Today I'm going to talk about a spiritual practice that some of
you might have come across before something called lectio,
Divina. Some of you might be really
familiar that someone, some of you might have heard it but not
really sure what it is. But before we get to that, I
want to talk through a few things about spiritually growing
growing as Christians. I want to put a disclaimer out
as well. Quite a lot of this I've nicked
from a couple of guys, Pete, Greg and Tim Makai.
Wonderful people who you can get to know, online, great material,
great teaching material, we're so blessed on With the age of
the internet, being able to access teaching from all over
the globe from all sorts of Realms and streams of Christian
expression. I'd encourage you to tap into
some of that we are Vineyard are Keen at live out all that Jesus
has for us and that's a fair statement, isn't it?
We're keen to explore everything that he has in store for us.
We want to live in the good of it all, with even got this
phrase, everyone gets to play. Yes, all of us to get involved.
We all get stuck in. It's not just people up on
stage. It's not just Mark the senior
pastor bless him. Holiday today, much needed,
rest, and time away with family. We've all been given a part to
play with advancing. God's kingdom.
The gifts the skills that each of us have play an important
part to us as the body of Christ.
So, what I want to talk to you today about might be a bit of a
surprise because I want to talk a little bit about practical
Christianity, but we're really good at that, you say, well,
yes, we are, but I want us to think about it a little bit
together. I think we get Get practical
Christianity but sometimes we stumble over elements of it.
We make cognitively assert, we might mentally agree that
practical Christianity is what we are called to.
But there might be areas that lack, there might be a
discrepancy between what we understand and what we do as
Christians, especially in the west.
We tend to think if we're learning about Christianity, if
we're developing our theological knowledge, if we're coming on a
Sunday morning and hearing sermons at then we're growing as
Christians. And yeah, that's part of it.
But if it stops there, we're doing a disservice for all that
God. Round lives when we agree in our
minds and don't put something into action, there's a dangerous
discrepancy and that's odd because we're at church.
Where in Vineyard, it's not like we've got the Practical valve
jammed shut like we get it. Don't we even today?
We've got the Care Center tour in between the two Services.
We know what it is to practically outwork our faith.
But my hope today is that will leave this sermon with our
hearts Desiring to know, God more And our minds choosing to
implement a Biblical and historic habit that has marked
the lives of God's people in a journey of growth and
transformation. At let's kick off with scripture
because you don't want to hear my thoughts on it.
Want to hear God's word and so we're going to hear a few bits
of scripture throughout this morning.
As is always the way we're going to.
Look at a piece of scripture first from Paul's writing,
Paul's writing to Timothy his first letter to Timothy and it
says this have nothing to do. To do with Godless myths, and
old wives, tales rather, train yourselves to be Godly.
The physical training is of some value, but godliness has value
for all things holding promise, both the present life and the
life to come. This is a trustworthy saying
that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive
because we have put our hope in the Living God who is the savior
of all people and especially of those who believe At pulls
described in 2, Timothy that growing and transforming as a
Christian isn't just going to happen to you.
We actually need to put some thought intention and effort.
He uses the word train at parallel with physical exercise
at. Now just a moment.
We're going to have two images up on the screen.
These two images are of people who are passionate about growing
in their physical strength, trying to build muscle, and
we're just going to have a little look at those two images.
In fact, have a look at them on the screen there.
So so so why there's a difference there isn't there?
So why is there a different? There could be a lot of reasons
why there's a difference but I can tell you and I don't do
this. Just shame myself.
I can tell you there's a difference there because one
person has put in a training plan and eating plan and
exercise plan much like Danny probably doesn't the gym.
Very regular those, you know Janet Danny.
He's a regular gym goer, but the other person myself has a lot of
hopeful ambition for bulking up. But in reality doesn't really
translate it into physical action.
Interesting difference there. So, as Christians, thanks for
those images. So, I want to say that becoming
a Christian is a lot more involved than just a mental
activity. It's more than just looking to
Jesus and getting a Jetta get-out-of-jail-free card.
It's so much more it's beautifully more.
And if we stop and limit ourselves, which I think we
sometimes, X do at the point of the get-out-of-jail-free card at
we don't get to live in the fullness of what God wants for
our lives at. So why stick to the training
plan? Why labor, white rain?
Why strive Christ has graced us with freedom?
So why do all those things at? Let's look at the last sentence
at, it's because we've set our Hope on the Living.
God, who is our savior It's a response this beautiful
salvation that we have faith in him and then we get to work and
we get to work. Not to make the little baby
Jesus smile upon us but precisely because the little
baby Jesus Smiles upon us. Your fact far more than that.
