For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5 (read vv. 1-17)

INTRO: In the last six weeks, we’ve gone over the body in scripture from head to toe and from the outside in

We have been exploring the role their bodies (and parts) played in their spiritual understanding
– we have seen that men and women in the Bible listened to their bodies, searching for deeper meanings to what they felt and experienced

For example, when Rebekah was pregnant with twins and they jostled each other in her womb, she asked, “‘If it is so, then why am I this way?’ So she went to inquire of the LORD” (Ge. 25:26). It was then that God revealed to her the destiny of her two sons. The point is that she believed that what went on inside of her had a meaning that only God could make clear.

Continue reading →

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (read vv. 12-20)

INTRO: The question most frequently put to youth pastors, “Is it alright for a Christian to go to parties?”

It sounds like the teenager is asking, “How close can we get to the edge and still be Christian?”
– but what really lies behind the question is more like, “Is there anything fun about this Christian life? Anything interesting or exciting? Anything that compares with the social life of an active teen?”
– when preachers spell out the life of faith, their descriptions oftentimes sound dreary and like a lot of work
– it is as if we were at war with pleasure – at war with our bodies

The the impression we get when reading about the first Christian monks
– known for their “asceticism” – rigid self-discipline — they intentionally deprived themselves of food, sleep, and comfort
Karl Rahner, “. . . asceticism was considered almost exclusively a substitute for martyrdom.” Continue reading →

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your sight [lit. “eyes”];
Keep them in the midst of your heart. Proverbs 4:20-22 (read vv. 20-27)

INTRO: Simone Weil was born into an affluent family, but always felt drawn to poor

Wanting to better understand the hardships of the working class, she went to work in a factory
– there she learned not only the harsh conditions in which many people labored, but also about their afflictions, both great and small
– one observation she made reflects on minor injuries in the workplace:

“When an apprentice gets hurt or complains of fatigue, workmen and peasants have this fine expression: ‘It’s the trade getting into his body.’ Whenever we have some pain to endure, we can say to ourselves that it is the universe, the order and beauty of the world, and the obedience of creation to God which are entering our body.”

Acquiring a skill changes our bodies
– first blisters form and then become callouses, muscles that are sore at first become strong, and the movements that are awkward starting out we later perform with agility and grace

In our current study, we are learning to let God’s grace enter our bodies Continue reading →

How lovely on the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who announces peace
And brings good news of happiness,
Who announces salvation,
And says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Isaiah 52:7 (read vv. 7-12)

INTRO: Some of you know of Walter Martin

He popularized Christian apologetics in his book, Kingdom of the Cults
– Walter Martin lived here in San Juan Capistrano and occasionally I would run into him around town
– he suffered from diabetes and nearly lost his feet to the disease
– in one of our encounters, he told me about a masseuse who worked on, “She saved my feet,” he said

Few of us were ever taught importance of taking care of our feet
– we abuse them with shoes that are too tight or worn out and also with bad posture
– this can create muscle tension and over compensation that results in pain in our legs, back,  and neck
– we pay for abusing our feet as we age – mangled feet can misalign the body and diminish its ability to balance, causing us to lose stability
If you are ever tempted to say, “My feet are killing me,” it is probably because you are killing them Continue reading →

The Hebrew word yad appears at least 1600 times in the
Old Testament and has a wide variety of meanings

• A person’s hand can be with someone – to join, support, or assist (1 Chr. 4:10)
  – also, “to give the hand” – join in partnership (2 Ki. 10:15)
• A person’s hand can be upon someone – either to give help or to be against
• by the hand of means “to come through someone,” by the agency of (1 Sa. 11:7)
• take from the hand of is  to rescue or deliver someone
  – (Ex. 2:19; Isa. 51:22)
• to place the hand on or over ones mouth is to silence ones self
  – stop ones self from saying anything (Job 40:4)
  – the last place that a word can be prevented from being spoken Continue reading →