Yesterday, we explored how a church community is meant to be a gathering, sometimes even just for fun and fellowship.
You might think church has always meant a religious gathering of Christians on Sunday morning. But in the Bible’s Greek language, church had another meaning before that. The Greek word for church is ekklesia which literally means “an assembly” or “gathering of people”. But not just for its own good. It’s called out to be and do something specific. This week’s passage says gathering together is not just for encouragement to love, but for encouragement to good works.
We are meant to be a preview of the world as God wants it to be. We are meant to make people say wow. Unlike the church I described yesterday, people are supposed to look at our community (even at its business meetings) and say, “Wow! That’s how we are supposed to relate with each other, and our world, and God. I can see it now!” They are meant to see the Kingdom of God in us.
Aristides was a philosopher in Athens in the second century and he observed the first Christians, the early church, and this is what he recorded about them in 125 AD.
“They walk in humility and kindness, and falsehood is not found among them. They love one another. He that has distributes liberally to him that does not have. If they see a stranger they bring him under their own roof and rejoice over him as if he were their own brother.”
Aristides looked at that first church, that earliest gathering of Christians and he said WOW.
Have you ever looked at a team, group or organization and said, wow? Why? Think of the Snowbirds, or a great dance troupe.
Our church today meant to make people say wow…because of our generosity and love of one another, that spills over to the lives of others near us.
We’re intending to becoming this kind of church through our discussion groups first, and also when our discussion groups come together as one community for celebration.
Challenge: If you’re not already meeting with a group, please do. What act of generosity and service can you do with your discussion group, or family, that will make others in your life say wow? Think of one thing internal to your group that you do for each other, and one thing your group does for others.
Reminder: Last week we saw the importance of reading the Bible together in sync, so our new daily bible readings start today in our mobile app and web site.
Read the Bible in Sync Today
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Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Jesus is describing how he pushes the reset button in life. He uses imagery that sounds like baptism. Baptism is when someone is washed with water, to show on the outside what God is doing on the inside, washing away the sin from our hearts. When adults are baptized by becoming fully immersed, one can plainly see the imagery of them having died to sin, and then rising out of the waters to new life.
We are baptizing our first RTC member this February. It will be her reset moment. Looking back on her life, she says this represents a new beginning.
In the Christianity 101 course, we illustrate the life of faith with a line with markings at 0, 50 and 100. Whether we’ve run as far from God as possible, stayed close, or jumped around – what matters most is where you go from there. Will you move closer to God by following Jesus, or run away? The 50 point is when someone decides to do this intentionally, and although that moment is important and has a real impact, there are many moments to follow when the Holy Spirit transforms a Christian’s life. New decisions, directions and priorities all come with time and relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.
In this series we’re going to look at a number of ways a “reset” life is different from before. Specifically:
Reset: Goals
Reset: Time
Reset: Money
Reset: Work
Reset: Body & Food
Reset: Sex & Marriage
Reset: Family
Reset: Compassion
Reset: Nature
Reset: Society
Reset: Death
Challenge: If you’d like to reset life, here are some steps to consider. Take our live Christianity 101 in the Cafe Course in Pickering starting next week to explore the first steps. Consider being baptized, to show on the outside the reset that has taken place inside. Just get in touch with Ryan if you’re interested!
Reminder: Coffee hours are tonight at 7:30pm at Starbucks in the Ajax Chapters Store. See you there!
Reminder: We are reading the Bible in sync as one community - so check out today's reading here.
Reminder: The best way to grow spiritually this year is to join our Christianity 101 in the Cafe Course in Pickering starting January 22nd. Register for you and a friend today!
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.
