DEVELOPING A LIFE OF DEVOTION / PART 1 PSALM 131 SUNDAY / 6 AUGUST 2006 2ND STREET COMMUNITY CHURCH GREGG LAMM, LEAD PASTOR-TEACHER .PPT 1 … This morning is the first of four Sunday morning teachings on the topic of Developing A Life Of Devotion … And we’re going to look at PSALM 131 as God’s blueprint for our perspective, for our focus, for how God wants our hearts to be shaped and molded so that we can begin to become the people He wants for us to become. Let’s take a moment and be reminded and be reconnected with our Mission Statement here at 2nd Street … .PPT 2 … COOPERATING WITH GOD TO DEVELOP SPIRITUAL SEEKERS INTO COMMITTED DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST. And then over the next three Sunday mornings we’ll look at how to pursue and maintain a life-of-devotion with God. What does it mean to “study” the Bible? What does it mean to pursue a prayer life? What does it mean to be intentional and consistent in our “with-God-life”? The author and poet T.S. Elliott asked the question, “Can a lifetime portray a single motive?” Philosopher Frederick Nietzsche put it another way when he wrote that what followers-of-Christ need to do in order to make a difference in this word, is to have “a long obedience in the same direction.” So “can a lifetime portray a single motive? Can you and I have a long obedience in the same direction?” If it's about us, "no" we can’t live life portraying a single motive. Ego never produces godly fruit. But if it's about somebody other than us, "yes" we can. If our passion is Christ and not our own renown, then yes, our lives can portray a single motive. There are competing forces within each of us vying for our attention and our allegiance. Questions like “Whose world is this? Is this my kingdom? What’s the single motivation I should have for my life?” And new beginnings like the one we’re having at 2nd Street right now, beg us to review, and to check back in with ourselves. Are we driven by sanity or insanity, by accident or by destiny? When I look back on the past 6-months, 12-months, 18-months, what about what I went through revolved around me … and what take steps did I take toward understanding and living out the reality that God is in control of my life? Don Henley, the drummer and lead singer for The Eagles, wrote a song called The Heart Of The Matter for his solo album entitled The End of The Innocence. I heard Henley sing this song at a concert at The Rose Garden a couple years ago. And right before he sang it he said, “This song took 43 years and a lot of therapy to write, and it takes 4 ½ minutes to sing.” Here are some of Henley’s lyrics … .PPT 3-4 … The more I know, the less I understand All the things I thought I knew, I’m learning again I’ve been tryin’ to get down … to the heart of the matter But my will gets weak … and my thoughts seem to scatter But I think it’s about forgiveness … forgiveness … Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore. These times are so uncertain … there’s a yearning undefined … And people filled with rage. We all need a little tenderness How can love survive … in such a graceless age? The trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness They’re the very things we kill the best Our pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms And the work that’s put between us, you know it cannot keep us warm. And the more I know, the less I understand All the things I thought I’d figured out … I have to learn again I’ve been trying to get down … to the heart of the matter But everything changes … and my friends seem to scatter But I think it’s about forgiveness, forgiveness. Even if, even if, you don’t love me anymore. Henley nails it. We’re all looking for something to help make sense of our lives. He says it’s “forgiveness” … and to a degree he’s right. How our relationships with other people are working – or not working makes a difference in our perspective. But finding our purpose in life is ultimately about the forgiveness that can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus is the “heart of the matter.” And developing a relationship with Jesus Christ one choice at a time … taking time to get to get to know the character of Jesus Christ so that we begin to live out the will of God … intentionally becoming the men and the women God is calling us to become … this is where the journey of “growing up before we grow old” must begin and find it’s singularity of purpose, where it must find it’s long obedience in the same direction. I don’t have to talk you into believing me when I say that “we live in a stress-filled world.” I heard on the news the other day that teeth-grinding is at an all-time high! There’s so much tension, even in our sleep, that it’s almost epidemic. Tense jaws. Tense people. Tense relationships. And medical doctors continue seeing an increase in diseases related to stress. Even telling us that certain kinds of cancers are more prone to show up in the bodies of people whose lives are stressed out and maxed out. And in the little chapter of PSALM 131, King David shares three amazing truths with us … and the more I read and study this Psalm, the more centered, the more single- minded, the more single-hearted, and the more purposeful I see my life becoming. Jewish Rabbis tell us that this chapter is linked with an event that happened late in David’s life when he said, “God, I want to build You a Temple in Jerusalem. You deserve it and I’m going to build it.” But God’s reply was, “David, I appreciate the 2 gesture, but I want you son, Solomon to build the Temple for me. Not you David.” And so Nathan, the prophet God often used in David’s life said, “David, God said ‘no way Jose’. But remember David, when God closes a door He often opens a window. And while God doesn’t want you to build Him a Temple, God wants you to know that He’s going to build you a house … not a physical structure, but a lineage, a legacy, and from your house, the Messiah will come!” And when David heard the news he did the unexpected! He was excited and he said, “I can't do what I wanted to do, what I desired to do, but God is going to do something even greater! My son will build God’s Temple, but the Messiah that we’ve all been waiting for is going to come through my family line.” David embraced God’s plans for him with humility, with trust, and with hope. And it's in light of that event that he wrote PSALM 131. Please turn with me in your Bibles to PSALM 131. .PPT 5 … PSALM 131:1-3 … v. 1 / Focusing on Humility & Confidence v. 2 / Focusing on Contentment & Trust v. 3 / Focusing on Hope & Vision .PPT 6 … PSALM 131:1 … HUMILITY & CONFIDENCE CONFIDENCE IS THE FRUIT OF HUMILITY PSALM 131 is the 12th of 15 Psalms (PSALM 120-134) called “The Psalms of Ascent” or “The Pilgrim Psalms” … Just as arrogance is the fruit of pride, so confidence is the fruit of humility. It’s been said that either we choose to walk the pathway of humility, or else life will force us to walk the pathway of humiliation. And gang, it’s true every time! In MATTHEW 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Learn of me. I am meek and lowly … follow in this way and rest will come!” (NASB). I love these verses in THE MESSAGE … .PPT 7 … MATTHEW 11:28-30 … “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.” And so this morning I invite all of us to come to Jesus and learn from Jesus. Watch how He does it. Watch what He does. And then let’s do it. Let’s imitate Him. In v. 29 Jesus says, “I am gentle and humble in heart" … the KJV says, “I am meek and lowly.” This is one of only a few autobiographical statements from Jesus about Himself … and we need to pay attention to what He’s calling us to … and He says that as we pursue this kind of life that “rest will come to our souls” … In LUKE 2 there’s a story about Jesus being in this position of humility and 3 submission. Jesus is twelve years old and He goes with his folks Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover … which was an annual feast that commemorated God freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.