TAKE NOTES
SUNDAY, October 30, 2022
"Revitalizing Spiritual Disciplines" by Daniel Mills
“All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.”
--James Clear, Atomic Habits
1. The celebration of the feasts created rhythms of worship
Sabbath
Isaiah 58:13 – Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day.
“We need to ask ourselves why are so busy. Sabbath helps us to question our assumptions. The truth is that we may be busy because we feel a need to validate our worth. Sabbath gives us a chance to step off the hampster wheel and listen to the voice that tells us we are beloved by God. The sabbath heals us from our compulsion to measure ourselves by what we accomplish, who we know, and the influence we have. Sabbath enables us to define ourselves less by our achievements and more as beloved daughters and sons of God. As we become more aware of how much we are cherished as children of God, we grow in our trust of God.”
--Ken Shigematsu, God in My Everything
Feast of Passover
1 Corinthians 5:7 – Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us.
Feast of Unleavened Bread
1 Corinthians 5:8 – Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Feast of First Fruits
1 Corinthians 15:20 – But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.
Feast of Pentecost
Acts 2:1-4 – On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting…and everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
Feasts of Trumpets
1 Corinthians 15:52 – It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 – For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.
Day of Atonement
Hebrews 9:11-12 – So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.
Feast of Tabernacles
John 1:14 – So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
2. Spiritual Disciplines are necessary in cultivating an intimate and vibrant relationship with Jesus
Gathering to Worship
Ezra 6:14 – So the Jewish elders continued their work, and they were greatly encouraged by the preaching of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo.
Generous Giving
Ezra 6:16-17 – The Temple of God was then dedicated with great joy by the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the people who had returned from exile. During the dedication ceremony for the Temple of God, 100 young bulls, 200 rams, and 400 male lambs were sacrificed.
Sacrificial Service
Ezra 6:18 – Then the priests and Levites were divided into their various divisions to serve at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, as prescribed in the Book of Moses.
Times of Sanctification
Ezra 6:19 – On April 21 the returned exiles celebrated Passover. The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean.
Fellowship with One Another
Ezra 6:21 – The Passover meal was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile and by the others in the land who had turned from their corrupt practices to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.
Acts 2:46-47 – Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
Remembrance of God’s Goodness
Ezra 6:22 – Then they celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days. There was great joy throughout the land because the Lord had caused the king of Assyria to be favorable to them, so that he helped them to rebuild the Temple of God, the God of Israel.
Reading, Studying, Meditating, Memorizing the Word of God
Nehemiah 9:3 – They remained standing in place for three hours while the Book of the Law of the Lord their God was read aloud to them.
Ezra 7:10 – This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.
Psalm 1:2-3 – They delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.
Purposeful Prayer
Nehemiah 9:1-3 – On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads…then for three more hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord their God.
Matthew 7:7 – Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
1 Timothy 4:7-8 – Train yourself to be godly. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.
