holy

Law

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LENT ADVENTURE 2016Read Exodus 20:1-21

And God spoke all these words:

‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

‘You shall have no other gods before me.

First Exodus (Deliverance) then Covenant (Law). The Law has its foundations in grace. The Law was never about the legalities of earning God’s acceptance. The Law was all about how to relate to God the King and how to relate to those around you. How to live with God in your midst. How to orientate your life with God at the centre.

After Exodus comes Torah: Leviticus (the book of holiness), Numbers (life In the Wilderness), Deuteronomy (the Covenant restated), books that outline what living in God’s story is like. Life under grace. Life in the Kingdom. Life of holiness…

“You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” Lev 20:26

For more on Torah see Rev NT Wright here.

What was ‘The Tabernacle’ all about? Basically a tent, but so, so much more: A place of supreme holiness, A tent of meeting: Where God dwelt with His people, a place of sacrifice, a place of prayer, a place of God’s glory, a place of worship. A symbol that God’s Presence was with His People.

 

Today, How will you live under grace? How will God’s grace lead you to live a life of holiness?

Today, where are you tempted to earn God’s love and acceptance? Instead, what will you do to be aware of (and accept) His Presence, His Holy Spirit, in your life right here, right now?

What difference will this make in how you live life? How will you Be Holy? For more on this: listen here.

 

The Holy Spirit makes us Holy

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Holy_square_buttonThe Holy Spirit is at work in every follower of Jesus to make them more like Jesus, more Holy. In the final talk of this series, Nick explains how ‘becoming holy’ is a past event, a present experience and a future hope of every Christian. This happens through and with the power of the Holy Spirit as we encounter everyday problems and take up kingdom habits.

Triangle of holiness

Adapted from Dallas Willard’s ‘Golden Triangle‘

Holy Families – Children and the church

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Holy_square_buttonWhat is our vision for children and families? Listen to Jacqueline Titmas as she shares our heart for raising a generation. In this talks Jacqueline asks “How can we help our children to be holy, to live life as followers of Jesus?” and as a whole church, “How do we support each other in raising our children to pursue the God worth living for?”

Holy Body – prayers to honour God with our bodies

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The following are prayers that were shared in our talk: How to honour God with our bodies. At our Sunday Morning Gathering.

 

I offer you my Eyes

God help me to see your light in dark places. Help me to see others how you see them. Let me see others with your grace and mercy, your love and kindness. Heal me of my spiritual blindness. Turn my eyes away from that which is unhelpful and unholy. Fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of my faith. Help me to see what is happening in the eternal unseen reality of your kingdom. Let me look only to you as the object of my worship and the giver of my identity.

Sanctify my eyes.

I offer you my Mouth

Let me speak words of holiness. May they be words of healing, words of peace and reconciliation, words of mercy and love. May I speak words of truth with grace. May the good news of your gospel be on the tip of my tongue. May my words bring encouragement May I not stay silent, may I speak up for the oppressed and downtrodden, the weak and the broken. May my words change the atmosphere of whatever room I am in. May my tongue be an instrument of blessing and comfort. May my tongue bring you glory May my words be your words to those around me.

Sanctify my mouth.

I offer you my Ears

Before I speak, judge or decide may I first listen to you, Lord. May I listen to your voice in the voice of others and be prepared to receive correction as well as encouragement In every sermon and every discussion may I listen attentively and without prejudice. Holy spirit what will you say to me today through the words of others. Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

Sanctify my ears.

I offer you my Mind

Father God, may I think about you throughout the day. May my mind turn to you in moments of fear and doubt, stress and anxiety. Holy Spirt may your transform me by the renewing of my mind. May I think about others with the mind of christ. May I grow up in my thinking, and reject immature, childish thoughts. May my mind turn to that whcih is noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. May I take charge of my thoughts and be responsible for what I dwell on. Before any decision prompt me to ask, what is the wise thing to do.

Sanctify my mind.

I offer you my Hands & Feet

Lord make my hands and feet holy, may I give help to those who need it and walk wherever you lead me. Even if it gets me into trouble. Take my hands, and make them yours Take my feet and make them yours. I want to serve you in all that I do. Lord watch over my fingers as I use the internet.

Sanctify my hands & feet.

I offer you my Heart

Lord may I have your heart for others. May I care for the concerns of others. Give me strength to guard my heart, to be passionate about what you are passionate about. Keep my heart devoted to you and soft to others. Purify my heart. Replace my calloused heart with a compassionate heart. May I love what you love and hate what you hate. May I be content with who you have made me to be and eager to become who are calling me to become.

Sanctify my heart

Holy Body – how to honour God with our bodies

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Holy_square_buttonMany times ‘holiness’ is defined by what we do not do rather than what we do do. What you do with your body is the key to living a holy life. In this talk Nick looks at how our bodies lie right at the centre of our spiritual growth, and how we can practically take responsibility for our bodies in a way that is holy and honourable to God.

Holy Fight: to do or not to do…

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Holy_square_buttonThere is a shared human problem. In each of us a war is being fought, a war waged by sin. In this talk Mark (with the help of the Karate Kid!) asks: “What is it that you keep on doing that you want to stop doing?” and “What do you want to do that you seem unable to do?” How do we live holy lives and what training do we need to develop, to help us overcome?

Holy Habits: Are we becoming more like Jesus?

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Holy_square_buttonHow do we become holy? Is there a pathway to holiness? Are there things which will help us become more holy, more human? In this talk Nick looks at the process of sanctification and spiritual formation and asks is our pursuit of holiness making us more like Jesus or more self righteous?

UnHoly – What keeps us from holiness?

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Holy_square_buttonSin is the opposite of holiness. Sin erodes our relationship with God. Sin always starts with temptation. What if we were able to deal with temptation before it was too late. How did Jesus respond to temptation? In this talk, Nick gives us some practical ways to not be lead into temptation and how to plan for that moment when we are tempted…

 

To be holy is to be human

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Holy_square_buttonThe writer of Hebrews ​instructs us to “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy”, they continue… “without holiness no one will see the Lord”. (Heb 12:14). To pursue holiness takes effort and diligence. In this talk, Nick explains why a quest to be holy is worth it and how ultimately to be holy is to be human.

Be Holy…

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Holy_square_button…But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ 1 Peter 1:15-16

To be holy is to be different, set apart, dedicated to God. To be holy is to belong to God. A desire to be holy is more than just a desire to be moral. The core of holiness is intensely personal. In this series we will explore what it means to “be holy” and uncover how a people who pursue holiness can change the world.

AW Tozer wrote that “every person is as holy as they really want to be.“-Tozer. Do we want to be holy? What does it mean to be holy anyway? In this talk, Nick explains how holiness is essential to a life of following Jesus. Many of us limit ‘being holy’ to ‘being moral’ but holiness is so much more than this. (N.B. This talk was re-recorded as the original talk was lost!)

Coventry Vineyard Church