Hey Guys,
Well as Matt said this weekend, he would really enjoy your input as he writes his talks and puts together the series. Please uses these following resources as a way to study 2nd Timothy along with Matt.
Calvin's Commentary on 2nd Timothy 1:5-11
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2nd Timothy 1
John Piper's Sermon on 2nd Timothy 1:6-12
Audio of John Piper's Sermon
Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotion on 2nd Timothy 1:16
I will be posting Matt's Talk and his points on thursday. Please be looking for that.
-James
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
This Weekend...
Hey Everyone,
Since we cancelled the Gathering last week (For the horrible horrible snow blizzard) there are a few "connecting points" we still need to get out to you guys.
First, we have two outreach opportunities this weekend.
The primary opportunity we have is the Homeless Ministry. At 6p.m. this saturday we will be meeting at the Bricks parking lot (Near the Old Alabama Entrance of the Church), soon after we will head downtown and will be feeding the homeless. If you have any extra winter clothes please feel free to bring those.
For more info please call Ben Howell at:
(770)722-8261
The second Outreach opportunity is The Bricks on Friday night.
The Bricks is an outreach opportunity for the entire church, and it is an incredibly successful ministry to unchurched kids.
Every Friday hundreds of unchurched middle-schoolers arrive fro a night of rock climbing, coffee drinking, video game playing, and much more. If you have tried out this ministry it is a great time and we encourage you to go.
We hope you all have a good weekend!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
GATHERING CANCELLED
Hey Everyone,
The Gathering will be cancelled tonight because the Sunday Worship was moved to 6:00p.m.
We will meet in the Main Auditorium at 5:50 and instead of have the Gathering afterwards we will make our way over to Taco Mac to fellowship and watch the games.
We hope to see you next week as Matt will be starting a new series titled Last Words. He will be walking through the book of Second Timothy.
-James
Here is a Promo Clip for the Series
Monday, January 14, 2008
Women's Retreat Info
We promised info would be on the blog, and here it is...
"Normal or Not?"
Perimeter Church's 2008 Women's Retreat
This year's Women's Retreat will be held at the beautiful Callaway Gardens from February 29th to March 2nd. Our very own Jill Hooper will be the speaker. Also some faces familiar to the Gathering, such as Carolyn Bahr, Pamela Lucas, and Chrissy Ballard, will be speaking. Lastly, Laura Evlginton will be the
worship leader for the weekend.
Please Register soon because registration ends on January 22nd.
Registration can be found here.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
This Morning's sermon....
So it's January, and like usual Randy Pope is doing a series that is a bit psychoanalytical. I must say, I started visiting Perimeter during January a few years back and it kinda threw me off because it's different than your normal preaching--topical or otherwise--he diagnoses a problem in our modern thinking and way of life, and then doesn't treat the symptom, but cuts right to the core. And this one is cutting me deep, Shrek...cutting me deep! 
How 'bout you? Are you too busy, filling your days with meaningless tasks, activity, even good things, like church work? If so, do you ever stop to think about why? Actually, I think that's precisely why we keep busy, so we don't have to think--just keep doing. I loved CS Lewis quote, because it is largely an American thing, to keep active and keep doing, never slowing down.
But again, Why? Seriously, what are you thinking is your reason for your busy-ness? And how are you planning on changing? Can you see any possible way to carve out that time for solitude? Post your ideas in the comment section.
I think the post below about rest will give some more insight into the 'why' of all of this. And I agree--it does start with our thinking, and our sense of self-worth. So I want to leave you with a passage to meditate on from Colossians three. As Randy said this morning, when God looks at us, He not only sees us as special, and important, but as perfect as His Son:
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
PS. I was in the gym, and it was quite good, between amazing worship and a sweet time of communion. Plus, you gotta love the laid-back atmosphere and the brief announcements:) Many of us 'gatheringites' were in there this morning...join us next week.
How 'bout you? Are you too busy, filling your days with meaningless tasks, activity, even good things, like church work? If so, do you ever stop to think about why? Actually, I think that's precisely why we keep busy, so we don't have to think--just keep doing. I loved CS Lewis quote, because it is largely an American thing, to keep active and keep doing, never slowing down.
But again, Why? Seriously, what are you thinking is your reason for your busy-ness? And how are you planning on changing? Can you see any possible way to carve out that time for solitude? Post your ideas in the comment section.
I think the post below about rest will give some more insight into the 'why' of all of this. And I agree--it does start with our thinking, and our sense of self-worth. So I want to leave you with a passage to meditate on from Colossians three. As Randy said this morning, when God looks at us, He not only sees us as special, and important, but as perfect as His Son:
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
PS. I was in the gym, and it was quite good, between amazing worship and a sweet time of communion. Plus, you gotta love the laid-back atmosphere and the brief announcements:) Many of us 'gatheringites' were in there this morning...join us next week.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sometimes Mystery is more Important than Knowledge...
Here is a reasonably profound talk given by JJ Abrams.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/205
Hope you enjoy...
I think it can apply well to the mystery of Christ...
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/205
Hope you enjoy...
I think it can apply well to the mystery of Christ...
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Rest
There is a quiet murmuring that we all hear, a weighty compelling argument against all that we wish to be true. A hiss from our inner souls pronouncing us guilty of all our worst nightmares. Announcing to the world that we have been weighed on the scales of life and have been found wanting. Deny that it is there all you want, but if you sit still long enough, you will realize that all of your engrossing busyness is fueled by the anxiety of proving that you are worthwhile. Our fears make us incredibly productive or frighteningly paralyzed. Those who know rest from this inner murmur find it in one of two different ways. The first and most popular way (in our culture) to quiet the voice is by going against every bit of philosophy that has ever existed.
