Let’s start with some background on Malachi:
Malachi means “My Messenger” and the commentary community is divided on whether Malachi’s parents had some amazing forethought when they named him or if Malachi is a pseudonym that someone chose to write under. Either way, the book of Malachi contains a message from God to His people.
The message was written after the return of the exiles from captivity AND after the returned exiles completed the restoration of the Temple. The spiritual, ethical, and moral tone of the nation was low, and Malachi’s purpose was to confront the people with their sins and to encourage them to pursue holiness.
Malachi Chapter 1
Right off the bat Malachi challenges our theology - ‘but I have hated Esau’ vs 3. We’re not going to spend a lot of time on this section, but what we need to know is that this love/hate thing is really covenant language. What God is reminding the people through Malachi is that He chose Jacob for the blessing. These people are descendants of Jacob and are in covenant with God, but they have forgotten the covenant. They arrogantly ask God, “How have you loved us?” His answer to them is that because He is God and for no other reason, He chose to bless Jacob. The ways of God are beyond us.
The rest of the chapter is an indictment of the priests. They had been offering sacrifices that were not acceptable to God. They brought things to God that they would not have given to a local politician. The animals they were bringing were blind and sick and they even brought things before God that had been stolen. Talk about going through the motions – they had returned to their homeland, they had restored the Temple, they were making sacrifices; but they were only God’s people in name. Their hearts were far from Him. God had Malachi deliver a message to His people begging them to remember His blessing, to remember that they were in covenant with Him and that He loved them. We sometimes put God in the same situation. We do our thing: church, small groups, a check in the offering plate or some cash to the homeless guy on the corner. With us, like the Israelites, God is not interested in our outward acts of sacrifice — He wants our hearts. He wants us to remember that we are in covenant with Him, that He has loved us with an unfailing love, and then He wants our lives to reflect Him. He gets our first fruits, we love each other, and are generous, extravagant givers. If He had our hearts, imagine how the world would see His people.
--Natalie West, Summer Camp Director
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Philippians 4:10-23
We have made it to the last section of Philippians. I pray that God’s Word is dwelling in you richly because you have taken the time to read and study it. I know that I have learned a lot from Paul’s example. When you look at how Paul had joy in such dire circumstances, it is amazing. As Paul said, “Follow his example as he follows the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
In Philippians 4:10-23, Paul sets an example for us once again. He challenges us in an area that we do not like to be challenged. He shows us the blessing of contentment which causes us to evaluate our own contentment.
Contentment is an inward gracious frame of spirit that freely submits to God’s wisdom and sovereignty in every situation (definition from John MacArthur). It is a highly prized virtue that is often sought after in the wrong places. Contentment cannot be found in relationships, our accomplishments, money, a job, etc. We will only be content when we are rightly related to God, trusting in His ways. When we understand that He is truly all we need, then we will be able to experience the blessing of contentment.
Philippians 4:10-23 gives us a picture through Paul’s life of what a contented person looks like. First, a contented person will be satisfied with little. We have already mentioned Paul’s circumstances several times as we have studied the book of Philippians. We know they were not good- prisoner, small living quarters, chained to a guard, sparse diet, etc. Paul understood that the goal of his life was not to get his needs met but to glorify God. He learned how to live with little knowing that his time on earth was only temporary. He would be feasting at the table of the Lord forever. This truth enabled him to be thankful for the little he had and kept his focus on the eternal.
Next, a contented person looks beyond their circumstances to the power of God. When Paul said that he could do all things through Christ who gave him strength, he was referring to contentment. He could do all things through Christ regardless of the circumstances. The Greek of “I can do” means to be strong or to have power and resources. Paul could overcome the most challenging physical difficulties because of his inner spiritual strength. Paul banked his life on truths like Ephesians 3:20 and 2 Corinthians 12:9-10- “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” and “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Finally, a contented person is concerned about the needs of others. Even as the Philippians gave their gift to Paul, he reminded them of the benefit it was to them. Paul was excited about how they would know God more through their obedient giving. Paul also encouraged the Philippians in vs.19- God will meet all their needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Paul was more concerned that the people around Him know Jesus than he was about his own comfort.
Evaluate in your own life whether you exhibit these qualities- satisfied with what you have, focused on God’s power, and concerned about the needs of others. With true contentment, these will come. Remember that contentment is not only a virtue but a command (Hebrews 13:5).
Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of all you have.
Godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6
--Jennifer Jones, Discipleship Manager
In Philippians 4:10-23, Paul sets an example for us once again. He challenges us in an area that we do not like to be challenged. He shows us the blessing of contentment which causes us to evaluate our own contentment.
Contentment is an inward gracious frame of spirit that freely submits to God’s wisdom and sovereignty in every situation (definition from John MacArthur). It is a highly prized virtue that is often sought after in the wrong places. Contentment cannot be found in relationships, our accomplishments, money, a job, etc. We will only be content when we are rightly related to God, trusting in His ways. When we understand that He is truly all we need, then we will be able to experience the blessing of contentment.
Philippians 4:10-23 gives us a picture through Paul’s life of what a contented person looks like. First, a contented person will be satisfied with little. We have already mentioned Paul’s circumstances several times as we have studied the book of Philippians. We know they were not good- prisoner, small living quarters, chained to a guard, sparse diet, etc. Paul understood that the goal of his life was not to get his needs met but to glorify God. He learned how to live with little knowing that his time on earth was only temporary. He would be feasting at the table of the Lord forever. This truth enabled him to be thankful for the little he had and kept his focus on the eternal.
Next, a contented person looks beyond their circumstances to the power of God. When Paul said that he could do all things through Christ who gave him strength, he was referring to contentment. He could do all things through Christ regardless of the circumstances. The Greek of “I can do” means to be strong or to have power and resources. Paul could overcome the most challenging physical difficulties because of his inner spiritual strength. Paul banked his life on truths like Ephesians 3:20 and 2 Corinthians 12:9-10- “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.” and “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Finally, a contented person is concerned about the needs of others. Even as the Philippians gave their gift to Paul, he reminded them of the benefit it was to them. Paul was excited about how they would know God more through their obedient giving. Paul also encouraged the Philippians in vs.19- God will meet all their needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Paul was more concerned that the people around Him know Jesus than he was about his own comfort.
Evaluate in your own life whether you exhibit these qualities- satisfied with what you have, focused on God’s power, and concerned about the needs of others. With true contentment, these will come. Remember that contentment is not only a virtue but a command (Hebrews 13:5).
Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of all you have.
Godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6
--Jennifer Jones, Discipleship Manager
Monday, November 3, 2008
Philippians 4:1-9
Philippians focuses a lot on being joyful in all circumstances. Seeking God and knowing Him more so that joy always is possible. In this passage, we see this again encouraged by Paul. For me to understand the beginning of chapter 4, I needed to go back to the second half of chapter three to see what exactly it was that Paul was telling the Philippians when he said “this is how you should stand firm in the Lord”. This is what I found:
1. We are to press on toward our goal, which is heaven and Christ/pleasing Him. That should be our desire and attitude. I hate finding myself in a complaining attitude, which happens quite a bit to be honest. The reason I hate it so much, is because I know I have so much to be thankful for- salvation, provisions, loved ones and laughter. There should be no room for complaining. I am easily selfish and “feel sorry for myself” when there are so many other reasons to be sad, like Paul for example weeping for the lost.
2. We are to live up to what we have attained, our salvation. We need to live like we have been given this gift. When you are given a great gift, how do you react? Do you complain or scowl? No! It temporarily fills us with happiness. This other gift I am talking about though, it is eternal. We sure don’t act like it. We are not perfect but will continue to be sanctified, but we have Jesus now and it should be evident. We are daily called to walk in the way that we talk. No double face stuff. That is not standing firm.
3. Another way we can stand firm is by standing with others, especially those who are wiser by age and spiritual walk. If you surround yourself with genuine people who know how to stand firm, and do a good job at it, there is no room for anything but growth for you. In those people you have ears that will listen, mouths for guidance and arms for comfort.
In Chapter 4, we see even more ways to stand firm that follow up the ones I just listed. REJOICE in the Lord. He is the only consistent, the only for sure, and the only satisfaction that we will ever know here on this earth. Even when our circumstances are incomparable, He is the same and has your best interest. “The Lord is near”. Verse 6 commands us to not be anxious for these reasons. The reward of those who obey is God’s peace past understanding to guard their minds and hearts. The more we are able to give Him the hardships of life and trust Him with them, the more that all surpassing peace will be a part of our lives. The thing I want to leave you with is a final, very important factor of standing firm. It is our thoughts. This summer we memorized a verse or two about where our thoughts should be. Do you remember still? Do you remember it when you are thinking about all the unimportant things in life? I am one of the worst on this subject. It has been a battle in my life as long as I can remember. Paul tells us that the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy things are what we should be thinking about. It always brings me back to Col. 3:1-2. Keep your minds (and your hearts even) on things above. In doing so, you practice standing firm.
