"The Daily Quiet Time" or "Learning the Vocabulary of God" by Geoff Thompson

This was how our Aunty Doreen left her quiet time Bible and Notes etc when she died in a nursing home.

Last Sunday,13/9/15, I once again had the privilege of leading the Uniting Church Service in Renmark and Renmark West.
Here is the order of service and Bible readings and the message.
The message is based on study notes and tapes I have by the late Mr. Frank Hunting.
The alternative title comes from a book by Frank Laubach called "Learning the Vocabulary of God"
He like Frank was also one who was very disciplined in spending time each day with God. Indeed he tried to do that continuously.
If anyone is interested in copies of Frank Hunting's sermons on this subject in Digital form please contact me.
I can also make available a pdf of his Bible study notes that are complimentary to the recorded sermons.
I also recorded this talk digitally at Renmark West and this can be supplied by USB on request.
 Geoff Thompson.

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UNITING CHURCH RENMARK SERVICE  13/9/15

                  ORDER OF SERVICE

Call to Worship:  Geoff Thompson

Hymn: “Holy,Holy,holy, Lord God Almighty” AHB 65

Prayer of confession praise and thanksgiving

Hymn:  “Morning has broken”

Bible Reading:  James 3:13-18;

                         2 Corinthians 5: 14-21

                          

Hymn: “I heard the voice of Jesus say”  AHB 500

Offering:

Sermon: “Learning the Vocabulary of God” or “Our Daily Quiet Time” Geoff Thompson  

Hymn :  “Brother let me be your servant”  (Altogether again 191)(blue cover)

Benediction: as per back of hymn book  “May our Lord,God of Peace”

James 3 New International Version (NIV) Two Kinds of Wisdom 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Learning the vocabulary of God or Keeping a Daily Quiet Time

When I spoke here last,about a month ago, I was talking about the most important question we can ever ask and we discussed the answer given in the New Testament.

That was about why and how we become a Christian.

What I must do to be saved!

I said this next time I would talk about where do we go from there.

How do we live out the Christian life and how do we progress in our faith.

The Bible tells us that when we become Christians we are brand new creations.

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! (NIV)

If that is so, is it obvious to people looking on that we have become a new creation?

Have our old bad habits been replaced by a Christian demeanor that attracts people to our Saviour?

Is our life such a testimony that people are drawn to the Lord Jesus?

People are watching us Christians all the time to see if we are real.

If we really do have something to offer.

Sadly we can all think of people who we think are letting the team down.

We think they are not really any different to how they were before they became a Christian.

For example they might still have a quick temper,

Might be critical of others  and always gossiping.

They may also  be quite selfish when it comes to helping others.

They  might always be wanting to put themselves first, jumping the queue, what about me?

They might not tolerate or show love to others who are different to us.

Now the thing is we all have blindnesses about ourselves and the so called “they” may in fact be us.

So how do we really allow Jesus to make a difference in our lives?

What next after conversion so that we actually do become new creations?

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! (NIV)

For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. (Phillips)

¹⁷ When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun! (Living Bible)

Even though some of us can quote that verse very quickly and surely, it is not automatic that our old habits, our old behaviours have been changed in an instant at conversion.

We often use that in our persuasions of others to become Christians.

No one is an instant mature Christian at conversion.

Our Christian life is to be one of change growing more and more like Jesus.

At conversion our potential has changed, our assurance of salvation has become real but we still might be pains in the neck to others.

Don’t misunderstand me.

We have been born again but we are baby Christians.

Our walk to Christian maturity is an ongoing thing that should be making us more and more in the image of Jesus.

We find this idea of an ongoing journey to Christian maturity  in the passage below.

2 Corinthians 3:18Living Bible (TLB)

¹⁸ But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.

2 Corinthians 3:18Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁸ And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.
(Note the Amplified Bible is great to get almost every possible slant on any passage.)

So what is the best advice we can be given as a new Christian or should give to a new Christian.