He went to the cross for us he died for us.
He rose again for us. So very practical reason why
many of us don't grow is that we don't intend to we don't have an
ambition, a holy ambition. Overhauling our lives in the
next few decades so that we experience more of the
empowerment and presence and life of Jesus in our day-to-day
lives. Now at this point is worth me
highlighting that I am not an end result.
We are all in process, aren't we?
Were all growing in this so I'm teaching myself as I'm teaching
on this pulpit, Maybe part of the journey is coping with a
manager at work who talks down to you all the time.
Now you could just decide in that situation that you're going
to start forgiving them and praying for them to very good
things. But sometimes if we just start
to try and put a moral stance into action, we can fall over
after a couple of weeks. In fact, the way that Christ is
designed, the way that the holy spirit is designed the way that
God the father's designed us to be is through a place of growing
in that intimate space with him. We heard a bit about that last
week at through growing in that private personal space with him.
But our actions, our reactions and responses, change and
develop the effort goes into the training at more than the
activity that works afterwards. You might say I'm sorry, don't
worry about it. Coming to Jesus at can be
something that condenses and aspect of our spiritual
maturity. Now, when we come to Christ or
maybe we have a moment of Revival in our lives, maybe we
experience something. Suddenly a miraculous and big
that can jump us on a few notches that can really mature
us and put some of our old lives to death and some of the new
life comes life with physical training.
Dang, it takes physical effort, it takes spiritual strength.
It takes Focus row and to mature changes change comes because
we're inspired, and then we actually sat in motion a plan,
and it seems to me, like, that's exactly what Paul is talking
about. These verses, we don't just
happen to train ourselves, and that image with a guy far
bulkier than me, didn't just happen.
There were things put him. Place to develop and mature and
grow. And what is the plan?
Like I said, already loving your enemy isn't necessarily the plan
itself. Loving your enemy is something
that comes out as a natural result of these trainings and
these habits training, and habits that are different from
the ones before we were a Christian.
The moments of responding like Christ word stem from what has
gone on in the hours weeks and months leading up to that
difficult conversation with a boss.
That awkward moment with a family member that moment of
Temptation, the right choices stem from a year, a month,
lifetime of growing to be more like Jesus.
So if you wanna grab your bibles, if you're not already,
we're going to look at Luke chapter 4, all of the Gospels.
Is tell the story of Jesus as we know specifically the last few
years. His entrance to the public
stage, his mission his ministry, his death, his resurrection.
And so we're thinking about some of the stuff in Luke's gospel
specifically today. And Luke highlights from
different themes all the gospels highlight different themes.
One of the things that Luke highlights is an interesting
specific where Jesus goes off into prayer, for Solitude, and
it begins here in chapter 4, chapter 4, Comes right after
Jesus baptism where his declared to be the Son of God.
So what's the first thing he does is he moves into this new
exciting Dynamic season. Haven't been announced as the
Son of God, while he goes off Into Obscurity.
It seems for 40 days. Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit
left, the Jordan and was led by the spirit Into the Wilderness.
Forty days. He was tempted by the devil, he
ate nothing during those days and at the end of them, he was
hungry. I'm sure he was very hungry.
Gosh, 40 days in the wilderness that's an extreme amount of
solitude. Flip over to chapter 5, he comes
back from the desert and he's bringing God's healing into
people's lives and he begins to teach 5:15 the news about him,
spread all the more so that crowds of people came to hear
him and be his healed of that Illness, but Jesus often
withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Crowds flock to come and see Jesus Revival.
But often his response was to go into that secret place and spend
time with his Heavenly Father. It was a regular habit, a couple
more versus to see this pattern. Clearly from scripture 6:12,
Jesus went out to a Mountainside to pray and spent the night
praying to God 9:18. When Jesus was praying in
private at this number of verses, we go on at Luke is
helping us to see that. Prayerful Solitude is a
crucially important part, the Jesus's life and Mission, and
you might be thinking, well, of course, Jesus prayed a lot is
Jesus, right? Now, look at this from one of
the other gospels, he invites us to be people of regular prayer,
for Solitude, Matthew 6, verses 5 to 6 and when you pray, do not
be like the Hypocrites for. They love to pray standing in
the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.
Truly, I tell you they have received their reward in full
but when you pray go into your room close the door and Pray to
your father, who is unseen. So, Jesus has in mind clearly
that his disciples are going to be people who are retreating
into a place of prayer for Solitude and finding that Spirit
empowerment live. Their everyday lives.
