New Wineskins Association of Churches Convocation IV 'We come on our knees literally before the Father, asking for His direction' By Craig M. Kibler Staff Writer The Layman Online Wednesday, October 31, 2007 FAIR OAKS, Calif. – One of the hallmarks of the convocations of the New Wineskins Association of Churches, co-moderator Dean Weaver said Tuesday morning, is that "we come on our knees literally before the Father, asking for His direction." Speaking at the beginning of the delegated assembly meeting, Weaver said that some people believe New Wineskins is about polity. Not so, he said. "We want to spend time being grafted into the vine. We're not about polity at all." To applause from the audience, he asked, "Haven't we been blessed by great preaching and worship? One of the hallmarks is that we come on our knees literally before the Father, asking for His direction." The Rev. Dave Henderson then led the prayer time, saying, "I have a sense, as we come into this time together, that there is a confluence of two things in this time. The first of those is that I believe God is doing a new thing in each of us this week. The second is the expression of delight being felt at the invitation of God to take a step back to the source of power. All of the weariness drops away as we come into this place, stopping to be quiet before God." 'Where is it that we find our life?' With all of the wonderful worship and preaching, he said, the theme of the convocation is "where is it that we find our life? The focus of this prayer time is the experience of drawing life from God, of prayer and penance before God. This is not extraneous to the Association, but is central to what we've been doing together." Henderson then divided the focus of the prayer time into three sections – small group prayer, silent prayer and public prayer. He said that, in reflecting on "the theme of drawing our life from God, the image that came to my mind is the idea of our taking our breath, breathing in what God provides. I can go a long time without food, I can go a long time without exercise, but I can't go very long without oxygen. So, I am desperate for my next breath and may God be the source of that next breath, may He be the breath of life for us." In introducing the time of small group prayer, Henderson asked those in the audience to "begin by confessing that which is true of the God who made us and what is true about us. Every moment of our lives is dependent on God." He then read three verses from Scripture to illustrate the theme of the breath of life: The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7 This is what God the LORD says – he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: Isaiah 42:5 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:24-27 'You are dependent' In introducing the time of silent prayer, Henderson asked those in the audience to pray to the Father with the knowledge "that you are dependent, that you are derivative, that you are finite and that He is the source of all life." Citing the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, he urged those in the audience to pray for help in turning away "from sin, that act of turning from God as the source of our very life and turning to ourselves – this has crept into creation and has tainted creation ever since." "We reconcile ourselves," Henderson said, "as Paul says in Ephesians 2:" "You were living in your sins and lawless ways. But in fact you were dead. You used to live as sinners when you followed the ways of this world. You served the one who rules over the spiritual forces of evil. He is the spirit who is now at work in those who don't obey God. At one time we all lived among them. We tried to satisfy what our sinful nature wanted to do. We followed its longings and thoughts. God was angry with us and everyone else because of the kind of people we were." Finally, in introducing the time for public prayer, he said, "God has given us provision for life in Christ. He has given us the breath of life." Illustrating this theme, Henderson read three more verses from Scripture: The Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you. So the God who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your bodies, which are going to die. He will do this by the power of his Spirit, who lives in you. Romans 8-11 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22-24 Craig M. Kibler is the Director of Publications and Executive Editor of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. He can be reached at cmkibler@layman.org..

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