How do we actually become new creations?

In other words after Decision, Conversion, then what?

Well we would hope we would be encouraged to continue to find a Church to worship in and receive sound teaching.

We would be advised to get involved in a group Bible Study.

We would be wise to regularly read our Bibles and spend time in Prayer.

These you would think are logical things for the new Christian to do.

The thing that I believe  would be really helpful to us as new Christians and even if we have been a Christian for years would be to establish on a regularly basis what some call a quiet time.

Is that familiar to you?

So why have a quiet time?

A life spent in regular daily communion with God should be the norm and is not beyond the reach of any of us.

Please note when I talk about a quiet time I am not talking about sitting in the sun enjoying God’s creation with a nice “cuppa”

So here are some thoughts about our quiet times and what we should be doing in this time that can be as little as 30mins a day.

If we do this effectively it will have a huge impact on our lives.

We will become more and more like Jesus.

These things I am about to talk about take a lifetime to work at but it is never to late to start.

So we don’t stop and say this is all too hard!

I haven’t arrived at anywhere near I would like to be with my quiet time.

So what are the elements of an adequate quiet time.

What I am about to share is drawn from Frank Hunting’s bible study on this subject and as brought out in his sermons.

No. 1   The Object of our Quiet Time:

To meet Jesus face to face.

Most of us will find this a difficult concept to grasp.

We cannot become more like someone unless we spend time with them.

Our youngest son was the last to leave our home and he was starting to get worried as he started cracking the same type of jokes that I did before he left.

He was becoming a lot like me.

Some of it good, some not.

A good  technique to enable us to visualise Jesus in our quiet time is by sitting opposite an empty chair and by faith realizing Jesus is there with us.

When we come into this place we know Jesus is here with us because the Bible tells us He is.

We are that 2 or 3 or more  gathered in His name.

No. 2  Confession and Repentance

Confession an repentance plays an important part in our quiet time.

We constantly fail in life….we constantly need fresh starts.

God has provided for this in I John 1:6-9

Note all the Ifs’

⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

⁷ but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The new start is available immediately.

Verse 7 tells us the way to live in continuous right relationship with God and our fellow men.

⁷ but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

3. Bring who we are to Jesus

There will be no growth,no change,no Christian maturity unless we do.

Bring what we are to Jesus

Some of these things we need to  bring to Jesus.

Inferiority feelings

Self sympathy

Anxieties

A critical nature

Lusts- not just sexual

Fear of responsibility

Unforgiveness

Unlove

Fears

Doubts

Dominating nature

Guilt

Hardness

Spiritual Laziness

And whatever else makes us what we are.

These and others are the things which God may show you about yourself, are the things from which Jesus saves us.

This is where our salvation becomes “full!”

 IF WE TAKE THEM TO HIM!

Ask Him to change us in the depths of our being

4.Study the Word of God

The emphasis is on the word study.

Amazing results will come over a lifetime if we just spend half an hour each day of real study.

Soaking in what Jesus said.

Which means going to the gospels time and time again and also

Studying what the apostles did and taught.

We learn hoe God thinks,

How Jesus thinks.

In 2 Timothy 3:16  we are told the following

¹⁶ The whole Bible^[b] was given to us by inspiration from God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right. ¹⁷ It is God’s way of making us well prepared at every point, fully equipped to do good to everyone.

5.  PRAY

Prayer has to be part of our quiet time.

It has to go beyond what might be called baby prayers.

We need to learn how to pray the way Jesus taught.

It has to be praying that enables God to work.

Enables Jesus to be in the battles people are having.

We have to learn how to “faith things into being”

We also need to pray to God bringing our own needs to Him and allowing God to deal with us.

We have already touched on that.

6. We need to learn to listen.

In Mark 9 v7 after the amazing experience Peter,James and John had on the mount of transfiguration.

God spoke to them after the others had gone and said.

