TEACHING

SUNDAY, AUGUST 29, 2021
9:30 AM (In-person + livestream, Pilgrim campus)
​11:15 AM (In-person + KIDS!, IBC campus)
PEACE WITH SELF SERIES,
The Power of NO Mark 1:21-45
Simple Church, Boundaries, and Limits (Jesus)
Saying "no" to something means saying "yes" to something else. Are you shamed by secular or religious activism into saying "yes" to too many people and things? One aspect of emotional maturity is learning the importance of "no". Jesus encourages us to filter our "yeses" and our "nos" in a way that helps us flourish, even if others get upset by our "nos".
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KEY BIBLICAL TEXTS: Mark 1:21-45, John 5:6

REVIEW
Seven Principles of Emotional Health are:

1. Know Yourself that You May Know God (David) - Looking Beneath the Surface
2. Go Back to Go Forward (Joseph) - Break the Power of the Past
3. Journey Through The Wall (Abraham) - Brokenness and Vulnerability + Letting Go of Power/Control
4. Enlarge Your Soul through Grief and Loss (Jesus) - Gift of Limits
5. Discover the Rhythms of the Daily Office/Sabbath (Daniel)
6. Grow Into an Emotionally Mature Adult (Good Sam)
7. Go the Next Step to Develop a “Rule of Life” (Acts 2:42ff)

I. TAKING OFF
Story of the man jumping off the bridge...

II. The Flight
Six Areas to Embrace Limits, Pete and Gerri Scazzero
1. Limits with Church
2. Jesus Embraced His Human Limits
    Spiritual issues of limits
    Jesus’ limits amidst needs
    Limits are “friends”
3. Discerning Limitations
    Personality - see last week’s “Better Together” update, Season, Life situation,
    Capacities, Triggers, Family of Origin. The Meyers-Briggs, the Enneagram,
    Strengths-finder, DISC, 16PF, etc.

    True Self

4. Gift of Limits in the Life the Church
    Self-care of leaders
    Invasive People:
Those who take up too much space at the expense of others. “Often in churches, the most demanding, complaining members set the agenda. Like cancer cells, they kill healthy ones by invading other people’s spaces. They seem unable to learn from their experiences and are unwilling to  change... Jesus’s highest priority was not to avoid conflict but to do God’s will” (EHC, 152).

    Saying “No”

    Boundaries “We have been confused...about where we end and someone
    else begins” (EHC 153).

“The problem is the world’s needs are far greater than my personal supply. And I must now discern what is the best response in the long run rather than what is the easiest to do right now.”

    101: Learning to be together yet separate

    102: Respect in our togetherness yet separateness

5. Growing Through Limitations

LANDING
6. Watching God work
God, at times, will take us beyond our limits in supernatural ways...

Sarah, Elijah, Jeremiah, Moses, Timothy, Hebrews 11...

God, we are people who often forget boundaries and limits are gifts. In our lives may we heart the question of Jesus, “Do I want to be well”? Can I own the life you have given and the faith risks you are asking me to take on? Lord, help me and “We” to discern when to say no and when to say yes. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Sources: Emotionally Healthy Church and Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Pete & Gerri Scazzero; Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No, to Take Control of Your Life, Dr. Henry Cloud; God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God, Ken Shigematsu; Simple Church , Thom Rainer, Eric Geiger; Others.

​For Reflection and Discussion

1. Is it difficult for you to say “no” to requests? Why?
   
2. When have you said “yes” to something that you regretted—not only at first but much more as time passed?
3. When have you said “yes” to something that you were originally going to say “no” to and it turned out to be very good for you?
4. Review the Key Biblical Texts: Mark 1:21-45, John 5:6. What jumps out to you? How do you see Jesus calling people to “own” their part in healing? How do you see Jesus expressing limits? Why do you think he didn’t heal everyone?
5. When is it appropriate to have a boundary in place with someone? Why?
6. Talk about the “Invasive people” quote above.
7. What do you believe the Bible tells us about self-care vs. selfishness? How do you wrestle with this?
8. What God-given limitations do you have in your life right now?
9. What do you think about the idea of God empowering us for a task/time/person beyond our normal (and good) limitations?
10. Other thoughts?