Meeting God
Finding Your Sacred Pathway
Meeting God: The Sensate
September 3, 2023 • Pastor Kent Landhuis
Meeting God: The Sensate Pastor Kent Landhuis THEME – The sensate meets God with their whole being. TEXT - Psalm 141; Mark 12:30 1. Hearing God. “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” ~Matthew 11:15 2. Seeing God. “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” ~ Matthew 6:22 3. Smelling God. “(Bring) spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense.” ~Exodus 25:6b 4. Touching God. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” ~ Isaiah 53:5 5. Tasting God. “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” ~ Psalm 34:8 NEXT STEPS Meet God now in this place. Keep exploring your pathways to meeting God.
Meeting God: The Activist
August 27, 2023 • Pastor Kent Landhuis
Meeting God: The Activist Pastor Kent Landhuis THEME - Activists meet God in their zeal for doing good. TEXT - https://www.bible.com/bible/111/rom.12.9-21.niv, https://www.bible.com/bible/111/jhn.2.13-17.niv OUTLINE 1. Zealous for good. · Romans 12:9-13. · Hate evil. · Cling to good. 2. Zealous for people. · Romans 12:14-20. · Matthew 5:43-45. · Love people. 3. Zealous for God’s Glory. · Romans 12:21. · Romans 12:1-2. · Matthew 15:29-31 · 1 Kings 18:19-39 · Praise God. NEXT STEPS 1. Intercede for people trapped by evil. 2. Fight for good.
Meeting God: The Contemplative
August 20, 2023 • Pastor Kent Landhuis
Meeting God: The Contemplative Pastor Kent Landhuis THEME - Contemplatives meet God with ideas and images, connecting with God in their minds. TEXT - https://www.bible.com/bible/111/2ti.1.1-7.niv , https://www.bible.com/bible/111/2ti.3.10-17.niv OUTLINE 1. Contemplatives meet God through curiosity. * All truth is God’s truth. * Love God with all your mind. 2. Contemplatives love words and images. * To know God is to love God. * Seek truth. 3. Contemplatives can love ideas too much. * Don’t love ideas more than people. * Don’t love ideas more than action. 4. Contemplatives need mental stimulation. * Study the word. * Grow in grace and knowledge. NEXT STEPS 1. Take the sacred pathways assessment: http://www.soulshepherding.org/sacred-pathways-survey 2. Meet God.
Meeting God: The Caregiver
August 13, 2023 • Gary Sager
MEETING GOD: THE CAREGIVER Gary Sager THEME – Love is the true path to caring. TEXT - 1 John 3:11; Matthew 22:37-39 1. Importance of Love * Matt. 22:40 * Rom. 13:10 * John 13:34 2. Love Who * Matt. 5:43 – Love your enemy. * Luke 10:30-37 – Good Samaritan. 3. Love Why - John 13:35 4. Love How * Rom. 5:8 – He loves unconditionally. * 2 Cor. 5:21 – He loves sacrificially. * Eph. 4:32 – He loves with forgiveness. * Rom. 8:38-39 – He loves eternally. 5. Key Reason John 15:12-13, Romans 5:8 NEXT STEPS – Can we love as Christ loved? “Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, It does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” ~ 1 Cor. 13:4-7 “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” ~ 1 John 4:9-11 --------------------------------- Take the Sacred Pathways Assessment This Sacred Pathways Survey will help you to better understand yourself and your relationship with God, your strengths and your weaknesses, what to do in times of stress, and how to challenge yourself. It’s a blessing to share this survey with friends. Along these lines we recently used this when leading a retreat for a church staff. This Sacred Pathways Survey is inspired by and adapted from Gary Thomas’ book, “Sacred Pathways: Discovering your Soul’s Path to God.” https://http://www.soulshepherding.org/sacred-pathways-survey SACRED PATHWAYS and DESCRIPTIONS Nature - Appreciating the beauty of God’s creation. Enthusiastic Worship - Celebrating God’s goodness with thanks and praise. Learning - Gaining insights about God and life with him. Tradition - Following time-honored spiritual traditions and practices. Asceticism - Abstaining from comforts to make more space for God. Sensation - Experiencing God with your physical senses or imagination. Caregiving - Offering God’s compassion to those the hurting or struggling. Social Justice - Actively engaging with others to serve the poor and needy Contemplation/Quiet Prayer - Being absorbed with God in quiet solitude.
Meeting God: The Naturalist
August 6, 2023 • Pastor Steve Poole • Romans 1:18–23
MEETING GOD: The Naturalist Pastor Steve Poole THEME – Creation declares the glory of God! TEXT – Romans 1:18-23 1. Prayer is Meeting With God Romans 1:19-23 2. God Reveals Himself to Us Through Creation Psalm 19:1-4 3. Praying in Nature Helps Us to be in Awe of Go “Once, I went into the wild a dead man. Death had broken my heart and I grieved… God’s words in God’s pages made more sense to me in God’s wild. After a few days I was a new man.” ~Murray Pura NEXT STEP – Make time to go outdoors and meet God in prayer this week.