Text: John 17:22-26“God Bless America”Jesus’ Prayer for UnityThat the World May Know and BelieveThreats to unityPride - Many a man has overcome cowardice, or lust, or ill-temper by learning to think they are beneath his dignity--that is, by Pride. The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride." C.S. LewisA failure to realize the foundation of unity- JesusFear of conflictNot valuing relationships and community rightly. (Ephesians 4)

Text - John 14:1-11

Church: Boring, Irrelevant, Destructive... or Something More? Why I nearly gave up on the church... Living the tension between the organized and the organic“Follow Me And...” (Matthew 4:18-20, Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus invites his followers into the mission of the living and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God The early church continued in the mission of Jesus in both organized and organic ways At Northshore Vineyard we seek to live as a people on mission. Proclamation, Demonstration, and Incarnation We proclaim the good news We demonstrate the good news We live the good news

The right kind of tension Being - Jesus at the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) Doing - The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus is a model of both being and doing The Poised Harpooner “To insure the greatest efficiency of the dart, the harpooners of this world must start to their feet out of idleness, and not out of toil.” Herman Melville, Moby Dick. Melville’s sentence is a text to set alongside the psalmist’s “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:6), and alongside Isaiah’s “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15) - From The Contemplative Pastor by Eugene PetersonBarriers to the heart journeyWe hate being aloneWe keep ourselves distractedEncountering God beneath the surface Space to simply Be with God Time to Be with God Charismatic - encountering God in powerful ways in the present Contemplative - awakening to God’s presence in both the past and present momentThe prayer of ExamenFind a quiet placeIdentify a moment of gratitude from your dayAsk for freedom – from attachments, things that get in the way of relationship with GodReview the day – Think back over the events of the day. As you reflect pay attention to your feelings. Were there times in your day that you were being moved by jealousy, anxiety, pride, or perhaps you notice something special that stand out to you as a gift. Whatever seems significant to you as you reflect bring it before the Lord.Talk to God – You might ask forgiveness for anything of which you regret. You may as well thank God for the blessings that you have also noticed.Consolation and Desolation – Over time praying the Examen will help you to a greater understanding of times of consolation (times when you felt alive, energized and connected to God) and times of desolation (feeling God’s absense, hopelessness, etc.)