Turning over a new leaf. Clean slate. Tree change. Fresh start. Sometimes those are exciting moments for us. We want to believe change is for the good…a break from what was to what will be. But the hardest part of any of those…is seeing ourselves not as we once were…but as we are now. It’s that moment we give up the “What if….?” for “What is.”
Many in the world have been stuck on “What if…?” for a long time. What if …a new virus? ...war in Europe widens? ...China gets more aggressive? ...prices & interest rates keep going up? …I need more care? …family situation gets worse?
But God speaks deeper than “What ifs…? to declare “What is”…not a word of speculation, conjecture, anxious guesswork or wishful thinking…but the assurance of God’s people being restored to their God-designed purpose & God-intended work in God’s world. In the story of our faith ancestors & in our lives today, God comes to move your heart & act through you to accomplish his vision & purposes…right here…right now. Not some imagined or dreamed up perfect future, but in the midst of where God has put you in your life…today.
#1 in Vision Series "Beyond Limits"
What do you see? It's a soccer changeroom...a clean soccer changeroom. But it is far more than that.
This is how the Japanese Men's team left the changeroom after their win at the 2022 World Cup.
But this is not just a once off occurrence. It is also how they left the changerooms after their 2018 matches, along with a thankyou note in three languages. What we see is a clear demonstration of the values the team holds - values that guide decision making, inform actions and reveal who they are to the community. Today Jesus shares the Kingdom values that are to guide, shape, and inform the lives of those who follow him. It's a way of being and living that flow from the blessing of relationship; of being deeply loved and deeply empowered by the Father. It enables us to see and navigate the realities and circumstances we face every day, with a different posture, a deeper trust and a greater dependence and reliance on God. And that Jesus tells us is a Kingdom living through which he transforms, blesses and impacts the world eternally. We will explore that today.
#4 in series "It's Time"
Turning points. We have all experienced them. Those moments in life that change everything.
- Moving out and beginning life on your own.
- Falling in love, getting engaged and married
- receiving a phone call or being involved in an experience that radically rearranges your life, for good or bad
- a birth of a child, a death of a loved one, retirement.
Turning points can be welcome or unwelcome, positive or negative. Full of excitement or mired in despair. But what each turning point has in common is that it causes us to see ourselves, others, and the world differently. It makes us think differently and move in a different direction. Whatever turning point we encounter, Jesus invites us to follow him. It's an invitation that comes with an opportunity and a promise - an opportunity to change direction (repentance) and a promise that he will refashion our lives. That’s what Jesus did for Peter, Andrew, James, and John. “I will make you…,” he says. So join us today as we hear a Kingdom calling, both individually and as a Church, that will radically change our position toward God and his purposes and reshape who we are called to be in community.
#3 in series: It's Time
“Plus 1” In the etiquette of a by-gone era, +1 on your invitation to an event was a signal that the host wanted you to bring a guest for they knew your enjoyment would be greater if you had someone at your side with whom to share it.
“Come and see.” John the Baptizer pointed people to Jesus as the highest joy…the deepest satisfaction…the all-embracing love of God. To both the curious and the cautious Jesus simply says, “Come & see.” Those who do immediately find a +1…someone with whom they can share the joy, satisfaction & love…and the kingdom grows.
Being a spectator to faith isn’t enough. Living off the experience of someone else just won’t cut it. Jesus stands before us and invites us to live in a real responsive relationship with the Father that leads us into the world for the purpose of widening the reach of his kingdom. Jesus invites us to come and experience firsthand living in his presence, to be so transformed by that encounter that we invite a +1 to join us on the journey.
Time flies. Time waits for no one. Time keeps on slippin’ slippin’ slippin into the future. Like holding water in your hand; time passes quickly.
2022 is gone, 2023 is here…in the blink of an eye. Time shapes every aspect of our lives. We wake & sleep to clockwork rhythms. We work to deadlines. We make appointments. We look at our watch to see how long to go, or how long it’s been. That’s time as we know it. Chronos. Chronological measurable unreclaimable…That’s chronos time. The Bible knows that “time” too…but offers us a different one: Kairos – when significant moments that alter our life occur…when we experience a moment that is never neutral but leaves an impression. To say “I do.” To stand by a loved one’s grave. To welcome a new child.
