FoF, 4W’s and PAF!

Okay, okay, enough already of the acronyms!  

However, see if you can find the four words for the 4W’s, and the meaning of PAF!  :0)

The evening we started with Nina Welcoming us with the game called “Scream.”  For the rest of the night, no one was able to look at the other person!  :-P

Jason moved us into Worship by having us play Chinese Whispers, which showed us the value of the written Word of God and we took some time out to thank and praise God for His Word.

Kansas and Montana (Laurie & Theresa) had us turn to Ephesians 3:14-21 to take some time out to look at the Word.  The main themes included the challenge to continue to learn more about and trust in God’s great power and love toward us, and in grasping those concepts to live differently.

Eirik linked us up with the call to live differently so we can Witness to others of the greatness of God.  He then offered up a suggestion to play some Pool After FoF.  PAF can become a great way to began to engage the world outside of our Christian circles and a place to invite others to meet us, so we can bring God’s blessings to others!

If you missed this week's FoF, check out the postings on the right and see if you can join us next week!

David's Pupose....it was more than killing Goliath!

Guest Speaker from AZ....George!

Last Tuesday, George was our Guest Speaker. He talked about David living his purpose, and challenged us to live ours. Most people know the story of David and Goliath. But before that heroic act, David built up his faith in God by doing the little things, like tending his father's sheep. We, too, should be faithful in doing the little things before jumping to the big things. But importantly, George emphasized David's personal walk with God. Without a relationship with God, we have no ultimate purpose and everything will be done in vain. So, as a reminder, it's not just the doing that counts; it's also the heart behind it.

FoF faces!

Kick-Off of FoF for 2011-2012

Writing notes

Tuesday was the Kick-off meeting of FoF.  We had a great turn-out and Kristy impressed all by being a first-timer who remembered all the names during our ice breaker!  AMAZING!!!

New and familiar faces!

It was good to begin.  We saw some pics of past events and talked about what to expect in the new year:  speakers will focus on the theme --> They lived their purpose….Do you live yours?.  Other monthly events will include 4W’s and social events.  Looks like it will be a time to share lives and grow together in the Lord as well as have some fun!

We ended the meeting with Pizza at Eirik and Coralanne’s!  Give a shout-out to them for hosting our crew!  The pizza was great and their place was humming with conversation and laughter!  

Join us next week Tuesday at Sweet Surrender Café!  See the side bar on the right for more details!

Last FoF meeting of 2010-2011 School Year

Coralanne, in her best game-show-host voice, read the next question, “Name five streets in Poznan.”

Amanda snatched the yellow napkin from the center of the table, rapidly naming 3 streets but under pressure of Eirik’s countdown, her brain froze and no more street names could be teased out….   

The question passed to Stephanie.  She named 5 streets, “…and Przybyszewskiego!”  Including the name of the street international students spend weeks (even years) trying to pronounce!  In the end it was a close competition with Stephanie winning by one point.  

Afterwards Stephanie and Amanda were asked what they will miss about living in Poznan.  They will both miss the pedestrian culture-being able to walk to a vegetable stand five minutes from their door, or stop by Biedronka and get picnic food. They might even miss public transportation. But of course, more than anything else, they will miss the people (That means you!!).

When asked what will be their next steps, they both paused.  Amanda will travel a bit in the summer, complete her last semester at university and then….  Stephanie will return to the US and then….  Let’s be praying for these gals to hear God’s voice for next steps. 

 

Last Tuesday we celebrated Amanda and Stephanie’s time working with FoF over the last year.  They served us in many ways and will be greatly missed. 

This also was the last meeting of FoF.  It has been a great year!  Stay tuned, Jason talked about maybe hosting a meeting once in a while during the summer.  If not, we’ll catch up with you again in the fall!!!!!

As Iron Sharpens Iron

One of the best things about FoF is that we get to be a community whose members strengthen and challenge each other. That’s why I love when we have 4Ws. This week we prayed, learned about each other’s parents :), worshiped together, and meditated the Christian meaning of love. Amanda had some amazing passages for us to think on and discuss.

The first passage, Matthew 5:43-48, starts out with Jesus saying

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

What a challenge! And a great reminder that our God is good to everyone.

LIFE CHALLENGE: Based on this passage who should you love and pray for today? How? Tell us about how you showed love to them!

Up next? John 15:8-17. Below is The Message paraphrase, with emphasis added. (Or click here to read an actual translation.)

9-10 I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.

^11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.

¹⁶"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.

¹⁷"But remember the root command: Love one another.

Natasha was encouraged that we don’t need to strive to stay good enough for God’s love, we’re “already in!” We get to remain, abide, rest in His love, because Jesus loves us the way the Father loves Him! In fact, if we try to love this way just by working harder, we will never make it. We’ll soon feel crushed by our failure to live up to this goal. But look to Christ. He loved us perfectly, even while we were still His enemies. When He was on the cross, He begged God to forgive His killers. And He has done the same for each of us.

LIFE CHALLENGE: What can you do today to abide a little more in His love? Set aside some time to meditate on the Trinity. From eternity past, the triune God was already a community of love, and as the Father loves the Son, we are loved. We’re invited to join the ultimate relationship. To love and be loved by the God of the universe, perfectly and infinitely. O praise Him!

