From Commandment to Intimacy

Deuteronomy 5:6-10 (NASB95)
6 'I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
7 'You shall have no other gods before Me.
8 'You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
9 'You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
10 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

When I was younger I use to get hung up on this passage. I got God's statement "You shall have no other gods before me." But I didn't get "for I, the Lord your God am a Jealous God".
It wasn't until I was married that I saw the intimacy of that statement. God was saying to Israel, "I love you and you are mine; there should be no other between us."  They were set apart for Him.

In the New Testament followers of Jesus are called the Bride of Christ. We are intimately His and He is ours. This relationship is sacred and holy.

God opened the Ten Commandments with a reminder to Israel that they were in relationship with Him. His call for them to live differently than the other nations was not a list of do and don'ts, but a call to intimacy with Him.
Today God is still calling us to live in a sacred union with Him through Christ. And this love relationship compels us to live differently than the world around us.

Will Dungee

Wednesday Check-In: Devoted to Prayer

“Focus…focus….focus!” Those are the words I heard a father telling his daughter the other day. I laughed when I heard it because I used to say that to my daughter. My daughter, Jessica Allie, is an artsy, creative, girly girl. She loves everything about the arts: lines, circles, paint, canvas, music, lights, and dance. She is also a girl who at age six actually notices every shoe other women are wearing (I know, pray for me). As you can imagine, the combination of artsy and girly girl screams easily distracted.

Recently, I realized that I am easily distracted when it comes to prayer. That is why the message on Sunday convicted me so.

Paul encouraged the Christ-followers at Colossae to devote themselves to prayer. In other words, be intentionally focused on prayer, to give yourself to it.

Colossians 4:2-4 (NASB95)
2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving;
3 praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned;
4 that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.

In order to be devoted to prayer, we must understand what distracts us. For some it will be a trouble-free season in their life. Yes, a trouble-free life can become a distraction. For others it could be that a life of hardship is distracting. You see, I think it is possible to be so focused on our woes that we forget to give them to God in prayer. On the other hand, we can have no worries and forget to pray. For me I am distracted by busyness. I think that is why Luke 5:16 really speaks to me, "But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray."

What distracts you from being intentionally devoted to prayer? Is it one of the examples I have given or is it something else?

As my daughter grows I am noticing amazing focus in everything she does, whether it is in school or creating one of her beautiful drawings. So let us yield to Christ and resist the things which distract us so that we can give ourselves to prayer.

Your brother in Christ,

Will Dungee

Sunday’s Comin

Thank you On September 1st, Bill and Joann will be back from sabbatical. I have truly missed their presence here as I'm sure you have also.  This Sunday's sermon will be the last one I will give this summer. I hope that the Colossians series has encouraged and challenged you. Thank you for the love and support you have given to me and my family. We are so appreciative of you. It has been a blessing to serve you through preaching, and in many ways I feel more connected to you; I hope you feel the same. What's next? I am looking forward to focusing on my area of ministry here at Grace.  I have many projects on my "to do" list that I am looking forward to working on, such as: improving church communications, continuing to lead the staff team in a unified purpose, and leadership development through intentional discipleship.

This Sunday This Sunday we will look at Colossians 4:2-9. The topic is praying for an open door to share Christ. Paul's desire to get out of jail wasn't just so he would experience common, everyday freedom. It was so he might preach the gospel. A lot of times when I pray, I am praying that I will be released from a circumstance and the prayer pretty much stops there. Do you see the difference? We are to look for opportunities to share the Gospel and if there's a closed door, PRAY! Pray that God might open the door and that you would have an opportunity to boldly share Christ. Colossians 4:2-9 (New American Standard Bible): Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have alsobeen imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. As to all my affairs, Tychicus, ourbeloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he mayencourage your hearts; and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

I appologize for the delay in sending Wednesday Check-in out. Our servers were down. I appreciate your patience.- Thank you

I'm having one of those days! You know the kind of day which is filled with long meetings, intense and sometimes emotional discussions, and tons of paper work. And it doesn't help that Wednesdays are usually my long day anyway. Some Wednesdays I start my first meeting at 6:30 AM and end work between 9 or 10 PM.

I know you know about these kinds of work days. We all have them some time or another. I haven't found a scripture that states we are immune to rough days; they will come from time to time.

We may not have control over our days, but we do have control over our reactions to hard day.
Sunday we were reminded that God is concerned about how we treat others in the work place. Sometimes we are tempted to allow stressful days to cause us to treat co-workers harshly. Resist the temptation! God calls us to extend love, and compassion to others at all times.

As employees we need to be very careful that a stressful work environment doesn't cause us to have an "I don't care" attitude. We care! We care because we are working as unto God and not man. Employers be careful also; never allow your frustrations to cause you to treat those who work for you unjustly, remembering that God is boss over you.

The work place is a great mission field, whether employee or employer, let the light of Christ shine through you.

Will Dungee

Sunday's Comin': Grace at Work

God is not only concerned about how we are treated by others; He is also concerned about how we treat other people. The work place is a great mission field and how we work and respond to others is a powerful means of witnessing. So, in the work place, what kind of worker or boss are you?

In Colossians 3:22-4:1 Paul continues his teaching on relationships by calling our attention to the Boss - Worker relationship. These relationships have the ability to be filled with manipulation and deceit, but we have learned we are to live differently as believers. We live unto Christ, submitted to His principals.

So Paul challenges the Christian worker to give his best service and to do it as unto God and not the boss. And to the believer in authority, Paul reminds him to treat those under him with justice and fairness, remembering that God is in authority over him.

Join us this Sunday as we talk about Grace at Work.
Will Dungee