TRAIL GUIDE: Lean Not On Your Own Understanding
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
SOUL SHERPA, LESSON 2: The Holy Spirit is Our Guide
My mother is infamous for her sense of direction. Or should I say, lack thereof. She once followed a car for some distance out of her way because “they looked like they knew where they were going.” She has driven almost out of state before realizing she had taken a wrong turn. Mom was sure she was going in the right direction. She even thought she had recognized some landmarks. It took some time but Mom has learned to lean not on her own understanding when it comes to directions. Nowadays she makes sure she either rides with or follows someone who knows the right path.
How many times have you headed down a path that you were sure was right and wise only to find out that you were on a road to heartache? When we depend on our human discernment and worldly understanding they will fail us in the end. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12)
We can contrast two great men of scripture in this regard. Saul, the first anointed King over Israel, when pressed, did what he discerned to be the wise thing when Samuel was delayed and an attack seemed imminent. He took it upon himself to sacrifice to the Lord. It might seem to us, on the face of it, to be an intelligent move. Samuel hadn’t shown up on time, they were in great danger, and they needed God’s favor. But Saul had been told to wait. He did not inquire of the Lord and he did not trust the command he had been given by the man of God. He was leaning on his own understanding. By contrast his successor, King David, inquired of the Lord for almost every big decision he made, with the exception of a few that famously went badly for him. God has given us a trustworthy spiritual GPS system; his Word and his indwelling Holy Spirit, ever present to guide us. Inquire of the Lord and He will make your paths straight. He is our trustworthy teacher and guide. This is a promise of God.
Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? – 1 Corinthians 1:20
“Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” -Traditional Hymn
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 14:12
1 Corinthians 1:20
1 Samuel 13
1 Samuel 23:4
Sunday Rewind | 4.13.2014
TEACHING: Before the Throne, Part 4
Why does all hell break loose when we try to enter into prayer? Because prayer is war, and the lack of prayer is nothing less than a declaration of independence from God.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing from this message that was particularly helpful or insightful? What was one thing that was difficult to understand or put into practice?
- Read and discuss Matthew 26:36-46. What do you see about the nature of man? What do these verses tell you about the nature & person of Jesus? What do you observe about prayer in these verses?
- “Prayer is war.” What does this mean? Have you found this to be true?
- Pastor Mike highlights several other hindrances to entering in to prayer: “Prayer is too hard.” “I rarely get what I ask for.” “I can’t find the time.” “Prayer is boring.” “I get distracted.” “I can’t see the Person I’m talking to.” “I can’t hear a response.” “I don’t need to pray about ____. That will never happen to me – I’ve got this under control.” Which of those hindrances do you struggle with?
- What other hindrances to prayer can you think of?
- How does being strategically specific help us engage in prayer?
- Can you think of a prayer that God did not answer, then discovered later it was for the best?
- Through this series, what have you learned about the importance & benefits of prayer? By contrast, what are the detriments of not praying?
- How do you feel you need to grow in the area of prayer? What will you do to pursue this – what’s your plan? Spend some time in prayer asking God to make you a person of consistent prayer, and our church a church of constant prayer.
New Women’s Ministry Offerings
RBC Ladies, I wanted to let you know about a couple new offerings in Women’s Ministry. Both will meet at the church beginning soon.
- FORGIVEN & SET FREE: This confidential 8 week study is for women who suffer pain, guilt or shame of a past abortion(s). This study, which effectively administers God’s healing grace, is offered in a safe environment with the goal of helping you find lasting healing, forgiveness, and freedom that can only be found in Christ. If you struggle with secrecy, guilt, condemnation or forgiveness, this study is for you. It will meet on Thursdays from 7:00-9:00 pm beginning April 24. For more information or to register contact Amy Raye, 571-283-7248, wildly_a@yahoo.com or Kathy Kennedy 571-327-0617, Kathy.kennedy17@gmail.com.
