Backpacks, Boulders and Boundaries: Take 2, Part 2: 8/21-22/2010
Have you ever made an “island” list? You know the kind-- the 5 records/books/movies/friends/foods/celebrities you would take with you if you ever found yourself on a deserted island? If you’ve never tried it, you should. Start a conversation at work, over lunch, around the dinner table. Making these lists can be an incredibly frustrating experiment. But they do force you to decide on the essentials.
Traveling does that. If you were this girl, you could only carry what was absolutely necessary.
This weekend, we talked about some of the essentials. The stuff each of us needs to carry. The stuff we need to check (yeah--that’s a luggage pun). The stuff we have to have to make it from one place to another. We might not be heading to a deserted island or sailing around the world but we are trying to make our way. From where we used to be to where God wants us to be. And that can be a long, difficult trip. We have to pack well.
Here are some questions to ask ourselves and each other:
P: Do you find your Personal value in the truth that God loves you greatly? Do you recognize every day that Jesus Christ lived, died and lived for you? Brennan Manning once wrote: “Define yourself as one beloved by God. Every other identity is an illusion.” If you haven’t read his book “Abba’s Child,” it would make a great island book.
A: You are the one who is responsible for your Attitude, for the way you approach your days. Would you want to travel with you? Would you take yourself to a desert island?
C: Are you Content? We would like to think our contentment was dependent on other people but its’ ours. We each have to find our peace with our lives as they are. Maybe the deserted island sounds great to you. That might be a problem.
K: Do you feel like you Know the truth about how God works in your life? Do you know the kind of freedom that can come from being in Christ? Do you feel like you know Christ and the power of his resurrection? We have to have this to move. To travel. To make it anywhere.
What would you add to this list Charlie gave? If you are trying to get from one place to another, spiritually speaking, what are the invisible things that are essential for you? What are you carrying that you never, ever want to let go of? What do you need to survive when the burdens of the world make it hard to move? Make a list. But don’t just make the list. Carry the essentials. Don't leave home without them.
Charlie assigned some homework. Before next week, try to read the story of the good Samaritan in Luke 10.25-37.
And just so you know, this is the song that was running through my head this entire weekend:
Listen to the weekend message
Read a manuscript of the weekend message
