EXPLORE IT - 1 Corinthians 10:4

1 Corinthians 10:4  and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.

Our passage this week directs us back to the Book of Exodus and the wandering Israelites in the desert, how they grumbled, and how God was with them and provided.

Exodus 17:1-7  The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?" Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me." The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah   {7 Massah means testing.} and Meribah {7 Meribah means quarreling.} because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"  

When I was in Israel, I remember walking through a valley with rock on either side.  It was beautiful, but it was also dry and dusty as it hadn’t rained in quite a while.  I was thankful for the bottled water we carried.  But I remember coming up to a place in the rock wall where it almost looked wet.  Our guide explained that the sedimentary rock sometimes contains pockets just below the surface and is able to collect and hold water.  If we were to strike the rock, water would come out of it.  Because the rocks operate as a filtration system, the water would be clean to drink.  The miracle and provision of God wasn’t necessarily in producing water from a rock, but in the quantity of water.  By itself, the rock would naturally hold enough water for a handful of people, not enough for the entire nation of Israel.  God was with the Israelites and He provided for their needs just as God is with us and provides for our needs.

The challenge comes when God chooses to provide for our needs in one way yesterday and in a different way tomorrow.  In the Exodus passage, God asks Moses to strike the rock to produce water – which may not have taken much faith as this was a natural way to receive water in the desert.  Many years later (Numbers 20), the Israelites complain again about not having water, Moses again seeks God, and God again gives instructions on how to receive water.  The difference?  This time, instead of striking the rock, God tells Moses to “Speak to the rock.”  What does Moses do?  He strikes the rock.  He tried the old way when God was trying to reveal a new way.  Moses didn’t trust in God and it cost him entrance into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).

Many of us seek God for our needs, asking Him to provide for us.  We trust Him because He has provided before.  However, we need to be mindful that He might provide in a different way today than He did yesterday.  We must keep our eyes open, knowing that God is with us, in order to receive His provision.  He may be doing something new in your life, He may be looking to reveal something new about himself to you.  Keep an open mind, we serve an awesome God!

Blessings,
Pastor Amy

READ IT! - iROCK - I Corinthians 10:1-13

 During the iRock sermon series, we're studying 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 each day.

"For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to indulge in revelry.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

- I Corinthians 10: 1-13

Living on Mission and Remembering

Living on Mission and Remembering

Oh how easily we forget. Or is it just me? No, I don’t think so. I think we’re all forgetters sometimes.

Our passage this week opens up with, “I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago.” (1 Corinthians 10:1) Why shouldn’t we forget?

History has shown that people are creatures of repeating patterns. If we think specifically about the children of Israel, we can clearly see that they worshipped God then turned and worshipped idols, then repented and worshipped God again only to revert back to worshipping idols. Sigh. This makes me sad.

And then I think of my own life.

I have personally experienced these repeating patterns of bad decisions, bad behavior, repentance and worship, bad decisions, bad behavior, repentance and worship… repeat ad nauseam. (The good news is that we have an event called Encounter@PoC that helped me break this destructive cycle!)

We are so much more likely to repeat bad behavior if we forget where we have been and what we have experienced in the past. We’re also much more likely to worship when we remember how (and from what) God delivered us in the past.

Let’s practice Living on Mission and remember our history. We can avoid repeating bad decisions and bad behavior that keeps us from fulfilling our call, and return to worshipping the God who faithfully delivers us every time we turn to Him.

Pastor Angela

iPray: 1 Corinthians 10:1-3

When I was little and living on the east coast, I saw a school guidance counselor who asked me if I knew who the most important person in the world was.  At the time, I believed in Jesus... (my foolish adolescent/adult brain hadn't attempted to complicate things).  I answered "Jesus..."  (So happy to get the question right!) Smiling, I waited for the response of the guidance counselor, who then informed me that I was wrong.  Try again.  (Blank stare.)  No idea.  So she held out a mirror and had me look in it.  There was my answer.  I was the most important person in the world.  WHAT?!  This was news to me.  Apparently I received it as big news.  I went home and with puffed up chest and inflated head, alerted my mother to this newfound "truth", which she promptly corrected. 

We live in a culture where it is all about me.  This is the common sense approach.  The practical approach.  If I don't make it all about me, who will?  Gotta take care of me... I'm awesome.  If I don't think I'm awesome well who else will? 

It's easy to narrow our scope and focus so much that we forget any kind of a bigger picture, including, alas, Jesus, who He is for us, and what He did for us. 

Has Jesus come through for you?  Can you recall when you first cried out to Him?  When you first received Him as your Lord, Savior, and Friend?  Or maybe when you ran away from Him and then eventually came back?  How He was there with open arms?  Or when you first began to realize the magnitude of what it meant to actually love Jesus and follow Him with every ounce of your being, not just half-heartedly, when it was convenient to you?  Or when you received that news you didn't want to hear and your first thought was an inner prayer and cry to the Only One who could do anything about it?  Ah, Jesus.  He Rocks! 

We're beginning a new sermon series on Sunday called iRock:  The End of Self-Revelry.  We're going to explore an awesome passage - 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 and hopefully, together, as the family of God, learn to get rid of that "me" barrier that gets in the way of so many things.

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, we read what seems like a quick little "ditty" that at first I kind of thought of as "skippable."  But wait!  Not so!  Paul is recalling past provisions and blessing and shared experiences from God that the Israelites had received. 

So what?  As this is the prayer-focused portion of our PoC blog, how does this inform our prayers today, in preparation for Sunday?

