John 15:1-12 Abiding or Remaining
1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in mend I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you. 8this is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each others as I have loved you.
Continue-finish Sermon series
Week 1 - God is nearby, pray anywhere
Week 2 - Listening in prayer
Week 4 - Abiding in Christ through prayer. The prayers of the mystics.
Christian mysticism is not demonic. It is an alternative to the rational faith that says, it all makes sense, which is the approach of western thinkers.
Rationalistic: I want to know the truth. i understand, let me tell you.
Oswald Chambers, "We receive His blessings and know His Word, but do we know Him?
Pepper plant. I picked a green one. I was so proud. Cathy said, it was suppose to be a yellow pepper. I picked it too soon. Unconnected to the vine it will never fulfill it's potential.
Mystical - I want to know God
Come sit with me and experience the greatness of God
An American preacher always used to say, we have to put God in our lives. The Christian mystic says to him, the Lord is already in our lives, our job is simply to recognize him.
Christian mystics focus on experiential knowledge of prayer (ie: meditation, contemplation) involving the person of Jesus Christ
Thomas A Kempis
St. John of the Cross
Aquinas
St. Augustine
Many of those monk figures....
Difficult for me to explain this to you
There is a place where few Christians go in prayer
Like most of us, I am not wired like this
What little I know about this, I learned with my rational brain kicking and screaming
most American Christians are satisfied with....what we have....
Or they are so busy that they never find their time, their entire life to enter into the stream
Is it a blessing to be born in America?
Hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom. Too many distractions.
Although the mystics have been carved off to the side and people have trouble relating to them.
Still their lives call us to find a deeper relationship with God.
Let me give you some pictures of what I am talking about
One author describes the journey as
Purgation or separation
Contemplation - this of a relationship in your life...
Love each other as I have loved you.
Unity
many Christian mystics describe a five step journey
1. Awakening, the stage in which one begins some consciousness of God
2. Purgation - separation from self
3. illumination
4. dark night of the soul
5. fifth and final stage is union with God. Here the self has been permanently established in a relationship and liberated for a new purpose
Lectio Divina - the divine word - famous method of sitting under scripture - 4 parts
1. read slowly, attentively several times. Many write down words in the scripture that grasp their attention
2. Meditate on the one part. Thinking in God's presence about the text. Benefit from the Holy Spirit's ministry of illumination which enables the Christian to grasp the Revelation contained in the Scripture.
3. Respond to the passage by opening the heart to God. It is not an intellectual exercise, but an intuitive conversation or dialogue with God.
4. Contemplation or silence - a time characterized by a simple, loving focus on God. In other words, it is a beautiful, wordless contemplation of God, a joyful rest in his presence.
Another form of prayer is Guided imagery
I hated this
I was stuck in mental Christianity
Right brain, left brain....hard to change
- Linear reasoning to the left
- emotion, mystery to the right
can we take this journey? How?
What is the main thing on your mind and heart was bringing the kingdom to others.
Sharing God's love. Being the hands and feet of Christ.
This is our goal, but can we do it? Can we do it for 10 minutes? One hour?
Have you ever given God and entire hour?
I have been alive for 457,832 hours
Can we do this?
Unlike the pepper, we can be reconnected.
Separate yourself - contemplate - experience God
It's like dancing with Jesus
the salt figurine wandered over the earth until it came to the sea. Where it remained lost in the contemplation of that huge mass of water and waves that it had never seen before. Who are you, it finally asked the sea. Come on in and see, said the sea with a smile. Whitout further ado, the salt man entered the sea and the deeper it went, the more it dissolved until only a tiny amount of it's body was left. Just before being completely dissolved, the salt figure exclaimed, now I know who you are.
God is waiting. When you are ready, just wade into the water.
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