Weekly Challenge -Isaiah 45

Life Group community:

Quick summary of the last few weeks:

Chapter 43 –God says you are my redeemed.  You are my witnesses.  Gave us a message of comfort, protection, hope, steadfastness.  We will be tested, but God will remain faithful.

·         The question to you is, are you a good witness for God?
·         If you were on trial, would you be convicted of being a Christian?

Chapter 44 –Idolatry is a lie.   Recognize that God is the Creator, and that He has not left His creation to determine its own path.  God is continually working within creation. Though the events, powers, and strategies of the world may hide God’s work, God has made promises to His chosen people Israel to remind them that God has not abandoned them.

Chapter 45 starts off with a big intro to Cyrus.  He was mentioned in 41 but now we see more detail.  The surprise to the Israelites is that Cyrus is called the Lords shepherd and his anointed.  For Cyrus himself was a pagan idolater!  God may disapprove of idolatry but use an idolater for some good purpose. The fact that he uses someone in a specific way does not mean that he approves of that person’s total lifestyle.   That is great news for me.  It means that He can still use me even though I have idols in my life!

In Isaiah 45, God is explaining why idols get in the way of allegiance to Him.  So my challenge to you this week is to repeat the challenge from last week.  Spend time identifying what you place more importance than your Creator.  Where is your security?  Where is your control?  What can you not live without?  Where, what, or who do you go to for rest, hope, security, etc.?

Be intentional.

Travis

Weekly Challenge -Isaiah 44 Idols

Life Group Community,

Our discussion was based on the topic of how an idol is a lie.  Isaiah was very descriptive about the deception of the idol maker and detailed on how the created is worshipping the created.

Since idol worshipping seems very old testament and part of other religions, we can often pass over these truths as irrelevant.  So we spent time making a definition of an idol.  This summary from Tim Keller covered all the points from our discussion:
“It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give. A counterfeit god is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living. An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought. It can be family and children, or career and making money, or achievement and critical acclaim, or saving “face” and social standing. It can be a romantic relationship, peer approval, competence and skill, secure and comfortable circumstances, your beauty or your brains, a great political or social cause, your morality and virtue, or even success in the Christian ministry.

My challenge to you this week is to spent time in solitude and stillness while asking God to help you identify the idols you have placed in your life.  Then discuss your idols with your spouse and with your life group as we go through this together.

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge -Isaiah 43

Life Group family:
Those were comforting words from God to the Israelites, and us, in chapter 43.  Words of protection, love, steadfastness, comfort, control, holiness, etc.

Those words were for a group in captivity (Israelites) back then, and are for groups in captivity today such as the 30 million people involved in human trafficking today.  80% of them are female.  50% of them are children.  God can deliver them as he delivered the Israelites. 

I enjoyed the discussion on the trial imagery that God and Isaiah brought in this chapter.  We are His witnesses and must tell others about God.  We can do this by the way we live, but that has to be combined with us telling people how God loves us and how we have been changed by living for Him.

We can also do this by how we live and act while being tested by the water and fire (as Isaiah described in verse 2).  We should have hope, living for the eternal, and still finding ways to love and help others.

My challenge to you this week is to spend some quiet time and ask God to show you the worries (water/fire) which you need to give away to your sovereign Lord.  Then share with your spouse and family.

Be intentional.
Travis

Weekly Challenge -Isaiah 42

Life Group family:
We covered a lot of ground on Saturday with the timeline along with the study of Isaiah 42. 
I enjoyed discussing how Isaiah was writing about God the Son coming as The Servant for Israel and for all believers.  This was written 0ver 700 years before Jesus came as the Messiah.

He was chosen.  He will bring justice and unity.  He will not break, quit, or give up.  He will not throw away the lowly and the weak.  He will heal and free people.

750 years later, Philip was able to discuss this section of Isaiah with the eunuch to show him how Jesus is the Messiah.  Another 2,000  years later, we get to sit in a room and discuss the same!

My challenge to you this week is to study the timeline and read Isaiah 43 to prepare for more great discussion time this Saturday.