“this is my beloved Son, listen to Him”

⁷ But while he was still speaking these words, a cloud covered them, blotting out the sun, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

⁸ Then suddenly they looked around and Moses and Elijah were gone, and only Jesus was with them.

Learning to be guided by God,

listening to Jesus,

has to become part of our Christian experience.

Learning what is His plan for our lives.

(Gave demonstration here of tuning in a radio. We can’t see radio waves but if we tune in we can hear what we can’t see.)

We tune in by using the Bible, not a radio.

The Holy Spirit will speak to us through what we read.

Now we might have already been following God’s plan for our lives for many years and have known His direction, but it is helpful to revise where we are at.

For most of us, who are getting on, we need to seek his guidance for the rest of the allocated time we are given.

The actual mechanics of keeping and conducting a quiet time will include the following.

devotional helps,

Such as "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, "Our Daily Bread", "Everyday with Jesus", "Streams in the Desert" and many others.

"Awake my Heart" by Sidlow Baxter is very good.

a variety of Bible Versions

Not just one. A red letter new testament is great to concentrate on the words of Jesus Himself.

There are many versions of the Bible these days.

It’s a good idea to use a few to get all the possible meanings from the passage you study.

A parallel Bible is great to compare passages with up to 6 versions printed side by side.

using a notebook

A notebook is great to be able to keep a list of prayer points, write the guidance you think God is giving you,identifying things you need to get right and repent of.

It can be a spiritual diary that charts your growth to Christian maturity.

Getting God’s Guidance

We need to get God’s guidance and find His plan for our lives.

There are methods of guidance you can use but they must include checking against the scriptures so that your guidance does not conflict with God’s word.

It is is important to seek the counsel of mature Christians you trust to mainly makes sure your self is taken out of the equation.

In other words is that what you think God really wants you to do or is it just your own ego interfering.

Write down what you think God is saying to you.

With experience getting His guidance will become easier but often we are sure of our guidance only by looking back on the actions we have taken.

Conclusion

Well I hope that today our appetite has been stimulated to get down to business with God.

That we will make a decision that whatever stage we are at with God  and our Christian walk, that we resolve  to make Jesus truly Lord of our lives.

Not just our Saviour.

That we will go on to Christian Maturity

That we will spend time with Him each day.

That we keep working at keeping our quiet time.

Remembering Doreen Dunning-14/9/13 to 19/10/10

Yesterday was the one year anniversary since my Wife's Aunty, Doreen Dunning died. I have posted this eulogy in remembrance of a fine Christian Lady.

            Eulogy for Doreen Dunning

Thank you on behalf of Doreen’s family for coming here today to remember and give thanks to God and pay tribute to and celebrate the life of Doreen. Aunty Doreen to most of her family today except her sister Audrey who is here from Renmark, and other Renmarkians as well.

Muriel Doreen Dunning ,Doreen to most people was born on 14/9/13  in Bartels Nursing Home,Pennington Terrace .Her father was Alfred Berthold Rosenberg and her mother was Winifred Hilda Lydia Rosenberg                                          .

She lived in Adelaide for a while where from what we know her Father was Hotelier but when quite young she moved to  Adelaide but spent much of her early years living on the family farm at  Kunlara with  an older brother Laurie who is deceased and  younger Sister Audrey, who is my wife Lesley’s mum.

She was married to Harry Dunning on the 15^th March 1946 by Reverend William Charles Brooker at his residence at “Lochiel” 20 Divett Place at Alberton. They were separated by Harry’s death at the age of 98 on new years day in the year 2000. They did not have any children.

Doreen was very fond of children and for many years was a tireless worker who became State director of Child Evangelism Fellowship International. More about that later.

Doreen was a remarkable lady who grew up up in an era where life was lot harder than it is now.She rode to school in a horse and cart and milked cows on the family farm and did other chores.

Here are some of her own words.

“I began school at Kybobolite in 1917.

We lived in a large house –railway ran past the side of the house,pine trees all down 2 sides of the block.

