You were Shaped For Serving God February 15, 2004
Ephesians 2
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Because of the way that we do evangelism these days, we often think that we are saved by God for our own sake. It is true that Jesus died for us because he loves us dearly, It is true that there is great benefit for us in Christ, but we are saved in order that we might serve God! We are a new creation in God, and Paul says that we are “created in Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
We are not saved into leisure, we are called into the freedom of serving our creator. Jesus gave his life to us, and we in turn give our lives to him, not by dieing, but by living for him, placing our lives before him and doing his biding here on earth.
1 Cor 6: 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Bob Dylan – “You Gotta Serve Somebody”
1 Corinthians 10:31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Romans 12 - MSG
1So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
We need to go to God and ask “how am I doing?” How are we doing” It is like looking for a divine “staff evaluation!”
This is what we are doing as a community with the Solemn Assembly that we have called for the week of the 22nd to the 28th
What is a Solemn Assembly?
Our Solemn Assembly is a week when we invite God to search us as individuals and as a church to bring things to the surface that need to be confessed, repented of, or just gotten rid of to free us up to be the people and the church he wants us to be. We will have meetings every evening to pray together, seek God and worship Him. Our simple prayer will be from Psalm 139,
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
The church will also be open during the day for quiet reflection and prayer.
Why a Solemn Assembly, why now?
Over the past 6 months we have heard God calling us into deeper repentance and deeper holiness. The Solemn Assembly is a step toward that.
The idea for a Solemn Assembly is taken from Joel 2, where the people are called to gather in repentance in response to a harsh word from God. The Lord answers with the promise of the coming Holy Spirit that the church experienced at Pentecost.
Joel 2:
12 "Even now," declares the LORD ,
"return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning."
13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity
and leave behind a blessing-
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the LORD your God.
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.
16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD ,
weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD .
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
’Where is their God?’ "
18 Then the LORD will be jealous for his land
and take pity on his people.
19 The LORD will reply [1] to them:
"I am sending you grain, new wine and oil,
enough to satisfy you fully;
never again will I make you
an object of scorn to the nations.
We will gather to open our hearts to God that He might do what he wills with us.
How you can participate in the Assembly:
I would suggest that you do all that you can to be at every meeting of the assembly. As God says through Joel to the people, stop what you are doing, even if you are getting married and come to pray and repent. Now we are not in the dire straights that Israel was in during Joel’s time, but this is an important time to come together. Change you schedule if you can, just for this week. And come to pray.
Some of the assembly is personal prayer with God, there will also be corporate listening times each night. When we gather together, we are able to support and encourage one another—even seeing others in prayer helps us in ours.
Reduce your schedule as best you can so that you can participate in this important event for your church. If you are not able to participate, or are only able to participate in a limited way, please follow along with the schedule that is drawn up and set your heart toward God for the church each day of the assembly. If you cannot come to the meetings, you could still fast in solidarity with the church.
Preparing yourself for the Assembly
In Genesis 35, God says to Jacob, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau."
So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone."
As we head toward the assembly, as God what are the “gods” that you have been serving, and in His strength, get rid of them.
Ask God what part of your old life you have held onto so you can take it off and put on Christ.
Fasting During the Assembly
Part of calling for a Solemn Assembly is to also call for a fast. In this case, the fast is a way of humbling ourselves before God. It is a way of saying to yourself and to God “this week is different, I am setting apart this week to seek after God.” Fasting is going without food for a set period of time for a spiritual purpose. You could fast from all food for the seven days, or do a partial fast where you allow yourself juice or certain foods and not others for the week. If for medical reasons you are not able to fast from food, you might choose another area to fast – some people will fast from talking, or media, or something else that will humble yourself before God. You could fast for one or more days, or you could fast for a portion of the day each day of the fast, such as one or two meals a day, or fast during daylight, or fast until after the meeting. Regardless of how you fast, the emphasis is on humbling yourself before God. Saying to God, “I am in earnest to hear your voice and I want to purify my life.” Fasting must forever center on God- Zechariah 7:5 God asks the question, "When you fasted and mourned … was it really for me that you fasted?” Our fasting must be done under God’s direction and we must have our eyes fixed to Him. Our one intention should be to glorify our Father in Heaven.