--Kristi Smith, Assisant Summer Camp Director
1. We are to press on toward our goal, which is heaven and Christ/pleasing Him. That should be our desire and attitude. I hate finding myself in a complaining attitude, which happens quite a bit to be honest. The reason I hate it so much, is because I know I have so much to be thankful for- salvation, provisions, loved ones and laughter. There should be no room for complaining. I am easily selfish and “feel sorry for myself” when there are so many other reasons to be sad, like Paul for example weeping for the lost.
2. We are to live up to what we have attained, our salvation. We need to live like we have been given this gift. When you are given a great gift, how do you react? Do you complain or scowl? No! It temporarily fills us with happiness. This other gift I am talking about though, it is eternal. We sure don’t act like it. We are not perfect but will continue to be sanctified, but we have Jesus now and it should be evident. We are daily called to walk in the way that we talk. No double face stuff. That is not standing firm.
3. Another way we can stand firm is by standing with others, especially those who are wiser by age and spiritual walk. If you surround yourself with genuine people who know how to stand firm, and do a good job at it, there is no room for anything but growth for you. In those people you have ears that will listen, mouths for guidance and arms for comfort.
In Chapter 4, we see even more ways to stand firm that follow up the ones I just listed. REJOICE in the Lord. He is the only consistent, the only for sure, and the only satisfaction that we will ever know here on this earth. Even when our circumstances are incomparable, He is the same and has your best interest. “The Lord is near”. Verse 6 commands us to not be anxious for these reasons. The reward of those who obey is God’s peace past understanding to guard their minds and hearts. The more we are able to give Him the hardships of life and trust Him with them, the more that all surpassing peace will be a part of our lives. The thing I want to leave you with is a final, very important factor of standing firm. It is our thoughts. This summer we memorized a verse or two about where our thoughts should be. Do you remember still? Do you remember it when you are thinking about all the unimportant things in life? I am one of the worst on this subject. It has been a battle in my life as long as I can remember. Paul tells us that the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy things are what we should be thinking about. It always brings me back to Col. 3:1-2. Keep your minds (and your hearts even) on things above. In doing so, you practice standing firm.
--Kristi Smith, Assisant Summer Camp Director
Philippians 3:12-21
Its way to easy to read these verses and agree with Paul and then move on. But if we agree with Paul we must take action.
Goals are things we talk about and set in our lives constantly. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we set them for ourselves because we don’t think of them as goals; like what time we hope to get somewhere, how much we want to get done in a day, or what grade we hope to make on a test. Each goal that we set for ourselves is instrumental in driving what we do each day and motivating our actions. However, a goal can only be effective if it has all of the needed elements to create action:
1.You must know what your goal is.
2.If it is a broad goal, you need more specific ones to drive the bigger one.
3.If it is long term, you need shorter term goals to help you remain focused.
4.You need accountability – someone to push you and coach you on.
5.You must have a desire to accomplish the goal.
I'm sure there are other things needed, but these are a few important factors. Let’s look at an example:
Let’s say that I wanted to finish cleaning the pool by the end of the day. I start of by knowing my goal. It could be a small enough goal to leave it at that, but for the sake of the above I’ll need to have smaller and more specific goals: I plan to have the deep end finished before lunch and the shallow end finished before 2:00. I know that my boss is expecting for me to have it cleaned and if I don’t there is a penalty – so that acts as my accountability, and can act as a motivating force for my desire to accomplish the goal. Further, I know there is a storm coming in and I don’t want to work in the rain so I really want to get it finished today.This example has all of the elements listed above, which leads me to action.
So why am I telling you all of this? Because we can look at these verses, say that we agree with Paul – we need to push on and take hold of this. But with goals like this one, it is so easy to lose focus. First of all what is the goal? Paul says, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” He also uses a few pronouns to refer to the goal like “it” or “this”, but he never actually states the goal in these verses. So what is it that we are so fervently pressing on towards and seeking after; what is the goal? This might be a good time for you to think about that – re-read these verses and see if you can decide for yourself – otherwise you can move on.
