What is time? And how do we live a free and present life?

The Message from The Gathering Place, Jan 29, 2023

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Pastors Notes on Time: 
The Greek language captures two approaches to time: kairos and chronos.

Kairos time - is the deep truest sense of time.
(John Pauling in Living By Kairos Time in a Chronos World)
"Kairos is
the deepest and truest form of time. Understanding that is the first
step. But then actions, habits, and practices are necessary to
actually reorder and reorient our lives in accord with this deepest
reality..

Chronos just refers to time as duration or sequence, and kairos names a
seasonal, cyclic kind of time: it’s the right time to plant tomatoes or make
dinner or go to war. Kairos is three-dimensional, including time, space, and
meaning; time as story. Chronos, however, is flat, referencing only time and
space. As an example, consider life before mechanized time.

Prior to mechanical clocks (which offer a very sequential chronos-form of time) it was easier to experience the kairos dimension of time as the natural ebbs-and-flows of  time followed the movement of the sun, cycles of the moon, and rhythms of the
seasons—all in relation to a specific locale. The structure of time and one’s life
were woven together with myths, stories, and rituals—whether seasonal,
secular, or sacred. Another example could be the birth of a child. While there
certainly is a chronos dimension to the birth of a child—that my son William was
born at such and such a chronological date and time—the event is most fully
understood as a life-changing event of becoming a parent; a kairos moment.

In today’s world, driven almost exclusively by chronos, finding ways to allow
kairos to punctuate and permeate our lives can reorient us towards permanent
things and higher goods. Now, making all of this real in our lives is hard. Living
by kairos time in a chronos world does not come easily, for chronos is a strong
and jealous god. Thus, it requires thick practices that are embodied, authentic,
communal, frequent, and ritualized to dethrone him. Small acts of resistance
chip away at chronos’ power bit by bit. Here are some possible ways to give
kairos room to flourish in our lives. — We need to properly order our lives lives
and situate chronos time in relation to kairos - so we can experience HEAVEN
BREAKTHROUGH - GOD’S KINGDOM COME —In our lives. Daily dying to
ourselves and surrounding to God’s plans - listening to what God is saying
(observing, reflecting, discussing) and Deciding “How will I respond” (plan,
account, act); daily devotions, time in community, family time (dinner vs. family
dinner) —instead of checking the box of ritual/ religion - FB quote - “Religion is
a guy in church thinking about fishing. Relationship is a guy out fishing
thinking about God.” — Movement to worship —connect with your Creator
GOD— GOD WHO PUT ON FLESH AND LIVED WITH US—JESUS —Can we take a
moment to ponder and stand in Awe— Worship is a protest to the reign of
Chronos—AMEN.

What does it mean to live a life of care? What are we supposed to care for?

The Message from The Gathering Place, Jan 22, 2023

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Careless vs. Care - Pastor's Notes:
 
Genesis 1:9-13 
And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.  God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning— the third day. 

People desire to live a care-free, care-less life. Careless Definition: not giving sufficient attention or thought to avoiding harm or errors.
Many live and do not think about the long-term consequences. Too often, we focus mainly on beauty or what feels good, living on impulses. How much of our life’s activities are consumed by meaningless activities that spend time for a moment instead of investing in our future? 

What if God’s call on our lives was not to live a careful life instead of a careless life? Careful, definition: done with or showing thought and attention.

  How can you prepare your soil to receive good seeds? ( Daily rhythms ) What are you planting? ( What kind of media or information are you consuming) — trees help with erosion of land. Where do you need to get rooted? What are some fruitful practices or habits you need to take up in your life? 

What is sacred in your life? What do you want to preserve? 

We need to care about things that God cares about —the trees and the vegetation on the land are not only good but sacred. 

Zambian Theologian Rev. Canon Dr. Kapya John Kaoma.

First, the earth is a sacramental “place of divine mystery” and therefore another form of divine revelation. Second, we have an ethical responsibility to care for future generations by sustaining the life of the earth. —Dr Kaoma argues that our understanding of mission needs to be broadened to include ecological mission, not just social mission for the salvation of humanity. 

The western church needs to value church planting the same way we value planting trees— we need to have a holistic understanding of salvation - all creation. Because we are called to care for creation. 

