Being a Community Living Out Mission

Across the pages of those journals that span twenty five years of my life, I saw how god had been at work gradually revealing himself to me, steadfastly answering deep prayers in unexpected and profound ways. And I realized that my perspective of the bible has been skewed by the time in which it takes me to read through those passages, sometimes twenty to thirty minutes, but that's actually fifty to sixty years of living. Sometimes it's centuries. And reading my life of twenty five years just in a shorter period of time gave me a really different view. God's work of restoration is as slow and painstaking as it is intricate, perfect, and individual. [00:04:54] (88 seconds)  #SlowRestoration

We see salvation is instant. We respond. We come out of death. We begin a new life, and we are still bound by our grave clothes. The effects of sin and brokenness still bind us. See a very different scene when Jesus appears from the tomb. Where are his grave clothes? Left behind. There is no sin and brokenness that he is bound by. It's a very different case for us, and here is our mission. [00:22:59] (49 seconds)  #SavedButBound

And let's be clear, danger does exist all around us. We are living in a hostile world in the same way Jesus was in first century Israel. But to seek first the kingdom of god means prioritizing love over a drive for survival. Jesus did not embrace anxious ways of self protection or accumulation. Instead, he embodied a life fully reliant on God's promise, a life deeply rooted in the security of God's love, free to love others in every circumstance. [00:30:53] (55 seconds)  #LoveOverSurvival

Not do to others how they do to you, treat them as they treat you. No. The golden rule is to do to others what you wish they would do to you. Be present for others for their good. Mission isn't what we do, Martha in the kitchen. Mission is who we become. Mary at the feet of Jesus. [00:26:26] (42 seconds)  #MissionIsWhoWeBecome

Our mission is to become a community of Jesus' followers who are determined to live out his teaching, inviting each other to let go of self preservation, practice radical generosity, love, and forgiveness, so we reflect the glory of God, honoring him in the ways we interact with his image bearers. [00:32:25] (34 seconds)  #JesusCenteredCommunity

Because like Lazarus, before we respond to Jesus, we are living in our death, unaware of God's presence, numb to his love. But as soon as we respond, we leave the grave behind, and our resurrection life begins. Two Corinthians five seventeen tells us. This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone. A new life has begun. [00:19:59] (45 seconds)  #NewLifeInChrist

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, where have you laid him? They said to him, lord, come and see. Jesus began to weep. Our god cares about the impact of sin and brokenness on our lives, and he will come and see and weep. [00:16:28] (41 seconds)  #GodWeepsWithUs

Paul says to the Corinthians, the only letter of recommendation we need is you, yourselves. Your lives are a letter written on our hearts. Everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you. Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This letter is not written with pen and ink, but with the spirit of the living God. It is not carried on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. [00:27:08] (40 seconds)  #LivingLetter