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Aug 10
Love0

Isaiah & Idolatry (Community Group Study Notes)

By isaiah, Studies

This week we’re taking a slight excursus from the main line of Isaiah to talk about the thing Isaiah says is a plague amongst God’s people Israel, and is what’s brought them to this place.

It’s been said that we are built to worship. What do you think of that? Do you think it’s true of you?

Have a look at the below diagram that was spoken about in the talk on Sunday night. Talk about the connection between our desires, idols and what we offer. What are some examples of how this operates in our (or others) lives.

idolsdiag

Are the above examples discussed always problematic? When do you think they become problematic?

Read Isaiah 44:6-23

Isaiah is saying in this passage that the idea of idolatry sells both God short and sells us short.

Discuss the ways in which it sells God short? (vv.12-16)

Looking at the first two commandments and the introduction to them (Exodus 20:1-6) why doesn’t God want to be reduced to an idol?

Discuss the ways in which it sells us short? (v.17)

Augustine talks about the idea of “disordered love”. That is, it’s not that we don’t love, and we might even love good things, but we love them in the wrong order. We love some things so much that it crushes others, or the thing we love so much can’t bear the weight of our expectation.

What are some examples of this in our culture? In what ways might we ask created things to “save us”?

For some they might not seem to struggle much with the idea of idolatry. They’re balanced, not all their eggs are in one basket, and they seem to be navigating life pretty well without God. Discuss the idea that in these circumstances, the thing that we worship is ourselves – our own reason & ability to navigate life. What’s the danger here?

So if the question the bible puts to us is not “Will you worship?” but “what will you worship?”, how do we move from unhealthy worship to healthy worship?

Read Colossians 3:1-5

Paul’s “since then” at the start of this passage is premised on what he’s said before, exploring the person and work of Jesus.

What is it that Jesus offers in his work & person that we look for in creation?

In his book Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller says:

“The living God, who revealed himself at Mount Sinai and on the cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfil you, and if you fail him, can truly forgive him.”

What do you think of this?

Paul’s instruction here then is, set your hearts and minds on Jesus. That is, move the focus of your worship from the creation to the creator. What does it look like to set your hearts and minds on Jesus?

It’s often hard to identify the idols in our lives. One of the things suggested is that if we “pull our emotions up by their roots” you’ll find the idols clinging to them.

To finish (as far as you’re comfortable) talk about the emotions you struggle with and what idols might be clinging to them. Pray for each other in this that in setting our hearts and minds on Jesus we might be able to find the reality of worship, not the shadow.

Aug 02
Love0

Isaiah 36-39: In whom do you trust? (Community Group Study Notes)

By isaiah, Studies

If you look at the diagram in the background booklet, you’ll see that this is the last section in the first half of Isaiah. This week is looking at a question that’s been posed for Israel ever since God made them a nation – in whom do you trust?

What is it for you that makes you trust God? At what times of your life has it been the easiest? At what times of your life has it been the hardest?

Read Isaiah 36

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Jul 27
Love0

Isaiah 13-27: Judgement & Epidemics (Community Group Study Notes)

By isaiah, Studies

This weeks passage is a big one, and it’s a controversial one. Isaiah 13-24 are essentially one long monologue about judgement on Israel, Judah and all the nations surrounding them. It’s extensive, brutal and to our culture not all that palatable.

As you start, discuss the love-hate relationship our culture has with the idea of judgement. (Assuming you agree with that statement…otherwise you can talk about why you don’t agree with it!)

Read Isaiah 24:1-13.

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Jul 27
Love0

Judgement & Epidemics – Isaiah 13-27

By isaiah, Talks

This centre section of Isaiah is an extended explanation of God’s judgement on Israel, Judah and all the surrounding nations. It’s brutal. And to our western culture, offensive. So why is it that judgement here is followed by hope? How can people praise a God who judges like this? How do God’s love and God’s judgement interact?