Yes, he was doing it. Perfect.
And he was doing on our behalf, something unique that we are not
able to do. But that doesn't mean that we
should avoid training ourselves and putting this practice into
our life, a dismissive attitude. Like that would be completely
wrong because Paul says train yourselves, And so, what does
that look like? Well, maybe this, he saved us
into a whole new way of living. That's what Jesus seemed to have
envisaged here. Jesus totally expects.
His followers are going to engage in this practice of
prayerful Solitude. Sometimes after a youth session,
a young person would come up to me and express that.
Maybe they're sensing that. They're not sensing a God's
presence in their life, maybe they're struggling with an issue
as something that's going on for them.
And they might talk to me about kind of how to resolve that or
where to go to find help. And so one of the questions
after our story sensitively, listening to them.
At one of the things I challenge them on really is ask them.
Where's your prayer time in your week?
Essentially I'm asking where are those moments of prayerful
Solitude that you're retreating to the find that strength to
draw on Jesus to grow to be strong to face those situations?
You're finding so overwhelming right now.
And if the young person hasn't got an active prayer life, maybe
I'll give them some pointers as to how where when to be praying,
even some advice like that. And this spiritual practice is
Central to ask growing, Jesus said that is a crucially
important part that shapes, our character will actually find it
nearly impossible to follow Jesus.
If we don't have some practice or ritual of being alone and
focusing on Jesus, he might have caught a word that I said there.
We're at Vineyard, we probably don't like that word ritual,
very much. It's something that we're very
free in our faith to express how we want to express our
relationship with Jesus. And that's really important, but
ritual and prayer seems to be one in the same here.
The idea of regularly ritually routinely might be more
comfortable word spending time in prayer, is something that
Jesus is calling us to. So, it seems to be that rich.
Rachel is an important part of our Christian faith.
Now, it doesn't mean some lifeless activity.
That means nothing to you and doesn't inspire you.
That's clearly not what Jesus is talking about when he's
encouraging us to have a prayer ritual.
Don't worry you me. We all have a bunch of habits in
our lives, and because of these habits, it develops, who we are,
we're not always aware of our habits, because they're things
that we're doing ourselves. Sometimes, externally people,
spot them. I know in marriage that could be
a challenge sometimes when you spot each other's routines and
living with one another, when your University students in a
dorm or whose residents, that's also a challenge when people
have Current ways of living. You might not be convinced that
this point or you might mentally agree.
At just, that I have many times before mentally agreed with this
but then end up not doing it. Maybe something more precious
like Netflix or social media start to grasp, some of our
attention, maybe something else difficult in our life crowds it
out and we think we can't make time for this.
And so what's the value of developing a habit of prayerful
solitude? And can I suggest two things?
Focus and freedom, focus and freedom after a service on a
Sunday morning conversations out in the atrium at can be vast can
be loud and sometimes focusing on the conversation that you're
having with an individual can be difficult humans have a limited
capacity to focus and so in an environment where they're
external stimulus, it can be hard to focus on one point of
reference and that's the case for the Moment by moment.
Moment in our lives. But it's also the case in the
big picture, we could be overwhelmed by multiple
commitments, too many things in our life.
We are limited. We are finite and that's okay.
As humans, then we should think about how we can build our
spiritual muscle mass. In particular ways, we want to
think about how we can focus on particular areas without time
without energy. And apparently, as Jesus said,
if we can't make time for that, we comic space, that is going to
be hard for us to grow as his followers.
And we doing for time what? So here's the strange thing, so
by focusing. We're actually saying no to a
whole bunch of things, that's what Focus does and hones in on
a specific thing. So by focusing, we're saying no
to a whole bunch of things, but at the same time that honing in
on a specific thing gives an enormous amount of Freedom.
Just follow me with this. When you're by yourself, when
you're sitting unadorned, you have no one to impress.
Now, a huge amount of what we say, and what we do is, Is about
people who are around us, it's managing people's perceptions of
us. This is just how we live our
daily lives. I'm constantly managing what you
think of me. So, I might say one thing to
come across intelligent. I might say another thing to
come across like a nice person to be around.
Now, I don't do those things and hopefully we don't do those
things in a manipulative or false way sing Creeps in, let's
be honest, but we strive to put our best foot forward and how we
interact with one another Solitude Ruiz us from that.
It's a space in our lives where we actually don't have to be or
do anything. We're just with it.
I so goal in that moment is to be freed from the noise of
whatever is going on in and around our life.
And to focus on Jesus. In a seemingly strange way.
