Soul Care- Nourish

Intro:

Slide 1- We over Me

Who are we?

Slide 2-

Soul Care

How does soul care fit into this theme

Slide 3-

key verse- John 10:10

John 10:10 NIV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

The main question- How full do you feel? or How empty do you feel?

Slide 4-

Questions to consider

Slide 5-

Intro to the rhythm of Nourish

Levi Lusko quoted as saying that “In church we can be guilty of looking for spiritual solutions to physical or emotional problems. You might not have a demon- yo might just be dehydrated.”

That is to say “hanger” is real

Debra Fileta references an acronym called HALT that is used by many addiction recovery centers that is a reminder that we are most susceptible to making poor decisions when we are-

hungry, angry, lonely or tired

Taking care of our physical bodies through diet and exercise is important and we look at some reasons for that shortly but first I want to stay in the realm of caring for our physical health by piggy backing off of last weeks rhythm- the rhythm of connection

Slide 6-

Most of the time when we think of caring for our physical bodies well we think of the quality of eating and our exercising- very really if ever do I think we stop to consider the impact that the rhythm of connection has on our physical body

And we should-we are integrated being-one part of who we are effects all the parts

The quality of our relationships does indeed impact us a physical way and there are studies to prove it

Read from page 105 of Soul Care

Loneliness is deadlier than smoking 20 cigarettes a day- when was the last time you saw that public service announcement on a TV commercial

She pulls here information from a 2023 article entitled “The Science of Why Friendships Keep us Healthy” published by the American Psychological Association

But there are more findings to back this up

Harvard studied this topic for over 80 years and published there findings back in 2010 and what they found wasn’t what they were expected

Let me highlight a few of the keys finds as sort of a summary- in a Harvard Gazette article entitled Good genes are nice, but joy is better.

I think those findings are fascinating and important for us to understand- for us much time as we spend concerned about our physical bodies as it relates to what we eat, how we exercise, etc. we ought to be spending that much time and maybe more in the quality of our connections

Slide 7-

Nourish- getting back to this rhythm from the perspective of caring for our physical bodies by what we eat and how we move primarily

I first just need to laugh or chuckle a bit

Slide 8-11-

Dieting memes

Slide 12-

Top diets of 2024- these have been the top three I believe for a number of years- the Mediterranean diet has held the top spot according to US News and World Report for the last 7 years

The W.W.J.E diet- this is the What Would Jesus Eat diet

Slide 13-

WWJE slides

Discuss my affirmation of the premise of the book but raise some question about the working of the title- “Living Longer” can we live longer

Psalm 139:16 NIV

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Slide 14-

The Salvation Diet- again I affirm the premise, I push back against the title choice and tying are eating to our Salvation to our diet in this way

What would Jesus Really Eat- here is an interesting book- this author is pushing back christian circles that would say that the most biblical or “christian” approach to eating would be vegetarian

Let me be clear I don’t through up these memes and these book titles to make light of or mock or down play the importance of caring for our physical health, I do it more so for us to consider its importance alongside the “why” behind it.

Why is it important for us to consider what and how much we eat, how much water we drink each day and how much exercise we get- if the “why” is simply to live longer or because its somehow inherently christian to abide by a certain diet I have to question those motives

page 76 Gary Chapman quote-every body matters

I do think there is important Biblical, Jesus modelled reasons for caring for our physical bodies

Slide 14-

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 NIV

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

This is an act of love on the part of God’d people back to God

Slide 15-

John 10:10 NIV

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

God’s desire is for us to experience “fullness” of life, there is something of that fullness that is missed if we neglect the physical, nutritional needs of our bodies

Which because we are integrated, whole beings effects or love toward God

Slide 16-

I think there is an element of stewardship here- this is where I land on the subject- I am not going to stand up here this morning and say that this food is bad and this food is good- I think its more gray than that

Instead I challenge you to consider how God is calling you to steward what he has given you?

1 Corinthians 6:19 NIV

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

You are not your own- you are his. Consider how you care for something that isn’t yours?

Slide 17-

We are also called to be “living sacrifices”

Romans 12:1 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

I challenge you to consider what is the quality of the sacrifice that you are offering? In biblical times that sacrifice was to be the best of the best- are we offering to God the “best”?

Slide 18-

Moderation- Proverbs 25:16

Proverbs 25:16 NIV

If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.

Proverbs 25:28 NIV

Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.

Slide 19-

Paul speaks to this in instructing the Corinthian church

1 Corinthians 10:23–26 NIV

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

Paul's instruction would include a warning to not let this issue of what we eat become a stumbling block, between Jews and Gentiles

Instead he comes to this conclusion

1 Corinthians 10:31–33 NIV

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

In this same vein we could add Peter’s vision in Acts 9- the context is of considering Peter is being taught to no consider anyone or anything that God has made unclean and that revelation changes he ministry

Conclusion:

We are called to steward the physical bodies that he gave us. We do that not to live “longer” but to live “fuller”

To be a fit and suitable temple, a pleasing sacrifice

Jesus lived on mission- most scholars would say that Jesus probably walk 20 miles a day or converted into steps about 44,000 steps. He had places to go, people to meet, but in that we don’t see Jesus neglecting his physical body, we see him eating with others, encouraging his disciples to eat, being concerned for others in this sense, I think of the feed of the 4 and 5 thousand, of the story of Jesus preparing breakfast on the shore following a night of finishing

Slide 21-

Let us consider how we can best steward our physical bodies well so that we can life “full” lives and accomplish that which God is calling us to do.