Being Together

What is the church? And really do we understand what we are supposed to be representing? Do you ever head into a store in a big mall and wonder, "What in the world is this item doing in this store?" I remember going to a store when I was growing up, and you never knew what was going to be in that store - they had a lot of weird and crazy items, and yet I never bought much from there, b/c I guess I never really knew what to expect if I purchased the item there.

For me, it seems too often the church (not a service on a Sunday), but a group of people who are forgiven by Jesus and claim to have a new savior & king, forget what it is supposed to be representing. The apostle Paul makes the calling of the church pretty clear when he says, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit lives in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). Wow - so this group of people are actually a people of worship. They are defined by how they live together and care for others, and most importantly represent Jesus.

So if you know Jesus, you can't be alone. Paul clears this up by saying, "You" which is plural, are "God's temple." So we are the church....together. So really it isn't an option of how am I feeling or do I have time, but we are the church when we are together. And to clarify this togetherness doesn't happen too well when we sit in rows, but community happens more effectively when we are in circles. Are we willing to sit and listen and love and care for one another.

I am challenged to think more about the church being us, rather than a production. I am challenged to see the church grow, by our willingness to show love to one another, rather than flashy programs. How do you see the church...being the church together?

Learning more about discipleship

Who is your teacher? Now if you are reading this and you are out of school, you may be wondering where I'm going with this question; however, over the course of our life, regardless of how long we live, we will have many teachers. Some teachers will have formal positions, such as our teachers in school, whereas others may be a bit less accredited but may have even more influence.

Remember the class clown in Grade 5, he taught us a lot about how to attract attention and keep the teacher close to insanity! Or there is the friend who stood beside us when we were struggling and taught us about compassion and care.

When Jesus walked up to people he invited them into a life of learning. A life of being an apprentice under the King of Heaven & Earth! Jesus gave the opportunity (and still does) to anyone to be a learner under the greatest person who ever lived this earth. Even today when he invites us into a relationship with Him, we have a choice whether we want Jesus to be the most influential teacher in our life.

Jesus teaches the students of his to be people who do now say, "Not my will but "your will be done." (Matthew 6:10). So which teacher will we follow and listen to today? Jesus offers us so much good instruction of how to live, but are we willing to listen and live it out?

Following & actually leading

Check out this crazy and awesome video that teaches so much about every type of leadership (& following) whether you are leading at church, home, work or at your place of rest.
I would love to hear some comments...do the principles in this video resonate with you?

Filling in a passage...Luke 12:49-59

Here is a brief explanation of the passage which I skipped in our week-by-week study in the book of Luke on Sunday mornings.

Luke 12:49-53 - is about how a relationship with Jesus doesn’t always bring the peace that people expect – why – b/c there will be some tension in relationships – there’s a whole list there of who we will be in conflict with b/c we decide to follow Jesus. Do you ever find this conflict arise? Perhaps you tell someone that you have met Jesus but they are not so impressed? Or they get a bit angry about your decision to become "fanatical" about Jesus (ie. you spend your time differently, your values are determined by God, you are way too generous); you can get a bit ostracized & excluded. In other countries literally they will have funerals for you as they believe you are beyond hope and have died.

The next passage (Luke 12:54-59) is a challenge to what we are anticipating & studying. Jesus calls people to their great interest in the weather. Jesus says, "Try to count how often you comment about the weather?" We are obsessed with the weather. Think about the most common app that comes with new - it's the weather app! We care so deeply about the weather, but we forget about realizing the importance of the time we are in – where the return of Jesus is close at hand!

Then Jesus says – make relationships right – don’t aim to go to court but reconcile before then.

Here's a more in-depth sermon by Mark Driscoll (pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle) from the passage:

A change in perspective

This past week, my daughter learned a quick lesson about life....and death. For her 8th birthday I had promised to buy her a goldfish, her first pet. So, when we got back from our holidays, we headed out to the store to buy a goldfish (the first strange find - is the store that sells goldfish doesn't sell food, a tank or anything to take care of a goldfish....so off to another store). Both Hannah and Sam were able to pick out their own goldfish. The excitement and anticipation of how they could take care of these little creatures was pricless :)

When we arrived home there was a steep learning curve, for all of us, about how to treat the water, how to feed the fish and how to keep the tank in pristine condition. Well, after 3 days, I noticed the tank was getting a bit dirty, so I decided it was time to exchange the water (as our tank was pretty small and had no filtration system). I transferred the fish into a mixing bowl and washed out the tank. Then I put the fish back into their clean new "home."
In the morning when Hannah got up, she looked at her fish and quietly announced, "I think my fish is dead." I came over and looked at the laboring little loved one, and said, "No I think he'll be okay (realizing the end was near)." I shifted the tank so the water would make him move and look like he was still swimming, but Hannah was not easily fooled. A tear formed in her eye, and mine too. Within a few minutes, after we returned from breakfast, her fish was resting on it's side on the bottom of the bowl. After some good discussion about the life expectancy of fish, and the disappointment in seeing a pet die, we decided to bury the fish after I came home from work.

When I arrived home, I asked Hannah to come inside as we would get the fish out of the bowl. I delicately extricated the fish out of the bowl and placed it on a plate. Hannah looked at it and said with a little smile, "Hmm, supper!"

I had to laugh, as so often in life we can get attached to certain things - our job, our hobby, our pet....and then something difficult happens.....so we grieve, we mourn, but then God brings us to a place where we can be thankful for the time we did have with that special something (or even someone). For sure, Hannah's "healing" happened quite quickly, and other areas of loss will take longer (months & years) to move past, but may the God of all creation, be the one who receives our tears and laughter - whether a fish is a pet or our next meal.

(PS - We did bury the fish. The other fish in the story is still alive).