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CloseRyan Sim - March 17, 2014
Monday - A New Idea - Reset Nature
Hi. Welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host for the daily challenges. We’re in the middle of a series right now called Reset, where we look at how following Jesus resets our thinking about various topics in life. This week we’re thinking about how Jesus resets our view of nature. The daily challenges are meant to help us explore what it means to follow Jesus, even in the midst of a busy commuting lifestyle. We have a rhythm that we follow each week to help us explore our topic. We introduce the idea on Monday, then Tuesday’s we study it in the Bible. Wednesday’s we try to let the Bible’s teaching sink in, and change and transform our thinking. Thursday’s we try to act out what we’ve been learning. Friday’s a day for prayer and reflection, and then Saturday’s a day for rest. Sunday is a day for community, because even when we are scattered and busy, it is important that we come together as one community to explore Jesus and what it means to follow him in one place. That’s why this Fall we’re planning to launch a new worshiping community in Ajax called Redeemer Church. Stay tuned for more information. When I say that following Jesus resets our view of nature, you may wonder where I’m going with this. Am I going to say that following Jesus means we don’t need to worry about the environment? That we’re all going to fly away to Heaven someday, so it doesn’t matter what happens here, this is just kind of a disposable world? Well, that’s actually not consistent with Christian belief, and we’re going to explore this week how Christian belief resets our view of nature in a new and unexpected way perhaps. I’m standing here in the beauty of nature. This is a place where a lot of people have moments where they feel particularly in awe of God. A lot of people say things like, “Oh, I don’t need to go to church. I can just worship God in nature.” There’s a lot of truth to that. We can worship God in nature. Nature is a place where we can really appreciate God’s handiwork as a creator. Where we can really see God as an artist. I think there’s more to worshiping God than that. Of course, that’s the importance of Christian community that we’re going to be trying to live out when we come together as Redeemer Church. That doesn’t diminish the importance of those God moments that we can have in nature. A few years ago, one of my favorite parts of my job was that I got to go on a hiking trip every year to the Adirondack Mountains with the counselors in training from a local summer camp. It was the highlight of my year because it was just something I love to do in the first place. The Adirondack’s are one of my favorite places in the world, just all sorts of mountains. It’s like a playground if you’re into hiking and rock climbing. We’d go there and we’d spend about three days. One day just kind of hiking in, and then two days where we’d do a big hike. The first year that we went, I had to think long and hard about how this was going to be more than just a physical exercise. How would we make this trip, since it was a church camp, how would we help this help us to open our eyes to how God had created the world around us, and how God was a part of our lives, including when we go on a hike like this? I found the Psalms of Ascent. They are some of the Psalms that you could find in the Bible, and there were particular ones that were known to be the Psalms that people said, or sang, as they climbed the mountain to the temple in Jerusalem. If they were headed to the temple, they were headed there to worship. What we did, is on our mountain climbing trip, as we hiked, we said these Psalms of Ascent. There were some of them that we just kind of timed out. Every time we took a break, we read one together and prayed. There were other times that I had a Psalms of Ascent ready in case we needed one. For example, somebody eventually did turn their ankle a little bit and got hurt. We had a Psalms of Ascent ready for that, that talked about God keeping us safe and helping us stay protected, and even talked about our ankles not being turned, so it was perfect for that. We were able to bring together our faith in the God who creates, with our enjoyment of what he’d created. We were able to make our hiking and climbing experience a spiritual experience. When we finally got to the top of the mountain, we stopped and we had Communion. We had, “a mountaintop experience,” is what people call them. One of those moments that I’ll never forget, and I know that the teenagers and the supervisors who were hiking with us will never forget it either. It was just incredible to have that moment of Communion with one another and with God, when it felt like there was nothing else to distract us, nothing else to separate us from God, but simply some air. That was my experience with God in nature. You can learn a lot from an experience like that. One base thing that I remember is recognizing that God hasn’t abandoned nature. God created something beautiful and said it was good, and it’s still good, and there’s still a lot of beauty in it. We don’t want to forget that as we try to figure out how to live in this world using the resources we’ve been given wisely. Well, we’re going to explore this topic a lot more this week, but I’ve got a question for you to think about, and I hope you’ll discuss it with other people you know, from the train, bus, or from work, or from home, wherever you connect with people. Question: Have you ever had a God moment in nature? A moment when nature pointed you to God and what God had done? Maybe share it with that person who you’re discussing our daily challenges with. What was it like? What did you learn? How did it change you? Well, have a great discussion. I’ll see you tomorrow as we study in the Bible the connection between God and nature. Bye for now.
Related Topics: Ecology, Environment, Nature, Reset | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio
From Series: "Reset"
When our computers get bogged down and unmanageable, we know to hit a reset button to simply start over. Wouldn't a reset button be great in life? We know it would be complicated, with all our responsibilities and routines to consider, but imagine the freedom and refreshment of a new start in life! What would you do differently? What would you pay more attention to, and what would you ignore? How would you avoid getting bogged down and broken again? The great news is, in coming to earth as Jesus Christ, God has begun to "reset" our universe, our world, and even us. We're invited to start over with him, in what he calls his kingdom. We're invited to start a new life with a clean slate. What gets wiped clean, and lived differently, when God resets our lives? We'll explore how God resets these key areas of our lives: Reset: Goals Reset: Time Reset: Money Reset: Work Reset: Body & Food Reset: Sex & Marriage Reset: Family Reset: Compassion Reset: Nature Reset: Society Reset: Death Join us for the next several weeks, and invite God to reset your life.