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Jul 20
Love0

Isaiah 6-12: Looking for a Better Leader (Community Group Notes)

By isaiah, Studies

The first big theme of Isaiah is that God is building a better city. Last week we looked at the problems in Judah & Jerusalem. They were a nation and a city that was characterised by corruption, self-centredness, oppression and false worship. The city was God was everything that God didn’t intend for them to be. He looked for righteousness & justice, and he found murder and power-hungry oppression. And God was deeply grieved and deeply hurt (Isaiah 5:1-7). And he had plans to create a better city that was a city of God both in name and in character (Isaiah 2:1-5).

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Jul 17
Love0

VC – 12 July Congregational Meeting

By community, news, updates

There were three things we looked at during our congregational meeting.

1) Finances

Overall in regular giving this year we’re behind budget. Not a huge concern, but something we want to bring to the attention of Village Church regulars. You can see on the graph below:

VC-toJune

If Village Church is your home church and you’re not already giving, consider how you can support the work of the Gospel through Village Church. More information can be found at vc.org.au/giving

2) Finding a new Pastor

According to Steve Mason, we’ve been looking for someone to “replace Derek… though we don’t want to say it like that,”. We’re talking to a number of people at the moment, and will be placing formal ads soon. A large part of the work at the moment is talking to people through known relational avenues who might be good for the job. It’s an ongoing process and we’ll keep people updated as developments progress.

3) Morning Service

When we planted in 2009 there were two children: Derek’s sons. In God’s kindness there are something like around 30 children in the Village community. It’s been on our minds (and a few of the parents’) for a few years that a church service ending at 6:30 might be difficult for parents and their young children to attend. We know that some people are very keen, some people are happy for it to happen but not to join, some think it’s unwise. At the moment we just want to raise the issue to see how people are feeling – whether it’s not an issue or whether it’s a seriously pressing issue. Ultimately the reason to plant in the morning is to have more opportunities for people to hear the Gospel and grow, but there are always pragmatics to consider around that. And because we want to decide as a community, we’re just testing the waters to see how people are feeling.

Questions asked from the floor (Sorry if your question got missed!):

Why now? Isn’t the priority to find a pastor before we plant?

Absolutely that’s the priority. But we want to just make sure that the person coming in to Village will have something to come in to.

Can’t people find another church if they desperately want a morning service?

Yes, but that’s less than ideal. We want people to be committed to the Gospel, and under that, committed to each others lives. So it’d be better if instead of people heading off because they couldn’t handle the timeslot, that we had a conversation as a community about how we move forward.

How do we let you know how much we do or do not want a morning service to happen?

We’ll be putting out a survey. Stay tuned. It’ll help us know where you’re at. We’ll then present those results back to you, summarized.

What will it look like?

If we did it soon, it would look the same but at 9:30am. Most likely.

We planted with two elders from the MPC pool and haven’t changed that—will there be any change in eldership or anything?

We are thinking about that currently. We want to make sure that in transition between pastors there’s a good, broad base of leadership at Village, so we’ll be coming back to you soon with where we land on that. It’s an important issue.

What will the extra costs be for having an extra congregation?

Tim Kuswadi steps to the mic An extra congregation will cost a little bit more – not double, but more. We will definitely do a financial report to look into that.

What if we don’t find someone by the end of the year?

There is the possibility of Village Church going for a brief time without a minister, but Derek was away on holidays recently, and Village didn’t burn in to the ground. Because we’re part of the wider MPC network we have support there. It’ll be hard, but we’re blessed with lots of capable people.

How are we looking for the new guy? Are we going through people we know, or are we putting an ad on Seek.com, or—?

Two avenues. First, we’re going through people we know. There are places at Bible Colleges, such as Moore, to advertise roles like this. Also, we have a list of about thirty people whom we’re contacting to register their interest, first and foremost. Secondly, we’ll be publicly advertising through a few avenues to put the word out there and see what we get – places like Christian magazines, websites etc. That’s happening soon.

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