I believe that the answer can be found in the verses just above the ones we are studying this week: our goal is to know and gain Christ and to have righteousness from faith in Him. Wow, that’s a big goal. How do we get there? What can we do to reach this goal? I think we all know the small answers to these questions, but in order to reach our main goal; we need to have very specific ways in mind that can lead us there. We also can easily forget what the main goal is because the outcome is only reached in the distant future. We need to have short term goals set up along the way to keep us on track. Do you have these set up in your life? Most of us know the main goal, and we know how to reach it, but we don’t set up the small goals that keep us moving in the right direction.
Further we need a coach; someone who can guide us and lead us to our goal. Do you have someone like this in your life? A pastor is a great example, but do you have a close peer or friend that is willing to ask you the tough questions?
Lastly we need a desire. In Paul's life it was clear that he was willing to give up everything to accomplish his goal. He said that everything else was worthless compared to just knowing Christ. I doubt that many people feel as strongly as he did, but our motivation can only increase with our faith. If we believe, God will encourage us, and with that encouragement we will grow and desire more. As we press on toward the goal of knowing Christ more, we must remain focused and motivated by His love.
-- Seth Gordon, Recreation Director
Goals are things we talk about and set in our lives constantly. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we set them for ourselves because we don’t think of them as goals; like what time we hope to get somewhere, how much we want to get done in a day, or what grade we hope to make on a test. Each goal that we set for ourselves is instrumental in driving what we do each day and motivating our actions. However, a goal can only be effective if it has all of the needed elements to create action:
1.You must know what your goal is.
2.If it is a broad goal, you need more specific ones to drive the bigger one.
3.If it is long term, you need shorter term goals to help you remain focused.
4.You need accountability – someone to push you and coach you on.
5.You must have a desire to accomplish the goal.
I'm sure there are other things needed, but these are a few important factors. Let’s look at an example:
Let’s say that I wanted to finish cleaning the pool by the end of the day. I start of by knowing my goal. It could be a small enough goal to leave it at that, but for the sake of the above I’ll need to have smaller and more specific goals: I plan to have the deep end finished before lunch and the shallow end finished before 2:00. I know that my boss is expecting for me to have it cleaned and if I don’t there is a penalty – so that acts as my accountability, and can act as a motivating force for my desire to accomplish the goal. Further, I know there is a storm coming in and I don’t want to work in the rain so I really want to get it finished today.This example has all of the elements listed above, which leads me to action.
So why am I telling you all of this? Because we can look at these verses, say that we agree with Paul – we need to push on and take hold of this. But with goals like this one, it is so easy to lose focus. First of all what is the goal? Paul says, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” He also uses a few pronouns to refer to the goal like “it” or “this”, but he never actually states the goal in these verses. So what is it that we are so fervently pressing on towards and seeking after; what is the goal? This might be a good time for you to think about that – re-read these verses and see if you can decide for yourself – otherwise you can move on.
I believe that the answer can be found in the verses just above the ones we are studying this week: our goal is to know and gain Christ and to have righteousness from faith in Him. Wow, that’s a big goal. How do we get there? What can we do to reach this goal? I think we all know the small answers to these questions, but in order to reach our main goal; we need to have very specific ways in mind that can lead us there. We also can easily forget what the main goal is because the outcome is only reached in the distant future. We need to have short term goals set up along the way to keep us on track. Do you have these set up in your life? Most of us know the main goal, and we know how to reach it, but we don’t set up the small goals that keep us moving in the right direction.
Further we need a coach; someone who can guide us and lead us to our goal. Do you have someone like this in your life? A pastor is a great example, but do you have a close peer or friend that is willing to ask you the tough questions?
Lastly we need a desire. In Paul's life it was clear that he was willing to give up everything to accomplish his goal. He said that everything else was worthless compared to just knowing Christ. I doubt that many people feel as strongly as he did, but our motivation can only increase with our faith. If we believe, God will encourage us, and with that encouragement we will grow and desire more. As we press on toward the goal of knowing Christ more, we must remain focused and motivated by His love.
-- Seth Gordon, Recreation Director
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