Kaoma maintains that God is present on earth, that He made the earth and declared it “good,” that Christ is the unifying force and presence holding the entirety of earth together. Creation reveals the creator; the earth reveals Christ. 
It takes the whole world to know the whole gospel. According to this thinking, to participate in destroying the earth is to participate in destroying the revelation of the Creator God. Kaoma moves from talking of “missio Dei” to “missio Creatoris Dei” — from “the mission of God” to “the mission of the creator God,” and he stresses that constantly upholding, renewing, and sustaining the earth is intrinsic to the creator God’s mission. He argues that the prophet Isaiah “was right when he proclaimed God’s salvation as an advent of the new creation, where all creatures will live in perfect shalom.”[9] For Kaoma, climate justice involves joining God’s wider mission for the salvation of the earth as much as it involves joining with his mission for the salvation of humanity. 

What are Boundaries? Why do we need them? How do we create space from the chaos of our lives?

The Message from The Gathering Place, Jan 15, 2023

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The Message from The Gathering Place, Jan 8, 2023

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"Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity." - James Clear

WESLEY'S COVENANT SERVICE

Commit yourselves to Christ as his servants. Give yourselves to him, that you may belong to him. Christ has many services to be done. Some are more easy and honorable, others are more difficult and disgraceful. Some are suitable to our inclinations and interests, others are contrary to both. In some we may please Christ and please ourselves. But then there are other works where we cannot please Christ except by denying ourselves. It is necessary, therefore, that we consider what it means to be a servant of Christ. Let us, therefore, go to Christ, and pray:

Let me be your servant, under your command. I will no longer be my own. I will give up myself to your will in all things.

Be satisfied that Christ shall give you your place and work.

Lord, make me what you will. I put myself fully into your hands: put me to doing, put me to suffering, let me be employed for you, or laid aside for you, let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and with a willing heart give it all to your pleasure and disposal.

Christ will be the Savior of none but his servants. He is the source of all salvation to those who obey. Christ will have no servants except by consent; Christ will not accept anything except full consent to all that he requires. Christ will be all in all, or he will be nothing.

Confirm this by a holy covenant. To make this covenant a reality in your life, listen to these admonitions:

First, set apart some time, more than once, to be spent alone before the Lord; in seeking earnestly God's special assistance and gracious acceptance of you; in carefully thinking through all the conditions of the covenant; in searching your hearts whether you have already freely given your life to Christ. Consider what your sins are. Consider the laws of Christ, how holy, strict, and spiritual they are, and whether you, after having carefully considered them, are willing to choose them all. Be sure you are clear in these matters, see that you do not lie to God.

Second, be serious and in a spirit of holy awe and reverence.

Third, claim God's covenant, rely upon God's promise of giving grace and strength, so you can keep your promise. Trust not your own strength and power.

Fourth, resolve to be faithful. You have given to the Lord your hearts, you have opened your mouths to the Lord, and you have dedicated yourself to God. With God's power, never go back. And last, be then prepared to renew your covenant with the Lord. Fall down on your knees, lift your hands toward heaven, open your hearts to the Lord, as we pray:

 
 Copyright: “Covenant Renewal Service” Copyright © 1992 UMPH. Wesley Covenant Service abridged by Ole E. Borgen.

https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/book-of-worship/covenant-renewal-service

The Message from The Gathering Place Dec 18, 2022

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Matthew 1:18-25

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d] (which means “God with us”).

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

The Message from The Gathering Place Dec 11, 2022

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Isaiah 35: 1-10 NIV 

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. 
They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (Isaiah 35:1-10 NIV)  

THE DNA OF JOY: The difference between happiness and joy  

1. Joy is produced in you. Happiness is what happens to you.  
2. Joy is confident. Happiness is insecure
   
    ( Proverbs 27:20) “Death and Destruction[a] are never satisfied,
   and neither are human eyes.” (Proverbs 27:20 NIV) 
   
   “Today’s contentment is tomorrow’s source of complaint.” 
   
   Jesus said, “ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” ( John 15:11 NIV) 
   
   
3.  Joy is defined by Truth. Happiness is defined by facts  

The Message from The Gathering Place Dec 4, 2022
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Advent Week 2

Peace — Advent - calls us.