Be intentional.
Travis

Timeline:

Dates BC	Event
2000	Abraham
1900	Jacob changes name to Israel	Had a divided house.  Sons of Leah and sons of Rachel
1750 - 1450	Israel nation captivity in Egypt
1450	Israel entered the Promised Land
1440	Land divided into 12 tribes
1050	Saul becomes first King	From tribe of Benjamin (Rachel)
1010	King David	From tribe of Judah (Leah)
970	King Solomon
930	Israel divided	(10 tribes in North -called Israel) and (2 tribes in South -called Judah)
740	Isaiah ministry begins	was called by God ‘in the year that King Uzziah died’ (6:1)
722	Assyrian captivity
586	Babylonian captivity
538	Cyrus allows Jews to return home

Weekly Challenge

Fantastic discussion last night on Isaiah 41:8-16.  A quick recap -  Chapter 41 finds Israel under oppression, with Isaiah looking forward and prophesying about a time when Israel will experience redemption.  The message is pretty simple:
1) Israel is the chosen servant of the One True God
2) God's command for them to follow is to "Fear not!"
3) The means by which they can obey this command is bountiful: God will strengthen, uphold, be with, help, redeem, shame enemies, protect, hold their hand, and more...
4) Meanwhile God will transform the "worm" Israel into a "threshing sledge" that will shatter mountains.  The fact that they will be transformed into a threshing sledge tells us that there will be much work to do.  While God does in fact go before them, He will put them to work albeit His work and it might not be easy.
5) The purpose of ALL of this however has nothing to do with them, the purpose is to ultimately "rejoice in the Lord" and "glory in the Holy One of Israel."

The Challenge:
As the King/Swanson Life Group transitions over the coming weeks and months it is very natural for many if not all of us to experience fear.  Those of us being sent off fear the unknown, those of us remaining in place fear change, those of us who are unsure what to do fear making the wrong decision.  The fact of the matter is this:  God is at work at Lake Pointe Church.  God is at work in the King/Swanson Life Group.  God is at work at Crosspoint Community Church.   God is at work in Rockwall, Texas.  God is at work just as we saw in Isaiah 41:8-9.  Joining God in His work is not the wrong decision, therefore FEAR NOT!

We are all "worms" before the Almighty Creator of the universe.  However, we are His servants chosen by Him and He has "threshing sledge" work for us to do.  Whatever building you decide to practice corporate worship in I challenge you to step up and step into "threshing sledge" work.  There is no shortage of need in the King Life Group, whether it be teaching, coordinating, planning events, running the facebook page, greeting, following up with visitors, praying, the list goes on and on and on.  There is work to be done.  If you know what you are good at, tell Travis or Jamie.  If you don't know what you are good at but you wish to offer your services, tell Travis or Jamie.  Crosspoint Community Church has 1 paid staff member who will do about a 3rd of the preaching.  Therefore everything else will be done by volunteers....every week...and that means EVERYTHING, because they don't even have their own building, they are at the mercy of a middle school.  There is "threshing sledge" work to be done.

But no matter what, no matter where you "attend" church, no matter what building you sing worship songs in, no matter what class you are a part of...we are ALL a part of the universal body of Jesus, equipped and sent to share Christ and build believers, and as we saw in Isaiah 41:16 the ultimate purpose is to "rejoice in the Lord" and "glory in the Holy One of Israel."  It doesn't matter whether Crosspoint reaches a certain number of members or if the King Life Group reaches some ideal, what matters is that we rejoice in the Lord and glorify God.  So fear not and get to work!

In Him,
Aaron

Weekly Challenge

The Weekly Challenge:

Challenge 1:
Read Isaiah 41:8-16 and meditate on it this week in preparation for class this Saturday.
If you did not read Isaiah 40 last week, I highly recommend you do that as well.

Challenge 2:
Over the past 3 weeks we have discussed the leading we feel and subsequent decision to step out in faith to help launch a new church called Crosspoint Community Church.  Mike and Jennifer Henry as well as Will and Cortney Schale also shared that they will be doing the same.
Pray:
- For a teacher and coordinator to step up from the Life Group to co-teach and lead with Travis
- All of us, regardless of what church building we call home, will continue to live out Ephesians 4 as a "Community of Unity"
- For wisdom for the leaders of the new church
- For the hearts and minds of those stepping out to help launch


In Him,
Aaron

Weekly Challenge

I will just get right to the point.


The Challenge:
We start a new series next week called "Messiah's Coming" which will focus on the latter parts of Isaiah.


Challenge 1:
Read Isaiah this week
OR
At least read Isaiah starting in chapter 40 through the end of the book.


Challenge 2:
Over the past 2 weeks I have discussed that Priscilla and I feel led and are stepping out in faith to help launch a new church called Crosspoint Community Church.  Mike and Jennifer Henry also shared last night that they will be doing the same.
Pray:
- For a teacher to step up from the Life Group to co-teach with Travis
- All of us, regardless of what church building we call home, will continue to live out Ephesians 4 as a "Community of Unity"
- For wisdom for the leaders of the new church
- For the hearts and minds of those stepping out to help launch


In Him,
Aaron