SOAR 2016 Devotionals

Transcription

1 Made to Worship (Pre-SOAR devotional) In John 4, Jesus had an intentional encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well. Throughout the conversation Jesus challenged this woman to think seriously about the purpose for which she existed and why we exist. Read John 4:23, 24. In verse 23, what does Jesus say the Father is seeking? Worshipers! You and I were made to worship God. Sin separated us from our original purpose, but God has made a way that we may know and worship Him forever through Christ. Jesus reveals the heart of this woman to show that she was attempting to replace the purpose for which she was made.worship.with disposable physical relationships (17, 18) and religion (19-22). What things are keeping you from your God-given purpose? Worship and missions are inseparable. SOAR 2016 will focus on missions. Be praying now for speaker Clif Johnson, the SOAR band, the students who will attend, and especially yourself. You will have opportunities to interact with numerous missionaries and missions projects in the SOAR village. The midnight meeting to discuss your opportunity for mission trips with VSM will take place on Thursday night/friday morning. We are praying for 100 students to become serious worshipers of God and give their lives to a strategic lifestyle as they align themselves with the mission of God. The mission of God is to receive glory from the nations as they are redeemed through Christ and worship in spirit and truth! A strategic lifestyle is seeing your purpose as God s purpose, and committing to be on mission with God no matter my occupation or location. Read Revelation 7:9-12 and see how this whole story of creation ends in worship.

2 The Bi g Picture (For the night of July 6) All of you who use Snapchat know that your casual photos and videos appear in the app for a few seconds and then disappear. This makes it almost impossible to know what your friends are up to over a long period of time. The app now gives you the story option in order to follow your friends activities for a longer time, but even in the story the info disappears after 24 hours. Have you ever drawn a wrong conclusion as to what your friends were up to based on limited Snapchat info? Have you ever wished you could see the big picture in order to better understand the communication? In session one, Clif Johnson lead us in a study of Psalm 67. Read Psalm 67 again. Review the main points from the sermon in session one. What did you experience in the village that stirred your heart for God s mission? Now read Psalm 86:9-10. These verses closely reflect Psalm 67. What does the Bible say about God s big picture for the nations? Three very important truths stand out in Psalm 86. 1) There is only one God and He is great and God alone. 2) He has made all nations to worship Him. 3) All the nations will bring glory to God. Think on these two verses as God s Snapchat to us today. What is God up to? We know that the entire Bible is a missionary story, not just a few isolated verses. How do these verses help you understand God s big picture? What is your place in God s story? Pray and thank God that He is a missionary God and that He has given us His missionary story in the Bible. Pray that God will speak to your heart about your place in His story. Pray for session two.

3 You Mean It s NOT All About Me? (For the night of July 7) In SOAR session #2, Clif Johnson took us through the familiar story of Jonah, helping us to see it in light of God s mission. Jonah simply didn t understand God s heart for the nations. Do you understand God s heart for the nations? Jonah had to learn the hard way that God s glory is more important than our goals and personal well-being. Missions is all about God s glory, not ours! It really is all about God, not us. As part of God s global mission, He uses His worshipers to make His name known to the nations. That means that the followers/worshipers of God will leave their comfort zone and do whatever it takes to bring God glory. Watch this video to see how believers in India are paying the price for God s glory. In Acts 19:29 we meet a man named Aristarchus. He was part of Paul s missionary team. Aristarchus is an incredible example of a man who understood that it wasn t all about him. In Acts 19, the missionary team was in Ephesus where there was a religion to the goddess Diana. There were men who made their living making silver statues of this false god. When Paul and the missionary team arrived, they had such an influence on the city that the men who made the idols thought they were going to lose the source of their money, so they started a riot. Aristarchus was right in the middle of this life-threatening event with Paul. Later, when Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, Aristarchus was with him. When Paul got on a ship to go to Rome for his appeal/trial, Aristarchus was on that ship (Acts 27:2). That ship wrecked, and they spent three days floating in the Mediterranean! Toward the end of Paul s ministry, he was in prison in Rome and who was with him there? You got it! Aristarchus! (Col. 4). What a great example of a man sold out for God s mission. What has following God and His mission ever cost you? What do you anticipate that it may cost you in the future? Remember, the mission of God usually advances in a context of difficulty! Are you ready?

4 Church: Routine or Relationship? (For the night of July 8) Did you know that almost the entire New Testament speaks about how the mission of God is fulfilled in and through local churches? Most of you go to church on a regular basis. What is a church? What is the purpose of your church? Almost all of us have been to church as a routine. We need to view church as a relationship instead of a routine. A church is a group of Christ-followers who gather to worship God, obey the commands of Christ, and to fulfill the mission of God. If we have a relationship with God through Christ, worship and obey God through the Holy Spirit, then we will want to make God s name known to the world so that others will have that relationship. In SOAR session #3, what were the main points taught about the church and the Holy Spirit? Read Titus 1:1-5. Then, read this introduction to the book of Titus. What were the challenges to the young churches in Crete? What was the message of Paul and Titus to these churches? How do we know that they were fulfilling the mission of God in spite of the challenges they faced? Were any of the churches in the New Testament perfect? What is the unique role of churches in the missions of God? Is your church perfect? What principles from session 3 can we apply to our lives and our church?

5 What Now? (Post-SOAR devotional) Airline pilots have a term they call the point of no return. That is the point in your journey where you do not have enough fuel to return from where you started, and you must proceed no matter what happens. It is a little frightening to realize that you have lost the safety of being able to go back. Our prayer is that SOAR 2016 has brought you to the point of no return in your understanding of and participation in the mission of God. In light of all you have heard from God s word and the leading of the Holy Spirit, you may very well be asking What Now? Session #4 taught us that discipleship is all about a never-ending relationship with God and that we are all called to serve. Read Luke 24: Jesus appears to two disciples on the road to a little village called Emmaus. In his conversation, Jesus demonstrates the value and difficulty of making disciples. He explained everything to them again (v.27) and demonstrates that discipleship is relational. He reminded them that they had to fulfill the mission of God (v.47). We encourage you to invite someone who is older and more spiritually mature than you to disciple and pour into your life. We encourage you to begin praying and preparing to pour into someone in a discipleship relationship. Here are some possible answers to the what now question concerning your role in the mission of God. Become a goer, a sender, a mobilizer or a welcomer. Check out the missions study book, XPLORE: 6 Lessons exploring God s Word, God s World, and God s Work for individual or group study. (XPLORE can be purchased at discipleguide.org) Download the Follow the Call booklet and work prayerfully through the material. ( gosoar.com/followthecall ) Encourage your church to support a missionary. Visit bmamissions.org. Discover short-term mission opportunities through VSM at bmamissions.org/vsm.