Resources > Bible Studies Above and Beyond...A Quest for the Son Posted by Rev. Jeff Dixon, Senior Equipping Minister, Covenant Community Church on Aug 17, 2005, 16:36

Above and Beyond

A Quest for the Son

This is the Bible Study that was featured in the QUEST celebration worship experience. These are the notes just as they were written with very few changes. Perhaps it is best to think of this as an expanded outline. Hopefully it will be helpful as a personal resource for your own study...

Lets begin...If you are serious about being on Quest for the Son and have a relationship with Him that takes you Above and Beyond then there are some distinct characteristics that will track your flight plan...here they are (you will notice they spell S-P-A-C-E  so they are easy to remember)

Strategic

Ephesians 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

You must arrange life so that sin no longer looks good to you

Arrange your life, on purpose, so that the things of God really do excite and inspire you…

Principle: The Trouble for Most People is That They Get Lost Looking for Their Sense of Direction

This does not happen by accident...you must develop a strategy and it is simple. Decide to live by the plan God has. We often say we can't seem to find direction...duh! Then we decide we are looking for our sense of direction. It only is reasonable to conclude that you better go to a source where direction can be trusted and clear...because we all get lost when we look for it on our own.

That source is God and the guide is His word. Now if you don't think God knows what is best for you or you don't believe His word is true then go and create your own strategy. However, if you believe it...then live it... 

Process

When the Israelites come to the River Jordon, God promises to make a way for them. They can trust Him to see them across.

                But God asks them to take the first step

                “When the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing from above will be cut off, they shall stand in a single heap.” Joshua 3:13

They believed God could do what He said..after all, they had seen the Red Sea part…but if they were going to get across they had to get their feet wet

What are you doing that I could not do apart from the power of God?

The process involves you being willing to trust Him to do what He said he would do….

Your life is a work in progess and each day you live out another part of the process. You can't shortcut it...trust Him each day and be satisfied in what He does. Get your feet wet and then you will see what happens next. God is not obligated to show you the whole picture now...and He probably won't.

Adventure

Some people live life with a “whatever happens…happens attitude”

What are you doing?…I'm not sure…just keeping an open mind (many respond)

Principle: If you are too open minded your brain will fall out

Be on an adventure of God’s calling and face life that way

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Wes Seliger is an unconventional Episcopal clergyman who loves motorcycles. He tells about being in a motorcycle shop one day, drooling over a huge Honda 750 and

wishing that he could buy it.

A salesman came over and began to talk about his product. He talked about speed, acceleration, excitement, the attention-getting growl of the pipes, racing, risk. He talked about how the good-looking girls would be attracted to anyone riding on such a cycle.

Then he discovered that Wes was a minister. It always happens, doesn't it?

Immediately the salesman changed his language and even the tone of his

voice. He spoke quietly and talked about good mileage and visibility. It

was indeed a "practical" vehicle.

"Lawnmower salespersons are not surprised to find clergypersons looking at their merchandise; motorcycle salespersons are.

Why?

Does this tell us something about clergypersons and about the church?

Lawnmowers are slow, safe, sane, practical, and middle-class.

Motorcycles are fast, dangerous, wild, thrilling."

"Is being a Christian more like mowing a lawn or like riding a motorcycle? Is the

Christian life safe and sound or dangerous and exciting?"

"The common image of the church is pure lawnmower--slow, deliberate,

plodding. Our task is to take the church out on the open road, give it the

gas, and see what the old baby will do!"

Is our church, your faith, your life a lawn mower or a motorcycle ?

Are you a lawnmower follower or a motorcycle follower?

Maybe it's time we took more risks for God.
Maybe it is time we jumped on this adventure for God

Conditioning

There is a huge difference between training to do something and trying to do something

For much of my life when I heard worship services and Bible studies that talked about following Jesus..I thought in terms of “trying harder’ to be like Him

Following Jesus in not a matter of trying harder but instead training wisely

Getting in good and healthy spiritual condition

Paul writes to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:16)… “train yourself in godliness”

1 Corinthians 9:25… “everyone who competes goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

Paul had probably been in Corinth for the games of 51 AD

That a competitor would try to win by just trying really hard was unthinkable, Paul and his readers knew that. We should know that as well. So why is it that we try to use this approach spiritually?

You must get into condition and do things that get you in good shape as you follow the Son

Exploration

Luke 1:37 For nothing is impossible with God.

Discovery took off from launch pad 39B of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The past few years have been difficult for NASA.  It has been two and a half years since the tragic loss of the Columbia space shuttle and her crew

This past week the crew of Discovery paid tribute to the crew of the Columbia

Hear these amazing words….

The spirit of exploration is truly part of what it is to be human. Human history has been a continual struggle from darkness toward light, a search for knowledge and deeper understanding, a search for truth. Ever since our distant ancestors ventured forth into the world, there has been an insatiable curiosity to see what lies beyond the next hill, what lies beyond the horizon. That is the fire of the human spirit that we all carry.

Through that spirit and through realizing its ambitions, the human race has come to find its present place in the world. Previous generations went first on foot, then on horseback. Later came the wooden sailing vessels that opened new continents and new lands. Today we have aircraft and space craft. We have shrunk the world in a way that early generations of explorers could never have imagined.

"Space is there and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and planets are there and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked."

"We choose to do these things ... not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

There is controversy as to whether or not space exploration is worthy of funding.

Some say the cost is too great!

Space exploration has helped to create many medical advances among other more common household products that we take for granted.

Project Mercury began in 1958 and helped to develop blood pressure testers in order to make sure that man's first orbit remained safe to his health.

Plastic eyeglass lenses were originally the glass coating for satellites to protect them from floating space particles.

Nitinol, the shape memory alloy, helps to adhere braces to teeth.

And we should not forget all of the things telemetry has done for us; such as, allowing automatic monitoring for alarm systems, oil rigs, chemical plants, cell phones, cameras, remote radio broadcasts, and global positioning systems.

When most people wake up in the morning they will make something for breakfast, pack a lunch, check their email and grab their Ipod, cell phone or palm pilot. When they leave for work or school they will close the garage door, pop in a CD and even look up maps on a screen in their dash. All of this happens before even entering the technologically enhanced office or school, thanks to NASA.

Yet some people have the gall to not appreciate NASA and ask, "What has NASA done for me?"

Well, the Tempur-Pedic bed you woke up on, the Tephlon coated pan you scrambled your eggs in and the microwave you reheated your coffee in are direct results from products invented by NASA.

DuPont makes many of our daily used household products such as Ziploc bags, refrigerants, oven mitts, bake ware, inhalers, and toothbrushes to name very few of their products that were either derived from or used within the space exploration programs.

Even Velcro was first used in the space shuttle and may be used to help save the current space expedition.

Without NASA your cable would not come in digital or satellite nor would you be able to check the weather across the country. Your email would never work and your cell phone would be pointless. The remote would not lower your garage door, your CD would not hold more than a song or two and your advanced never-get-lost system would never have been created. Your sandwich would be stale by lunchtime, your soda would be in a cup and your insulated lunch bag would be brown and paper.

We haven't even gotten through the day and I think I have made my point. What has NASA done for you? Must you really ask?

Now a bigger question….what has God done for you?

So much more than that?

Of course, so it only makes practical, rational, and reasonable sense that become an explorer in a journey to get to know God better is the best and only sane thing to do in a sometimes crazy existence....

Could there be anything greater or more important than being on a quest for the son?