- LIVING HOPE: This will be a women’s group for those who struggle with depression. Psalm 42:11 asks the questions, “Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” Beginning May 15, we will host an 8-week (5/15 – 7/10) group on Thursdays, 9:30 – 11:30 AM for women who struggle with depression. We will share from Scripture and from our own personal lives for the purpose of building each other up as we walk through difficult emotions and circumstances. Our goal is that through sharing openly and honestly with one another, reminding each other of the truths found in Scripture and speaking the truth in love, we will be able to say to our souls, like the Psalmist, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” Due to the intimate and confidential nature of the group, size will be limited (6 – 10 women). Childcare will not be provided. If interested, please contact Julia Blanchard (juliablanchard@restonbible.org, 703-404-5045).
Have a wonderful week and enjoy this gorgeous spring weather…finally!
Marsha Mathews
Director, Women’s Ministry
Conversations Volunteer Needs
Conversations starts on Monday and we hope you are planning to bring your friends, co-workers & neighbors to this year’s production. Plenty of invitation cards will be available this weekend, so please grab a few when you are at services this Sunday.
We still need many volunteers to help make this event a success. Our greatest needs are:
- CHILDCARE: We need 25 more people willing to work in childcare so the parents can go enjoy the show. You can work one evening or multiple evenings. A background check is required if this is your first time serving with our Children’s Ministry. To serve, e-mail Joan Lastova. Please indicate what evening(s) you are available to serve, and what age group you prefer working with (nursery, preschool, grade school).
- BAKERS: We need 40 more people who would each be willing to bake 8 dozen cookies or brownies. All goodies are to be delivered to the church by noon on your appointed drop-off day. You can deliver your goodies to the church on your way to work if necessary – we will have a table outside the main doors. If you are delivering after 8:00 am, please drop off your goodies on the tables set up just inside the Lobby doors. You may also drop off the night before (for example if you are serving in the Coffee Shop on Monday and your day to bake is Tuesday, you can bring your baked goods Monday night. To sign up to bake, click here.
- MEALS FOR CAST AND CREW: Most of our Conversations cast and tech crew come directly from work to serve. Please consider blessing these volunteers by signing up to provide one or more food items for meals during Conversations week. To help, please click here and choose the date that is most convenient for you and to see the list of food items needed. You will be contacted with additional information as to when and where to drop off your food items.
That’s it. With your help, next week will richly bless many thousands of people by clearly sharing the good news of the gospel in a creative & contemporary way. To God be the honor and glory!
Dale Peak
Administrator
ESL & Emergency Preparedness
With all that it takes to become comfortable and productive in Northern Virginia culture, it occurred to me that the internationals in our English as a Second Language program would benefit from understanding how to handle emergency situations. One of our teachers, Ron Colan, has a son who is a deputy with the Loudoun County Sheriff’s office. Deputy Colantonio was only too happy to come in and share basic knowledge with our students. I also contacted the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Squad and they sent a very capable public education manager, Lisa Braun, to provide training in all matters having to do with fire safety and calling 911.
For our two lower-level classes, I had to provide translators in order to ensure clear understanding of this important information. Thankfully, I was able to find the right people for all the major language groups. The presenters deftly maneuvered talking then pausing, over and over again, in order to allow the translators to work effectively.
Ms. Braun provided a 911 simulator which looks like a telephone and has a recording of the likely dialog that would be heard from the 911 operator. It was great for the students to try to answer the dispatcher’s questions and listen for instructions. When one is in a stressful situation, this may not be so easily done – even for a native English speaker!
Deputy Colantonio talked about what to do if one is pulled over by a police officer and also the procedure to follow should one have a traffic accident. Students had many questions on other matters pertaining to the law that have either been misunderstood or not known.
We strive to give our students practical information about how to live here as responsible citizens. Part of that is helping them to acquire the language and part of that is providing cultural insight including understanding the law. The more we show our love and concern for them, the more likely we will have a platform for pointing them to the ultimate need they have in their lives – knowledge of Jesus Christ and His relevance to every person, whether born here or elsewhere.
