Day 2: Week 5 (Planned Spontenaity)

[russhutto]

Planned Spontenaity

1) Central Passage(s):

Proverbs 16:9
2 Chronicles 20:3-19
1 Corinthians 14:26-35; 39-40
1 Thessalonians 5:19-21
2 Timothy 2:15


2) My Daily Praise:
Share what God has been speaking to you the last few days!

3) My Daily Surrender:

John 4:4-10
Have you planned for unplanned interruptions today?
Thank God for interruptions that you will encounter today and tomorrow from other people and circumstances.
Pray that you will SPONTANEOUSLY obey what God has already divinely planned!

[WorshipVanguard]

Central Passages:
One thing stuck out to me as I was reading this day’s lesson. The passage in 1 Corinthians 14:26-35 may have been taken out of context. I’m not saying this as a rebuke, but rather using this as an opportunity to highlight this passage of scripture may not have originated with Paul but with the church in Corinth. Here’s where I’m coming from -- Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is laid out in this fashion: a) Paul writes in Chapters 1-4 about his ministry, reproof, his visit, explanations, and Timothy; b) In chapters 5-6, he writes of what he heard of concerning the church in Corinth; and c) Paul devotes chapters 7-14 to address questions and statements sent to him from the church in Corinth. With that said, I find it difficult to use this passage as a “this is how we should do it” if Paul’s writing consists of restating matters in a letter sent to him, and THEN addressing them. Are verses 26-35 a reiteration or an instruction? In verse 30, Paul has a totally different tone, “Did the word of God originate with you?” Is this Paul saying, “How foolish are you to over-plan your meetings together! If someone has a gift, let them use it.” I may start a new thread to discuss the layout in 1 Corinthians so we can get a better understanding of what Paul REITERATED compared to what he TAUGHT.

So, I’m not quite sure this “orderly conduct” is in the correct context using this passage. I think the main gist really should be pray first and foremost, and then see what the Lord does. Jesus did not have a “structure” when ministering to people; he did what the Father asked him to do. For us to say, “we must organize our meetings THIS way” seems ludicrous to me because everyone has opinions of how meetings should be run. Granted, there is a level of planning and administration, but I’m not sure if “order” created by humans is a Christ-like approach to our meetings. I’m still wrestling with this one. So, please bear with me as I seek the truth in this matter.

My Daily Praise
Lord, you always have a way of making a point about “spontaneity” when it comes to raising children. For someone who likes planning ahead and having an order to things, I’ve learned through being a stay-at-home mom that there is no such thing as a routine. Thank you for enabling me to “go with the flow” and being more sensitive to your spirit. I’m daily desiring more of you in my life, and I would not have it any other way.

My Daily Surrender
Lord, I want to do what you ask of me. I want to hear your voice better so that I obey 1st time every time. I’m not sure if I desire a particular “order” to my worship meetings, though. Yes, there are types and shadows of your scripture in these meetings. At the same time, I not once recognized you creating “orderly worship” in Christ. You simply served with no agenda for yourself, but only doing what the Father asked you to do. Lord, please reveal any ungodly thoughts or actions to me. I admit many things I do are based on how I was raised and the culture in which I live. However, I want to break the “this is how WE do it” cycle and follow your voice more effectively. Please help me discern “orderly worship” as a means of glorifying you or bringing attention to a church function. I’m still wrestling with this one.

[bkwestman]

1. Central Passage
- Even before reading this day, I knew this would be a hard one for me. I am such an orderly, planned out, predictable person. I know that about myself, so this is another area where I need to be stretched. Thoughts about the day's reading: Yes, plans bring comfort. Our tech crew needs that detailed structure to know what's coming and to help things flow smoothly. As I took Dwayne's online leadership class recently, one of the exercises was to submit a tape of our worship service for Dwayne to watch and give feedback. I know - scary! Well, one of his comments to me was that everything was well prepared and excellent. Then he said, "and therein lies a potential snare". I didn't know quite what he meant, but as I read today, I see somewhat where he was going. One of my main goals when I prepare our team is to work so hard on the music, harmonies, band parts, etc... to get it to be the best that it can be so as not to be a distraction from worship, but rather to help lead people into worship. Maybe I'm focusing on that too much. Does that stand out to people? Do people go away remembering how good the team sounded? Well, that's not my goal, but that may be what happens. Rather than walking away remembering a time when God's presence was evident and people responded to the Spirit's leading in amazing ways. I wonder if that's happening in our church?

Wow, I never thought of the passage in 2 Chronicles 20:3-19 as a worship service. I wonder how much of that was really planned out, and how much was spontaneous.

The passage in 1 Corinthians 14 was interesting. "All spontaneity must be founded on thoughtful and deliberate structure and planning". That's the hard part. I need to be open to the Holy Spirit's leading to do something different in the order, if that's what He wants to do. I have it so planned out, that I don't leave any minutes for God. Wow, that's sad. "We must plan as though it's all up to us, and trust as though it's all up to him." That was encouraging. It's not wrong, then, to plan out an entire service down to the minute. But, I can't hold so tightly to that plan, as to not allow God to break in, if He has something different in mind.

