Vibrant...full of energy and life. Community - a group of people with diverse characteristics who share an identity-forming narrative. Vibrant Community - a group of people with diverse characteristics, who are full of energy and life and share an identity-forming narrative. That's the vision here at LifeWay...we are a vibrant multi-ethnic Christian church ...living fully, sharing boldly and growing purposefully in the life-transforming grace of Jesus. Jesus is calling us to have an influence and impact as a community of his people in the community in which he has placed us...it's a call to come alive and shine, not for ourselves but for one another, to highlight, illuminate and reflect the beauty and presence of God in our midst. When that happens, hope springs forth, transformation occurs, lives come alive and vibrant community is experienced.
#1 in Vision Series: VIbrant
“Influencers” - 'someone who is able to persuade a lot of other people to do, buy, believe, or use the same things that they do.’ The age of social media has created “influencer” as a career choice for many people young/old whether or not they actually have any experience or expertise in their chosen field of “influence.”
Pick a field…food…finance…fashion…fitness…faith? You’ll find “influencers" whether or not they actually have any experience or expertise in their chosen field.
So here's the Good news…that’s not you and Jesus does not expect that of you. Our call is and always will be “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” This means your new work is to simply engage with people and invite them into life with Jesus. And at that, you’re an expert. At that, you have expertise…experience…the authority given to you by Jesus himself to speak his word and declare his promises to restore and raise people up to a relationship with the Father.
That's the new work that goes hand in hand with the new you he has created in you and the new call he has given to you for the flourishing of his Kingdom. We'll explore that today.
#3 and final in series: New Chapter
Some people might call it a sea change or tree change. Others might refer to it as a "mid-life crisis". Still others may speak of an 'Aha moment' or a 'nagging feeling' they could no longer ignore where they just had to do something. Whatever you call it, these moments seem to have a common thread. They are a call to let go, leave behind, walk away and set off in a new direction. It's an invitation that comes in the ordinary routines of life to discover a deeper life, a more fulfilling life, to embark of a new journey and to grow into the person you were always meant to be, the new you in Jesus. We never get anywhere new unless we are willing to leave where we are. We can never hold anything different unless we’re willing to drop what’s already in our hands. Are you experiencing a 'follow me' moment now...a call so compelling to let go of what you are holding onto for your identity, to leave behind the comfortable and secure and to step into a new chapter of simply following Jesus, wherever he calls and wherever he leads? The new call to follow Jesus into life in the kingdom of God will upend your life...in the most dramatic and beautiful way.
#2 in series: New Chapter
This popped up on an internet site at the end of last year: 'Every year—this year right in front of you—can be the most important year of your life. The one where you become your best, most creative, most centered, most self-reliant and resilient self. But you have to be willing to step into difficulty. Because, like lifting weights, growth can’t happen without some resistance...You have to seek out challenges. You have to find ways to keep growing. You can’t stay the same. You can’t betray your potential. You can’t wait any longer to demand the best for yourself. Demand more of yourself in 2024.'
Are you feeling the pressure already. It's all up to you. That's what the world says. The expectation and pressure to be your best self is overwhelming. But the good news is that God is the author of your story. He takes the pressure from you by giving you a new identity, a new beginning, a transformed life in his name. The New You is only possible because of God's grace working in you and through you. It's his gift as you begin this New Year. The New You is already on display. Live it. Share it. Grow in it. This is just the beginning.
#1 in series: New Chapter
Bucket Lists... We usually think of them as stuff we want to do before we die or “kick the bucket.” Usually, it’s things to do, places to visit, sights to see…a list of adventures to brighten an otherwise ordinary life. But what if your “list” was a “legacy” - an appointment where God set the agenda? What if your “list” was a “legacy” that meant you followed Jesus expecting him to make a difference in your life and the world around you, today?
Far from scaling Mt Everest or crossing the ocean in a row boat, God’s advancing advent-ure points to the horizon of God’s world and the work of Jesus to bring you and all people into the presence and peace of God now and for eternity.
It’s an advent-ure that calls us to live with the conviction that God is not done yet – not done with you or the world - and with a certainty that what we’ve always experienced is nothing compared to what God has in store. So step boldly and confidently into the advancing adventure of 2024 as a follower of Jesus, knowing that those who see you living with certainty and conviction will either be inspirted to join you…or kill you!
#6 and final in series: Christmas Advent-ure
The King is coming! Did you hear the news? Charles & Camilla are coming to Australia! Not since the last Elvis festival in Parkes has there been this kind of royal excitement. Every regional & rural shire in the country is making a bid …sharpening their pitch for a visit. Every roadhouse dog house & outhouse beyond the capital cities is getting a fresh coat of paint & new trim on the off-chance the King will stop by for a pie & a schooner of draft.
How different from the last Kingly visit…
“He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, & even they rejected him.”
The advent-ure planned for you; to bring you into the presence & peace of God is anything but a safe trip and a confortable journey. It’s a perilous advent-ure where evil rages & death devours…where the enemies are abundant & the opposition fierce. But Jesus chooses that perilous advent-ure because it’s the only one that frees us from sin death & evil. It's the only journey that will give him what he most desires....YOU!
#5 in series: Christmas Advent-ure
CHRISTMAS EVE
Something big is coming. Check your inbox this weekend for some exciting news. We've all seen them. Teaser campaigns that use intriguing headlines and eye-catching images to generate curiosity or build hype around a product or movie before the great reveal. They are campaigns that are launched on multiple platforms to get the message out. God used no teaser campaigns. When the time was fully right, God surprised the world as heaven broke open with a public announcement on the hills outside Bethlehem that would have global impact and eternal ramifications. It's that Announced Advent-ure that we not only hear again and receive tonight but participate in. It's good news of great joy for all the world.
#4 in series: Christmas Advent-ure
Risk Mitigation. It's experienced in every area of life. It's a strategy designed to reduce, avoid, or transfer potential threats and disasters. Our desire is to limit exposure, protect from embarrasment or vulnerability, to remain in control of our story. It drives our decisions and our actions on a daily basis. But life happens and sometimes we are thrust into circumstances or positions that are not of our choosing and beyond the scope of the risk-mitigating strategies we have carefully constructed to keep us safe. It can be a confusing and stressful time. But it is into these situations that God speaks if we are willing to be still. It's at these times that we can become open to stirrings that we do not initiate. It's in these spaces that God places another option on the table that is inherently more dangerous and far more challenging that what we have ever considered. He invites us on an adventure that calls us to live beyond the risk mitigating strategies of tradition and self-interest that we default to and to join him in what he is already doing to rescue and redeem the world he loves. It's a journey that leads to the greatest and most beautiful outcome and an eternity of joy if we are willing to say 'yes' to option 'C' that God puts on the table. Come and be a part of the joined advent-ure.
#3 in series: Christmas Advent-ure
Patterns. No matter how small or large. Patterns in nature are everywhere. From tessellations to fractals, or spirals to symmetry, the patterns in nature are just outside our door! We all live by patterns, some are helpful, some are destructive. All are intentional. The very definition of a pattern is that it is a consistent form, design, or expression that is not random. The promised Advent-ure that we explored last week was not a random thought or idea that was hurriedly put together. It was deliberate, conceived, well-planned and entirely consistent in form and character of the one who imagined it. Today we hear and experience a consistent pattern at work in our lives as we explore the conceived adventure that God invites us to be a part of; it's an adventure to which God wants us to develop a default and patterned response.
#2 in series: Christmas Advent-ure