Ignite Friday (2/3)

READ: Psalm 57:1-11

As we close out this week of looking at the incredible blessing of being able to experience God’s presence, I want you to take some time to reflect on a song. You may or may not be familiar with this tune but you can find it in the book of songs, Psalm 57. This song is written by David, the soon-to-be king, and he finds himself running from the current king, Saul. David finds his refuge not primarily in a cave, which is where he probably wrote this song, but he finds his ultimate rescue in the Lord Himself.

What I would like for you to do is take a pen and underline the statements in this psalm that declare something about the Lord. It may be a descriptive or perhaps identifies something that the Lord does (or is doing, or is yet to do). Take a moment and read through this song underlining those descriptors.

Next, take a different color pen or pencil and circle the words that describe David’s activity towards the Lord. You are looking for words that describe how David responds to God’s character and grace.

Lastly, write below the words that you circled and take a moment to reflect on how you have responded to the Lord (or perhaps need to respond).

Ex: steadfast—I need to rely on you more consistently

Ignite Thursday (2/2)

READ: Psalm 65:9-13

The second part of this psalm focuses on the provision of God, how He is our Jehovah-Jireh (a Hebrew word meaning that God is our provider). God greatly enriches the earth and “crowns” the year with bounty (verse 11). Even the creation and the harvest “shout and sing together for joy” (verse 13).

We delight in the goodness God provides for us, but we must not mistake His gifts for His presence. He is a gracious Father who gives us good gifts. But these are gifts from His hand, not to be mistaken for His presence. So often we tend to prefer God’s good gifts to us, rather than His presence. Yet God’s gifts will fade because they are created gifts; He will never fade or disappear. He is always the same.

In Psalm 67:6-7, this theme is repeated: God provides the increase, the good, the harvest. What should be our response? “Let all the ends of the earth fear Him” (verse 7). This is the end result of God’s graciousness—people will praise Him. God desires for the whole earth to praise Him.

“At the bottom of all our hope, when everything else has given way, we stand on this great reality: the everlasting, all-sufficient God is infinitely, unwaveringly, and eternally committed to the glory of His great and holy name. For the sake of His fame among the nations He will act.”
– John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad, pg. 40

QUESTIONS
1. List out some of the good gifts that God has given to you?

2. Would you say you prefer God’s presence over His gifts? Why or why not?

3. In your own words, what does it mean to fear the Lord?

PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. What do you notice about what God is doing in your heart for other people?

2. What did God say to you during your study today?

Ignite Wednesday (2/1)

READ: Psalm 65:1-8
The first eight verses remind us of God’s goodness to us for salvation. God is praiseworthy because He hears our prayers, atones for our transgressions, and brings us near to dwell in His courts. The God of the universe, the One who created everything we see and can’t see, gave us creation so we could know and bless Him. He demands that we dwell in wonder at all He has done. May it never be that the creation praises God louder than us.

God atones for our transgressions (makes us right with Him even though we sin against Him); He chooses us to draw near to Him. We would not choose to worship Him on our own, but He makes the way possible for us to worship Him and draws us near. Because of this “drawing near,” we can sing, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!” (Psalm 84:1, 4)
Psalm 85 speaks of this nearness as well. We can be certain of the salvation and steadfast love of God: “Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in the land” (verses 7-9). Just as in Psalm 65, the psalmist declares that the nearness and salvation of God should keep us from folly and from sin.

God, the Creator God, is our only hope of salvation. He is not only our hope for salvation, He is the salvific hope of all—to the very ends of the earth. No one, not even on the remotest island, is exempt from this hope.

Through creation, the peoples at the ends of the earth have every opportunity to know God as their Savior. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, opens up this work of theology with this truth: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (1:19-21). Creation shows us the invisible characteristics of God so that everyone is without excuse.

PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. What is one thing you have heard God saying to you recently as you read His Word?