We become more human. By stepping away from human
interaction. We become more human by having
moments where we're not interacting with others and now
some of you love to be around people.
Some of you more extroverted here or online, a thinking if
you're online you want to be here.
If you're extroverted, you like being around people and that's
good. That's right, that's exciting.
But I question you might ask yourself, is why do you need to
be around people all the time? Are you scared to be alone with
your own thoughts? And remember when we're alone,
we're not truly alone, we're actually sitting with Jesus.
And so, if something about that scares, you maybe there's
something to process there. Other than others of us are
introverted at we love having time alone, whatever that might
look, like, just the way from people, if that's us and this
gives Focus purpose, meaning to those alone, times, prayerful
solitude. Hey, we good.
Yeah, awesome. So if we are to create a space
that freeze ourselves from the noise and interference of
others, and the world around us, and what our emotions might be
telling us, because we want to just focus on Jesus where we
don't have to be anything to. Anybody just simply with Jesus
at what are we doing in this time?
What was Jesus doing in these times?
Where he retreated in solitude what was going on there?
And we can A know what Jesus was doing in this time actually
become a very good idea of what Jesus was doing in this time,
because he would have been doing what Jews traditionally did
regularly. It was a form of prayer for
meditation on the scriptures themselves at.
This wasn't reading the Bible per se and it wasn't just
spraying your heart. So to speak, it was somewhere in
the middle where they merge and scriptures washing over your
heart and mind, and it's coming out verbally and it's sitting in
your heart and in your mind and we can Know this because the
Jewish Handbook of prayer also called The Book of Psalms, as we
know, it shows us what that looks like.
And so someone which you might have in front of you, I'm sure
we've got up on the screen that gives us an idea of what this
looks like. And it says this blessed is the
one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the
way of Sinners or sit in the company of mockers.
But his Delight is in the law of the Lord and who meditates on
his law day and night. That person is like a tree
planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose Leaf does not wither whatever they do prospers.
Someone is talking about this blessed one.
I want to be a blessed one. I don't know about.
You looks like an exciting person to be.
They've made every effort to reject walking with the wicked
sitting with mockers generally, avoiding sin.
But how is it that, I've been empowered to do that where it
says in the verses that follow through delighting in the law of
the Lord, and meditating on it. Look at the beautiful imagery
used as a result as well. That person is like a tree
planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose Leaf does not wither whatever they do prospered.
So, delighting in the law of the Lord, and meditating on, it
seems to be key to a blessed life, but meditating isn't a
clear word in English, it's one that's used for many spiritual
practices across many religions and non religions.
So what does it mean? Biblical tradition in the Jewish
and Christian tradition. That's where we get our Old
Testament from. Isn't that the Hebrew word used
bear with me? We've got some Latin, Greek and
Hebrew today. The Hebrew word hegar means to
groan moan or growl. Yeah, there's something verbal
about what it is to meditate. The meditate on God's word is
something along the lines of to slowly.
Prayerfully carefully even verbally Read God's word.
When we try to pray, we can so easily.
I don't know about you. We can so easily get lost in our
own thought. I will through different things
that we want to talk to God about and it can whirl around in
our minds at times. But to focus on to utter words
of scripture is a centuries-old tradition and a way that we can
engage in prayer instead of spiraling in our own thoughts.
We're not meant to read through passages quickly just to get to
the end of our Bible reading each day.
That would be a ritual that we're not called to do.
We're called to think to meditate just slowly go through
to even. Read out loud.
Scripture hegar biblical, meditation, teaches us to open
our minds to God, Work God's word and our mouths.
Utter it. This is what Jesus was doing at
those times of prayer for soil, shoot.
Likewise, we are also good. Bray to read the Bible.
The h'ghar. Now in the connect group, I
said, I mentioned the connect group, right?
If you're not involved in one, please do the connect group that
I'm a part of. We recently went through lectio
Divina, five, week course, that P Kraig.
And the guys at 24/7 prayer have put together is brilliant worth
doing in a connect group. On your own any sort of context
lectio Divina is this historic Christian practice that I want
to talk about which is essentially what we've started
to describe is the practice of prayerful meditation on.
God's word on the course. Pete reminds followers of Jesus.
That is good and right to desire.
Hearing Jesus is voice it man. John 10:27 says this my sheep
here, sorry my sheep listen to my voice.
I know them and they follow me a priori Mark of discipleship.
According To Jesus In this passage is listening.
Followers of Jesus a marked out, by the way, they listen, by the
way, we listen and obey, this doesn't mean reading.
And knowing a lot of Bible verses, this is where the Greek
word comes in because the Greek word used here is acoustic ass.
