Crosstrainers, November 16, 2008

Sweet "P"s (1 of 5): Prayer

- Talking To God -

• The Model Prayer (Matthew 6:7-13; Luke 11:1-4)
• The High Priestly Prayer (John 17:1-26)
• Daniel In The Lion's Den (Daniel 6) juxtaposed with Luke 12:4, 5

Crosstrainers, November 23, 2008

Sweet "P"s (2 of 5): Parabling

~ Telling the Greatest Story Through ANY Story ~

Key Verse: Matthew 13:52--And He said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings forth out of his treasure things new and old." (NASB)

-Utilizing the familiar to explain the unfamiliar-

Warm-up

• Introductions
• 1 (only 1!) area of interest
• Share a movie story (those who've seen the movie to those who haven't)

Exercise

Greek parabolay from para beside + ballo I throw; therefore "to throw beside" = parable

7 Parables of Matthew 13

• The Sower: MT13.3-9 (HW: XPLNTN in MT13.18-23)
• The Tares of the Field: MT13.24-30 (HW: XPLNTN in MT13.36-43)
• The Mustard Seed: MT13.31, 32
• The Leaven: MT13.33
• The Hidden Treasure: MT13.44
• The Merchant: MT13.45, 46
• The Dragnet: MT13.47-51

Lesson
*When parabling or hearing parables, listen for 4 key phrases (or variants):

• "Just as"
• "Is like"
• "In the same way"
• "May be compared to"

The PATMOS Method (ref. RV1.9)
Patmos is the island to which John the Apostle was exiled and the place where he by God's inspiration wrote the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which may be arguably the MOST parabolic of the canon of Holy Scripture.

PATMOS is here used as a memory device to help remember the six elements of any story that need to be identified in order to tell the GOSPEL story through any story.

Protagonist - Who or what is the good guy in the story?
Antagonist - Who or what is the bad guy?
Tribulation - What is the trouble or the problem in the story that needs solving?
Miracleworker - Who or what can bring about the solution?
Operation - What action does the miracleworker need to undertake?
Solution - What is the result of the operation?

Life Application
Here are two examples of parabling, starting with the template, the standard, the Greatest Story of all: the GOSPEL. (Remember: God's Own Son Provided Eternal Life!)

In the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

Protagonist = Whoever will may come
Antagonist = sin
Tribulation = the wages of sin is death
Miracleworker = Jesus Christ
Operation = Died & Rose
Solution = Whoever will will have eternal life, they'll be saved.

Contemporary Example
The Window Washer - An article in a magazine tells about a newly hired window washer who, in his inexperience, tied his safety tether to the scaffold he stood on instead of the building to which the scaffold was anchored. The scaffold failed and he fell 50 feet to his death.

The PATMOS Analysis
Protagonist = the window washer
Antagonist = gravity
Tribulation = the scaffold failed
Miracleworker = the building, which stood firm
Operation = the building stood firm, it would have supported his weight
Solution = Had his tether been to the building, he would not have died.

When sharing this particular story, I make the point of stressing the window washer's safety tether is like our faith, and how crucial it is to be sure we are tied to the building, which may be compared to Jesus Christ, and not the scaffold, which is just as the world--sooner or later it will fail, it will pass away, because of the gravity, which pulls down in the same way sin will pull down to hell. (Do you see the key phrases?)

So now, christian, go forth and plug into our Lord Jesus Christ, plug into people and their stories, and relate their stories to the Greatest Story; His word will not return without benefits for everyone who hears it! God bless you greatly and keep you well in His will, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Crosstrainers, November 30, 2008

Sweet "P"s (3 of 5): Patience And The Power-House Of Cards

WELLness - Patience, being one of nine aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, can be gotten with a little more ease when the bigger picture of our individual roles can be seen more clearly; the big picture can be a big help!

Warm-up: Introductions and Playing Card Identification - If you could identify yourself with a card in the standard 52-card deck (no jokers--we all are!!) which card would you be?

Exercise: Team-building - In your teams, together build a house out of the 52 cards you have been given. Every card must be used, and every card must be bent, cut/torn, and/or stapled. Above all, have fun!

Lesson: Ephesians 2:19-22 - ¹⁹So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, ²⁰having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, ²¹in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²²in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Galatians 5:22-23 - 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Life Application: Look at the various houses our teams have built. How are they the same? How are they different? Now go back and remember the card with which you identified yourself. Can you find "yourself" in each of the houses? We all get bent, cut and/or torn, and stapled; God's building is the same way; He's putting us together in ways we can't conceive. We go through troubles all the time; perhaps now we can have patience with the troubles because we'll realize more readily that He's making us fit into His building.

Crosstrainers, December 7, 2008

Sweet "P"s (4 of 5): Plucked!

