A Lesson From Geese

Have you ever wondered why migrating geese fly in a V formation?

As with most animal behavior, God had a good reason for including that in their instincts.

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird following.

In a V formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone…
…and quickly gets back into formation.

Like geese…
…people who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier than those who try to go it alone.

When a goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position. If people had as much a sense as geese, they would realize that ultimately their success depends on working as a team, taking turns doing the hard tasks, and sharing leadership.

Geese in the rear of the formation honk to encourage those up front to up their speed. It is important that our “honking from behind” be encouraging. Otherwise, it’s just – well – honking.

When a goose gets sick or wounded, two other geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and provide protection. They stay with the unhealthy member of the flock until it is either able to fly again or dies.

Then they launch out again with another passing flock or try to catch up with their own. May we be so sacrificial, that we may be worthy of such friends in our time of need.

You don’t have to be a scientist to learn from God’s marvelous creation; you only need to stop long enough to observe and let God reveal His wonders to you.

Job 12:7-9
7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; 8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?

~ Submitted by Paul Steinbrueck; author unknown

Acts 2 Living – Part II

As discussed last Thursday, Acts 2:42-47 tells us about the first church – the fellowship of the believers.  Verse 42 tells us, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” “Devoted themselves.”  Notice that it was an individual decision to…become the church.  Each believer submitted themselves to full devotion to Christ.  What did that look like?  How did they keep the fire burning white hot inside themselves to be fully devoted?

I see 4 distinct ways in which they devoted themselves, and the first is to the apostle’s teaching.  The second is to the fellowship.  The believers submitted themselves to relationships with other Christ followers.  Fellowship was so significant that they not only met regularly as a large body of believers, but also in small groups within their homes.  They did not choose to do one or the other, but both.  Verses 44 – 46 say, “All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts.  They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts…”

As a fellowship of believers, we too benefit from both corporate worship as a body and from worship in small groups of believers to personally study and practice our faith.  We are challenged to share our possessions, our resources, our talents, and our faith with anyone as they have need as the first church did.  Submitting these things in full devotion to Christ keeps God on the throne, not the material things or personal talents that we can get caught up in.  We act selflessly rather than selfishly.  Our fires can be quenched when we draw the line at any of these things, or when we neglect meeting together in large and small groups.  We draw our strength from God and one another. — Our encouragement from God and one another.  And our heart grows in love for God and one another when we devote ourselves to the fellowship.
~ Kay Evenwel

To soar like an eagle, you’re going to have to fall out of the nest a few times. To burn hotter, you need to feed the fire. Getting stronger and becoming more successful isn’t easy.

Learning to fly like an eagle means you have to leave the comfort of the nest and spread your wings. You might hit some branches on the first few flights, but it is impossible to learn and grow without sacrifice. With experience comes the ability to soar to greater and greater heights.

Look around you, really look. What kind of people surround you in life? To grow into an eagle, you need to surround yourself with eagles. To be a white-hot Christian, you need to surround yourself with other Christians dedicated to living more Godly lives. At work, on your day off, on Friday night – who are you surrounded by? Anyone you would consider an eagle? Eagles build their eyries high in the mountains and in the tops of trees, secure from assault. A prairie chicken will never reach those lofty places. You don’t have to worry about those bumps and bruises from learning to fly when you build your nest at ground level. But then again, a full-grown eagle has no natural predators. Pecking around in the dust for insects and seeds, prairie chickens are just nature’s fast food.

If becoming a white-hot Christian was easy, we could just wake up one morning and decide to become white-hot for God and that would be that. It would be nice, wouldn’t it, to just wake up and decide to be rich, wise, inspiring, or loved. Like these, waking up a white-hot Christian is only a dream without action. We need to really wake up and realize we are responsible for our own actions!

How many times have we disliked someone just for the car they drive, the amount of free time or money they have, or the amount of happiness that surrounds them? Granted, having success in the ways of the world is meaningless if your soul isn’t in the right place – but this “prairie chicken” mentality is so easy to slip into, how can we hope to truly stretch our wings and fly like eagles if we can’t break the habit of negativity? You can’t put a price on love and happiness, but they aren’t free either. Even if it doesn’t show on the surface, time and work are needed to become successful in business, in marriage, and in life. Somewhere along the line, maybe behind the scenes, a lot of hard work was applied to help these individuals multiply the joys in their lives. How can we become white-hot Christians when we can’t love our neighbors, the very people we are trying to bring to God, for poorer and for richer?

