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
Loading Content...
Share a Link to this Message
The link has been copied to your clipboard; paste it anywhere you would like to share it.
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?
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.
