05/31/2009

Class: Prov 30:12 "those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth..."

Hymn #543

Scripture reading: #646

1. The mercy of God is an ocean divine,
A boundless and fathomless flood;
Launch out in the deep, cut away the shore line,
And be lost in the fullness of God.

* Refrain:
Launch out, into the deep,
Oh, let the shore line go;
Launch out, launch out in the ocean divine,
Out where the full tides flow.

2. But many, alas! only stand on the shore,
And gaze on the ocean so wide;
They never have ventured its depths to explore,
Or to launch on the fathomless tide.

3. And others just venture away from the land,
And linger so near to the shore
That the surf and the slime that beat over the strand
Dash over them in floods evermore.

4. Oh, let us launch out on this ocean so broad,
Where floods of salvation o’erflow;
Oh, let us be lost in the mercy of God,
Till the depths of His fullness we know.

No Vesper’s – Fellowship tonight at Vol & Gail’s!!

Wednesday – sort give-away stuff here in Fellowship Hall!

Saturday – help us get everything out and set-up, come about 6:30 Saturday morning!

Memorial Day – In knowing that we will die, we learn how to live -

John 10.10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 1:4. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

Jenise said that she is living her life to the fullest because, “You only die twice.” She was talking about a few friends who are scared to ‘live’ and too fearful of failure to experience adventure. Her thought is that one sure cure of being 'scared to live' is to die. If you’ve died and been revived you’ll never live your life the same again!

The Bible has quite a lot to say, actually, about the necessity of dying in order to live. Jesus talked about dying to self using the story of the kernel of wheat – John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

The sixth chapter of Romans is devoted to this subject...when we 'die to self' we 'die to sin' and that constitutes death to fear.

· Being bathed in the love of God 'casts out fear.'

· Being bathed in love gives life.

· Being full of life brings light to darkness, life to those in despair.

The problem begins with being full of our self. Being self-consumed, self-centered, concentrates our efforts in self-preservation. All of that reinforces our innate fears - all of which are natural, but God hasn't called us to a natural life. He has called us out of our self and into His Image.

We are called into a New Creation...to be creatures of life, abundantly, filled with a vitality that isn't centered on self-preservation but rather on expansion and exploration and infusion.

Those concentrating on self-preservation exhaust their energies and strength with constant guardedness, introspection, inhibition, insecurities, and defensiveness...the stuff of 'fear' and uncertainty. I know lots of folks who are so burdened emotionally with the circumstances of life that they can't enjoy anything in life.

That, my friends, is not of God. "Casting all your cares on Him because He cares for you..." wasn't qualified with 'but worry constantly about those you love and about what might happen.' That kind of worry and fear is one being self-absorbed in an 'extended autonomy' manifestation. You can't control their life or what happens to them, you are not in charge.

Most Christians need to 'get over themselves' and live. If you can't trust your life and your future to God, you don't trust God. Trusting God involves the essence of the words of an old Gospel song, "Launch out into the deep, let the shoreline go..."

When Jene’ and Jenise were very young, toddlers, in fact, I began teaching them to swim. The biggest difficulty I had was getting their mother to quit asking "how deep is the water." I didn't want the girls to be afraid of the depth of the water of the lake, I wanted them to feel the joy of top two feet of it!

If you can really swim it doesn't matter if the water is 4 feet deep or 154 feet deep. The joy is being on top!! When they were teens, they became scuba certified and began to enjoy diving the ocean reefs down around 100 feet.

Jene’ and Jenise would never have discovered the joy of the deep had they not first discovered the joy of being on top...without fear. Relax, rise to the top and be full of joy! Launch out into life! Nehemiah said that "the Joy of the Lord is your strength." Take joy! Be light! Be full of life! Don't be so concerned with the 'take care' as you are with taking "life, and have it to the full."