Jesus:  The One and Only

Week 5

1.  After a brief large group opening, we will split into our small groups.  My teaching time will be at the end instead.  We’ll finish early for our Crockpot party.

2.  Start with the following activity. 

þ     Hand each group member a 3x5 card

þ     Ask each person to write down on a scale of 1-5, how well do you feel your daily activities in the past week reflected your priorities?

þ     Based on your daily activities, what do your real top five priorities appear to be?

þ     What activities can you reduce or eliminate that would give you more time for your desired priorities?

o       cutting out kid’s least favorite activity

o       television – even Christian TV can be a distraction from life

o       random internet surfing

o       out of control hobbies

o       disorganized shopping

o       stop trying to pick up everyone else’s hobbies/interests

þ     Does the fact that we spend a lot of time doing something mean it is a priority?

3.  Read Days 40-46 for next time.

I hope you have been challenged this week to think through what is important to you – and what should become more important to you.  But tonight’s message isn’t meant to put you into bondage.  In fact, my goal is to have you walk out feeling freer than you ever have before.  The purpose of prioritizing is to give us more time to do the things God created us to do.  I want to go over some really concrete examples before we head into our study.  For example, maybe this week I’ve decided that I spend too much haphazard time feeding my family.  I can do things like:

þ     Let’s Eat

þ     The Cannery

þ     Once a Month Cooking

þ     Crockpotting

to still meet the physical needs of myself and/or family.

Or maybe housework seems overly consuming.  Programs like FlyLady.net can give good advice in that area.  But being a Christian isn’t about a clean house or homecooked meals – it’s about relationships – with God and with people.  Housekeeping and cooking are about hospitality and that is ultimately about love.

So what are our priorities supposed to be?  And how do we balance them without continually being frustrated with ourselves?  By changing the way we look at priorities.  I believe it is not God’s desire to be first in our lives – it is his desire to be at the center of our lives – invading every aspect.  Like a wheel, God is the hub, activities are the spokes, and our relationships are the tires.  The spokes are means to facilitate our relationships.  God and people are eternal; what we do is temporal.  Activities should never be the focus – activities are just ways to interact with people.  That is tough sometimes for those of us who are task-driven. 

So what are the rules to follow?

þ     Matthew 7:12 (Jesus) – Golden Rule

þ     Matthew 22:38-39 (Jesus) – Love God, love man

þ     John 15:12 (Jesus) – Love each other like I do

þ     John 17:21-23 (Jesus) – Be one as the Father and Son are one

þ     Galatians 5:1 (Paul) – It is for freedom Christ set us free

þ     James 1:25 (James) Christ gave the perfect law of freedom

þ     1 Peter 1:22 (Peter) – love one another

þ     1 Peter 1:16 (Peter) – by the way, don’t abuse your freedom

Jesus took away all the rules but one – genuine love.  Not ushy-gushy caving to whatever someone wants from you.  But love that recognizes your role in their spiritual well-being.  And sometimes that seems to conflict with their physical well-being.  This is one of the many reasons we need the Spirit in us, directing us toward right behavior.

Why did God create 613 laws in the first place?  To guide us toward a healthy, fulfilling life.  But in typical human fashion, we turned them into bondage.  It’s the difference between have-to vs. want-to.  We don’t want our spouse to stay married to us because they have to – we want them to want to.  God doesn’t want devotions done because we have to – he wants us to want to hear from Him.  Christ came to both free us to love and enable us to love by giving the Holy Spirit. 

So if Christ freed us to do anything, why did I bother having you look at how you spend your time?  Because truly loving God and others will take time.  Hebrews 12:1 tells us to throw off weights and sins.  We can usually recognize sin, but are you carrying around unnecessary weights to your time or emotional energy? 

þ     hobby that is too time consuming

þ     television – even Christian TV

þ     too many commitments

þ     generalized chaos in your home

þ     bickering temperament

Luke 6:48-49

o       “If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock.  When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last.  But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation.  When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards.  It was a total loss.”