Where we get the word Acoustics from acoustic.
Jesus saying that his true followers, are those who
recognize the Acoustics, the new ones, the intimate tone of his
voice. Yes.
Our a true story helps give imagery to this in the 9th in
the 1890s at there was a painter called Francis barreled who
lived in London. His brother Mark sadly died.
But France, France has inherited three things and we can have
them up on the screed an old wind-up gramophone player a
record of his brothers voice and Nipper is Brothers Jack, Russell
Terrier. Whenever Francis played the
recording of his brothers voice, Nipper would pick up his ears
and sit transfix staring at the gramophone, some of you might
know where this is going deeply moved by this Frances, painted
the scene, and the entitled, it his master's voice, but a
painting of that behind us now. A local record company.
Love this picture so much, they decided to make Nipper their
logo. They even changed the name of
the company from the gramophone company, to his master's voice.
By the end of the last century, this company had the biggest
story in the world record store in the world in London and they
had the biggest American Store in New York City and you might
have already guessed the short name for his master's voice.
This record company was called H&M be Nipple loved and longed
for his master's voice is beautiful that idea of just
longing and looking into that sad with the fact that his owner
is dead but we don't look for a voice that is dead.
We don't listen to a secondhand recording.
Now we get first-hand audio with the King of Kings and the Lord
of lords. So how do we actually do it?
How do we learn to recognize the Acoustics of God's voice in the
way that Jesus described? Lectio Divina is helpful for
this is more about the head than the heart, more about the heart
than the head. Let me get that the right way
around, but both are certainly involve less about study and
more about a conversation with god at the four aspects in
Latin. This is our third and final
language for today lectio, meditate 0, or a t0 and Quantum
plateau. And those mean read meditate,
pray and Plate. I've been using a Bible study
app, I don't know how all of you engage with God's word.
There's a number of ways that I do that but I use a bi, a Bible
study app, which is kind of like a fullback for me.
It sends a Bible verse through to me every day and so in
Seasons where I'm particularly busy either through poor
planning or intensities that have come at me, I get a verse
coming at me. Every day that I know that I can
pause read reflect. T', meditate on and that's just
useful for me. I've been doing that for 10
years now. I think it is and not perfectly,
not every day but that routine that ritual has been a massive
help in my relationship with God.
So lectio reading the text slowly.
It could be as simple as a single verse.
Secondly, medet, RTO meditate on it.
This could look like allowing your mind to explore.
Its meaning. What is God revealing a fresh to
you? He is speaking.
If your heart and mind, I am to here.
And thirdly or atio Ray the text at turn, your thoughts into
prayers, is there something to thank God for from the text?
Is there something to ask God or from the text?
And finally, con-tem-plat-- EO contemplate.
The Lord at move, your focus away from the text and unto
Christ himself his character, something about him that you can
reflect on and contemplate on and appreciate these.
Four aspects are more like fluid dance.
Moves Pete, on the course explains it like this rather
than rungs on a ladder. It's not step-by-step and boom.
There you go. That's your dialogue.
With God. Their fluid dance moves, and you
might move around. All of these four. 10, 15, 20,
30 minutes depending on how much time you have as you seek to
hear God's voice. I want to welcome the band up to
the stage because we are coming to a close.
Now, coming in to land, we're not in solitude at the moment
but you've heard some Bible verses today but what I'd love
us to do maybe just for a moment.
Now as the band come up, it's just to ponder just briefly Or
maybe one of those verses I think we've got a slide with a
couple of verses as examples and also that gives us some of those
steps. I think we're just about okay
with text size there, I put a lot on it.
Well, I'd love you to do is just while we finish up, it's just to
spend a moment just thinking on each of those steps thinking on
one of those steps maybe and maybe just one of those verses
one of those passages, maybe just two of the words that are
on the screen. God is speaking to us.
So loudly, so constantly, so Philly.
We just see two balls to hear him.
I just want to pray holy spirit that you'll be here.
Thank you for each and every mind and heart, who is here.
On-site. Thank you for those who are
joining us online, currently or watching this, in the future.
No, just bless us as we reflect on these verses just bless us as
we think about how we could put this practice into our lives.
Lord, if there's been a challenge today about having a
training routine, a ritual, then Inspire us and strengthen us to
do that. Thank you, holy spirit that you
meet us at when we all out to you.
And so in our prayer of need come and meet us, we want to
experience so much more who you are and what you've got for our
lives. And we know that that prayer for
Solitude at time with you, is such a key aspect.
So grow us, we pray. And your son's precious name.