Teachers, counselors, and theologians will all tell you that you must remind yourself that you are not as bad as you think. We are the only culture that has ever said that. Look at the way we treat our prisoners, our child molesters, our adulterers; we tell them that they have too low of a self-perception. Those robbing the liquor stores, murdering people over gang colors, or even those who cheat on their wives just think too low of themselves. Their actions are fueled out of a belief that they are worse then everyone else, thus provoking them to damage themselves and others. This is ridiculous, every other culture that has ever existed and most that presently exist deny this belief. It is an over arching pride that fuels their crimes and attitudes. They quiet the murmur of self-contempt by deceiving themselves about their own present condition. The ancient Greeks called this dangerous pride “hubris.” Hubris in ancient Greece was a sin of the largest punishment, it was the crime that always led to destruction. Aristotle defined hubris as;
“to cause shame to the victim, not in order that anything may happen to you, nor because anything has happened to you, but merely for your own gratification. Hubris is not the requital of past injuries; this is revenge. As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater.”
Even if something has happened to the perpetrators mentioned earlier, for instance a crime against them, their motivation for their actions is revenge against a world that “mistreated” them. So their crime is against a world that doesn’t know how worthy they are.
Rest from the inner murmur of self contempt is found in one place. Shane Bernard says it so well, it is found in “Embracing [the] Accusation.” Unless we welcome the accusation, we will never be able to defeat it. The accusation is the fact that we can’t live up to our own standards, nor can we live up to anyone else’s. It’s true, we must permit the idea that we are just as guilty as everyone else. Plead guilty to the accusation you know is true, you have failed, you aren’t better than anyone else; your occupation, your salary, your car, your life is not enough to pardon you from the accusation of failure. God has laid us open by His law, He has the double edged sword of the Law against our neck and we are all too vulnerable. Do not only recite but embrace the fact that Christianity is not following a list of arduous rules allowing us to move from failure to success. Rather we as a church need to embrace our failure, our defeat, our annihilation, our self-righteousness, and our hatred so that we may be able to embrace that Christ is sending us on a journey of unsurpassable rest. Rest that is found in Him, rest from the disquieting murmur of failure. Rest is found in knowing that we can boldly yet vulnerably enter the throne room of God, pronounce ourselves guilty and rejoice in the freedom we find by embracing the accusation.
Teachers, counselors, and theologians will all tell you that you must remind yourself that you are not as bad as you think. We are the only culture that has ever said that. Look at the way we treat our prisoners, our child molesters, our adulterers; we tell them that they have too low of a self-perception. Those robbing the liquor stores, murdering people over gang colors, or even those who cheat on their wives just think too low of themselves. Their actions are fueled out of a belief that they are worse then everyone else, thus provoking them to damage themselves and others. This is ridiculous, every other culture that has ever existed and most that presently exist deny this belief. It is an over arching pride that fuels their crimes and attitudes. They quiet the murmur of self-contempt by deceiving themselves about their own present condition. The ancient Greeks called this dangerous pride “hubris.” Hubris in ancient Greece was a sin of the largest punishment, it was the crime that always led to destruction. Aristotle defined hubris as;
“to cause shame to the victim, not in order that anything may happen to you, nor because anything has happened to you, but merely for your own gratification. Hubris is not the requital of past injuries; this is revenge. As for the pleasure in hubris, its cause is this: men think that by ill-treating others they make their own superiority the greater.”
Even if something has happened to the perpetrators mentioned earlier, for instance a crime against them, their motivation for their actions is revenge against a world that “mistreated” them. So their crime is against a world that doesn’t know how worthy they are.
Rest from the inner murmur of self contempt is found in one place. Shane Bernard says it so well, it is found in “Embracing [the] Accusation.” Unless we welcome the accusation, we will never be able to defeat it. The accusation is the fact that we can’t live up to our own standards, nor can we live up to anyone else’s. It’s true, we must permit the idea that we are just as guilty as everyone else. Plead guilty to the accusation you know is true, you have failed, you aren’t better than anyone else; your occupation, your salary, your car, your life is not enough to pardon you from the accusation of failure. God has laid us open by His law, He has the double edged sword of the Law against our neck and we are all too vulnerable. Do not only recite but embrace the fact that Christianity is not following a list of arduous rules allowing us to move from failure to success. Rather we as a church need to embrace our failure, our defeat, our annihilation, our self-righteousness, and our hatred so that we may be able to embrace that Christ is sending us on a journey of unsurpassable rest. Rest that is found in Him, rest from the disquieting murmur of failure. Rest is found in knowing that we can boldly yet vulnerably enter the throne room of God, pronounce ourselves guilty and rejoice in the freedom we find by embracing the accusation.
Friday, January 04, 2008
escape
if i could, i would
i would run as far as my legs would let me
i would look back
i would fret knowing no grace live there
i would wail having no one to love or love me
i would never forget what i left
i would forget what i never left
i would never stop running
scared i would be
hate i would feel
love i would never feel
turmoil my soul
lost my soul
silent my soul
- - - -
1st Timothy
18Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, 19holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. 20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.
I am very conscious of the opportunity I have to make a shipwreck of my faith. I am in deep prayer that He keep my rudder steady and sails in good form.
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