05.04.2014 How/Why to be Transformed in Your Physical Health

5-04-2014 Transformed - Physical Health from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

5-04-2014 Worship from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

SermonAudio

This is the second week of our series on Transformation – the first week was spiritual transformation – this week is physical transformation.
Let me start this by saying, I am neither a dietician nor a personal trainer!
Lord, help us to live our lives as those loved by God. Too often we live our lives out of fear or thinking you might be disappointed – but we don’t want to live that way – You are satisfied with us – not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus did on the cross and because of our faith in Him. You long to bless and encourage us; we fill You with joy. Help our hearts to hear from You. Help us to learn, as we look at physical transformation and health – what the Bible has to say.
In our culture, in our world – there is this obsession with the search for the perfect body. (Tim waves – Mike thinks it has to do with the sound)…
That is unhealthy and unspiritual. We have an unhealthy and unspiritual obsession with beauty.
Romans 12:2 is our theme verse – but Romans 12 starts like this:
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.
What Paul is saying – we need to be concerned with and to take care of our bodies so we can serve God.
This takes effort. Kingdom work and spiritual transformation take effort.
1 Cor. 6: 19 Or do you not know that your body is a [k]temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
This is the verse we use to tell people not to smoke. It literally says that in the Greek. Just kidding. That is not what this verse says – what it says is, your body is not your own – it belongs to God – and God has given us a stewardship – whether it be our bodies or our finances or our families – we are to use these things so that God is honored.
To compare the body to the physical building of the temple is not a good comparison – it is about where God lives. We know there is not a physical structure God lives in – God lives in those who have put their faith in Him. Our bodies are holy places.
Think of being in Washington DC – at the Lincoln Memorial – I lived there a couple summers – and anytime anyone comes to town, you have to take them there – so I have seen it plenty. Now think of someone vandalizing the memorial. You would be angry. But we do the same with our bodies – it is a spiritual thing to care for your physical body. We’ll look at 3 specific areas – worship/rest/discipleship.
Proverbs 14:30 A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body…
These things begin in your mind – to experience transformation starts in the renewing of our minds. Heart/Mind/Soul kind of blend together for the Hebrew people.
We know that turmoil and stress have a negative impact on health. Science has proven it – but you don’t even need science to prove that – you experience it.
Negative thinking and emotions lead to turmoil and stress. Then we become consumed by those things – worry, anxiety, fear, anger – we have all been there – and there are times when we can’t get out of the negative emotion – and it begins to eat at us and builds and has an impact on our lives.
We live in an extremely stressful world – even with all our technology and advancement – I think we have just added to our stress. You can have online banking and online bill-pay and online identity theft! 40 years ago did you worry about online identity theft? I didn’t think so.
Hurry – multi-tasking – 20 years ago wasn’t really a word anyone used – now it is almost an honor to be able to do 4 things at once! There is always something else to do and somewhere else to go – and that lifestyle affects us.
3rd – Crowds – the loss of privacy. For many – there are no open spaces for anyone in their lives. We live in compacted cities and suburbs – we go to work where there are always people around.
In just 75 cities, 4 billion hours are wasted in traffic jams and 6 billion gallons of gas are wasted each year.
In the summer, national parks are packed. 4 months in advance, I went to look for a room – not a room within 100 miles of the Grand Canyon.
Choices – how many choices do you have for stuff – I saw a show on Discovery on condiments. There was an explosion of condiments in the late 80s. There were two types of ketchup – Heinz and Hunts and one had the song “Anticipation” by hmm… Aretha Franklin? (Carly Simon). I don’t know who sings these songs – but I can sing it – but I won’t (Amen!).
General diversity – tradition/ethnicity/beliefs/politics – our world has shrunk – 40-50 years ago, in my world, most people looked and thought much more the same than they do today. This is not a bad thing – but it can bring more stress into our lives.