The last passage we talked through was Romans 12:9-21. Again, click to read a translation, or here’s The Message paraphrase:

^9-10Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

^11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

^14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

^17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

^20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

What does it mean to love our enemies? Who are our enemies anyway? It’s not like most of us are being actively persecuted like the early church. Emily (welcome, Emily! Hope to see you again soon!) threw down a challenge that our enemies are all the people we find it hard to love. From simply irritating people to those who have deeply wronged and hurt us. Jesus tells us to show practical, genuine love to them all.

Jason also challenged us to think about some really difficult moral questions. What is right when it comes to people who are doing really bad things? Does this mean if Hitler or Stalin knocked on our door that we should feed and hydrate him? Clearly, God talks in a lot of places about disciplining those He loves, so the simple commands “love the Lord your God, and love one another” become really complicated and messy in real life.

And Coralanne reminded us that these passages challenge us to always love. Not just on Saturdays between 2-4pm. Not only when it’s convenient. Not only when it feels good. We have to be ready to show love. Always.

LIFE CHALLENGE: Praise Jesus for perfectly fulfilling all of these impossible commands, all the time. He is always genuine, always good, never even approaching evil, always ready with practical help, finding beauty in everyone, always humble… Jesus did it all. And the only way we’ll ever approach these lofty ideals is as the Spirit, through grace, transforms us. Ask the Spirit today to show you one specific way you can abhor evil and cling to what is good (v. 9-10).

 

Stay tuned for our last couple of events of the year!!

Scavenger Hunt

We all gathered together at Sweet Surrender,

to find out that Coralanne was going to be our sender.

Three teams were formed, because a Scavenger hunt was planned,

and a clue as a riddle was given in our hand.

The expression changed on everyones' face

when it was announced that it was to be a great race!!

Finally, the last clue was found,

after tramming and running around the whole town.

Can you figure out where we all ended up,

where we coffee, waffles and fruit salad was given in a cup. (it might have been a bowl)

"Clues and rhymes have come to an end

But there is one more thing to attend.

Today is the 17^th of May

Which is important to the special country of Norway.

Norway wrote their constitution on that day.

Ohhh on the 17^th of May.

Now hurry off to a flat that houses a married man

A Norwegian husband who’s wife thinks he’s ironman!!!"

 Thank you all for participating, I hope you think it was fun.

if not, you at least got to taste Norwegian brown cheese, and got a good run :)

Snakkes.

All Things Through Him Who Gives Me Strength

This week, FoF had the privilege of having Daniel M., who flew in all the way from Arizona, to speak to the body of Christ about "Strength".

Our meeting started off as usual with a little ice-breaker from our emcee, Juice. He tickled our brains with the question: "what animal would you choose that best describes you?" We went around sharing one by one and the animal selections ranged from sloth to iguana to koala bears. Which animal best describes YOU?

After the ice-breaker, Andrew led the group into worship to come before the throne of God in remembrance of just how much we owe to Christ's death and resurrection and how much of our joy and satisfaction hinges upon our heart's delight in this truth.

Then it was the meat of the night. Daniel M. shared from Philippians 4:10-13 where Paul was talking about being content in all circumstances and how he could do all things through Christ who strengthens him. Daniel clarified that this strength Paul is talking about isn't a physical strength that transforms Christians into superhuman specimens who can run through brick walls or take a bullet in a chest without a bulletproof vest. Of course, these are absurd examples.

The strength that Paul is speaking here coexists with faith and our understanding of future grace. This strength is deeply rooted in a faith that grew out of experiences of past grace and trusts in future grace. It is supernatural in a sense that our strength comes from the full assurance that God who has led us in this life thus far, will continue to strengthen us and lead us till the end.

In no way did Paul discredit the reality of how tough life can be. In verse 10-12, Paul shared that he had experienced different spectrum in this life: to be full and to be hungry, to have abundance and to be in need, to be alone and to be supported by people. But despite the great fluctuations that happened in his life, Paul shares that Christ is what dictates his everything, and thus he learned to be content. He refused to let the winds and waves be his reality, rather, his eyes are fixed on Jesus. Christ IS his reality above all things.

The misconception or lie that I fall into when I read this passage is this. Oh Paul was able to be content in all circumstances, so he is commanding me to be content when I'm faced in difficult situations. I can't feel discouraged, alone, worried, or fearful. That way of thinking jumps into a conclusion in which it nullifies the natural emotions we go through as human beings. The fact that Paul himself "had learned" how to be content meant that it was a learning process. Paul is not commanding us to be simply content without understanding personally how or why we should even be content. Burying the emotions and will ourselves towards being content will only lead to blind faith and will not sustain. Ironically, the act of being content will cease to be an act of faith but rather an act of works.

I think most of us, including myself, live in such a way in which we negate the need for God's deliverance. As human beings, we naturally desire control and security and build our lives around it. We like to be sufficient and for things to go according to our own agenda. But my plea to all of us is this: that we may live in such a way where we NEED to cling on to the promises of God, where if God does not deliver, it will be the end of us. Paul lived in such a way, and he learned the secrets of being content and found strength through Christ in the process. I am not telling you to seek sufferings, but rather, not to be afraid of sufferings. And in times of difficulty, allow your spirit to come before the throne of God with all the heart's emotions in the same way that David did in his psalms. There at the throne, I guarantee that you will find strength from the Father Himself.

This is where rubber meets the road. This is where all the promises of God ceases to be just fine prints on a piece of paper but rather precious words that we cherish in our hearts, each promise accompanied by a personal testament of God's deliverance and faithfulness. This is how the foundation of our faith will grow.