Prayer and Fasting teach us – through purposeful action, not just head knowledge – that food, entertainment, consumerism and busyness do not sustain us, God sustains us. Christ created all things, and he sustains all things (Colossians 1:16-17). Only in him are we complete. This is why prayer and fasting are important, because they teach us to rely on God and on his word.
In Matthew 6, Jesus gives us instructions on prayer and fasting. It seems that the religious leaders had turned the disciplines of prayer and fasting into opportunities to draw attention to themselves . When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18, NIV)
But Jesus was saying prayer and fasting are designed to bring our attention to God and to entering into his presence. Prayer and fasting are practices which open our hearts to God’s heart. Both are means of drawing near to God – abstaining from things that take our focus away from him so that we can grow in the things that draw us to him.
Dr. Bill Bright says wisely, “Many people are reluctant to tell others that they are fasting so they will avoid the sin of the Pharisees: fasting just to gain recognition for themselves. I strongly believe that attitude is a result of a wrong interpretation of our Lord’s teaching and that it is a trick of the enemy who does not want us to fast, nor to share with your loved ones, neighbors and friends the benefits of fasting.
By isolating ourselves from the support of other Christians, we will be more susceptible to doubts and negative influences (both human and demonic). We need the prayer shield of our Christian friends and family members to help us continue when we feel alone and when the enemy tempts us to give up Our Lord as he did Jesus Christ.”
It is funny that one purpose of fasting is to humble ourselves before God and the main temptation is pride. Whether we saying out loud or inside, “Hey look at me! I’m super spiritual! I’m fasting!” If we don’t tell anyone about the fast, we can get proud of how humble we are. We can get legalistic about the fast and how others should fast, and proud over the fact that our fast is stricter than theirs, or proud that we have more freedom in our fast than they do! It is dangerous ground, but it is worth the danger, because it has the potential to bring us into closer communion with God.
Practical tips:
Start slow: if you’ve never fasted, don’t start with a 40 day or even a 7 day fast, try one or two meals, or go on a limited fast. Build up to a longer fast. – for those going on as limited fast (fasting from some foods, but not all) Choose your foods well – I have found that I do better on a water fast than a juice fast – my blood sugar stays more stable.
Consult with God, and make a plan that honors him, is not beyond your strength in Him, and not way below your strength in Him.
Tell some Christian friends that you are fasting and ask them to be in prayer for you.
Use the time that you would be eating to pray, read scripture, meditate on scripture (not food)
If you have medical concerns, talk to your doctor to get the okay and some advice about meds etc. Fasting is not a good weight loss program – I have heard many large people speak on the topic of fasting and it didn’t appear to do anything for them. If you want to loose weight, change your eating habits, but fasting is not about your waistline, it is about your direct line to God!
Questions?
– see brochure, Ted Haggard tape
The Schedule for the Assembly
Throughout the week we will be seeking for God to purify us. Each evening there will be a different theme that we will focus on, starting with the individual and moving out into the church and community. The schedule is open to change as God’s Spirit leads us.
Sunday February 22: Individual repentance focusing on identity issues, personal sin and character issues.
Monday February 23: Individual repentance focusing on our relationships with others.
Tuesday February 24: Review of prophetic words over Runnymede Baptist Church.
Wednesday February 25: Asking God’s revelation over our past and present with confession and repentance.
Thursday February 26: Praying over the building, the land and the neighbourhood
Friday February 27: Wrap up of the week, unfinished “business”, communion Sealing in prayer of what God has done.
Each night we will start at 7:30 and go to about 9:30. Some of you might think “what am I going to do for 2 hours each night?! While others are saying “how can we get anything done in such a short time?!
We will have a short amount of teaching or direction each night. The evenings will be fairly unstructured, with a time for worship, silence, corporate and individual hearing from God and each other, discernment and response.
This is a week where I believe that we will be drawn into closer relationship with God as a Church, where we will be brought into a closer alignment with his purposes, and where we will be brought closer together as a community.
