North Point Bathroom Prayer

had been looking forward to yesterday’s sermon for three months.  here’s how it came about…

earlier this fall, north point was in some pretty deep funk in the giving department.  we had used up our savings safety net.  weekly giving was consistent, but it wasn’t quite covering the budget.  honestly, we were living from week to week.  we were cutting everything we could.  we were trying to make every adjustment we knew to make.  and then we get the news that we are entering the second coming of the great depression.  this was not good.

we had been reading, talking, and listening to just about anybody who had something to say on church finances.  lots of good ideas, but always missing the mark of north point’s personality.  a consistent idea was always the “commitment card”.  for the church rookie, a commitment card is something you sign with your money pledge for a project or a period of time…say, 2009.  lots of churches use them.  we have thought about them pretty much every year since i’ve been here.  we were seriously contemplating using them this year during our 2009 budgeting season.

when it came down to pulling the trigger, i just couldn’t do it.  it didn’t feel right.  that’s where the np bathroom prayer comes in.

i have always felt that our financial obedience to the cause of christ is the inevitable outcome of a life surrendered to the cause of christ.  healthy giving flows out of healthy living.  sacrificial giving is the result of how deeply connected i am to the heart of god.  my willingness to offer my money is tied directly to my willingness to offer my body as a living sacrifice.  first things first.

that’s why we will pray this prayer for 2009:

Lord,

• You alone are the Master
• May I see myself the way you see me
• May my choices emerge from your priorities
• May my giving be from sacrifice
• May my love for others reflect your love for me
• May I do all I can today to live as Jesus would
• May I always be motivated by your mercy

1 John 5:13-21

well…we made it.  a study all the way through 1 john.  i don’t know about you, but i feel like i know a little more than i did before we started this journey.  

this past sunday, was interesting, though.  there were two places in the text that i couldn’t fully wrap my head around.  the first was the reality of measuring my personal life experience with the words of the letter.  john writes…or at least appears to write that if we are praying the right way, whatever we ask of god, he will not only hear our prayer, he will do whatever we ask.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.  1 John 5:14-15

i know that god does not give me whatever i ask from him.  is it my fault for not asking the right question?  am i not asking according to his will?  am i not praying with enough faith?  is god merely protecting me from my own shallow or destructive requests?  do i just need to keep asking until i get the question right?  is it really all about the fish sandwich?

why shouldn’t prayer be as simple as saying, “god, i am good with whatever you deal.  whatever you deal!  thank you.  amen.”

i’m still laughing about the minor epiphany i had while trying to decode the meaning of the sins that lead to death and sins that don’t lead to death.

If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that.  1 John 5:16

in my relentless pursuit to figure out what it meant, i almost missed the point.  when we see a brother commit a sin, we need to pray for them.  don’t gossip…don’t judge…don’t condemn…don’t confront…don’t jump to conclusion…don’t ignore…don’t follow their example…pray.  pray that god will give them life.

hope the study was good for you.  i’ll be preaching a couple of sermons the next couple of weeks to help lay a foundation for where we are heading this fall.  you need to be there.