Sunday Rewind | 4.6.2014
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
God Is Able (Ephesians 3:20-21) – God Is Able by Hillsong
Endless Light (Psalm 113:3-4) – Cornerstone by Hillsong
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Psalm 16:11) – Original Arrangement
Mighty To Save (Zephaniah 3:17) – Yahweh by Hillsong Chapel
Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies) (Psalm 27:1) – Let The Future Begin by Chris Tomlin (Passion)
TEACHING: Before the Throne, Part 3
What happens when we pray?
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- If you had to give a one-sentence synopsis of this message, what would you say?
- Read and discuss Acts 10:1-43. What do you see about the nature of man? What do these verses tell you about the nature & person of God? How would you compare & contrast Peter & Cornelius? What do you observe about prayer and how God uses or responds to prayer?
- What is the difference between “descriptive” and “prescriptive” in regards to Scripture?
- In the verses from Acts 10, what can you identify as descriptive and what can you identify as prescriptive?
- Are there dangers in “hearing from God”? How can we know if we are actually hearing from God?
- Have you ever heard from God as a direct answer to a specific prayer? What happened?
- Are you currently waiting to hear from God on something specific? How do you want Him to respond? As best you can discern, what are your motivations in this? Spend some time together in prayer asking God to align your motives to His.
Sunday Rewind | 3.30.2014
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
Alive In Us (Ephesians 2:4-5) – God Is Able by Hillsong
I Will Look Up (Deuteronomy 7:9) – Only King Forever by Elevation Worship
Nothing But The Blood (Ephesians 1:7-8a) – Facedown by Matt Redman
Always (Psalm 121:1-2) – Here For You by Kristian Stanfill (Passion)
Forever Reign (Lamentations 5:19) – A Beautiful Exchange by Hillsong
10,000 Reasons (Psalm 103:1) – Unrelenting Love by Nick Thurmond
TEACHING: Before the Throne, Part 2
We tend to let cultural fears direct our prayers, which can lead to disillusionment and a lack of depth in our prayer life. May we instead be driven to deep prayer by the glorious greatness of Christ.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing from this sermon you found particularly helpful, insightful or difficult to understand?
- Read and discuss Ephesians 1:15-20. What do you see about the nature of man? What do these verses tell you about the nature & person of God?
- From these verses, what do you observe about Paul? What is he showing us about prayer?
- How does our culture affect how we pray? Are there ways in which this is good, bad or neutral?
- What is the “fuel” that drives you to pray? What do you pray most often about?
- Have you ever felt disillusioned because of prayer? What happened?
- Can you identify a particular fear that tends to dominate your thoughts or prayer life?
- How does understanding “the glorious greatness of Christ and the hope of His glory” affect how we pray?
- Spend some time in prayer together asking God to enlighten the eyes of your heart (Eph. 1:18) and deepen your desire and ability in the area of prayer.
Sunday Rewind | 3.23.2014
MUSIC & SCRIPTURE
Sing, Sing, Sing (Psalm 47:6-7) – Hello Love by Chris Tomlin
With Us (Psalm 46:10-11a) – God Is Able by Hillsong
Be Lifted High (John 3:30) – Nothing Is Wasted by Elevation Worship
Our God Is Love (1 John 4:9-10) – A Beautiful Exchange by Hillsong
Christ Is Enough (2 Corinthians 12:9) – Glorious Ruins by Hillsong
In Your Presence (Deuteronomy 31:6) – Nothing Is Wasted by Elevation Worship
TEACHING: Before the Throne, Part 1
Through Christ, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence. Prayer is not about the result, but about the One in whom we trust – it is seeking the face of God, not just His hand.
CLICK HERE FOR THE SERMON AUDIO
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR SHEPHERD GROUPS
- What was one thing from this sermon you found particularly helpful, insightful or difficult to understand?
- What is prayer? How would you describe/define prayer to someone who doesn’t know what it is?
- Read and discuss Hebrews 4:14-16 and Psalm 46. What do you see about the nature of man? Of God? What does these verses tell us about how we can relate to God? What do you observe about prayer?
