We are beginning a new series on “Becoming Like Family” as our online community begin to share the daily challenges with friends, and we begin to gather our larger community together.

We want to have five main characteristics, and the first is to be bound together by some common learning experiences.

In October I attended my university’s homecoming reunion, and reconnected with a lot of friends.  Our friendships were forged through four years in a common learning experience.

The same weekend, I went to a church where I’d done a student placement.  There was personality, familiarity, and comfort there, too.  We were gathered around a common purpose, to learn about and grow as followers of Jesus.

We want to be that kind of community.  It’s hard in suburbia, especially if you are commuting, but we have our own unique way of pursuing a common learning experience through mobile apps, social media, and our web site.

Our next step is to become a network of groups, where we build strong relationships with existing friends and family members, where one of the things that binds us together is we are all learning the same things through discussion, challenge, encouragement and prayer.

Question: Who was your best learning group or team?  What made it so?

Coffee Hours this Week:

Have questions about the challenges, do you want to meet others exploring the same content, or connect with Ryan?

Join us for our coffee shop drop-in this Wednesay, October 30th from 7:30pm-9:00pm at the Starbucks in the Ajax Chapters.  Look for Ryan Sim in the drink line, or a Redeem the Commute postcard on a table.

If you know in advance that you’re coming, please RSVP here http://bit.ly/1aHVTy2

Ryan Sim - January 15, 2014

Wednesday - Change It - Reset

Reset

We’ve been exploring the idea of a total reset in life – what Jesus described as being born again. It presents a number of challenges to us in our modern lives which are so complex and interconnected. What about our responsibilities, families, and so on? Jesus is not talking about a life replacement, but reset and renewal. A reset is different from formatting a computer. One is destructive and wasteful, the other is refreshing and freeing. We regularly talk about the world’s big story in these daily challenges. We were created to know God be known by God, to have God at the centre of lives. Then all humans rebelled against God, pushing him out of our lives. This was the beginning of sin, a separation between humans and God stemming from our desire to worship and rule ourselves, rather than reliance on God. Human history is filled with evidence of this separation from God. What was God to do? God could reformat, start over, and pretend it never happened. But instead, we got a reset moment. God stepped into this world as Jesus Christ, and pushed reset. He makes it possible for us to reset our lives, and has begun to reset the entire world – with a fresh start known as the kingdom of God. In our lives, we get a second chance to live in a close, personal relationship with God, when we start practicing the kingdom of God. Having tried the alternative, living to ourselves, now we can live under God’s care and guidance once again. Considering the rebellion against God in our past, God doesn’t say “forget about it”. He sees, remembers, and does something about it. The Kingdom of God is a reset world. Not the whole world yet – we just see signs and glimpses of it in people, and in God’s direct action today. We’re invited to start living into this now, and to become a glimpse of the kingdom of God in other people’s lives. But how? Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. We’ll see tomorrow what that means. Question: Where do you see signs of God’s “reset” world today?

From Series: "Reset"

When our computers get bogged down and unmanageable, we know to hit a reset button to simply start over. Wouldn't a reset button be great in life? We know it would be complicated, with all our responsibilities and routines to consider, but imagine the freedom and refreshment of a new start in life! What would you do differently? What would you pay more attention to, and what would you ignore? How would you avoid getting bogged down and broken again? The great news is, in coming to earth as Jesus Christ, God has begun to "reset" our universe, our world, and even us. We're invited to start over with him, in what he calls his kingdom. We're invited to start a new life with a clean slate. What gets wiped clean, and lived differently, when God resets our lives? We'll explore how God resets these key areas of our lives: Reset: Goals Reset: Time Reset: Money Reset: Work Reset: Body & Food Reset: Sex & Marriage Reset: Family Reset: Compassion Reset: Nature Reset: Society Reset: Death Join us for the next several weeks, and invite God to reset your life.

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