We all have to venture out into the world, chickens and eagles alike, to get what we need. But without the protective “nest” to return to, the inexperienced and immature have no safe place to grow, and the full-grown eagles have no place to rest. Cypress Meadows can be that place. If you are committed to spreading your wings, come what may, and you allow the Lord God to be your guide, Cypress will help you grow. You will never soar like an eagle, or even learn to fly, when raised by prairie chickens.

It’s up to you.

“Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103: 4-5 (NIV)

“Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions. The LORD alone led him.” Deuteronomy 32: 11-12 (NIV)

“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40: 29-31 (NIV)

~ Marq Caughell

Matthew 20:29-34 (New International Version)

I love this passage. Jesus is again with a large crowd. Jesus is called out to. The crowd wants Him to have nothing to do with those calling out, but Jesus stops. He gives them his full attention.

What do we know about those calling out? We know that they are blind. They have a definite need. And they called out to Jesus.

When we are in community, in our small groups, prayer partnerships, if we are in need we should call out for help. We should obviously call out for help to Christ, but also to the people He has put us in community with.

But the part I truly love about this passage is Christ’s response. He doesn’t immediately walk over, fix the problem and continue on. He simply asks them, “what can I do for you?”

I think I love that because it’s so simple, but it is often not how this kind of situation goes. Instead, we often fail to ask for help when we need it. And, if we are the ones giving help, we often dive in and provide help to those around us without asking them what it really is that we can do for them.

Years ago a dear friend of mine was hurting deeply over a tremendous loss. I went to her and asked what I could do. To be completely honest, I had no idea. I knew I couldn’t change what had happened or in any way reduce the loss she had experienced. I had no clue how to help. Had I just stepped in and tried to “fix” on my own the fix would probably have been a few meals prepared and brought over.
Instead, we decided to just go for a walk together. This walk changed our friendship. We talked and listened to each other and cried over the terrible loss.

She later told me that she was hurting so badly that she didn’t know how to do much more than to just say “help” and that she really needed me to follow up with her to figure out better what that help could be. To this day she is one of my dearest friends and I truly believe it is because of that walk. That walk is also a great reminder to me to make sure to ask “what can I do for you?”

I hope that this week as we spend time together with those that we care for that they will be willing to ask for help when they need it and that we will love them enough to ask, “what can I do for you?” and that we will then do it.

~ Deana Kistner

I had a wonderful gift today from a friend who happens to also be in my next step partnership. It actually was a gift, but it wasn’t so much the present that was the true gift but what it represented.

Let me explain. This morning at second service one of my girlfriends tracked me down to hand me a lovely gift bag. It was a little heavy for the size of bag and I didn’t even have to take out the contents before a huge smile crossed my face. Inside was a container of Chai concentrate. Not only was it Chai, but it was (in my estimation) the best Chai on the market… and it was decaf!

Chai is my comfort drink and one of my true indulgences. But what really blew me away about this gift is how it so beautifully demonstrated that my friend “gets” me. She has invested enough in me to want to know what makes me happy and what I truly enjoy (and that me on caffine would not be a good idea.)

Now that’s an amazing gift. To “know and be known”. In spite of the fact that vulnerability is a huge hurdle for everyone to cross in any relationship, the rewards of truly being “known” are enormous and well worth the investment.

It made me wonder,
am I showing the people that I care about the same?
Do they know that I “get” them?
What can I do to show them that?
And who do I need to invest in who needs to be “known”?

What about you? How do you answer the above questions?

So, to my friend, thank you! Thank you for the gift but even more for “getting” me.

~ Deana Kistner

Have you ever been on a blind date?  It can be awkward.  It takes you out of your comfort zone.  Sometimes getting into a Next Step Partnership can feel the same way.  However, just like a blind date, trying a Next Step Partnership can be a lot easier if you know what you’re looking for and know some basic do’s and don’ts.

Visit the sermon blog/podcast to listen to the teaching online, review and reflect on the sermon notes, and consider the next step in your spiritual journey.  Plus hear what 4 Cypress Meadowers say about the difference their Next Step Partnerships have made in their lives.