬‬

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Here’s the word of the Lord Himself to those living in a divided world:”

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

What is a peacemaker?

To be a peacemaker is to love and obey the Prince of Peace, know His gift of peace and diligently share it with others.

1. Peacemakers take action.-Peacemakers are involved in the action of healing and restoring.-Peacemakers don’t avoid conflict. While they certainly don’t try to create conflict, they are so committed to this idea of seeing God’s peace enter into the lives of others that they are willing to endure conflict.‭‭

2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:16-20‬‬

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

2. Peacemakers reconcile (people with God & themselves with others)-Peacemakers carry a burden for a broken world and desperately want every person to be reconciled to God, the Prince of Peace.-Peacemakers extend the call of reconciliation a step further: reconciliation with each other.-If we are passionate about seeing all people reconciled with God, then we also are passionate to see people reconciled with one another.

3. Peacemakers build bridges (and not barriers)-Peacemakers never have permission to ‘write off’ someone else in their life. They see the disruption and polarization around us as a divine opportunity.

Bottom Line:

In every single one of your relationships, bring the peace of Christ with you.Verses for further study/reflection:

Proverbs 12:20

Romans 14:19

Romans 12:18

Genesis 13:8-9

Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:18

Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

Learning & Unlearning: Peacemakers

Learning and Unlearning Part 3‭‭Luke‬ ‭9:52-55‬‬And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them.

In this scene, we see Jesus acting as Peacemaker.

Jesus didn’t run from that tension, he stood firm on the kingdom truth that his followers were to love their enemies.

That’s Jesus. The reconciler, the mediator, the peacemaker for you and for me.

A Peacemaker is not only who Jesus is, it is who he invites us to be within our tumultuous world.

Welcome back to our teaching series “Learning and Un-learning”

Within this series we are trying to see the importance and the necessity of believers and the church adapting to the changes and disruptions in our world.

I know you might be thinking that we are trying to change the message… that’s not it at all. In fact, the best news we can share is that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. That alone is news worth sharing!

The point of this series is that we want to see how we are to live out the timeless truths of scripture in our ever-changing world.

Paul’s ministry wasn’t quite the same as Peter’s and the evangelists of 19th century America didn’t have the same issues to face that we have today. The question is, are we, the church, ready for such a time as this?‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭5:3-10

‬‬“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Any genuine reader of scripture will quickly realize within our teaching text, that this is no ordinary way of living. In fact, it’s pretty much exactly opposite of the way the world operates. And friends, that’s the point of the sermon on the mount, it reveals the “upside-down” nature of the kingdom of God.

So, the teachings we find here are not optional accessories for the fashionable Jesus believer.

They are not given as extra credit options for those who need a better grade on their eternal report card. These are the key features, the elements, the ingredients, the essentials of what it means to be a Christian.

It’s within these first few verses that we find Jesus pronouncing blessing, joy, fulfillment, on those who are peacemakers.‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:18-20‬‬All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

As peacemakers in 2022, we share in the same ministry of the Apostle Paul.

The call of Jesus to be Peacemakers in our world should cause us to ask a few questions in reflection:

1. Do I have this peace in my own heart?

2. Am I living as a peacemaker or only a peacekeeper?

3. Finally, where do I begin?

Verses for further study/reflection:

Proverbs 12:20

Romans 14:19

Romans 12:18

Genesis 13:8-9