2. How have you acted upon it?

3. What is God saying to you about your role in making His name known in all the earth?

Ignite Tuesday (1/31)

In 2008, there were 11 countries with a 99% or higher percentage of Muslims in their population. Some of these countries had a percentage of 100% Muslims. Muslims do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who lived and died for their sins and was raised from the dead. They do not believe that Jesus is God. The following story happened in Pakistan, which is 95% Muslim:

Masih was an active Islamic student who often disagreed about religion with his fellow Christian students. When they tried to explain their faith, he couldn’t grasp it. Even though some questions were answered, Masih was not satisfied. He went to the Muslim clerics and they reluctantly answered his questions, often giving the same answers as his Christian classmates. Masih went to a friend who was a priest with his questions. The priest said to him, “What [the] Christians told you is true, but if you tell others, people will kill you.” Finally, Masih went to a Christian pastor who told him the whole truth about Jesus.

Masih gave his life to Christ. His family disowned him. He became a Christian pastor. He knew that others needed to hear of the hope of Christ. Even though he has no family remaining who claim him, he has Jesus. His self-charge is this, “Now, I help my Christian brothers and sisters to understand Muslims and lead them to Christ.”
– Excerpt taken from Jesus Freaks by dc Talk, pgs. 236-237

Masih knew that he finally had the only hope that would give meaning in life and eternal life to his Muslim friends and family. He was unwilling to be moved and unafraid to back down, even if it meant losing his family. The hope of the nations, Jesus, is more important than relationships here on this earth. May we not be intimidated to share this same hope with our neighbors, family, friends—and even to be willing to go to those at the ends of the earth.

QUESTIONS
1. Who has God given you a heart to reach? (it could be a certain ethic group, a geographical region, an oppressed group, a religious community, etc.)

2. If you could do anything to reach these people with the gospel and you knew you couldn’t fail, what would you do?

PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. What did God say to you during your study today?

Ignite Monday (1/30)

Our Story

Fourth of July, 2010, happened to be on a Sunday. In Bible Fellowship that morning our 9th grade class of girls were in the prayer room talking and praying over the freedoms we are thankful for. At one point, Morgan, for some strange reason, blurted out the blessing we have of not being literally enslaved in physical bondage, specifically enslaved to satisfying the sexual desires of ruthless men.

The week following Independance day was Community: Serve week at our church. We were busy all week with planned activities to serve our community with the love of Christ. The Wednesday of this week, a couple of us were wanting to have a sleepover. Not for any particular reason, just because. One girl was sacrificing going to the beach with her family to stay and finish up the week of serving. Another, time with family, and I had made the decision to skip two practices to be able to spend a little extra time with friends, not like we weren’t seeing each other everyday that week anyway, but hey, we are 14. So after much fuss and talk and begging our moms, our plan worked. We’ve grown alot since then.

That night we were discussing Morgan’s random comment made in Bible Fellowship the Sunday before and really got to thinking about the issue of human trafficking.  On July 14th, 2010, SOS was born. We were dreaming big that night, and pretty much planned our first event. We started out thinking, “Wow, it would be awesome if we could have a cook-out with our youth group to raise money to help support trafficked girls across the world.” We never expected God to show up in the way that He has.

Our goal is to fill these young girls lives with the Hope of the Gospel, to heal their wounds, and to build them up in love and encouragement. God will do this through the work of many talented people whose hearts are burdened just the same working in these countries, these people will be the Hands and Feet of Christ to many broken girls. Looking back at what maybe sparked our passion for this type of ministry, we found that many different things played a role. Through numerous Bible studies and devotionals done together the Lord has solidified to us over and over the importance of sacred purity. We have grown spiritually together, and share many of the same values and truths. Because we have taken a stand for protecting our purity and God’s intent for marriage, against the world’s views, we are sensitive to the topic of preserving purity of mind, body, and soul.
In our research and basic knowledge of sex-trafficking, we found that these little girls have absolutely no choice of purity or not. Our hearts have been broken for those who cannot savor their sacredness, and all the more we view our gift of purity with priceless value. Our job is to give a voice to the voiceless, and proclaim freedom for our sisters around the globe.

We are thankful for the opportunity God has given us, to share with His people the call He has placed on our lives. We are doing this because we have been called and we said “Yes, LORD.” One thing we’ve learned is to be sure you are ready for something big when you say “yes” to God. He is always faithful. We pray that God will put our selfish desires to death. That in everything we do, we will bring honor and glory to Him and Him alone. This is the prayer of the SOS team. We seek only to magnify His Name through this ministry.

God has called us all to save them. 
Only one question remains: Will You Join Us?

