Outline for Nov 21, 2010

New Year’s Resolution: REMAIN! The Semi-Circle: Living in Rhythm with Life

 1. Once upon a time...

2. Reality is not:_________

3. Genesis 1:28: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

4. What did God do on the day after he created Adam and Eve? ____________________

5. What was the example for them: They were to ______________ before they named the animals and worked at tending the garden.

6. We were not created to be human “doings” but human _”________”_.

7. True human beings are those who __________ in Christ and know they belong to him.

8. Satan wants us to think we have to ____________ our way to God.

9. Yet we know that Christ has done it all and that we work because we ________ to.

10. We are called like Adam and Eve to be _____________________.

11. So how? John 15:1-4 (Message) The Vine and the Branches

"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. "Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.-- 
12. So the Word makes us _______ and allows us to be _______by our Heavenly Father.
13. The goal is that we are fruitful and that the pruning, even when painful, will be viewed as of great ________.
14. We rest and are pruned in order to be even ____________- fruitful.
15. Evaluation: We want to be healthy and in rhythm with life, creation and our Lord. So..
a. How many days a week do you work? 6 or 7?
b. How many hours a day? 10 or more?
c. How often do you work through lunch?
d. Do you take work with you on vacation?
e. Do you answer work-related emails or voice mail after you get home at night or on weekends?
f. Have you ever canceled a vacation because you have too much work to do?
g. Do you think about work while eating with your family?
h. Do you talk about work more than family while on a date with your spouse?
We are called to be faithful, fruitful and healthy. But we are also shown by the Lord Jesus how to keep a healthy rhythm in life.
How Jesus Rested in this Rhythm of Life

1. Resting through extended times of retreat (Mark 1:12-13)
2. Regular daily times of quiet resting with the Lord (Mark 1:35-39)
3. Teaching the disciples to rest (Mark 6:30-32)

Other examples…

1. Jesus alone at the lake before teaching – Mark 2:13
2. Jesus withdraws with his disciples – Mark 3:7
3. Jesus goes to the mountainside and calls his disciples – Mark 3:13
4. Jesus leaves the crowds and gets into the boat – Mark 4:35
5. Jesus at the lake/hillside – Mark 5:1
6. Jesus crosses the lake to the other side – Mark 5:21
7. Jesus sends the disciples ahead, dismisses the crowd and goes to the mountain to pray – Mark 6:45-46

We are a church who wants to grow as a body of believer who follow Christ, listening to his word and following his example. As we come to the New Year of the Church will you REMAIN IN CHRIST and be MORE FRUITFUL? This is a God pleasing Resolution!