No recollection of how we moved and why.

Settled in Kunlara approx 1919.Only 2 of us Laurie and I .

Laurie was 2 years older than I and died of a tumor at the age of 62.

When I was 10 years old a baby sister happened along named Audrey who is now Audrey Foweraker.

My brother and I had to got to school at Copeville approx 5 miles from Kunlara.

We drove in a sulky with a horse named Barney.

At the Copeville school we would have been 15 scholars and in that 15 were 3 Doreens. Lee, Burdett and Rosenberg.

Later when Laurie left school I had to ride a horse, a white horse which had been a cast off race horse..I was a skinny timid little thing but somehow managed to get to and fro.

Finally my father must have bought a little black  Shetland pony, that was better.When the pony had a sore foot or for other reasons I would walk to school along the railway line. I think the train only ran twice a week. We would get our provisions by train, bread etc.

Don’t remember how we received the paper maybe weekly.

My mother was making baby clothes , the usual baby gowns which were worn at that time and of course I couldn’t believe this “baby “ talk and I was sure they were for me.

I would hold one up against myself  and being so tiny was sure it was for me.

When the baby was about to arrive my mother took my brother and I to stay with Grandmother Stoeckel who lived in Paringa.Eventually I had a baby sister.

Kunlara was a very dry area , virgin land and many acres of mallee were cleared with horses drawing heavy rollers.Then the wood was burnt. The stumps had to be gathered and thrown into heaps  and  we children had to help after school..They were hard days, we were brought up “ under the thumb”.

After the seed had been sown and harvested  we had to help stack the hay and later sow up the bags of wheat with a large needle and twine in the blazing heat.Then help feed the machine when the hay had to be put into the chaff cutter for feed for the horses. We had cows and pigs and they all had to have attention.

I left school at 14 and Audrey attended Kunlara school.

SOCIALISING

Well there was little visitation as it was all horse and cart conveyance and people didn’t visit very much.

There was football in season and following the football  would be the local dance ,people came from all over.

They were great days. The mums and dads would dance and we younger ones all learned to dance also and supper followed. That was at Galga.

Occasionally we went to the Lutheran Church which also was at Galga  near the local store. Dances were also held at Copeville and  were very well attended.”

Her sister Audrey can remember often the sing songs around the piano in the family home and how fond Doreen was of the dances.

In her working life she was in the early days a shop assistant and in the 2^nd world war 2 she went to Adelaide to work in a Munitions factory but the majority of her employment over the years was in her own business which was a Ladie’s Frock shop which in the latter years was in Hutt Street in Adelaide. (Co incidentally it was in that time that my Dad met her well before I ever did as she used to buy material from a wholesaler where he worked.)

Aunty Doreen always had an eye for nice clothes and was always concerned to be well presented in her  appearance.

Church was always a part of Doreen’s life as a young  person as it was for so many people of her era but in later years she came into her Christian  faith with a much stronger conviction.She supported many Christian workers and organisations financially and in prayer and by writing to them.

Over the years she was involved with and attended several Churches including Cheltenham, Queenstown ,Semaphore and Mile end and Grote Street churches of Christ. Grote street now is called the Market Place  Church and meets on South Terrace and Bronte is the current senior  Minister there.

Doreen loved children and in the last couple of years she became very fond of our grandson Lucas and also she loved it whenever children of friends visited her at Parkrose and Reynella and especially when some would sing for her.There are some here today who she loved much.

For many years Doreen was involved in Child Evangelism Fellowship International where the main activity was teaching children about Jesus in what were called 5 day clubs and using a little booklet called the wordless book to share the Gospel.

She became the South Australian Director of CEF and for many years operated a cef shop from the back of her garage at Seaton.This was stocked with many studies and teaching aids for the Children.

