Habits--Talk # 2

FWPSM forever (s)

Habits that Really Matter

EPC Spring Retreat (2017)

Talk # 2: FWPSM forever!!! (s)

I)What is FWPSM and why so important?

A)What is FWPSM?

W S

F M

P

B)Why is FWPSM important?

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

Small Group Discussion:

  • Jesus uses a picture here of a vine, branches, and fruit. What does each element of the picture represent?
  • How many times does Jesus tell us to “abide”? Why do you think he does this?

1)The mistake we often make applying John 15:

We think it is telling us just to try harder:

What’s the problem with this approach?

2)The right way to apply John 15

Key word: Make Jesus our home address.

Show up routinely for meals.

3)How, practically, do we keep showing up for meals?

Fellowship / Prayer
Word / Sacraments

A Missional life

Personal FWPSM inventory (please do on your own)

How well did you manage to make FWPSM a regular part of your routine over the past two weeks? Try to be specific about each element of FWPSM.Why were certain elements (say P) more prominent than others (say W)?

Element / How did you give expression to this element? / How strong was this element relative to the others? / Why?
Fellowship
Word
Prayer
Sacraments
Mission

Small group discussion (groups of 3 -4—no more than 4)

  • Share the results of your inventories.
  • Share any resources or practices that have helped you to be more regular with FWPSM.
  • Discuss the following question: How does failing to make regular use of one element of FWPSM adversely affect the others? What happens, for example, to Pif we stop reading W? What happens to the impact of Wwhen we stop P? What happens to W and P when we drop F?

II)How to feed yourself every day [W, P, and F working together]

2PROAPT

Step / What you do / Notes
  1. Pray
/ “Lord, thank you for speaking to us in the Bible. Please open my ears (and my heart and will) to what you are saying.” / We are naturally deaf to God.
Our minds are preoccupied with life and with false narratives about who we are and what is important. We NEED the Spirit to open our eyes.
  1. Preview
/ Scan the passage quickly to get the big picture
What is it essentially about—in one phrase or sentence?
If a narrative, who are the characters?
What period does it belong to (or talk about) in God’s big story? / It really helps to have a notebook of some sort, so that you can write down the answers to the questions listed in the middle column
The Bible is a story with a beginning (Creation), a middle (the story of Israel—God prepares us for his arrival), and an end (God comes to us, making everything new)
  1. Read carefully
/ What are the key words?
If there is a sequence (narrative or logical) in the passage, how does the argument or story unfold?
What are the words or concepts you don’t understand? / Use at least one Bible help resource.
The New Bible Commentary, Revised.
A Study Bible
Zondervan’s Handbook of the Bible
  1. Observe
/ What did the passage mean when it was first written, given the world the original readers inhabited and they stage in God’s story that they occupied?
What does the passage mean now, given the world we live in and the age in God’s story that we occupy? / Your Bible resource will help you here.
To understand what the passage first meant it is helpful to…
  • Imagine the circumstances of the people who first read it
  • Note the passage’s literary form (is it narrative? Is it poetry? Is it a law of some sort?)

  1. Apply
/ How does the passage point me to Jesus?
  • Is there a promise to be believed that has its fulfillment somehow in Jesus?
  • Is there a command to be kept that leads me to ask for help from Jesus through his Spirit, who lives in me?
  • Is there a “portrait” of Jesus (or of the “anti-Jesus”) somehow in the character I am studying?
  • Is there information to be known that helps me understand how God’s story about Jesus is unfolding?
/ According to 2 Timothy 3:15, the whole Bible is designed to “make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
It is supposed to show us why we need God to rescue us. It is supposed to encourageour faith in God’s rescue (which we now know to be Jesus). It is supposed to show us, through Jesus, what God is like.
Jesus himself said (John 5:39), “You search the Scriptures, hoping to find in them eternal life, when all along they bear witness to me.”
This means if we don’t look for and find Jesus in every passage we read we are fundamentally misreading it.
  1. Pray
/ Always be sure to talk with the Lord about what you have read.
Remember that there are at least four different sorts of prayers, at least one of which you can pray:
ACTS. / A: Adoration: Praising God for something wonderful or awesome that you have discovered about him.
C: Confession: In which you admit that you have a hard time trusting or obeying something that the Bible tells you.
T: Thanksgiving: In which you thank the Lord for something he has done for you or taught you.
S: Supplication: In which you pray for the Lord to do something in you, or in someone you know, or in the world.
  1. Tell
/ You tell a friend about at least one thing that you discovered from the passage

Passage to study

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." 16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:14-17

Step / Check off / Observations, questions, prayers, etc. (Use the questions from the template above)
  1. Pray

  1. Preview
What is it essentially about—in one phrase or sentence?
If a narrative, who are the characters?
What period does it belong to (or talk about) in God’s big story?
  1. Read
What are the key words?
If there is a sequence (narrative or logical) in the passage, how does the argument or story unfold?
What are the words or concepts you don’t understand?
  1. Observe
What did the passage mean when it was first written?
What does the passage mean now, given the world we live in and the age in God’s story that we occupy?
  1. Apply
How does the passage point me to Jesus?
  • A promise to be believed that has its fulfillment somehow in Jesus.
  • A command to be kept that leads me to ask for help from Jesus through his Spirit, who lives in me.
  • A “portrait”of Jesus (or of the “anti-Jesus”) somehow in the character I am studying.
  • Information to be known that helps me understand how God’s story about Jesus is unfolding.

  1. Pray
  • A
  • C
  • T
  • S

  1. Tell

Small group discussion

Tell each other what you learned from your 2PROAPT study from John 3.

Discuss together what inhibits you, and what has helped you, to make FWPSM a life routine?

Pray together for each other, especially for more faithfulness and joy in FWPSM.

The Story of the Bible

THE BEGINNING

God makes a good world

[Genesis 1-2]

The transforming event

We push God away and die

[Genesis 3-11]

THE MIDDLE

God prepares us for his arrival

[Genesis 12 – Malachi]

The transforming event

God comes to us and we live

THE END—PART I

God comes down to us-- Incarnation

[Matthew, Mark, Luke, John]

The transforming event

The death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus

God comes into us—Pentecost and new birth

[Acts through Jude]

The transforming event

Jesus returns

THE END—PART II

God brings heaven to earth

[Revelation]

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