Summary                                                                                                                

Thanks to Anne Murray, Wayland Holyfield and Bob House for the song that inspired the message title this week. In the message Graeme continued to describe how the INNER LIFE of God is extended to you and me as a DIVINE DANCE. A key part of his redemptive plan, God has made it possible for you and me to dance this DIVINE DANCE with Jesus. The DIVINE DANCE is eternal and that’s AS true in the INNER LIFE of God as it is when we JOIN IN and FOLLOW HIS LEAD. Eternal is not something which starts at the end, it is here, now, right where we are and when we are there.

Last week Graeme used the definition of ‘Perichoresis’ to help us better understand ‘incarnation’ i.e.  ‘the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us’. God the Father sent His son into the world to SHOW US what the INNER LIFE of God displayed in 100% human flesh would look like.   God extends his hand through Jesus, Jesus extends his hand through US, HIS BODY, the Church, and the Church now knows IN Christ what that should look like.    God was in essence showing us that we need the 100% divine of Jesus by his Spirit to keep on keeping on.  In this way Jesus builds and is building his church by inviting us to follow his lead on the dance floor and to mutually indwelling with him and as such the revelation Christ has brought. Jesus showed us how on earth AS IT IS in heaven. He then ascended back to the Father so the HOLY SPIRIT could be sent to CONTINUE & REPRODUCE the process in and through His Church.

Graeme called this the ‘incarnational community’. The Holy Spirit poured out and birthing the ‘church’, teaches us how to test the spirits (1 John 4) so that we can be empowered to sustain and reproduce the work of ‘incarnation’ in the world. We respond to God’s invitation through Jesus to the DIVINE DANCE so that the inner life of God indwells the Church way beyond the historical fact of Jesus walking on the earth for a few years. This is the way that people can actually experience the ‘God of Love’. Jesus is the fabric of the church NOT JUST A VISITOR OR ADJUNCT. Without Jesus, God the Father knew we would flounder around for all time trying to find ways to experience something of the INNER LIFE of God as it had been in the beginning.

Practical Application

During your prayer time this week, use the response questions below to consider the idea of God working primarily through the church. Then consider the reality that you are a member of that Body. Allow God to speak to you about your role in the Body. Perhaps God will affirm you in the place you now occupy. Perhaps God will call you in a way you didn’t anticipate! Be alert over the next few weeks as Graeme begins vision sharing about the mission of the body, the church this year and ready yourself. Going before God like this can be a matter of fear and trembling! But to whom else shall we go? Let God speak to you about what He wants to accomplish through you. Only God can reveal it to you; the task specific and practical stuff of a vocation IN Christ. Engage to advance.

Individual Response or Group Questions

  1. Graeme re-iterated the idea of Perichoresis I.e. We don’t do this life alone because God didn’t. Read Genesis 2:18. Reflect and pray about the implications of this for your daily life (if you think there are any). Write down any stand out thoughts in your journal so you can see how this develops over the next little while. Maybe a discussion over a cuppa with a couple of others about this might be helpful.
  1. How do you feel about thinking of the Church as the primary way God works in the world? Do you agree? Disagree? If you disagree, what is the primary way that God works in the world?

Further reading:

1 John 3:18; 1 John 4; Matthew 28: 16-20; Acts 2:1-4; Ephesians 3