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?

Reminder: Coffee hours are tonight tomorrow night 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!

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - January 20, 2014

Monday - A New Idea - Reset: Goals

We’re recently started a new series called “reset”. Last week, we talked about how Jesus makes it possible to reset all of life, giving us a fresh start in life that impacts every key area. We’re going to look at many of these in depth, starting this week with how Jesus resets our goals. When my wife and I were having our first baby, we were encouraged to write birth plan. This is where you write down a plan for who’s in the room, and make choices about everything from epidurals to breastfeeding to how bright the lights should be. I know someone who works closely with an OB, and she has some wild stories about how people let some of the small choices get in the way of the big picture. In a perfect, routine childbirth, a parent’s ideal may be to have the lights just so, no pain with no drugs, and a favourite song playing at the exact moment the child is born. But when things don’t go perfectly, there are some people who forget the point, or the goal. They start to argue for their personal preferences, instead of arguing for a baby’s health. When my wife and I were writing up a birth plan, we decided to stay goal focused. The goal was to have a healthy child. All our personal preferences, hopes and dreams for the birth experience were going to be expressed, but we’d drop them in an instant if things were going wrong. That was a moment we reset our goals…to make sure they were focused on the right thing. It’s not a bad thing in life to regularly reset our goals, and ensure we’re focused on the right ones. Not just in childbirth. We can get so bogged down in day to day tasks we forget the point in our careers. Do we live to work, or work to live? I heard a TED Talk (attached) that shared the job description of a hospital janitor. It was what you’d expect – mop, clean, scrub, restock. It had nothing at all to do with hospital patients and healthcare. But some psychologists interviewed hospital janitors. They met one who told them about how he stopped mopping the floor because a patient was walking slowly down the hall. Another told them how she ignored her supervisor and didn’t vacuum the visitor’s lounge because there were some family members who were there all day, every day. In the drudgery of cleaning, these janitors remembered the real goal of the hospital, and perhaps even of their human race. They reset their goals to be about more than cleaning, but about caring for others. Question: When have you had to reset your goals? Why did you do it? 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 this Wednesday, January 22nd. Register for you and a friend 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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