Retreat Notes: Part 1

Well, the retreat was super encouraging. Here's some of the summaries:

Colossians 3: 1-17 was the main text for the weekend.


Session 1: Kempton Turner


Kempton started by referencing to Revelations 20: 11-15. This mainly talks about the wrath of God, and the judgment that will be on unrepentant sinners on the last day. You all know about the word picture of "The Lake of Fire". This is used quite a bit. The point of the passage is to get you in the right mind concerning the just God we serve, and His intolerance of sin.
Have you ever thought about God's wrath as a full cup? Revelation 14: 10. All those who do not serve Him with their everything will drink it. It's not a pleasant thought. But! Praise the Lord. He had a plan from the beginning.
Luke 22:42: Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's not often we see Jesus so distraught, so we know this is a serious moment. What's the reason? He's not bothered by the extreme torture He's about to endure, or the betrayal that is inevitable, or the denials by His closest followers. It was the wrath of God. He was about to take every sin that has ever been committed, and that ever will be, into himself. He was about to take the full force of God's wrath. That sounds scary enough as it is, but I have no doubt that we can't even begin to understand the full extent with our human minds. Jesus prayed: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” There's the example of the cup, from Jesus' own lips. He took it. He drank the cup that was rightfully ours.
This should floor us. Yes, we've heard this before. Most of us have heard it all our lives in church. This shouldn't take away from it's power. Don't be desensitized about the incredible gift we've been given. Be blessed with the knowledge, and glorify Him!



Session 2: Kempton Turner



Colossians 3: 1-4 was the main text for this session. Things above? What does he mean by that? In this passage, Paul is calling us to focus on things that help us to love Christ even more. In whatever you do, ask: “Does _____ help me to treasure Christ more deeply?” Things that make us take our minds off of Christ shouldn't be followed after. If we are forced to put our faith in only a certain section of our life, we should rethink our priorities. We’re called to live by the truth that “Christ is all, and in all”
"For you have died..." This is obviously not referring to the flesh. That still is incredibly prevalent in our lives. Joe puts it this way: "Paul means that insofar as we are in Christ, we have died to the world, because Christ is holy. This means that because of Christ, we do not have to be ruled by sin anymore. We are free in Christ to be completely unresponsive to temptation, just as some people are unresponsive to physical stimuli. Our lives are “hidden with Christ in God”; this passage simply calls us to reflect that reality in our flesh, by His grace. It’s not easy, but Christ is sufficient for these things."



I'll finish tomorrow. I'm pretty tired right now. God bless!