20Something Flashback - 4/13/05 (Jen Austin)

Peace

Think of a time in the past week when you’ve been stressed out, upset, disappointed, or afraid. Why were you feeling this way? Describe the thoughts that went through your mind. Feel free to name the cause of your stress if you feel comfortable.

Did you feel God’s presence in the midst of this or did you feel abandoned and alone? It’s okay if you didn’t exactly feel like God was blanketing you with calmness.

If you did sense God’s presence, describe it. How did you know it was God?

Peace is something everybody wants. It’s also something that very few people seem to have. Or we might have it for a minute or two, and then something unexpected happens and we lose it again. Perhaps someone steals the “rock star” parking spot that you had been waiting for with your blinker on for the past ten minutes. How dare they just zip in there and steal it. Or maybe you hear about a bad rumor that someone is spreading about you. True or not, it’s likely to hurt.

The Bible’s authors did their best to spread peace. Take these verses for example:

2 Thessalonians 2: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 2: To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Peter 5:14: Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Two things are apparent after reading these verses, and many other verses like them.
1. The authors really wanted to pass out the peace. It was more than a greeting. It was more like a gift that they wanted each community to freely accept and pass on.
2. Peace originates with God. Peace comes from God, and all who are in Christ have access to it.

So how can we get it? We uncover it. Peace isn’t something that you have to chase down or go looking for in every nook and cranny. We already have it and we just have to free it from the internal chains that we keep it in, and let it run around loose in side us.

Romans 5:1: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

This says “rejoice in suffering.” How does that lead to hope?

The Holy Spirit—the ultimate peace-giver—lives inside us. Still, why don’t we feel peace every moment of every day and in every situation? What gets in the way?

Thinking about a situation when you did feel deep, underlying peace about a decision you made or a conviction that you held, what helped you maintain that state of peace?

What does peace feel like?

How can we feel peace on a more regular basis?

How does peace in Christ lead to higher levels of faith?

Philippians 4:4-7: 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Any final thoughts? Prayer requests?

We hope you have a peaceful week!

20Something 8-17-05 (Jen Austin)

The story behind the hymn, It is Well with my Soul

In 1871, tragedy struck Chicago as fire ravaged the city. When it was all over, 300 people were dead and 100,000 were homeless. Horatio Gates Spafford was one of those who tried to help the people of the city get back on their feet. He was a lawyer who had invested much of his money into the downtown Chicago real estate, so he lost a great deal in the fire. And his one son (he had four daughters) had died about the same time. Still Spafford found the strength to assist the homeless, impoverished, and grief-stricken who had been ruined by the fire.

After about two years of such work, Spafford and his family decided to take a vacation. They were to go to England to join a evangelists Dwight Moody and Ira Sankey on an evangelistic crusade, then travel in Europe. Horatio Spafford was delayed by some business, but sent his family on ahead. He would catch up to them on the other side of the Atlantic.Their ship, the Ville de Havre, never made it. Off Newfoundland, it collided with an English sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and sank within 20 minutes. Though Horatio's wife, Anna, was able to cling to a piece of floating wreckage (one of only 47 survivors among hundreds), their four daughters--Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie--were killed. Horatio received a horrible telegram from his wife, only two words long: "saved alone."

Spafford boarded the next available ship to be near his grieving wife, and the two finally met up with Dwight Moody. "It is well," Spafford told him quietly. "The will of God be done."Though reports vary as to when he did so, Spafford was led during those days of surely overwhelming grief to pen the words to one of the most beautiful hymns we know, beloved by Christians everywhere. Though not yet (to my knowledge) in Catholic hymnals, it has long been a favorite of Baptists (and other evangelicals) including Martin Luther King.

Who can say what it is about life that leads us to such a peace ... like a river. Who can say what ingredients it takes, for this person or that, that transforms such overwhelming sadness into personal peace, or brings healing, or ... leads our souls to a new depth, or compassion. Langston spoke of his people, whose souls had grown .... deep .... like a river. Perhaps the answers lie in the heart. And for each one, whatever the answer is, it comes in a kind of poignant solitude unapproachable in any other way.

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20Something 8-17-05
Praise

Horatio Spafford lost four daughters in the shipwreck, yet he was able to utter the phrase, “It is well. The will of God be done.” What would you have said if four of your family members had just been killed in an accident?

What would get you through something like that? Faith? Trust? Anything else? And why?

Perhaps Spafford found strength in the fact that his wife had been spared. Here are the lyrics to It is Well with my Soul as we sing it at Cathedral of Hope:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul,
it is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed precious blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the God, praise the God, O my soul!

And, God, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Christ shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.

~~Horatio Gates Spafford [1873]
What do you like most about this hymn?

When Horatio Spafford says “whatever my lot,” he means it. No matter what happens, he will offer praise to God. How can offering praise to God help us through trials in our own lives?

Some people praise God with words. Others raise a hand to God in silence. Horatio Spafford offered the gift of song. What are some other ways to praise God?

There are many mentions of praise in the Bible. When John described his divine vision in the book of Revelations, he spared no detail. Usually, a detailed piece means there is very little left to the imagination, yet Revelations seems to leave everything to the imagination. It’s often considered to be the most cryptic book in the Bible. But Revelations can tell us some concrete things about praise.

Here’s a glimpse of John’s vision in Revelations 5:8-14:

8…the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

What visual image do you get from this passage? Can you think of anything you might have seen that you could compare it to?

What else do you notice about this passage?

Thousands and thousands of angels encircled the throne and offered praise. It may feel as though we are isolated at times in offering praise and thanksgiving, but in effect we are adding our voices to the multitudes in heaven who are already singing God’s praise. In this way, the effect becomes magnified.

Revelations tells us that we should praise God just because God is. It’s natural to praise God after a promotion at work or after meeting the man or woman of your dreams, but God deserves praise every moment of every day, simply for being God. God possess more grace, mercy, goodness, and love than we will ever be able to comprehend, and this degree of holiness deserves to be exalted.

Praise God!