| E
Opening
- Thank Host
- Outline for the session
- The Issue
- What is Thin Within?
- Where did Thin Within come from?
- How does Thin Within work?
Begin with Prayer
Key Assumptions
1. God designed our bodies to be marvelous machines capable of many years of life and service to him.
Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
- There may be many of you who don’t feel all that wonderfully made right now.
- The great thing about the TRUTH is that is does not matter what our feelings are, the truth is still the same. God says we are fearfully and wonderfully made – therefore we are.
2. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit given to us by a loving God.
Jesus himself referred to his own body as a temple.
John 2:21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
The apostle Paul tells us that our bodies are temples as well:
1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you, whom you have received from God?
3. God wants us to live an abundant life – life to the full.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
The Issue
Update on latest and greatest in terms of medical information:
- One hundred years ago 1 in 20 Americans was overweight
- Now 2/3 of Americans are overweight (BMI 25-30) and 1/3 are obese (BMI over 30) and the rate is accelerating
- 10 % children 2-5 years old are overweight today, double the number 20 years ago
- We are in the midst of a double epidemic of Diabetes and obesity
- The health administration is presently unable to identify how we will fund the cost of illness related to weight related illnesses like diabetes
- Recent study of 3457 middle aged people in Framingham, MA, who were followed from 1950 to 1990 at which time almost all had died. Their survival statistics were:
- Normal weight non-smokers - Lived normal life expectancy
- Overweight non-smokers - Died 3-4 years earlier
- Obese non-smokers - Died 6-7 years earlier
- Obese smoker-Died 13-14 years earlier
It occurs to me that the Enemy wants to take you out of service to God any way he can.
- Initially, he will do anything in his power to try and prevent you from hearing and responding to the message of the Gospel.
- After you are a Christian, he will do anything in his power to keep you on the sidelines and out of the game. This usually involves getting you to believe one lie or another.
- If he is ineffective in that he will try to get you to be a poor steward over your body so that you destroy the very temple God has given you. If you are dead at an early age you ability to serve God has definitely been diminished.
After all, who knows how much you could accomplish for God with an extra 3 – 14 years of life?
In the church today, as in the general population, many are overweight or obese
- Take the pew test - Look around the congregation this upcoming Sunday
However, in many cases this is more than a physiological issue
- This is often a spiritual or “heart” issue
How can we know this?
The diet and weight loss market is approximately $30 – 50 billion dollars and the trends are not changing – in fact they are only getting worse.
We are all familiar with the diet cycle
- Start a diet
- Lose some weight
- Get tired of the rules, restrictions
- Give up on the diet
- Gain the weight back + some
- Get frustrated
- Start a diet…
The key is that this process is based on your own self effort – it is what you can do.
We make a great effort to change the physical but the root causes of our eating and weight issues are never dealt with.
Many people are trying to gain fulfillment / comfort from food
– people are eating when they are
However, as Christians we know, only Jesus can truly satisfy...
John 4:13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The Gospel needs to come alive to people
– If people are satisfied in their relationship with the Father, they will not seek satisfaction in food
– People can stop trying to “do” a diet on their own and tap into the power of the Holy Spirit to really address those issues that lead them to seek solace in food
Food will take its proper place in their life
– Sustenance, not fulfillment
SO:
- Conventional diets and weight loss measures have traditionally failed.
- We know God designed our bodies to be miraculous instruments.
- We know that the source of true healing and satisfaction in life is Christ Jesus.
How do we put all these things together in such a way to make a difference in our world / in our lives?
Brief Thin Within History
See Origins of Thin Within promotional sheet
What is Thin Within?
Thin Within is a non-diet grace-based approach to food, eating, and weight.
We help people to:
- re-learn to listen to the way God designed their bodies to function and
- to rely upon God as a source of comfort and strength in making lasting life changes.
- It is a community of people who have come together to support one another in this journey toward an abundant life in Christ.
What does non-diet mean?
Remove "forbidden" food labels
- Many people are focused on the “what” they should eat rather than on the more important question of “how much”.
- When you master the “how much” question, the “what” question takes very little significance in the weight loss equation.
- Encourage people to experience freedom given in Christ to eat foods they enjoy. ( If not any medical contraindications)
Focus of TW
- Practical / Physical – the road map
- Emotional – clears obstacles in the road
- Spiritual – the power source to move us down the road
PRACTICAL / PHYSICAL:
Group Participation: Think of a Naturally Thin Person you know.
