May 12, 2019 - LESSONS IN THE FIRE - Blessed, Broken, and Blessed Again

May 12, 2019 The smaller groups in our church community are inside our homes where we go deeper, build friendships, and walk out the Christian life with each other. HOME CHURCH GUIDE + “Breaking the Ice” question (group facilitator) + CHECK-INS: Introduce, check-in + CARE: Needs in the group + COMPASSION: What is the group planning? Are you inviting your neighbours to join in? + GROUP ANNOUNCEMENTS Church-wide, group-only + DIG IN: Discuss questions as a group + END AND HOMEWORK: Final questions, prayer huddles for personal requests. Consider breaking into small groups (huddles) of 2-4, by gender, if large enough. DISCUSSION questions: + What were your initial thoughts about the Notre Dame fire (there is no “wrong” DEFINING MATTER: Physical substance in general, as distinct from mind and spirit; (in physics) that which occupies space and possesses rest mass, especially as distinct from energy. answer)? + Have you lost (lose, stolen, etc.) anything materially that struck you emotionally more or less than you expected? + Tell of a time that something physical/material moved you or spoke to you? Give some details. + What are your initial thoughts on the importance vs. idolatry of buildings and art Scripture + Genesis 1:1-2,31; 2:1-2 + Exodus 35:30-35 + 1 Kings 6 + 1Chron 15:16 + Jeremiah 18:3 (visual, music, movies, etc.) + There were multiple Bible passages discussed. Talk through a few of them and why they stuck with or struck you. + What is our church’s unwritten theology of body, buildings/spaces, art, and creation? What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses? + In your life how are you aware of body, buildings, art, and creation? Prayer Requests: THE FALL TOUCHES ALL 1: IMPORTANCE VS. IDOLATRY OF CREATION/ MATTER Romans 1:20-25 THE FALL TOUCHES ALL 2: THE RISKS IN IDOLATRY The body and creation are both blessed and broken, the Neutral Medium. + The key is holding these two claims of scripture together. + Overemphasis on the blessed + The Cathedral that glorified God also was built in a culture of oppression and great inequality. (Same thing with the Temple in Jeremiah 7) - The fire was part of the risk of either randomized nature or human sin/ evil + Spiritual Warfare Worldview of the Bible + John Polkinghorne - Quantum Physicist and believer, tells us that + “Evil permeates the structure of the stage itself, for the one given authority over the structure has become corrupt” (301). - Heart of creation a war against God Leviathan and Rahab encompass the earth ( Job 9:13; 26:12-13; 41:1-34; Ps 74:10-17; 104:7-9; Prov 8:27-29) + If the world is separate from God in material/stuff - it has to have - “Raging Waters” of chaos defy the Almighty, threaten creation and must be kept at bay (Job 7:12; 38:6-11; ps 74:10-17; 104:7-9; Prov 8:27-29) nature illustrates a significant element of chance. “(God) is not the puppet master of men or of matter,”...This element of chance is crucial of the creation is to contain certain desirous qualities. (281). randomness. Novelty and other forms of life cannot be generated without it. + Most importantly, to have beings who are self-determining, loving and morally responsible, this is required. This comes at a cost - elements of risk and unpredictability on a small scale. You CANNOT have absolute order and genuine chance in Creation. Randomness can benefit or harm humans. If the Creator wants a meaningful creature, He chooses to give up a degree of control and guaranteed order. + Overemphasis on the Broken THE LIMITS OF CREATION + “The Same water which sustains and refreshes can also drown; the same drug which relieves suffering can cause crippling psychological addiction; the same sun which gives light and life can parch fields and bring famine; the same neural arrangements which transmit intense pleasure and ecstasy can also bring extreme pain and agony.” M. Peterson + When we create, as part of our being like god, we create within the creation. So the issues of the fall affect our creations immediately too. - Entire creation subject to bondage and decay and groans (Romans 8:20-22) - Sinister spirit of great power is “the god of the world” and “the ruler of the prince of the power of the air” ( 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2) - Evil “prince” owns all the kingdoms of the world and controls the entire fallen world (Luke 4:6; 1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:9) - The creation is in a war - the one given control over matter/structure of matter has mutinied. TAKE OUTS Now What? What do we see in the fire? + Physical Spiritual world and beings + Broken and blessed + Nature, creation, and what we create in the creation... + The key to health is Jesus...Blessed AGAIN! New birth. From Nature to Art. What does this mean regarding art and matter? + Art is not neutral, nothing can be at this point in Salvation history. + Art is never truly neutral in creation, use or appreciation. Other Thoughts divinity.uchicago.edu/sightings/mourning-and-not-mourning-notre-dame