Psalm 23 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. This is an act of worship: We need to trust God to provide for our needs. This has a significant impact on our health.
When we trust God, He gets glory from that. He is glorified from that. Never put trust or security in something that can be taken away from you. Money – makes wings and fly away – that is one verse we all believe. It just does. When you trust in and put your security in money, it causes stress.
I shall not want. We can read that – The Lord is my shepherd; I shall be content with whatever He provides for me – that is a different attitude –
In Timothy – if we have our basic needs met – with these we shall be content. If you are an American, that is not what you are content with! This does not say it is wrong to have more – all of us – for the most part – probably have more.
We don’t know how to be content with our basic needs being taken care of.
That is the first thing to become healthy.
He makes me lie down in green pastures – this is a picture of the importance of rest. Sometimes he has to make us lie down. If we fail to lie down – we get sick.
Sheep have to be made to lie down – and in order for them to do that – they need to know they are safe and cared for. God wants us to understand that in Him, we are safe and protected.
In order to rest – one simple thing – the Bible says – sleep is good for us – it is vain to stay up late and rise early – for God gives sleep to His beloved. One simple practice that is lost – is the practice of a Sabbath – a day of rest.
What comes to mind – we think about what we are NOT allowed to do – am I not allowed to garden or play golf? That is not the point of a Sabbath – it is a time God frees us from what we have to do.
For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord;
A Sabbath is a freedom from the slavery of our culture.
Genesis – on the seventh day God had finished his work of creation – so he rested from all his work.
This is the giving of the Sabbath – you have a day where light is created and then a space for it – sun and moon. Fish – then the oceans – Humans – a garden. Then there is one other thing that is created – a Sabbath – and that is a place for God to go. We need to learn to take a Sabbath – to have a place for God in our lives.
For many, it could be Sunday – a time of worship – and that does not mean, you go home… there are all kinds of things you can do on your Sabbath – find something that is not a have-to, but a joy. You connect worship and relationships and relaxation – and family and come together – and get recharged – and if you learn to practice that – it will have impact on your physical and spiritual health. It is good for you – you will not fall behind.
I start in the evening – I start Friday evening – unless there is something going on Saturday and I have to switch it – dinner to dinner – that is kind of how the Jews did it – Sundown to sundown.
End of September 2012 – we did a series on margins and boundaries – look it up online (https://vimeo.com/50870874/) – When you are writing a paper in college – you have rules for margins – there is a reason – so the professor can mark it up and show you all the things you did wrong.
My wife is not a student – she goes into word and blows out the margins. That is fine if you want to save paper – but in life, it is not fine to blow out the margins. How far to the edge of the paper are we typing? Driving time – do you push it to the edge? Sleep. Money. Schedules – find space for God/rest/worship.
One final thing – He leads me beside quiet waters – Rick Warren came up with these – and I try to make it my own – but I agree with this – We need to connect with God’s creation. If God is the creator, the creation is important – we need to learn to delight in what God has given us – to enjoy His creation.
Have you ever seen – Men in Black – when the one guy is sick of his job – he looks up at the stars – just to look. Allow yourself to be in awe. There is a place - Mill Lake – in the middle of the mountains – 5 mile hike – takes 2.5 hours – if you go with new people – it takes 5 hours because it is so beautiful. Everyone starts to think the walk is boring – and eventually you crest – and there is this ‘Serenity of a clear blue mountain lake” as John Denver wrote.
There is just this incredible calm – it is silent – no one says anything – for about ½ hour we just sit – there are so many ways we can connect with God’s creation.
We have a national park here that affords plenty of opportunity to connect. It could be canoeing – or having a cookout in your back yard. Beauty – music/art – this is a beautiful world – find what it is that restores your soul – it might not be a clear mountain lake for you – it might be music.
We have a responsibility to care for our bodies through rest/worship/diet/exercise for God’s glory – and that comes down to the choices we make. These choices are not always easy when it comes to our physical health, but God calls us to make those choices. Let's pray.