Focus 4 | Respecting the Moment
Each individual moment can affect eternity. How do we live in that reality?
Consider this ice breaker as you gather for the Spotlight.
What is your #1 recommendation in this city?
What is your #1 recommendation in this city?
See what this Spotlight—and series—is focused on.
Tap on the words "Focus 4" in the image below to read this Spotlight's summary.
Tap on the words "Focus 4" in the image below to read this Spotlight's summary.
Let’s talk about life without cameras.
Watch this video clip when you’re ready to begin today’s Spotlight.
(And welcome, by the way! It’s great that you’re here!)
Watch this video clip when you’re ready to begin today’s Spotlight.
(And welcome, by the way! It’s great that you’re here!)
Try to find the significance in these seemingly insignificant moments.
There tends to be a natural distinction between the moments people try to remember and the ones they don’t. Some moments just seem more important than others.
That’s not necessarily bad or evil, but it can lead to an under-valuing of moments that seem mundane.
Interact with the presentation below to start thinking about how to add import to that which might seem unimportant.
There tends to be a natural distinction between the moments people try to remember and the ones they don’t. Some moments just seem more important than others.
That’s not necessarily bad or evil, but it can lead to an under-valuing of moments that seem mundane.
Interact with the presentation below to start thinking about how to add import to that which might seem unimportant.
Welcome Perspective
Moments taste better when each moment is a taste of eternity.
Moments taste better when each moment is a taste of eternity.
Meditate on missed moments.
Everybody misses moments. (Jesus didn’t, because he was perfect, but even he has a ton of moments from his life that weren’t worth recording.) Some moments are just “missable.” At the same time, taking advantage of the moments you have, making the most of them, using them wisely, and seeing God’s goal for all of them is vital.
Use the arrows in the frame below to begin interacting with a powerful story Jesus once told about this. As you read it and meditate on it, try not to get caught up in the details, but instead focus on the big point Jesus is making and the feeling he is going for as he tells the story.
Everybody misses moments. (Jesus didn’t, because he was perfect, but even he has a ton of moments from his life that weren’t worth recording.) Some moments are just “missable.” At the same time, taking advantage of the moments you have, making the most of them, using them wisely, and seeing God’s goal for all of them is vital.
Use the arrows in the frame below to begin interacting with a powerful story Jesus once told about this. As you read it and meditate on it, try not to get caught up in the details, but instead focus on the big point Jesus is making and the feeling he is going for as he tells the story.
Choose your own adventure as you consider the value of a moment.
Christian songwriter Chris Rice has a lot to say about taking moments seriously, in fact, the three songs below are all his, and they’re all focused on this idea.
Start by listening to the song(s) listed below. (If you’re in a group, each person can pick whichever song they want to listen to.)
Discuss the following questions with your group once you’ve listened to the song(s):
Christian songwriter Chris Rice has a lot to say about taking moments seriously, in fact, the three songs below are all his, and they’re all focused on this idea.
Start by listening to the song(s) listed below. (If you’re in a group, each person can pick whichever song they want to listen to.)
Discuss the following questions with your group once you’ve listened to the song(s):
- Why did you choose the song you did?
- What struck you as you listened?
Share in this unique group reading from Every Moment Holy.
Every Moment Holy is an artistic project that writes “liturgies” for common experiences. (Liturgies are readings designed for groups to walk through aloud together.) It seemed appropriate to feature one here since a) this Spotlight discusses making every moment matter and b) there is an Every Moment Holy liturgy about the effect of Jesus defeating death.
Click the button below to view the liturgy. (Be sure to read the directions! You’ll need to assign some people to be readers. The whole group will read the bolded sections.)
+ READ "PRAISE TO CHRIST WHO CONQUERED DEATH"
Every Moment Holy is an artistic project that writes “liturgies” for common experiences. (Liturgies are readings designed for groups to walk through aloud together.) It seemed appropriate to feature one here since a) this Spotlight discusses making every moment matter and b) there is an Every Moment Holy liturgy about the effect of Jesus defeating death.
Click the button below to view the liturgy. (Be sure to read the directions! You’ll need to assign some people to be readers. The whole group will read the bolded sections.)
+ READ "PRAISE TO CHRIST WHO CONQUERED DEATH"
Worship Perspective
Moments may be missed. If moments live forever, you never have to live holding regret.
Moments may be missed. If moments live forever, you never have to live holding regret.
Divide and conquer to learn about moments from the book of Ruth.
Follow these instructions to get started on this activity:
+ RUTH 1
+ RUTH 2
+ RUTH 3
+ RUTH 4
Done? Continue here.
