Beacon Community Church

The Calling - A Heart Like No Other

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:20:44 -0500

This message is our fifth week in Leviticus, covering chapters 8-10. This week we move from the priesthood to the high priest himself, Aaron. The elaborate ordination of Aaron and his two eldest sons and the incredible preparations necessary for the high priestly duties illustrate for us that while God is loving and good, he is also dangerous. Nadab and Abihu, Aaron’s sons, failed to recognize this truth in the past but God holds them accountable at this point. Aaron’s heart undergoes a severe trial as a result. The calling from God is not a call to a safe life. The heroes of faith were not called to safety but to incredible risk, sacrifice and adventure. Where is your journey taking you?

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The Calling - Who's Got Your Back?

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:36:06 -0500

The section headings for the chapters we’ve already covered read something like this: burnt offering, grain offering, peace offering, sin offering, guilt offering. As we start chapter 6, the section headings read: burnt offering, grain offering, sin offering, guilt offering, peace offering. Sound familiar? Repetition of details like this led John Calvin to call these chapters by and large “wearisome” and filled with words we do not understand nor should we care. With all due deference to the great Calvin, we press on to discover why God might have chosen to immediately repeat himself and uncover some of what it means to be called a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9).

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The Calling - Purity & Payback

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:43:17 -0500

Leviticus 1 wasn’t the first time we heard of “vayikra” - God’s calling to Moses. It happened before at Mt. Sinai when God gave Moses the 10 commandments and it happened first at the burning bush. That first encounter foreshadows what God reveals in Leviticus 1-5. At the burning bush, God asked Moses “What’s in your hand?” and Moses presented his shepherd’s staff (his identity, his life) as an offering. God commanded Moses to remove his sandals for he was on holy ground. These two acts lay out the twin dynamics of offering and purification in our relationship with God.

Mirroring that encounter, Leviticus 1-3 addresses the offerings we bring to God and Leviticus 4-5 addresses the need for purity, specifically the sin and guilt offerings. Once again we see these ancient rites contain a timely lesson about loving God and our neighbor, forming a backdrop to Jesus’ words in his sermon on the mount.

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The Calling - Of the People, By the People, For the People

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:36:12 -0500

The remainder of chapters 1 through 3 in Leviticus detail the first 3 freewill offerings: the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the peace offering. Far from being a book just for priests or Levites, we see immediately that God is detailing the way in which all his people should enter a relationship with him. We don’t give these offerings today but these ancient rituals still contain a very timely message for us about how to love God with all our being and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

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The Calling - Opening the Book of Leviticus

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:08:44 -0500

Leviticus is the Church’s name for the 3rd book of Moses. Long before that, it was simply called Vayikra, which is Hebrew for And He Called. The name Leviticus implies that this book is for the Levites and priests but this book is much more about the call of God on all our lives. God was establishing the framework for how his people would live. Leviticus is about how God calls us to live as a faith community called together by his voice.

That said, Leviticus is still difficult to understand for us today. And so we begin this series by laying important groundwork about the Law and how differently it functioned in biblical times.

Ultimately, the people of God is not established by race or culture or nationality or any other condition of birth. All human distinctions are irrelevant. This new community is established solely by the call of God and is made of those who hear and answer that call.

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Prayer Wheel (Final)

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:01:44 -0500

Each week during our prayer series, we distributed a handout that contained an image of Dick Eastman’s prayer wheel and a short description of the two forms of prayer that we were covering that week. This final handout has the entire prayer wheel with abbreviated notes for each of the twelve forms of prayer.

As a final note, this prayer wheel represents just one person’s attempt to create a survey of the range of prayer in the Bible. It’s intended to be a helpful tool for training in prayer but it’s nothing that’s set in stone. Prayer is, or should be, something that’s dynamic and organic, something that grows and changes along with your relationship with God in Christ.

Prayer Wheel (Final)

Prayer - Listening & Praise

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:58:55 -0500

The conclusion to our 6-part series on prayer.

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Prayer - Singing & Meditation

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:53:43 -0500

Out of the many biblical examples of prayer, singing is probably the one that makes the most people uncomfortable. Still, some of the most famous prayers were songs. The Psalms were all songs but there is also Hannah’s prayer, Mary’s song, and Moses’ and Miriam’s song after crossing the sea. This is part 5 in our 6 part series on prayer based on Dick Eastman’s Hour That Changes the World.

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Kid Connection on Friendship

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:49:19 -0500

In our once-a-month Kid Connection service, we focus on the biblical virtue for that month. In this focus on friendship, we see how Jesus was a true friend to Thomas. Jesus was compassionate with Thomas’ struggles and doubts and like a true friend, he showed Thomas what he needed to strengthen his faith.

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Kid Connection on Patience

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:40:52 -0500

Sometimes impatience has a high cost. We see this in how Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of stew. But he wasn’t the only one who was impatient. Jacob knew what God had promised and instead of waiting for God, he took advantage of Esau. The bad blood between them would continue for generations until one day, a child of Esau (Herod the Great) would try to wipe out the promised king of Jacob (Jesus).

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If you’d like to see the “Marshmallow Test” mentioned in the message, you can check it out here.

Prayer - Petition & Thanksgiving

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:36:43 -0500

Part 4 in our series on prayer.

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Prayer - Watching & Interceding

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:33:50 -0500

Part 3 in our series on different forms of biblical prayer.

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Prayer - Confession & Scripture

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:30:07 -0500

Part 2 in our series on prayer, based on the book The Hour That Changes the World by Dick Eastman.

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Kid Connection Videos

Fri, 21 May 2010 21:44:34 -0500

The last two Kid Connection services for the season are up on vimeo.

Click here to view April’s take on friendship.

Click here to view May’s take on patience.

Prayer Wheel Bulletin Insert

Thu, 20 May 2010 13:07:32 -0500

There is a bulletin insert that accompanies each message in this series. It’s designed to be an aid in your prayer time. Here’s the insert from week 1 on praise & waiting.

Prayer Wheel 1 - Praise & Waiting