Key verses: Galatians 5:22, 23

WELLness Initiative
Warm-up: Teams Appletree and Orangetree

Exercise: Present aspects of fruit

Lesson: The Fruit of the Spirit

Greek karpos fruit related to harpazo I catch away, I pluck

Greek estin English "is", NOT "are"; therefore fruit is one, NOT nine!

Life application: The fruit of the Spirit is one thing, Love, and the other eight are aspects/manifestations of that Love. If you don't have them all, you don't have them any!

Crosstrainers, December 14, 2008

Sweet "P"s (5 of 5): The Physics Of Repentance

WELLness Initiative
Warm-up - If we were all cars, which car would you be? Discuss.

Exercise - Roleplay: Driving on raised highway, section out; other cars on road with you; other cars driving the other way. Given that you know the gap is coming up, what would you do?

Lesson - The Physics of Repentance (Key verses: Matthew 7:13, 14)

• The Highway
  In our Key verses passage this week, we read our Savior describing a kind of highway; we can see what He meant by looking at any road from the perspective of being on the road; at the bottom is as wide as it gets, at the top, the narrowest. We need to understand that we are all on that road, right now; the only difference between us all is where we are on the road and which way we are heading. The two highways are the same highway in directly opposite directions.

  
  figure 1

• The Cars
  On this highway, we each have one car. It is interesting to note here the greek word kardia, heart. Today, it will be easy to remember because we can think of our hearts as cars, we each have one, and we all get to pick which way we want to go (ref. Isaiah 57:13-15). In our illustration for today, our "cars" begin as spades, and turned down, that is, away from the narrow way. The word "repent" means "to turn around". We need to turn around completely, which is 180 degrees, in order to head the right way (see figure 1; discuss momentum and inertia and rollover accidents). Also, we can see that the stemmy windshield of the spade needs to be broken off, otherwise there will be horrible consequences, as we shall see.

• The Wind
  The greek word pneuma, gets accurately translated in three different, but related, english words: spirit, wind, and breath. We learn from John 3 that the Holy Spirit is like the wind, we see its effects, but we can't tell its comings or goings.

  In the end, everyone will face God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son, and EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess He is LORD! Now in our illustration, those annoying windshields become so important, because all the hearts and all the spades will be pointing to Him. Once the Holy Wind blows, all those windshields that are still attached to those spades will become parachutes, and so they will all be carried away, gone because of the Wind.

  The hearts that remain will more easily see their positions, and where they are in relation to Him and each other will be apparent.

Life Application
Hopefully, we can see more clearly how important it is to turn around completely and to withstand all the collisions that will occur as a result. Prayerfully, we can see the physics of repentance going on around us and within us as we drive along the road of life no longer on the highway to hell, but with His cruise control set, and His Wind at our backs, bringing us closer day by day to the gate that leads to His salvation. Let us pray.

January 4, 2009 - New Beginnings!
January 11, 2009 - Resolutions
January 18, 2009 - Be Governed, Be Good
January 25, 2009 - Degrees Of Preparation

February 1, 2009 - Overcoming Shyness
February 8, 2009 - Love: Beyond Biochemistry
February 15, 2009 - Courage Under Fire
February 22, 2009 - Eating, Drinking and Merriment

March 1, 2009 - Lent: 40 Daze!
March 8, 2009 - Purim: LOTS of Divine Evidence!
March 15, 2009 - A Saint Named Patrick
March 22, 2009 - No Foolin' Around!

April 19, 2009 - The Ball, The Bat And The Designated Hitter
April 26, 2009 - Verse And Versatility

May 3, 2009 - Muy Interesante (Very Interest-ing)
May 17, 2009 - Memory All Day
May 24, 2009 - 2 Die 4

May 31, 2009 - RED: Reconciliation Evades Destruction
June 7, 2009 - WHITE: With Him In The End
June 14, 2009 - BLUE: Because Love Undergirds Everything

June 21, 2009 - The Model Father And The Freedom He Offers

July 5, 2009 - Christmas In July (1 of 4): God Became Man
July 12, 2009 - Christmas In July (2 of 4): The Guiding Light
July 19, 2009 - Christmas In July (3 of 4): The Tree Of The Christ's Communion
July 26, 2009 - Christmas In July (4 of 4): The Presents Of God

August 2, 2009 - Dead Rising (1 of 5): Denial
August 9, 2009 - Dead Rising (2 of 5): Anger
August 16, 2009 - Dead Rising (3 of 5): Bargaining
August 23, 2009 - Dead Rising (4 of 5): Depression
August 30, 2009 - Dead Rising (5 of 5): Acceptance

September 6, 2009 - Where There's A Will, There's "Away" (1 of 4): Slaving Away
September 13, 2009 - Where There's A Will, There's "Away" (2 of 4): Getting Away
September 20, 2009 - Where There's A Will, There's "Away" (3 of 4): Casting Away
September 27, 2009 - Where There's A Will, There's "Away" (4 of 4): Flying Away

October 11, 2009 - A New Season