Now that you’ve read and reported back on chapters 1 through 4, here are a few questions to consider and discuss as a group…
Follow these instructions to get started on this activity:
- If you’re in a group, dole out assignments by breaking into smaller groups to cover the four chapters of the book of Ruth.
- Once each group has read their chapter, report back (in sequential/numerical order) on two to three small yet significant moments in each chapter.
+ RUTH 1
+ RUTH 2
+ RUTH 3
+ RUTH 4
Done? Continue here.
Now that you’ve read and reported back on chapters 1 through 4, here are a few questions to consider and discuss as a group…
- How do this small moments in Ruth connect to the greater picture?
- Where have you seen small things in your life connect to the big picture?
- When are you most aware that you and your story are part of a bigger story?
Discuss this song about small moments.
Seeing the big story in the small moments can be a challenge, so poets, thinkers, and leaders throughout history have tried to help people do so. This video is one such attempt.
Watch the video and think about these two questions as you do. (It’s important to watch the video. The lyrics are below, and you’ll review them shortly afterward.)
Seeing the big story in the small moments can be a challenge, so poets, thinkers, and leaders throughout history have tried to help people do so. This video is one such attempt.
Watch the video and think about these two questions as you do. (It’s important to watch the video. The lyrics are below, and you’ll review them shortly afterward.)
- Why pair the two experiences featured in the video?
- Which moments from Ruth’s story connect to the scenes in this video?
Lyrics from Big Love, Small Moments by JJ Heller
Heartbeats only happen one at a time, one at a time.
You can’t rush a moment so don't even try, don’t even try.
There’s a symphony you’re missing
if you only listen you’ll find…
Big magic in the mundane,
the big picture in a small frame.
Everything is sacred when you take time to notice
big love happens in the small moments.
Big love happens in the small moments.
There’s no use in chasing nickels and dimes, nickels and dimes.
Riches all around you, open your eyes, open your eyes.
You can’t buy the peace you’re after so don’t even try
’cause you’ll find…
Big magic in the mundane,
the big picture in a small frame.
Everything is sacred when you take time to notice
big love happens in the small moments.
Big love happens in the small moments.
You can’t do it all, so just do what you can.
You can’t do it all, so just do what you can.
Feel the sun on your face.
Bare feet on the ground.
I know you’ll see beautiful things if you look around.
Just look around
and you'll find…
Big magic in the mundane,
the big picture in a small frame.
Everything is sacred when you take time to notice the…
Big magic in the mundane,
the big picture in a small frame.
Everything is sacred when you take time to notice
big love happens in the small moments.
Big love happens in the small moments.
In the same way that we can see a glass as half full or half empty…
we can see everything that happens as a mere moment or as something eternally significant.
What else do you want to discuss or highlight from the song, before we move on, now that you’ve heard it and reviewed its lyrics?
Heartbeats only happen one at a time, one at a time.
You can’t rush a moment so don't even try, don’t even try.
There’s a symphony you’re missing
if you only listen you’ll find…
Big magic in the mundane,
the big picture in a small frame.
Everything is sacred when you take time to notice
big love happens in the small moments.
Big love happens in the small moments.
There’s no use in chasing nickels and dimes, nickels and dimes.
Riches all around you, open your eyes, open your eyes.
You can’t buy the peace you’re after so don’t even try
’cause you’ll find…
Big magic in the mundane,
the big picture in a small frame.
Everything is sacred when you take time to notice
big love happens in the small moments.
Big love happens in the small moments.
You can’t do it all, so just do what you can.
You can’t do it all, so just do what you can.
Feel the sun on your face.
Bare feet on the ground.
I know you’ll see beautiful things if you look around.
Just look around
and you'll find…
Big magic in the mundane,
the big picture in a small frame.
Everything is sacred when you take time to notice the…
Big magic in the mundane,
the big picture in a small frame.
Everything is sacred when you take time to notice
big love happens in the small moments.
Big love happens in the small moments.
In the same way that we can see a glass as half full or half empty…
we can see everything that happens as a mere moment or as something eternally significant.
What else do you want to discuss or highlight from the song, before we move on, now that you’ve heard it and reviewed its lyrics?
Review this series as it comes to an end.
Since this is the end of the On Letting the Dead Rise series, it is good to look back on all the concepts that have been explored.
Read through the summaries and takeaways below and ask/discuss/observe anything that you’d like.
(Congratulations, and THANK YOU for being part of this series!)
Series Summary
For eternal people (hint: that’s everyone) who see the world in a totally temporal way, On Letting the Dead Rise reveals the eternal potential of every interaction and choice.
