Reflections

Dr. Pratt answers the question, "Why work?"

Last Friday, Dr. Richard Pratt, spoke at Momentum (Summit Church's monthly men's event). Some behind the scenes info may be of interest to you...when Richard showed up about 10 minutes before our start time, we walked to the tech area to get his mic set up. As he was getting wired he asked me, "So what am I supposed to talk about?!" Thinking he was putting me on, I did my best Isaac Hunter impression and asked, "REALLY?" He calmly and matter of factly said, "Yes. Really. What would you like me to speak about?" 

60 minutes later, I heard from many people, how much they enjoyed hearing him reflect on the Scriptures for what God had in mind for work.

For me, I enjoyed hearing some of the things Dr. Pratt covered in a Bible study I was a part of over two years ago. He taught us that in the times of Moses, cultures of the day embraced the idea of image bearers of god. However, it was used exclusively for kings and monarchs. They alone were recognized as image bearers and as a result, reserved the right to discover the will of god (or the gods), and then to decide how to best bring that will to the earth. 

When Moses wrote that God declared all men and women (no matter what their social standing) are image bearers of God, it was scandalous to the surrounding cultures. 

If we can really see ourselves as God does, as image bearers, our lives take on incredible meaning. It also gives clarity to the purpose of our lives and to our work. As image bearers, we have the role of discovering God's will in heaven, and in helping to bring that to the earth..."Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." 

Richard suggested that God made His will known to His new image bearers in the garden and it hasn't changed throughout history. In the garden he told Adam and Eve to "exercise dominion over the earth" and the "be fruitful and multiply". In other words, bring God's will to this earth and multiply image bearers of God. As we reflect on the mission of the church, we can see that God's will is still the same.

Recognizing this helps us do our work for God and unto God. We can look past the mundane, the inter-personal challenges, the various frustrations that arise and seek to help bring God's will to the places of our work. God is working in the lives of people at the places of our employment And as His image bearers, He wants us to look for ways to bring His Kingdom to those places. Purpose. Meaning. Significance. All because we bear the image of the One who created us and continually cares for us.

I hope to see you at the next Momentum, planned for January 16. The topic: Maturing Through Relationships...connecting with other men in Christ-centered community.

God at Work

This Friday, December 19th, Dr. Richard Pratt will be the featured speaker at Momentum--a men's event of Summit Church. (6:45a-8a).

His topic? God at work. 

Two year's ago, I was in a Bible study with Dr. Pratt where he looked at God's purposes for work as part of His design for society and our lives. It was a very rich time of reflecting on the word. He will be sharing some of this material in our time on Friday. Be sure to make it out if you can, you won't want to miss it! He is a leading theologian/ thinker, engaging communicator, and someone who will definitely get you thinking!

Dr. Pratt is the founder and President of Third Millennium Ministries www.thirdmill.org, a non-profit electronic publishing house dedicated to bringing multimedia, seminary level education to the church leaders of the world. The goal of Third Mill Ministries is to provide Christian education to those in the field, where seminary level training is often not available. We are meeting this goal by publishing and distributing free multilingual, multimedia, digital seminary curriculum in English, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Russian and Spanish.

Dr. Pratt, who received his Th.D. from Harvard University, chaired the Old Testament Department at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson MS and Orlando FL for 21 years. In addition, he has served as the General Editor for the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. Dr. Pratt’s books include Every Thought Captive, Pray With Your Eyes Open, Designed for Dignity, and He Gave Us Stories. In 1998, he was the Old Testament historical consultant on Stephen Spielberg’s The Prince of Egypt, DreamWorks’ animated story of Moses. 

Momentum Starts November 14th

Do you ever wonder on Monday morning (or whenever you drive to work) if this matters to God? Do you ever think that the "abundant life" you are supposed to be experiencing is elusive and something that is just not your reality? For you married guys, how's the home life? Are you soul-mates with your spouse? Or are you merely roommates, or worse inmates? And how is it going in connecting with others? I am not talking about just getting some hang time with the guys, but purposefully seeking out deep friendships where you can help one another grow in your relationship with God and pursuit of His purposes for you.

Our life is profoundly spiritual, yet eminently practical. We have bills to pay, jobs to go to, errands to run, responsibilities to manage. Yet as those who are created in the image of God, we can all sense the truth of the Scripture that says "God has placed eternity in our hearts." We know we were built for something more than the mere mundane. We were built for God. We were built to carry out His purpose in and through our lives.

If anything that I shared above piques your interest, then I'd like to invite you to come out to a new Summit Connect Event.

On Friday, November 14th we are launching Momentum. Once per month, we will come together as men to hear Biblical answers to some of the issues raised above. We will also have opportunity to hear stories from our peers and take some time to wrestle with the topic at hand in discussion time with one another. 

This event will be held at 735 Herndon Ave at Summit Church. Coffee and snacks will be available at 6:45a and we'll get started promptly at 7a and wrap up no later than 8a.

Hope to see you there!