{RE:} Reflect and Revive

Can you believe it's our last week together? This week we will take some time to pause and reflect on the journey we've been on together over the last 5 weeks. Let's practice being fully present as we walk through this week together!

Read:  

Ephesians 4:14
Everything that becomes visible is light.
Therefore it says,
   “Awake, O sleeper!
    Rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”


Isaiah 60:1
Arise, shine; for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.



Reflect:

Some of you may recall a very embarrassing story of mine. I had taken on the challenge of going to the gym at 5 am on the weekdays - it was new and it was exciting. I put my gym clothes on before bed and set out my water and pre-workout drink on the counter. Every morning I would roll out of bed, stumble downstairs, grabbing my things quietly in the dark, and head for the car.

One morning, as I drove up Columbia Street, I noticed that the stop lights were all blinking and thought "wow, that's odd." I hadn't quite gotten out of Cohoes when my phone rang, it was Matt.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean what am I doing? I'm going to the GYM!" (I said this emphatically, like I was some kind of athlete...)

"Kaitlyn.... it's midnight."

I hadn't fully woken up enough to even look at a clock, I was just going through the motion that my new habit required. I was stumbling around completely unaware. (I had also already drank my pre-workout drink...so you can guess I was fully awake the rest of the night!)

So often we walk through life like this, just stumbling around going through all the right motions, but we're half asleep and unaware.

• Are you someone who jumps out of bed in the morning or do you need time to wake up slowly? 
• When was the last time you remember feeling fully awake (physically)? Are you someone who is tired more than you're not?
• How would you describe the feeling of being fully awake?

On the night that Jesus is arrested, he goes to the garden with his disciples. He asks them to stay awake ("watch") one hour while he goes to pray. Twice he returns, finds them asleep, and awakens them. The disciples, as much as they were physically sleeping, were also spiritually asleep in some ways. They still had not fully recognized who Jesus was and what he would do.

• What does it mean to be fully awake spiritually? What do you think it feels like?
• Have you ever experienced a spiritual alertness?

• How can you stay awakened to God this week?
• Can you stay awake to God's voice this week?  LeAnne Payne suggests pausing in your prayers and throughout your day to ask, "Lord, do you have anything you want to say to me?"
• Can you stay awake to God's presence this week? Where do you notice Him?
• Can you stay awake to God's story this week? Instead of going through the motions, reading the Scriptures of Holy Week or attending services as a ritual, how can you truly be awake to the fullness of this week?

Yesterday our worship team led us in THIS song and it has stirred a desire to be awakened and see others awakened! Take a few minutes to listen!


Respond:

Jesus,

You are so kind to walk with us, day after day, your face turned towards us, attentive, responsive, and engaged.

Would you teach us this week to return the favor, to walk with you over palm fronds, through the charged temple courtyard, up the steps to the water basin, and later through alleyways of the Via Dolorosa as we retrace the steps where you carried your cross?

Would you teach us to stay awake to Your heart by staying awake to your story? Would you forgive us for keeping you at arm's length, for staying in the realm of facts and figures, times and dates? Would you forgive us for keeping you locked in the lines on a page and not attending to your heart, not being willing to carry your pain?

Would you give us the honor of taking us with you to kneel among the olive trees of Gethsemane?

Amen

- Summer Joy Gross