Bearing Witness

Acts 9: Absurd Commands but God asks us to do it anyway. There are 3 shifts: Persecutor to Chosen Instrument, Only for Israel to For the Gentiles too, Prominence to Suffering. Obedient faith goes, even with the fear. The pattern: Pray, Answer, Go.

If we seek to build a Christian Nation, we are not seeking to build the Kingdom of God - we're only building ourselves. If Jesus had wanted to build a Christian nation, He would have done it then. He would not have waited until now and left if up to us! While we're walking on the water, amidst the chaos, Jesus reaches out to save us.

Moses has many excuses to not do what God is asking, yet he still goes - with the fears....

Phil. 1:1-11: God came to give us life abundantly - here, now. Loving God and loving our neighbors brings that wholeness to us. Do we abound in the experience of the love of Christ? Love that transforms us so that we will discern how to love others well.

Luke 10: "Love is the only door out of the dungeon of self." (George MacDonald). Welcome & love of neighbor don't happen by accident, either does neglect or refusal of neighbor. We have to do the work of welcome & love of neighbor, and it takes intention, and it costs us something to be a neighbor. Who is the least likely person/type of person you want to live, serve, befrien...

Jeremiah 29:1-14 - Seek the Shalom of the City God brought you to. There is no other, there is only neighbor.

The Church no longer has "home court advantage". Our mission field is right outside our door. God seeks and invites us to be a blessing to others. When we join Jesus in His mission, it's an adventure.

Matthew 12:9-23 - David had more missteps, disasters & failures than he had bright, shiny outcomes, yet he is described as a "man after God's own heart". It's a story of a real, complicated life & a real faith. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." David's story is a prefiguring of Jesus, who became flesh. Son of David was a political title, hoping tha...

Psalm 18 & 2 Samuel 22:17-28 - God reaches into the depths to rescue us. He delights in us because of who He is, not because of anything we have done.

2 Samuel 21: Who has not sought God more in need than in abundance? Saul was zealous for Israel & Judah - he was a patriot. It brought distraction on their nation & others. David takes responsibility and listens for actions that were not his own - to bring healing to Israel. He asks the Ammonites, whose who were wronged by Saul, what it takes to make amends. Prefiguring Jesus, who takes re...

2 Samuel 11-12: David had many opportunities to turn away from his poor choices. He had lost himself and was not following God any more. Uriah holds integrity and Nathan calls David out for what he did. They speak truth to power regardless of the consequences to themselves. David was forgiven when he repented, though the consequences continue for the remainder of his life. There is nothing that ca...

1 Samuel 30 - "They didn't earn that!" "They don't deserve that!" That's how we see things, especially in America. David understands God's radical generosity. Everything belongs to God. All will share. God has a soft spot for the lowest, the least, those without a voice. All is gift. We are saved by grace lest anyone boast.

1 Samuel 25 - David is not a role model for how to live but a story of a raw, human person who is open to returning to God when he has gone astray. Sometimes the wilderness will overtake us - but beauty interrupts! Abigail is of import & intelligence. She brings David back to his senses.

1 Samuel 17 - Goliath... What is your frame? What are you focusing on? The Israelites were filled with fear. David was filled with the experience of the Living God. In our day, the Church has gone to war with culture because our frame has been filled with fear. We look a lot like the Israelites & the Pharisees but not much like Jesus! Do we see an opportunity for the Living God to work through...

We have a tendency in the modern church toward Gnosticism, the idea that body (flesh) is bad and spirit is good. We see this in the way church people talk about the sacred and the secular. But that would be foreign to the biblical writers, because the scriptures see life as holistic. When we talk about the gospel of Jesus, we talk about a gospel that took the form of flesh. Jesus embodied the gosp...

We live an embodied faith, not above the fray but real. "We want a king." "No you don't." "Yes, we do." "Fine." God is our King. When we ask for another king, we have stopped trusting in God as our leader, protector... We are called to Listen, Remember. Who are we listening to?

Hebrews 10:19-25 - We have confidence through our relationship with Jesus. 3 invitations: Draw near, hold unswervingly, spur one another on.

The day of Pentecost - The miracle of Pentecost was the removal of the curse of Babel. One main power of Empire is having a common language to build a culture of dominion. This was thwarted at Babel because God did not want the people building an empire for themselves. At Pentecost, since we are all one in Christ and there is no other, all the difference cultures and languages understood each othe...

Colossians 3: What is the therefore, there for? There is no.... because of this/since there is NO distinction or categories - therefore - We are all one in Christ. So put on love - practice love. That means we bear with one another. We stay at the table. We do this best when we start from a grateful place.

1 John 4:7-12: We are being called out to be brought back to loving as Christ loves. If the way we live, spend, vote etc... are based in fear, we are not living in the way of Jesus. God is love and Love casts out all fear. Do we live in the way of love or fear?

John 15: #1 - Love One Another. For everything else.... see #1. Love is not just a mental ascent or a feeling. It must be acted out. Love is action chosen over and over through time.

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! May we feast on the goodness of God! The resurrected Jesus shows up in whatever darkness you may be in. Message today in partnership with Rev. Ruby Varghese

Jesus was a liberating Jesus, right until the end. The brave woman is willing to cross barriers of tradition, patriarchy, and religious rules to anoint Jesus' feet. She does what she can. What is it that we can do?

Apocalypse - Unlike popular understanding, it just means "to reveal". We are to watch & be aware, not in fear of coming destruction, but in being about Jesus' business of loving God & loving others.

What is the greatest commandment? Love God. Love Others. The End.