This is the story of teenagers wanting to image Jesus to the world and rescue girls that are enslaved. Morgan and a few other friends discovered the horror of human trafficking. They started a ministry to raise funds to fight this blight. They have already helped to rescue young girls who were being raped as prostitutes against their will. They are now adopting a city in Moldova where 30,000 girls have been taken by trafficking rings over the past ten years. This is a group of girls who began this ministry out of a 9th grade Sunday school class. Dream boldly as you live for Christ.
Check out their website: www.saveoursisterstoday.com

Ignite Friday (1/27)

READ: Psalm 96 (one last time!)
The worship of God would not be complete if we just highlighted His glory and goodness; we must also declare His justice and judgment to the nations (Psalm 96:10). The Lord, in His perfectness, reigns over all the earth. He is the sovereign King and rules perfectly. His justice is fair. We all stand under condemnation. Those who are in Christ are freed from the wrath of God because of the blood of Christ. The nations can’t know this peace without understanding the judgment of God. The good news wouldn’t be as sweet if there was no bad news.

The overarching theme of Psalm 96 is worship for the good of the nations. Our worship is not for our good and our good alone. Our worship to the King of kings is for the good of every people group, every tongue, every tribe and every nation. Everywhere on this earth, creation displays the glory of God and echoes this glory; we need to join in that declaration throughout every nation. God is worthy. Bless His name!

Ignite Thursday (1/26)

READ: Psalm 96 (again)
What should we share about God to the nations? The psalmist gives us the very words to say. Tell of His salvation (Psalm 96:2). Tell others what Christ has done for you, how He rescued and redeemed you. Share how He declared you right when you were wrong—not only wrong, but dead in your sin.

Sharing the Gospel with others does not have to be intimidating. Simply tell your story about how Jesus saved you—how your life is now all about Jesus and not about you. The psalmist even goes one step further and says to tell of God’s salvation from “day to day.” In other words, all the time.
We are also to talk about the glory of God, His greatness above all other gods, His splendor and majesty, His beauty, His creation, His holiness, His judgment and more. God is not exhaustive, so this list is not exhaustive. Psalm 96 also instructs us to sing, declare, ascribe (give credit due) and worship God in His glory as we share about Him.

“If the heavens ‘speak’ God’s glory, how much more ought we believers created in God’s image and redeemed by His grace, give testimony to God’s glory in our lives.”
– Michael Travers, Encountering God in the Psalms, pg. 98

QUESTIONS
1. When is the last time you shared with someone about what Christ has done for you?

2. What are some of the fears that keep you from sharing your faith?

3. According to Psalm 96:3, what are the two things we are suppose to declare? To whom?

PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. What do you notice about what God is doing in your heart for other people?

2. What did God say to you during your study today?

Ignite Wednesday (1/25)

READ: Psalm 96

Psalm 96 is both a statement of God’s glorious wonder and an imperative for our worship. This psalm gives us the focus of our worship, the object of our worship, and encourages us to keep the “main Thing the main Thing.” Psalm 96 is all about God, the sum of perfect worship because He is the only one worthy of all worship.

The worship of God’s people, His saved creation, is to make the glory of God known throughout all the earth. Salvation leads to worship leads to salvation. When God saves people, He saves them to worship, a laying-down-of-life-for-God worship that is all-encompassing. This type of worship will lead those who have been redeemed to take His worth and His glory to all the nations. There can be no other outcome, no other desire. If salvation is true, the Holy Spirit will work in the lives of believers and compel them to take the glorious truth of Jesus to the far reaches of the world.

“Don’t just tell the earth the facts about the greatness and the glory of God; bid them to join you in praising Him. Call for their conversion. All the nations must bow before the one true God of Israel, whom we know now as the Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.”
– John Piper, sermon preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church in 2008

QUESTIONS
1. List out all the descriptions/characteristics of the Lord that are given to us in Psalm 96:

2. List out the actions words that are given in Psalm 96 as ways we are supposed to respond to God’s greatness:

PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. What is one thing you have heard God saying to you recently as you read His Word?

2. How have you acted upon it?

3. What is God saying to you about your role in making His name known in all the earth?

Ignite Tuesday (1/24)

Many would claim that Poland is a highly religious country due to the fact that about 90% of the people practice Roman Catholicism. However, there are many in Poland who need to know the saving power of Christ.