2. My Daily Praise
- Lord, You have been revealing Yourself to me in the past few days! We just started this 90 day tithing challenge at our church last Sunday, and we committed to tithe faithfully and put God to the "test" as a church. Even in the first few days, God's blessing have been abundant, and He has been revealing Himself to me as a faithful God. Lord, thank You for the several blessing You have showered on us even in the last day or two. You are amazing!!

3. My Daily Surrender
- Lord, thank You for the interruptions that will come my way tonight and tomorrow that I don't know about. Help me to see them as opportunities You are putting in my path, rather than distractions. Help me to recognize when You might be at work in a situation. Help me to spontaneously obey what You have planned out for me. How exciting!

[Wannabe a Worshiper]

Central Passages
Dwayne was right-on when he said that the moments we remember; the ones where we saw the Holy Spirit working, are the times when the plan is scrapped for the spontaneous.

One Sunday a couple years ago, I was leading the congregation in song, when a crowd began developing around one of the ladies a few rows from the front. In our small church, it only took a few seconds for everyone to know something was wrong. A couple men helped her up and escorted her out of the room. As Soon as she was gone, I stopped the song, and we had prayer for Marsha. It was a very powerful time of unity among the people, and turned a lackluster service into a memorable one. Turns out Marsha is diabetic, and her insulin level had dropped too low, and she was just fine within a couple hours.

Between the central scripture in 2 Chronicles and the First Corinthians passage, we see a big contrast. One was spontaneous but orderly, the other something resembling a free-for-all.

So the gist of todays lesson is that we need balance; both structure and spontaneity. The two are not an oxymoron.

My Daily Praise
The message I have been hearing consistently for the past week or two is that I still haven't completely turned loose of trying to run my life, and hand it over to God. It isn't easy to let go of something I have held on to for so many years. But I thank the Lord that I have turned some major areas over to him, and others are following. Thank you Jesus for showing me that your yoke is easy and your burden is light. Give me the determination to get fully under your yoke, so I can pull my share of the load.

My Daily Surrender
God, I thank you for divine interruptions. Sometimes I don't take to them too kindly, but in the end I see that it was your hand at work. Give me the grace to gladly step away from my plans so your will can be done.

[InHisName]

Central Passage

My thoughts went to our Wed. eve. service as I read through the passage. Our Pastor and his wife, who is also the worship director of the service, are a great example of both planning and listening to the Holy Spirit. Oftentimes we have a "normal" worship time...prayer, music, prayer, offering, teaching. But there are times (maybe once a month? average) when Pastor T just feels like the Holy Spirit is telling him something-to pray, to have W and P for the entire service, or to speak on a totally different topic than planned. This is a lot easier to do in a smaller service, or church (our three Sunday services have maybe 500-1,000 each service) and I really appreciate the opportunity to be there as someone is led by the Spirit.

I pose a question: it seems harder to be "led" in a larger service. Does that mean it's best for the pastor to stick to the schedule and topic, or should a pastor be open to being led even in large services? The obvious answer seems to be, of course he should be open to being led! But in the churches I'm familiar with, and my church, it seems like sticking to the schedule is the norm. We've NEVER prayed the entire service (on Sun., that I know of), or had people share in service, etc. Does size matter? I'm not sure how many were in attendance at the gathering in 2 Chronicles but it seems like it was a lot. Thoughts?

Daily Praise

God has been telling me to have Him in the forefront of everything I do. There's a kind of urgency...that's He's prepping me for something, and that learning to listen to Him and learning to give myself up in prayer is essential.

Daily Confession

I will have this in my mind tomorrow, as it's night time now. Lord, help me to be prepared for "spontaneous" interruptions...interruptions to us, but divine appointments to you. Help us to not be irritated or too wrapped up in ourselves to listen to you. Help me to obey you and witness or minister in any way possible. I pray I let you work through me.

[russhutto]

I pose a question: it seems harder to be "led" in a larger service. Does that mean it's best for the pastor to stick to the schedule and topic, or should a pastor be open to being led even in large services? The obvious answer seems to be, of course he should be open to being led! But in the churches I'm familiar with, and my church, it seems like sticking to the schedule is the norm. We've NEVER prayed the entire service (on Sun., that I know of), or had people share in service, etc. Does size matter? I'm not sure how many were in attendance at the gathering in 2 Chronicles but it seems like it was a lot. Thoughts?

Personally, I feel like we miss out on a lot of opportunity for SPONTANEITY in our faith communities because we don't spend a lot of time together outside of our corporate worship gatherings. I believe there is a time and a place for large gatherings with encouragement and celebration, but I really feel like the "void" in the Western church has nothing to do with the order of our big services as much as it has to do with the de-prioritization of growing larger by growing smaller.

Granted, some churches have weekly home meetings and those are great, but there's something to be said for living life together. I'm not advocating a cheap imitation of early Acts church life, but more of a priority on living and being TOGETHER.

How does that look from faith community to faith community? I don't know. But I know it doesn't look like a stadium rock concert.

Imagine the spontaneity that could come from a close knit family group dedicated to loving God and loving people.