Jesus was born in kairos time, at the appointed time, when the time was fully right, so that we could have a place in the story of salvation. So as we begin 2023, God wants us to live our lives in a Kairos way even as our lives unfold in a kronos order; to be a part of his Kairos plan to reveal his kingdom in the world. This is your moment…in Christ…to take…to believe…to own…to live…to make an impact for eternity. It’s Kingdom Time!
#1 in series: It's Time
Wonder...it dresses the world with awe. It's to dwell in amazement, surprise and the miraculous because we have come face to face with something that is so beautiful, so unexplainable, or so unexpected. We see it in the warmth of a simple smile, feel it in the delight of a child's laugh, and experience it in the wide eyes that are seeing the world with fresh eyes and the open mouths of those discovering the world with fresh hearts. Do you feel that wonder when you hear the Christmas story? Are you still blown away by the good news of great joy that the angels bring? Does your face light up with love when you gaze on the Christ-child born to you in a manger? Are you filled with a warmth when you grasp the truth that the mighty, all-knowing, all-powerful God wrote his name on the heart of humanity, stunning us with the generosity of forgiveness and the joy of unconditional love? This awe and wonder isn’t something we should outgrow, it’s something that will only deepen over the years as we encounter, experience, embrace and daily respond to the gift and presence of the Christ-child in our life. Our prayer is that today the good news of great joy rekindles your awe so that you can experience the wonder of his birth for you. For the wonder of Christmas is best pondered, not with logic, but imagination!
#6 and final in series: Experience Christmas
There is something about Christmas…don’t care who you are or where you’re from....We carry into tonight…An expectation. An anticipation. An excitement. and the songs…we all know them. For the last month or more everywhere we’ve gone the carols & songs of tonight have surrounded us…Whether you love them or have had enough by now…the songs reverberate through this season. And the songs are songs of joy…Whatever else is going on in the world on in your world…Heaven breaks wide open & God announces the birth of his firstborn Son to the whole world. God holds nothing back. The angels break out into song. Those who hear the song rejoice with exceedingly great joy. Isaiah, hundreds of years earlier said it's the only right response to the arrival of God's redemption. "Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel” – Is 44:23
So together, let's Experience Christmas & hear the song that was written for your heart…to be sung in you & by you day after day. I am bringing you good news of great joy for all people: to you is born…a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord…“ A Saviour is born for you. “a child has been born for us, a son given to us; all authority rests upon his shoulders. He is called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Every promise of God fulfilled in him. Everything of God is him.
Sing…Your weariness is being lifted. Your hurts are being healed. The failures that haunt you are forgiven. But more than anything…joy can be multiplied in your heart & in your home & in everything you do. “Glory to God in the highest heaven, & on earth peace among those whom God favours!” Tonight…because of that child…God’s favour rests on you.
It’s the word that starts it all — that one word in every language that breaks the ice, demolishes walls, generates smiles and creates an instant, if momentary, bond between total strangers. Nǐ hǎo, Guten Tag, Selamat Siang, Konnichiwa, Suostei, Bonjour, Sawadee khrap, Ciao, Namaste, hello. It can come with a bow, a nod, a handshake or a wave, but they all somehow signify the same thing—a recognition of another, a way of saying, “I see you.” Greetings are important, and no more do we see that in the Christmas story, from Mary being perplexed at the angel's greeting, to Elizabeth feeling the joy when she heard Mary's greeting. But what if this Christmas our greetings would announce to others that God has come in love and is on the move? That he has favoured us, that he is with us, that he is blessing us? Maybe like Elizabeth and Mary, we would experience anew and feel the joy that comes with God's promise at Christmas...he sees you.
#4 in series: Experience Christmas
It used to be common courtesy. A simple act of kindness. The holding the door open for others behind you. But these days it seems that not everyone appreciates the door holding efforts of others. It's seen as an act of a bygone era. An act of power or superiority. But what if this simple act was a metaphor of hope...that recognises the doors that have been open to us, to recognise the grace that has been given to us, the favour shown to us. What if the holding the door open became a sign of hope that God is moving and in our midst; that he sees the hurt, the burdens and the stuggles all people face? What if the little things that we do in our every day ordinary life were holding the hope door open for others, declaring that God is ushering in a new reality where his presence and power make a difference, transform our circumstances, fulfill the deep longings of our heart and impact our daily lives? That is the reality John the Baptist proclaims today A reality that is to be lived in every moment as we hold the hope and experience the joy that his coming brings.
#3 in Advent/Christmas series: Experience Christmas