- What are other Scriptures you can think of that instruct us on the topic of prayer?
- What is the purpose of prayer? Why should we pray?
- On a scale from 1-10 (1 = non-existent, 10 = constantly in prayer), how would you rate your prayer life? Why?
- What do you find keeps you from prayer? What pushes toward prayer?
- How can you grow in the discipline of prayer? Spend some time in prayer about this.
TRAIL GUIDE: Spiritual GPS
The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend. We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.
SOUL SHERPA, LESSON 1: The Holy Spirit is Our Guide
The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest (make known, show) the active presence of God in the world and especially in the church.
Isn’t GPS a great thing? It amazes me that a satellite high above the earth can see me, and when combined with digital mapping software, can tell me how to get from point A to B in the quickest way possible. It amazes me even more to consider that this system can see if there is heavy traffic or an accident along my route and re-direct me around it. If I take a wrong turn it quickly notifies me. “Rerouting.” But as amazing as this system is, it is only as good as its underlying data. How many times have you followed your GPS directions only to find out that its map data is incorrect and you are at a dead end or the address data is incomplete and you end up in a business park when you wanted to be at a friend’s house? Even when the data is good, it isn’t foolproof. An overcast day or poor cell coverage can knock your GPS out completely.
But there is a guidance system that is 100% trustworthy, 100% of the time. Its data is perfectly reliable. It works no matter how dark it gets because to it, “darkness is as light.” It is an integrated system that lights your path, turns your darkness to light, guides you on the best path possible, reroutes you when you make a wrong turn, and even provides roadside assistance when you break down along the highways of life. That is our triune God. God’s living Word, breathed out by the Father through the Son is its database. It is empowered by his Holy Spirit whose job it is to make known the active presence of God in the world and especially in his children by guiding us into all truth. Our students need to learn early that they can depend, with ALL their hearts, on their fail-safe guidance system.
“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)
“Guide me in Your truth and teach me…” -Psalm 25:5a
MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Proverbs 3:5-6
Isaiah 42:16
John 8:12
Psalm 119:105
Psalm 23:1-3
Event Recap: 2014 Women’s Retreat
For the third year in a row, the ladies of Reston Bible Church converged on the Sterling Doubletree Hotel for a weekend away from the pressures and stresses of everyday life. We gathered together – freed from the distractions of families, careers and simple things like making our own beds and meals – ready to hear from the Lord through Shawn Lantz, who taught on the subject of Living with Unmet Desires.
Shawn is the daughter of missionaries who moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo when she was ten, and now resides in Nashville with her husband and three children. Throughout the course of our three days together, Shawn led us through the four core issues of jealousy, taught us to expose the true idols of our hearts, and learn how to forgive ourselves and those who we feel have sinned against us. Shawn’s message was a balm to many hurting hearts, and her delivery was clear and concise. She shared many moving anecdotes about her time in the Congo and was transparent about her own personal experiences and struggles with the topic at hand, which was refreshing and encouraging.
After each teaching session, we talked through what we’d learned in small groups. Sharing in our small groups was a great way for women to share with and encourage each other, and form new connections.
On Saturday afternoon, a chunk of free time afforded us the opportunity to participate in a service project for the RBC Food Pantry or attend a special interest meeting. We were also given the opportunity to buy handcrafted bags to support Napada, a ministry in Bangkok that employs women from low-income communities. The proceeds (and there were many!) went directly back into the ministry (and the bags were gorgeous). Some women took the chance to head out to the outlets for some shopping or worked out together at the gym. And I think a great many of us took naps.
Once again, the RBC women’s retreat proved to be an extraordinary time of teaching, connecting with other women, and hearing powerful messages from the Lord. Please pray that the Lord would continue to bear fruit from our time together at the retreat.
– Emily Cassee, Retreat Planning Committee
In this video, shown during the retreat, Jan Stevens shares about the loss of her son, David, and God’s redeeming hand throughout his life. Her story is a powerful testimony of our Lord’s grace & provision in the midst of the most difficult of unmet desires.