Pauline met Aunty Doreen in one of those clubs and a long friendship developed and Pauline took over as State Director when Doreen retired from that position.
See a later post on this blog on CEF.
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/child-evangelism-fellowship.html 

Doreen also loved being involved with Manna International and used to love teaching that emphasised the promise of Jesus  in the Bible that he would one day return for His church.

Doreen was always concerned that people understood the Gospel and was one of the first people to confront Lesley and myself about the claims of Jesus and had a lot to do with why we are Christians to this day.

 I met Lesley when she came to Adelaide from Renmark to start nursing at the age of 17 and she was boarding with Uncle Harry and Aunty Doreen at Seaton.

Aunty Doreen had a side to her that we were able to see often possibly more so than others. She had an infectious giggle that if she got started and found something funny she could not stop.

Some years back she and Uncle Harry were at Renmark with family celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary. There are some photos here today from that occasion.

I was setting up a cake cutting photo and suggested it was traditionally that you should kiss after you cut the cake. Aunty Doreen started to giggle and could not stop.After a while I suggested that they practice a kiss first and, at that, Uncle Harry said “I don’t need any practice and sat down.” That started her off for another 5 minutes. We eventually got the cake photo minus the kiss. I do have that all on video but you will have to wait for the documentary to come out to see it.

Apart from being a very conscientious reader of  the Word Doreen  also collected lots of written down jokes and has often told us that she would sit down and read them and have a good laugh and handed the clippings on to Lesley suggesting that one day she might like to do the same particularly in her old age.

Aunty Doreen has a very rich and busy life and was in touch with many people both in Australia and overseas. She contributed financially to many Christian causes .

She touched many people’s lives and many touched hers and ministered to her in her later years in particular.

We have many fond memories as a family and Cathy and Richard particularly remember her baking prowess and in particular David was fond of her Peppermint slice.

I also remember her cooking particularly when Uncle Harry and I made a camping trip to the Flinders Ranges when he was 90. She cooked for us and every thing that was packed was dutifully labelled and people wandering past our campsite were envious of the food we were eating  and the aromas from the things I was heating up on the camp stove.

When in  later years she used to come and stay at Renmark she used to call Dud and Audrey’s property Pepper Tree Farm. When she broke her arm after she had just moved into Parkrose village and she spent a time of recovery there, she renamed it  Peppertree Nursing home..

One of her sayings we all remember when  in her 90’s was “I think I’m getting  like the old people.”  If you were a bit overweight she would quietly comment sometimes “he’s been sitting too close to the table.”

Aunty Doreen like Uncle Harry were not really into highlighting what they had done in their lives and both were not keen on having an ostentatious funeral.

Aunty Doreens’ main concern in life was that people would come to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour and I know that that would be the thought that she would want  people to  take away from this ceremony today that if in any way you or I had been touched by her life it wasn’t her doing but the work of God’s Holy Spirit and that we should all think afresh after today about the claims Jesus has made and our response to Him.

In recent weeks when she had a bad turn and started to deteriorate in he health she in  the course of each conversation would  say “I would like to be well again”  , and in almost the same breath “ I am  ready to die.” Indeed the day before she died she said to Lesley “I dreamed that today was my last day.”

It is wonderful to know that Doreen has now already met her saviour and has entered into eternity in an even more fuller way than she already had.

On behalf of her family who are here today and some who could not make it I would like to thank you all for coming and the friendship and love you have given to Doreen over in some cases many years, both practical and spiritual help.Close friends Pauline and Jan and Lyall have been faithfull friends for many years and there are so many others. Once I started naming them all we would be here for another hour so I will choose not to at this stage.

We can celebrate her life and Faith  and remember her and Uncle Harry as we have supper today and you are encouraged to share your Aunty Doreen stories with each other. There are also some photographs and some other things for you viewing out the front here.

Last birthday a few weeks before Doreen died

He Bible and note books in the Nursing Home.Her Bibles were very well worn and marked with notes.

Uncle Harry blowing out his 80th birthday candles. he lived to be 98.

Aunty Doreen and "Little Cat"