Introduction & ice breaker

At the end of this Lenten season…
- What have you learned about yourself?
- What has God shown you?
- Where have you seen god at work?
- What are you grateful for after these 40 days?

Themes to Consider

Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth —A.W. Tozer
Believers in Laodicea are called out for being:
- Lukewarm / complacent
- Self-sufficient
- They are experimenting with self-deception. They have one vision of themselves and reality is completely the opposite.
Change is possible but we may need to hear a loving wake up call.
Laodicea was wealthy, was influential, was successful, and desirable and truly spiritually sick. They needed a wake up call. The church wasn’t so much changing the city as being changed by the city.
Jesus is saying:
- You have become Lukewarm - which isn’t good for anyone - come back to me.
- You think you are completely self-sufficient but you are blind to reality.
- You’re famous for your money, your clothes, and your eye salve. I want to give you real lasting treasure, a cover for all your shame, and true vision.

Practices

Inhale: meditate on your emotional and physical responses to people who love you telling you some hard truth. Remember God’s love cannot change for you. He could not love you more and will not love you less. Invite God to bring opportunities into your life to hear truth that will serve you and your future well.
Exhale: Think of people who have had the courage to be honest with you because they love you. Send them a “Thank you” for the role they have played in your formation.

Discussion Questions

“ I am not sure if you are seeing this but I love you enough to tell you the truth.” Do you have anyone in your life who loves you enough to tell you the truth? Describe why you would listen to them or heed their warning.

Guided Prayer

This Holy Week, begin by praying the Lord’s Prayer and meditate or even expand on every line.

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours

now and for ever.

Amen.

Supplemental Content

You and I are in little (our sins excepted) what God is in large. Being made in His image we have within us the capacity to know Him. In our sins we lack only the power. The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the Kingdom of God. It is, however, not an end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart's happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead. That is where we begin, I say, but where we stop no one has yet discovered, for there is in the awful and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end…To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love. —A.W. Tozer

The glorious pursuit, the heart's happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead. That is where we begin, I say, but where we stop no one has yet discovered, for there is in the awful and mysterious depths of the Triune God neither limit nor end. —A.W. Tozer

Because our hearts are oriented primarily by desire, by what we love, and because those desires are shaped and molded by the habit forming practices of the [world] - the liturgies of our culture - that shape our imaginations and how we orient ourselves to the world. Embedded in them is a common set of assumptions about the shape of human flourishing, which becomes an implicit telos, or goal, of our own desires and actions. That is, the visions of the good life embedded in these practices become surreptitiously embedded in us through our participation in the rituals and rhythms of these institutions. —James K.A. Smith

Our identity is shaped by what we ultimately love, or what we love as ultimate - what at the end of the day gives us a sense of meaning, purpose, understanding, and orientation to our being in the world. What we desire or love ultimately is a (largely implicit) vision of what we hope for, what we think the good life looks like. This vision of the good life shapes all kinds of actions and decisions and habits that we undertake, often without thinking about it. —James K.A. Smith

Prophetic Charge

To the church at Brooklyn:

Let me share with you a true vision. In the end there is little worse than a Christian who has settled for the lukewarm place. They become miserable. They miss the joy of heaven and the good things of earth. Do not get stuck in the middle. Do not become comfortable with the sound of your own complaining. Those who are rich and have enough often become very particular about their wants. Gratitude drains away in favor of a string a disappointments as luxury always demands the newest and best. Look up from curating your own desires and see the needs of your neighbor.

Do not let your wealth sing you a song of false control or inflated status. I do not look at the outward appearance but at the heart.

Do not let your generosity live in the top layer froth. Get down into the needs of your city and give until you hit the quick. Give until you must change your own lifestyle. Join me in the joy of giving away your life, for there you will find it.

A meal of self-sufficiency is scant and lacking. It looks beautiful on the plate or in a well lit photograph but it doesn't satisfy. I am inviting you to a feast, a feast of love, a meal of death and resurrection, and a chance to join in the life that will not end. Share in this feast with me, share in my victory, share in offering my love.

I am knocking at the door. Today if you hear my voice, open up and let me in. I am here for you.