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Day 3 - The Big Story Act 2September 1, 2012 |
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Day 4 - The Big Story Act 3September 2, 2012 |
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Day 5 - The Big Story Act 4September 3, 2012 |
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Day 6 - The Big Story Acts 5 and 6September 4, 2012 |
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Day 7 - Is there a God?September 5, 2012 |
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Day 9 - Why The Bible?September 7, 2012 |
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Introduction to Daily ChallengesNovember 2, 2012 |
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Monday - New Idea - Poor in SpiritNovember 12, 2012 |
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Tuesday - Study It - Poor in SpiritNovember 13, 2012 |
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Wednesday - Change - Poor in SpiritNovember 14, 2012 |
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Thursday - Act On It - Poor in SpiritNovember 15, 2012 |
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Friday - Reflect - Poor in SpiritNovember 16, 2012 |
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Monday - A New Idea - Those who MournNovember 19, 2012 |
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Tuesday - Study It - Those Who MournNovember 20, 2012 |
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Wednesday - Change - Those Who MournNovember 21, 2012 |
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Thursday - Act - Those Who MournNovember 22, 2012 |
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Friday - Reflect - Those Who MournNovember 23, 2012 |
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Monday - A New Idea - MeekNovember 26, 2012 |
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Tuesday - Study It - MeekNovember 27, 2012 |
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Wednesday - Change - MeekNovember 28, 2012 |
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Thursday - Act - MeekNovember 29, 2012 |
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Friday - Reflect - MeekNovember 30, 2012 |
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Monday - A New Idea - Poor in SpiritDecember 3, 2012 |
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Tuesday - Study It - RighteousnessDecember 4, 2012 |
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Wednesday - Change It - RighteousnessDecember 5, 2012 |
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Thursday - Act On It - RighteousnessDecember 6, 2012 |
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Friday - Reflect - RighteousnessDecember 7, 2012 |
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Monday - A New Idea - MercifulDecember 10, 2012 |
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Tuesday - Study It - MercifulDecember 11, 2012 |
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Wednesday - Change It - MercifulDecember 12, 2012 |
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Thursday - Act On It - MercifulDecember 13, 2012 |
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Friday - Reflect - MercifulDecember 14, 2012 |
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Monday - A New Idea - Pure in HeartDecember 17, 2012 |
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Tuesday - Study It - Pure in HeartDecember 18, 2012 |
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Wednesday - Change It - Pure in HeartDecember 19, 2012 |
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Thursday - Act On It - Pure in HeartDecember 20, 2012 |
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Friday - Reflect - Pure in HeartDecember 21, 2012 |
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Christmas DayDecember 25, 2012 |
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Boxing DayDecember 26, 2012 |
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Thursday - December 27December 27, 2012 |
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Friday - December 28December 28, 2012 |
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New Years Eve - GrowthDecember 31, 2012 |
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New Years Day - GroupsJanuary 1, 2013 |
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Wednesday - January 2 - GraceJanuary 2, 2013 |
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Thursday - January 3 - GenerosityJanuary 3, 2013 |
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Friday - January 4 - GodJanuary 4, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - PeacemakersJanuary 7, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - PeacemakersJanuary 8, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Change It - PeacemakersJanuary 9, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act - PeacemakersJanuary 10, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - PeacemakersJanuary 11, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - PersecutedJanuary 14, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - PersecutedJanuary 15, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Change - PersecutionJanuary 16, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act - PersecutedJanuary 17, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - PersecutedJanuary 18, 2013 |
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Monday - New Idea - Living BackwardsJanuary 21, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - Living BackwardsJanuary 22, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Change - Living BackwardsJanuary 23, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act on It - Living BackwardsJanuary 24, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - Living BackwardsJanuary 25, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - SaltJanuary 28, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - SaltJanuary 29, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Change It - SaltJanuary 30, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act On It - SaltJanuary 31, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - SaltFebruary 1, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - LightFebruary 4, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act On It - LightFebruary 7, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - LightFebruary 8, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - LawFebruary 11, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - LawFebruary 12, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Change It - LawFebruary 13, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - LawFebruary 15, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - AngerFebruary 18, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - AngerFebruary 19, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act On It - AngerFebruary 21, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - AngerFebruary 22, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - The LookFebruary 25, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - The LookFebruary 26, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Study It - The LookFebruary 27, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act On It - The LookFebruary 28, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - The LookMarch 1, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - TruthMarch 4, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - TruthMarch 5, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Change It - TruthMarch 6, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - RetaliationMarch 11, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Change It - RetaliationMarch 13, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act On It - RetaliationMarch 14, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - RetaliationMarch 15, 2013 |
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Monday - A New Idea - NeighboursApril 8, 2013 |
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Tuesday - Study It - NeighboursApril 9, 2013 |
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Wednesday - Change - NeighboursApril 10, 2013 |
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Thursday - Act On It - NeighboursApril 11, 2013 |
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Friday - Reflect - NeighboursApril 12, 2013 |
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