For us to go any further on this journey to end our self-revelry, perhaps we need to "begin with the beginning in mind"... I know there are great sayings that talk about beginning with the end in mind, and ending with the beginning in mind.  And I totally advocate for that.  But for this, we really all need to target our prayers with some praises, specifically recalling who we have received (Jesus) and what we have received (insert your story here:                       ).  Mull on that, for a bit, child of God.  And then let's iPray!!!  Because, honestly, prayer is a great way to rather quickly get our eyes off of ourselves and on to Jesus.

iPray:

Dear Jesus,
Please be with each of us as we embark on this journey together, focusing our attention on YOU and not on ourselves.  I don't want to be caught up in a cycle where I'm what's holding me back from a better relationship with You and a better relationship with other people.  Today, I praise YOU for saving me.  I praise YOU for drawing me close to You.  I praise you for answered prayers.
Amen.

Join us tonight for PoC|Coverage, which starts at 6pm!

Pastor Celia

FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “In It Together”

Supplies: Bible; pictures from a family trip or event (optional)

SHARE 

It’s hard to believe, but summer is just around the corner.  With Easter behind us, it’s just a short six or seven weeks before school is out for the year.  This is the time of year when I start to get a little nostalgic remembering the countless summer vacations my family and I took when I was a kid.  That’s probably the thing I miss the most from childhood.  Every spring, my parents would choose a “focus destination” somewhere in the continental U.S.  Then they’d look at all the different routes we could take to get there and the various sites and landmarks along the way.  For a few weeks, our mailbox would be stuffed with brochures and travel guides from the tourism boards located along our path.  Then at the end of June, we’d load up the station wagon like a giant three-dimensional game of Tetris and spend the next two weeks tent camping across the country and back.  

I admit it: at the time, it didn’t seem like tons of fun.  Every once in awhile we’d go to some place cool, like Disneyland or Gettysburg, but most of the time was spent in the backseat of a hot car without air conditioning.  Looking back now, though, I realize how valuable these trips were.  First, I got to see so much of our beautiful country.  Some of the places I’ve been and sites I’ve seen are A-MA-ZING!  I also had the chance to experience the different cultures across the nation.  But the most important thing about these vacations was that they became a bonding place for my family.  We experienced everything together, and now, 30+ years later, they help connect us.  We still talk about our adventures and make jokes about Sunshine punch and the snowball fight at Wolf’s Creek Pass.

I bet your family has some similar experiences.  Maybe you’ve got pictures from a favorite vacation or trip.  Take a look and share some of your memories.

READ

For the next several weeks, we’re going to be exploring 1 Corinthians 10 together.  As we kick off this new iRock series, read the first three verses together in this chapter.

THINK

Huh?  This chapter feels like it begins in the middle of something, like it’s someone else’s story…only we don’t necessarily know the references.  As Paul writes to the Corinthian church here, he starts talking about a story from the Old Testament.  They would have understood that he was talking about Moses and the Israelites after they left Egypt.  He mentions the pillar of cloud God used to guide them during the day, the pathway he provided through the Red Sea, and the satisfying manna he sent from Heaven each morning.  These were defining, miraculous experiences that the entire Israelite population shared at that time.  It was their “family vacation”—all two million of them—binding them together as a nation.  In fact, the shared memories of those adventures would be talked about for generations, reminding an entire people of God’s love and power for thousands of years.

Family vacations are special, no doubt.  But it’s even more special, more influential when a family shares their journey with God.  I know each person has their own relationship with Jesus, and that holds true for the individuals in a family.  Not everyone in the house is at the same place in their journey with Jesus.  In fact, not everyone may have even started a journey with Jesus.  But isn’t it true that when God moves in the life of one member, He impacts the entire family?  When God blesses with a new job or new baby, the whole family is blessed.  When he leads a parent to begin a new ministry adventure, the whole family is affected.  When he calls a teen to spend a season on the mission field, the whole family is impacted.   Beyond that, however, we can experience these adventures purposefully as a family.

There are many details about our family vacations that have slipped through the cracks of my memory, but I will never forget standing in our church that one particular Sunday when I was thirteen.  I watched as my parents exchanged a powerful look following what I thought to be a rather ordinary sermon.  I saw their eyes brim with tears as they clasped hands.  I later learned that God had spoken clearly to both of them about moving our family from Connecticut back to Iowa.  Of course, my life was certainly affected by that move of God.  More than that, though, I got to be a part of his moving—I got to watch and talk with my parents about how he led them and why they felt he was calling us to relocate.  That experience had a profound impact on my relationship with God.

APPLY

We’re beginning a new series, and we will be tackling some challenging issues as we journey through the rest of 1 Corinthians 10.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if, as God led you (Dad, Mom, son, daughter)…if as he led you, you could share the experience with the rest of your family?  How cool would it be to start journeying with God together?  It can be as simple as setting aside a little time each day or each week to share and talk about how God’s moving in each of you.  Imagine the powerful connection you could build by sharing in each other’s spiritual victories and helping through each other’s spiritual trials!  Those are memories that can influence generations!  Would you agree together today to start journeying through your faith life together as a unit and see all the amazingly beautiful places God can take you?

PRAY

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us this family.  Thank you for (insert the names of each family member).  Help us as we journey through life together, not only as “The (insert last name)”, but as we go as your followers, traveling with You, Jesus, together.  In Your Name we pray, Jesus.  Amen

REPLY

Did you and your family enjoy this devotional blog?  We'd love to know about it!  Our hope is to continue providing this weekly opportunity for families to do a devotion together.  If your family did this devotion, please shoot us an email, text or just post a comment to this blog.