- Not someone who eats only salads
- Not someone who is exercise fanatic
- Someone thin from within
What are some things you have observed?
- Eat a piece of pie without feeling guilty
- Don't count calories
- Don't jump on the scales every day
- ETC.
From TW’s study of the behavior of naturally thin people we developed Keys To Conscious Eating
The Keys have been around for 28 years so may be familiar
Review Keys:
1. I ate when my body was hungry
2. I ate in a calm environment by reducing distractions.
3. I ate when I was sitting
4. I ate when my ody and mind were relaxed
5. I ate and drank only the things my body loved
6. I paid attention only to my food while eating
7. I ate slowly, savoring each bite
8. I stopped before my body was full
Keys 1, and 8 are essential in order to see tangible results.
QUESTION: How much food is enough?
In answering that question developed HUNGER SCALE
- Explain HUNGER SCALE
- Explain: Visual aide of FIST
EMOTIONAL:
1. Abuse, abandonment, not feeling loved
- Not excuses but must deal with the real issues of life
- No one is immune to its effects
- The question is whether we will be ruled by our emotions and feelings or be masters over them. In nearly every case, one of the most important things we can do is:
- Accept that they are real.
- Admit that we have an issue to deal with.
- Proceed to forgiveness.
2. Forgiveness:
- Misuse food as a pain killer or anesthetic.
- Must face things; walk through them with the Lord
- Rather than bury them alive
- Three layers of forgiveness – God & self; self & others; and self
God uses Forgiveness to teach us about reconciliation-heart of Gospel message.
- Christ was our model for forgiveness.
- The act of what he did for us on the cross was the ultimate act of forgiveness.
SPIRITUAL:
- God loves each person whether 5 pounds or 305 pounds overweight. Love Him, only because He loved us first.
- Body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, not our own, bought for a price, therefore glorify God with body.
We address greed, gluttony, and overindulgence as sin.
Col. 3:5 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
Define: Idol-Glutton
Idolatry
1. extreme admiration: extreme admiration or fanatical devotion to somebody or something; 2. idol worship: the worship of idols or false gods ( disapproving )
Gluttony
excessiveeating: the act or practice of eating and drinking to excess. Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins in Christian tradition
If I overeat one time, is this a sin?
Rom 2:4 " It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance."
NOT:
Pulling myself by bootstraps
Not following ridged diet rules
Not saying it doesn't really matter
Not just wanting it badly enough.
Actually the failure of diets should not be a mystery to us. We said earlier that diets are about your own self effort to follow rules and restrictions. Listen to what Paul tells us he struggled with nearly 2,000 years ago:
Romans 719- 2 Forwhat I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
What is the answer?
- Grace
- Walking in the New way of the Spirit.
- Knowing the character of God- Trust and yield will to Him who is able
Philippians 4: 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Colossians 1: 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
Pressure to perform (for wrong reasons is off)
Passion to be in fellowship with the Father is ignited
IDENTIFY THE THREE PHASES OF THIN WITHIN:
- Freedom Phase: Breaking free of the food laws. We begin to listen to our God designed bodies and respond to those signals of hunger and fullness and not to artificial rules about diets.
- Discernment Phase: Paul teaches us that all things may be permissible but not all are profitable. Learn to listen to the leading of the Spirit and the body to discern wise food choices
- Mastery Phase: I will not be mastered by anything. (Not law, not self-effort, but by the Spirit we are to put to death the deeds of the flesh). Here I will continue to be a good steward of this temple which God has given me and continue to improve upon my temple – making wise choices and living and active, abundant life in Christ.
Sounds Easy:
Easier than anything else...God is at work in us to will and to do according to His good pleasure.
Next Steps:
Take action – even if it is starting on another program.
Get involved in Thin Within
- Check out the Thin Within book.
- Become a member in the Thin Within program.
- Start a Thin Within group of your own.
- Be a Thin Within representative.
My biggest encouragement to you is to not settle to settle for any life that is less than abundant.
- God wants so much more for you than you can hope or imagine.
- Don’t allow yourself to remain on the sidelines watching the game go on around you.
- You can embrace an abundant life in Christ and you don’t need to wait until “Monday” to do it. You can start today for it is the first day of the rest of your life.
Feel free to pass out Thin Within brochures, New Member FAQ's, and Member Subscription Forms. If possible, collect as many completed Member Subscription Forms as possible. With each day that passes after your presentation, a person will become less and less likely to make a commitment to the program and changing their life. |