Spotlight 1 | All Due Respect
Focus Summary - This is the “objective” victory over death: Jesus’ resurrection is the defeat of death, the proof that death never really had a shot even though it pretended as it did.
Perspectives
Focus Summary - If death is a joke, you find yourself in a fundamentally different position regarding death than human beings usually perceive themselves to have. You need not give death any of your fear or respect.
Perspectives
Spotlight 3 | Respecting Eternity
Focus Summary - Eternity is so much bigger than… well, anything that isn’t eternity. The “never-ending” nature of it makes it infinitely bigger than any un-eternal thing you could compare it to. Acknowledge the reality of your personal eternity (and the fact that everyone around you is eternal.)
Perspectives
Focus Summary - If you develop a healthy respect for eternity (and that which is eternal), you will start to respect the ways that each individual moment can affect eternity. This can mean you waste fewer moments, it can mean you put important milestone moments into their eternal context, and it can mean that you let the non-eternal aspects of any given moment be as unimportant as they truly are.
Perspectives
Since this is the end of the On Letting the Dead Rise series, it is good to look back on all the concepts that have been explored.
Read through the summaries and takeaways below and ask/discuss/observe anything that you’d like.
(Congratulations, and THANK YOU for being part of this series!)
Series Summary
For eternal people (hint: that’s everyone) who see the world in a totally temporal way, On Letting the Dead Rise reveals the eternal potential of every interaction and choice.
Spotlight 1 | All Due Respect
Focus Summary - This is the “objective” victory over death: Jesus’ resurrection is the defeat of death, the proof that death never really had a shot even though it pretended as it did.
Perspectives
- Welcome | If you over-rate the undeserving you will under-rate the best.
- Worship | Christ disrespects death (and death can’t defend itself) to glorify you.
- Learn | To find out if death or Christ is worth respecting, compare their records.
- Serve | The simple ideas of resurrection and life crush death’s influence.
- Farewell | It’s okay if you reassess respecting death because Jesus rose.
Focus Summary - If death is a joke, you find yourself in a fundamentally different position regarding death than human beings usually perceive themselves to have. You need not give death any of your fear or respect.
Perspectives
- Welcome | Inescapable fear belongs to death when you respect it the most.
- Worship | Death’s threat is empty so call it what it is and live triumphant.
- Learn | Your fear empowers death and so without your fear, it has no power.
- Serve | Give the triumph you have found to hearts being bullied by death’s nearness.
- Farewell | When the dead rise, death’s flex deflates, and hearts boldly exist in triumph.
Spotlight 3 | Respecting Eternity
Focus Summary - Eternity is so much bigger than… well, anything that isn’t eternity. The “never-ending” nature of it makes it infinitely bigger than any un-eternal thing you could compare it to. Acknowledge the reality of your personal eternity (and the fact that everyone around you is eternal.)
Perspectives
- Welcome | Imagine a stock that would always go up in value, never down.
- Worship | God blesses people, then blesses again by making them eternal.
- Learn | Eternity is bigger than the now, so look to it for purpose.
- Serve | Days expire but people don’t. Liberally take time for others.
- Farewell | Eternity frees life to be fun and have a purpose that lasts forever.
Focus Summary - If you develop a healthy respect for eternity (and that which is eternal), you will start to respect the ways that each individual moment can affect eternity. This can mean you waste fewer moments, it can mean you put important milestone moments into their eternal context, and it can mean that you let the non-eternal aspects of any given moment be as unimportant as they truly are.
Perspectives
- Welcome | Moments taste better when each moment is a taste of eternity.
- Worship | If moments live forever, you never have to live holding regret.
- Learn | “Was” was, but is not the state of moments in Christ. Those are always “is.”
- Serve | Little bricks can build giant wall-like moments that make eternity.
- Farewell | A moment is more when it lives in the shadow of the empty grave.
Learn Perspective
“Was” was, but is not the state of moments in Christ. Those are always “is.”
“Was” was, but is not the state of moments in Christ. Those are always “is.”
Do a calendar inventory to maximize on the moments in the coming week.
Follow these instructions...
- Grab your calendar—and if you don’t keep a calendar, just grab a piece of paper and a writing utensil.
- Do a time inventory or diary of your week and see if you can find moments in each day where you will affect eternity.
- It might help for this moment to be at a consistent time (i.e. right when you wake up or right before you get ready for bed.)
- It might be a meeting with someone into which you can build some encouragement.
- It might be a chance to volunteer with genuine, heartfelt, sacrificial love.
