July 14

[media presentation below]

GospelThink

Monday, July 14

MATTHEW 10:34--11:1
Jesus wants us to follow him.

Prayerthoughts
a. Jesus wanted peace for the earth, but people were set in their own ways, and would not agree with the peace that Jesus wanted. Am I too opinionated in the way I speak?

b. There will be division in families. In my own different families right now (families that I grew up in, my own family right now, family in which I work, etc.), do I try to promote peace?

c. I have a love of my family, but Jesus says that love for Him and the things of God should even be greater. Do I place God high in my priority during the day?

d. I must accept the things that happen to me, my “cross,” and adjust to them as best I can. Have I looked at what has happened to me as God speaking to me?

e. We can get wrapped up in the things of this life without the Lord (“saves” his life) or we can choose to lose our life for the Lord’s sake, that is, give ourselves to the Lord more and more in our living. Do I see evidence in my life that I am choosing correctly?

f. Obviously, I am not ashamed of my time with the Lord, but I do I make it often enough? As I study this past week, what percentage of time was spent specifically in prayer? (This is the task of the meditation.)

g. My prayerthoughts…

Today, I will carry out letter f.

Some Thoughts on the Liturgy

LOSE OUR LIVES, FOR JESUS’S SAKE

+ If you want “negatives” in the Scriptures, one of the strongest “negatives” is in the book of Exodus at the very beginning

- the whole process of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt which will be the concentration of the first reading the next couple of weeks began with the negative of severe oppression which we hear today

- you tie that into life right now, and there are all kinds of negatives that surround us, and make us question why there are so many

+ The answer is probably just as complicated as the individual circumstances of every person in here today

- but I think that Jesus gives the nucleus of an answer in today’s Gospel:

Whoever finds his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

+ You and I want to “find our lives” in such a way that we get rid of most of the negatives, that is, live the good life

- the definition of “finding our lives” probably revolves around the idea of living that good life, the so-called American Dream

- and Jesus says that if we are into that—finding our lives that way—we will lose them

+ And he goes on to say that for a Christian, finding life is a little different, and consists of two things:

- 1 – we have to lose our lives

- basically it means overcoming the desire to make ourselves the center of the universe

- that is, making things conform to what we want

- 2 – we have to lose our lives for Jesus’s sake

- it is imperative then that we make Jesus Christ and his doctrine central to our lives

- as Jesus says today—more important than family, friends, work

- it is the primary relationship, not in a fanatical religious sense, but in the sense of accepting a set of principles to live by – that is “living for Jesus’ sake”

+ And immediately we have a fundamental problem—some people call it the fundamental problem in our lives

- we don’t want the difficult steps that Jesus proposes

- we would much rather have things simple without too much effort

+ And once again, we have the challenge of Christianity:

- it is not easy, and we must put forth effort if we want to succeed in it.

MEDIA PRESENTATION

Movie: "Jesus Revolution" -- final session
FLAWED HUMAN BEINGS

The Gospel

MARK 14:66-72

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s maids came along. Seeing Peter warming himself, she looked intently at him and said, “You too were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are talking about.” So he went out into the outer court. Then the cock crowed. The maid saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” Once again he denied it. A little later the bystanders said to Peter once more, “Surely you are one of them; for you too are a Galilean.” He began to curse and to swear, “I do not know this man about whom you are talking.” And immediately a cock crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times.” He broke down and wept.

Gospelthink: My apostle Peter denied that he knew me.

As Greg Laurie's and Cathe's friendship developed, so the Jesus ministry grew in popularity, being seen as a "Jesus Revolution" or "Jesus freaks" and even gave rise to a Time magazine cover in 1971. Lonnie Frisbee and Chuck Smith's ministry continued to grow, moving to a gigantic tent rather than the Calvary Chapel. As with many popular movements, when two charismatic figures dominate, tension in the leadership began to develop. Eventually, realizing what was happening with his life and marriage, Lonnie left the ministry, and Greg was not sure what direction he was seeking. With Chuck Smith's help, after Greg's and Cathe's marriage, Greg set up his own branch of the ministry called the "Harvest Fellowship." Lonnie and Chuck reconciled, and history shows that Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbee are the founders of the Jesus movement and Greg being known as one of the leaders of the Calvary Chapel movement. All functioned as ministers of Jesus until their deaths.

In the movie "Jesus Revolution" it is clear that both Chuck Smith and Lonnie Frisbie were the charismatic leaders of the Calvary Chapel ministry. They had moved from the chapel to a large tent and literally hundreds of worshipers had found their direction to Jesus because of the two leaders.

But evil will look for any way to stop a movement to Jesus, and more often than not, it finds a way through the leaders themselves. In particular, in the Calvary Chapel ministry, Lonnie began to think that he was more important than anyone else, and the ministry suddenly became Lonnie's ministry instead of God's. Luckily, Lonnie and his wife were "Christian" enough to recognize the problem, and decided to leave the ministry to put their own lives back in order.

Not unlike the recognized leader of the original Apostles whom Jesus had called. Peter thought that he was invincible, and if his leader Jesus were to have problems of any kind, he would help resolve the situation. In a sense, what he was thinking became more important than what was happening to his friend Jesus. Luckily, he remembered Jesus's prediction of what would happen. And he was mortified, and as he wept, he began to understand.

One of the pitfalls of popular leaders or people who are in any kind of leadership is the chance that he or she will begin to think that they are more important than what they are leading. Pride takes over, and evil has found its way to destroy the situation. Luckily, we human beings will often have reminders of what we are doing, and can make the adjustments that are necessary in order to make the situation be what it should be. But we must accept the opportunity to understand.

PRAYER
Good and gracious God, Your Son set up a way of life for us to find our way to you. And we can choose to follow it. Chances are as we make such a move, evil can overtake us, and suddenly our pride makes us feel more important than what you have taught, and we lose direction. Help us understand. Be with us, we pray.

+++++

GUIDE FOR CLASSROOM PRESENTATION AND PERSONAL ENRICHMENT

Theme: Even though we have found the way to God, we are still flawed human beings and make mistakes. But we can re-commit ourselves.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
(session: approximately 56 minutes)
1. What scene during this session of the movie is most striking to you and why?
2. What does the movie "Jesus Revolution" teach young people?
3. What is your definition of "selfishness?
4. Where in the world do you see "evil" working? What can you do about it?
5. As you study Christian churches today, what are they doing "right", what are they doing "wrong"?
6. What is the one thing that Christians should teach our world?