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!

Read the Bible in Sync Today

Ryan Sim - October 2, 2013

Wednesday - Change It - Acquaintances to Partners

Won\'t You Be My Neighbour?

Yesterday we saw Jesus saying the way we treat a hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, or imprisoned person says something about our desire to join his kingdom. What is the consequence of this story? The story makes it clear that Jesus’ kingdom is based on generous sacrifice. Our motivation for compassion and care is not to be someone else noticing, or that we’ll get thanked, paid back or will otherwise benefit. It’s not even entirely about the other person’s benefit. It’s simply the right thing to do, and it’s the overflow of a relationship with God in Jesus. The deck-building neighbour I described on Monday was also married to a great neighbour. She was a nurse, and one day she came over to check on my wife, who’d fallen asleep laying on the grass resting from gardening. This was part of that nurse’s vocation, it’s not just a job to help people in need, it’s actually part of who she is, and what she is called to do. Christians have the same kind of vocation to love our neighbours, with friendship, words, and also our actions not because there’s something in it for us, but because it is who we are as citizens of the kingdom of God. Sometimes this isn’t as easy as checking on a friendly neighbour – not everyone finds visiting prisoners easy, it can be scary. Serving the thirsty can mean travelling places we’d rather not see. Helping those with no clothes can be awkward! But this is how Jesus challenges us to dispay kingdomliness. He calls us to overcome our fears, prejudices, anxiety for the sake of his kingdom and its values. Q: List the six needs Jesus wants his followers to meet: + The hungry + The thirsty + The stranger + The naked + The sick + The imprisoned. Who do you naturally have the most compassion for? Who do you find most challenging to show compassion for? Why? Remember, we meet for coffee every Wednesday night at Starbucks in the Chapters Store in Ajax, in Durham Region just East of Toronto. Maybe we'll see you there?

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