- Enter these moments in your calendar, once you find where they will be in your week
- Keep your calendar close this week, allowing it to guide your week’s activities—and moments.
Feel free to submit a prayer request by filling out the below form.
(If you choose to make your request public, you'll see it display in the Current at the end of the Spotlight along with anyone else who did the same.)
(If you choose to make your request public, you'll see it display in the Current at the end of the Spotlight along with anyone else who did the same.)
Pray through your requests—together—as a group.
After submitting your requests in the above form, take some time to share with your group whatever requests the group might have for this week.
After submitting your requests in the above form, take some time to share with your group whatever requests the group might have for this week.
Serve Perspective
Little bricks can build a giant wall like moments make eternity.
Little bricks can build a giant wall like moments make eternity.
Praise God for your “now & forevermore.”
Several times throughout the Bible, a little phrase pops up: "now and forevermore." It’s more than just a nice way to end a sentence, right? It's the whole thing!
NOW & FOREVER = this moment + eternity
The short New Testament letter called Jude uses this phrase right at the end. Use each line as inspiration for prayers of praise to God for letting the dead rise, emptying death of power, making eternity matter, and giving power to your moments:
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to present you before his glorious presence
without fault and with great joy—
to the only God our Savior
be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Jude 1:24–25
NOW & FOREVER = this moment + eternity
The short New Testament letter called Jude uses this phrase right at the end. Use each line as inspiration for prayers of praise to God for letting the dead rise, emptying death of power, making eternity matter, and giving power to your moments:
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to present you before his glorious presence
without fault and with great joy—
to the only God our Savior
be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Jude 1:24–25
Close with a moment of peace.
If the dead rise, (and Jesus makes it so they do) everything is affected. The death that seemed so pervasive and controlling is not, and what was once futile is now a chance to affect eternity.
Listen to this song by Gungor. This song takes the truth that “every moment that beats from my chest springs up from [God’s] hand”—which happens through his work of creation and through Jesus’ resurrection—and realizes that this is all good enough reason to “love you with everything.”
If the dead rise, (and Jesus makes it so they do) everything is affected. The death that seemed so pervasive and controlling is not, and what was once futile is now a chance to affect eternity.
Listen to this song by Gungor. This song takes the truth that “every moment that beats from my chest springs up from [God’s] hand”—which happens through his work of creation and through Jesus’ resurrection—and realizes that this is all good enough reason to “love you with everything.”
Lyrics from Every Breath by Gungor
Every breath—
every moment life beats in my chest—
springs up from your hand.
Creation resounds.
With every color and every sound
your love is calling.
I will love you with all of my heart.
I will love you with all of my mind.
I’ll love you with all of my strength,
love you with everything.
So every breath—
every moment life beats in my chest—
let my life praise you.
I will love you with all of my heart.
I will love you with all of my mind.
I’ll love you with all of my strength,
love you with everything.
I will love you with all of my heart.
I will love you with all of my mind.
I’ll love you with all of my strength,
love you with everything.
I love you with everything.
I love you with everything.
Here I am, Lord.
All I am, Lord.
Here I am, Lord.
I am yours.
Every breath—
every moment life beats in my chest—
springs up from your hand.
Creation resounds.
With every color and every sound
your love is calling.
I will love you with all of my heart.
I will love you with all of my mind.
I’ll love you with all of my strength,
love you with everything.
So every breath—
every moment life beats in my chest—
let my life praise you.
I will love you with all of my heart.
I will love you with all of my mind.
I’ll love you with all of my strength,
love you with everything.
I will love you with all of my heart.
I will love you with all of my mind.
I’ll love you with all of my strength,
love you with everything.
I love you with everything.
I love you with everything.
Here I am, Lord.
All I am, Lord.
Here I am, Lord.
I am yours.
Sing along with (or listen to) this song to close out this Spotlight.
Feel free to sing along or simply listen. Do what makes you comfortable—but do whatever helps you focus on the song's meaning best.
Feel free to sing along or simply listen. Do what makes you comfortable—but do whatever helps you focus on the song's meaning best.
Farewell Perspective
A moment is more when it lives in the shadow of the empty grave.
A moment is more when it lives in the shadow of the empty grave.
Let's wrap things up by taking a look at what's Current at Illume.
Tap on the buttons in the frame below to see what’s currently happening at Illume—information on everything from current and upcoming online content to live events and opportunities to serve in the community can all be found here.
Tap on the buttons in the frame below to see what’s currently happening at Illume—information on everything from current and upcoming online content to live events and opportunities to serve in the community can all be found here.
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