The following article by Michael Slackman about religion in Poland was published in The New York Times in December 2010:
A statue of Jesus, one of the tallest in the world, stands on the flat frozen fields of this small western Poland town [Swiebodzin], its arms outstretched and gaze fixed straight ahead at a community trying to push back a rising tide of secularism.
The stark, white, 108-foot-high figure was erected last month [November 2010] in part to serve as sentry against a force already churning through Poland. “I hope this statue will become a remedy for this secularization,” said the Rev. Sylwester Zawadzki, the priest who inspired the construction of the figure, which rivals the height of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. “I hope it will have a religious mission and not just bring tourists.”
Poland is still an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation, still conservative and still religious, especially when compared with its European neighbors. But supporters and critics of the Roman Catholic Church all acknowledge that the society is changing. They agree that church representatives in Poland have lost authority and credibility, and that much of the population is moving toward a more secular view of life, one with a greater separation between church and state, and a rejection of church mandates on individual morality.
The answer for Poland, and every other nation in the world, is the Gospel of God through Christ. One way to be a part of the mission of God is to take the Gospel to the nations.

This is a story from a man who was able to serve in Poland for a short-term trip:
“In August 2010, I had the joy of traveling to Poland on a mission trip. My main responsibilities were to lead musical worship and assist the Polish church staff in any area of need. Music and travel: two of my favorite things! Every morning and evening, I worked with one of the students (Timek) to lead in a time of singing. Many on our team helped with small group discussions, taught games, built relationships and gave testimonies of God’s salvation.

Thomas Watson once wrote, ‘Love cannot be silent . . . it is like a fire. Where it burns in the heart, it will break forth at the lips’ (All Things for Good, pg. 86). We talk about what we love. It is the reflex of our hearts to tell others about what we love.
What would happen if God’s people put words to what they cherished and loved most in their hearts? I believe Psalm 96 would happen, our text for this week. I believe the nations would hear the people of God declare the glory of God (Psalm 96:3). I believe the nations would hear this cry, “The Lord reigns!” (Psalm 96:10), and this would just be the beginning for they would hear the Gospel “day to day” (Psalm 96:2).
Worship fuels evangelism. God has redeemed us through the work of Jesus Christ. This is a message that causes our hearts to swell with love toward God; this is a message that needs to be declared. Our God is great and greatly to be praised, both in our hometowns and in nations far away. Psalm 96 is clear that we have a story to tell and a song to sing. So let the fire that burns in your heart, break forth at your lips!

Ignite Monday (1/23)

William Borden was born into a wealthy Chicago family in 1887. He had the best this world had to offer: education, world travels and every physical comfort. By the age of 21 he was a millionaire. Yet Borden’s heart was sensitive to God’s will for his life. We he was seven he gave his life to Christ, but it was as a 16-year-old that God began to speak to him very specifically.

During an around-the-world cruise, he met missionaries going to their fields of service. Writing to his mother at the time, he commented: “Your request that I pray to God for His very bet plan for my life is not a hard thing to do, for I have been praying that very thing for a long time… When I look ahead a few years it seems as though the only thing to do is to prepare for the foreign field.”

Borden attended Princeton University with the intention of devoting his life to foreign missions. Despite the fact that he loved automobiles, he told his friends that he could not “afford” to purchase one. In reality, every time he considered buying a car, he was overwhelmed with the needs of foreign missions and sent money to those causes instead. It is estimated that during his three years in seminary he gave away more than $70,000!
In December 1912, his education completed, Borden sailed to Cairo, Egypt, for language training before entering mission service in China. While there, Borden contracted cerebral meningitis and died, never having reached his destination. Upon his deathbed, at age 25, he reiterated his life’s theme: “No reserve, no retreat, no regrets.” In his will he left almost one million dollars to Christian causes.

When news arrived in America that this young millionaire had willingly abandoned his fortune and died in squalid conditions in Egypt, it had an electrifying effect on college students throughout North America and Europe. Many students responded to God’s call to missions because of Borden’s life, tragically cut short.

QUESTIONS
1. Do you consider Borden’s life a success? Why or why not?

2. Could you make the same sacrifices Borden did if you sensed God’s leading? Why or why not?

3. What do you think motivated William Borden?

PERSONAL APPLICATION
1. What is God currently leading you to do as a result of your relationship with Him?

2. What did God say to you in your study today?

3. What will you do as a result?