Isaiah 11:1-10 (NIV)

Peace absent of hostility — much more… “Shalom” – maintenance of a prosperous social system to “promote the general welfare” –shalom also translated as “welfare”—for the Israelites reading passages of promise/hope in Isaiah and Jeremiah (under invasion, exile, extreme duress) –Peace is the practice of justice for the poor and needy, anticipates general prosperity for people not just the elites. – the Peace of God is a vision of an alternative society and anticipation of an alternative world.

Prince of Peace — the peace Jesus brings is not imperial (forced) – it surpasses understanding, achieved through vulnerability and does not seek to impose its own way. It confounds the empire – and it frustrates our imperial understanding. We don’t like it.

As Jesus brough shalom so must his disciples bring shalom – they are to come in peace, share peace, and let the peace rest on those whom they share it with. -- Peace requires forgiveness, readiness to share generously, a violation of strict class stratification in society, requires attentiveness to the vulnerable and unproductive –humility in the face of exaltation, being last among those who insist on being first and denying the interest of Neighbor…Walter Br. “These are all practices that mark His presence in His society….the empire in its refusal of the things that make for peace, generates a society of hostility, aggression, greed, conflict, and violence.” –

Practical Divinity – This is going to be tough – WAR in our society among people groups

People groups at war – LGBTQ+, BLM, homeless/poor, addicts, republicans/democrats, economic migrants/immigrants, rich, younger generation, older generation, white, black, latin@s, Asian, blue collar, white collar— co-workers, relatives

God's Love Needs to be experienced personally and lived out practically if we are going to make a real difference in the world.

Our behaviors are greatly influenced by our way of being---Do we have a heart of peace or a heart of war? What is the difference? Resource: The Anatomy of Peace

Heart of peace – OTHERS are people: Hopes, needs, cares and fears are as real to me as my own.

Heart of War: OTHERS are OBJECTS: Obstacles, irrelevancies

Soul work – See “people group (i.e. migrants, LGBTQ, Native Americans)” Sense/Desire – see the PERSON with needs, cares, worries, and fears that matter, like mine do) – My heart is at peace –do you feel it?

Choice: Honor the sense ( act on it) – Heart remains at peace OR Betray the sense begin to see the person in ways that justify my self-betrayal, They become an Object of blame –MY HEART GOES TO WAR….sadly many God-fearing Christians betray this desire/sense given to them by HS and we sabotage the mission God has called us to .

What is happening inside of us when we go to war?

4 Common Heart – At- War- Styles

(Higher) Better-Than: View of Myself (better than/superior) Feelings (Angry); Other (no right to be there) View of World (unfair)

(Higher) I-Deserve: View of Myself (A victim, I’m owed); Feelings (Depressed); The Other (Robs me of peace) View of World (Unjust)

(Lower) Worse-than: View of Myself (bad, made to be, lower); Feelings (bitter) ; The Other (threat); View of the world (Burdensome)

(lower) Need to be seen as: View of Myself (want to be seen well) ; Feelings (justified) ; View of Other (Bigot); View of the World (Against Me)

Can you relate? How to move from a heart of war to a heart of peace? What needs to be cut down or has been cut down so a new shoot can come forth in your life/ world?

The Message from Nov. 27 at The Gathering Place, Palm Beach Gardens

Managing Your Triggers Toolkit

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The scriptures referenced:

Isaiah 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
    as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
    so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, descendants of Jacob,
    let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Matthew 24:36-44


The Day and Hour Unknown

36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Romans 13:11-14

The Day Is Near

11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.[a]

The Message from Nov. 20 at The Gathering Place, Palm Beach Gardens

Managing Your Triggers Toolkit

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Genesis 33:12-20

12 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.”

13 But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender and that I must care for the ewes and cows that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard just one day, all the animals will die. 14 So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

15 Esau said, “Then let me leave some of my men with you.”

“But why do that?” Jacob asked. “Just let me find favor in the eyes of my lord.”

16 So that day Esau started on his way back to Seir. 17 Jacob, however, went to Sukkoth, where he built a place for himself and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place is called Sukkoth.[a]

18 After Jacob came from Paddan Aram,[b] he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. 19 For a hundred pieces of silver,[c] he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent. 20 There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel.[d]