Becoming the People Jesus Taught us to Become

In the coming months we will focus on what it means to become all that Jesus teaches us we can become in him.  Look at the "be" commands in our introductory video below.  Do you find them daunting?  Exciting?  Challenging?  Overwhelming?  All of the above?  Welcome to the club.  To become more Christlike is a tall order, but we do not do it alone.  We have God's Spirit, his word and the community of brothers and sisters on the journey with us.

The imagery we will be coming back to time and again in the months to come is that of the hammer striking hot metal, shaping it, bending it, re-forming it into something useful and strong and practical.  For this is what God does with us, too.  He shapes us into something better, useful and strong.

Of course, if we are to allow God to reshape us and mold us, we must put ourselves in places and practices where his grace can go to work in the transformation of our very being.  That takes the three ingredients I've mentioned several times over the past few years: Vision, Intention and Means - VIM.  We have the vision of where we can go and grow in Christ.  We have the means and methodologies - Bible studies, books, DVDs, small groups, classes, retreats - you name it.  What we lack is the intention.

The Good News of the gospel message is that Jesus has intention as well.  He intends that you and I be transformed by his grace, word, Spirit and one another.  What is your intention?

What do I Bring?

On my first every international missions trip, I travelled to Russia along with a team of 7 other college students for two months as a summer missions intern with a large missions organization.  Our translators were Russian nationals we hired to come alongside us for the two months and help us with all our translation needs as we travelled around the country.  Our main translator, we can call her Anna, was not a professing Christian.

On the day we met Anna she asked us a pretty straightforward question: Why are you here?  Why would a group of college students raise all this money and commit two months of their life to travel to Russia?

We told her that we sought to bring the message of salvation found in Jesus Christ to the children and teens of Russia (we were doing a traveling VBS-type program).  Of course, we also hoped to be a witness to Anna, and hopefully be able to minister to her as we did these programs across Russia.

As we answered her, she stopped in her tracks and looked at us, very confused, with a hint of disdain: “We (the country of Russia) have had Christianity a lot longer than you (America).  You have wasted your time and money.”

And so began our summer.....

As we go out and become fishers of people, we need to be able to understand what we are bringing to the table.  Yes, we bring a message of hope and salvation, but we must not think that we therefore have all the answers.  While there are certainly people in this world who have never heard the name of Jesus before, a majority of the people we interact with have, and sometimes there is another roadblock that keeps a person from giving their life to Christ.

In the case of Anna, she has known many Christians in Russia, and in fact translated for many missions teams over the years.  She knew full well who Jesus was, but the Christians she knew were ones who spoke out of two sides of there mouth.  Several  missions teams she had translated for, she told us, were among the worst.  It wasn’t a matter of lack of knowledge, it was a lack of whole life witness.

As we go and heed the call of Jesus to fish for people, let’s remember to seek God first for counsel as to how to proceed.  Often times, living our lives as a witness to God’s glory will be example enough for the people-centric ministry that God has called us to.  Other times, we will be called to use words and share with those who don’t know.

Either way, let’s be ready for those that God is going to place in our lives as we humbly set out and go!

Happy New Year!

It’s interesting from the show of hands on Sunday, and the number of stories shared with me following the sermon that many of us have the experiences mis-locating are children, even if only for a short while.  It seems that in the few years that our children are in our care, it’s not unusual to have this happen at least once.  As I stated Sunday, those must have been 3 long days and sleepless nights for Joseph and Mary.  Yet God always knew where Jesus was and despite the misunderstanding, Jesus was right where he was supposed to be…in his Father’s house, about his Father’s business.

The thought of mis-locating a child prompts strong emotions in each of us, but what about the idea of mis-locating Jesus in our own lives, today?  I’m talking from a priority standpoint.  Are you missing Jesus this Christmas?  Have you lost him?  I’m not referencing the idea of losing our salvation, but is it your custom to spend time with him?  Just like Mary and Joseph, we should know where to find him. You still find him in his Father’s house or about his Father’s business.  I’m hopeful that you will take some time this week to interact with the “Mission Briefing” and reflect on this Year of Living Dangerously.  Think about your customs, practices, or habits (ethos) as well as some ways in which you would like to grow in the New Year. 

It is pretty clear from the whole council of God in scripture that he cares about our growth.  Here are some scriptures that support this:

The importance of the Word of God: (Ps. 19:7-14; 119 [whole psalm]; Acts 20:32; Rom. 16:25-26; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; Heb. 13:9; Jas. 1:21-22; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 2:2-4)

The importance of being in our Father’s House in regular worship:  Psalm 73:17; Rom. 14-15; 1 Cor. 12-14; Eph. 4:1-16; Heb. 10:23-25)

The importance of prayer:  Matt. 7:24-27; Mark 4:21-25

Perhaps you can reflect on these scriptures as you contemplate areas in which you should grow this coming year.  

-Pastor Kurt