From Betrayal To Blessing

God’s Story Can Transform the World!

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied. (Mat 5:6)

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever! (Psalm 22:26)

Rabbi Michael Learner writes:

Tens of millions of Americans feel betrayed by a society that seems to place materialism and selfishness above moral values. They know that "looking out for number one" has become the common sense of our society, but they want a life that is about something more --- a framework of meaning and purpose to their lives that would transcend the grasping and narcissism that surrounds them. Sure, they will admit that they have material needs, and that they worry about adequate health care, stability in employment, and enough money to give their kids a college education. But even more deeply they want their lives to have meaning --- and they respond to candidates who seem to care about values and some sense of transcendent purpose.

Rev. Brian McLaren in his latest book, Everything Must Change, says the world is in the midst of 4 crisis:

1. A Prosperity Crisis - a global environmental breakdown caused by an unsustainable global economy;

2. An Equity Crisis - a growing gap between the ultra-rich and the extremely poor;

3. A Security Crisis - the danger of cataclysmic war arising from the intensifying resentment and fear among various groups at opposite ends of the economic spectrum;

4. A Spiritual Crisis - the failure of the world’s religions, especially its two largest religions, to provide a “framing story” capable of healing or reducing the three previous crisis.

The spiritual crisis mentioned by McLaren is the most troubling and the root cause of the other three. Christians have a “framing story” with the power to bring healing, salvation and transformation to our broken world. Our framing story is the story of God’s grace and compassion given to us through Jesus Christ. If millions believe in Jesus, then why are Christians collectively not impacting the culture in a more positive way? If most believe in God and a large majority believe in Jesus, why aren't we making fore of a different in the world?

This question could take thousands of pages to answer so what I will offer here is a starting point for dialogue. First, let me state what I believe to be the fundamental problem. We have allowed the culture to interpret our sacred story in ways foreign to what Jesus said and taught. We have mixed Jesus together with a success ethic than makes winning the game "Get as Much as You Can!" the primary goal of life and the key to happiness. The “Christian faith” as it is practiced by millions resembles the expectations of the culture more than it does the real story of Jesus. We are to grow into the likeness of Jesus, not into the likeness of a self-centered, materialistic society. 

Now let's move on to the matter of how to correct this situation. How do we discover the real story of Jesus? How to we move from the hurt of betrayal and fear to the joy of blessing in Jesus. Here are four suggestions for your consideration.

1. Encounter the Story! Come face to face with the Jesus of the New Testament stripped of the baggage of a narcissistic culture. Take a closer look at God’s Word. Study God’s Story with others seeking the truth of God.

2. Live the Story! Let God’s Story shape your life. Apply the story to every aspect of your life. All too often we read the story of Jesus to answer only one question: How can I be saved? This is an important question to be sure. We need a personal Savior! Yet, if this is the only question we ask then we have misunderstood the message of Jesus. We must apply this story to the economic, political and social aspects of our lives. As it turns out, failure to do so may very well bring an end to our culture. If we fail to apply the story of Jesus to every aspect of our lives, in the end, we all lose.

3. Practice the Story! We cannot live the story without practicing the classic spiritual disciplines. We must pray, worship, and work together in a community driven by compassion. The practice of spiritual disciplines opens up our lives to receive the witness of God’s Spirit to our spirit. We cannot be faithful to our calling in Christ without the power and wisdom of the Spirit of God to guide and mold us in Christ’s image. We cannot become spiritual mature without putting our faith into practice.

4. Make Compassion (Love) the Story. Love or compassion is the primary value in God’s Kingdom. It must be ours as well. We need to change our way of thinking. We need to move from “Get As Much As You Can” to “Give as Much as You Can.”

The love of God must shape our every thought and our every action. Our lives must be shaped in the form of a cross not a dollar sign. Only then can we move from a world of betrayal and fear to the Kingdom of God, a new world of blessing, joy and love. This is our story. Jesus was betrayed by his own people. He was crucified, dead and buried. Yet on the third day, he was raised from the dead to give witness to God's power to transform even death itself into new life.

Christ Above All!

Pastor Milt

Overcoming the World

PASTOR MILT SERMON OUTLINE

FOR MAY 13TH, 2012

SERIES:  LIVING AND LOVING AS EASTER PEOPLE

PART 4:  OVERCOMING THE WORLD

FOCUS TEXT:  1 JOHN 5:1-9

I.  TODAY'S QUESTION:  HOW CAN WE OVERCOME THE "WORLD?"

·       How can we find our way through this turbulent, radically changing, twisting world  . . where a million voices call out to us to define who we are, and what we desire, and the real forces that drive our lives?

·       What do we mean in this context, by the word "world"?

o      By "world" we mean the cultural space in which we live out our lives here on earth . . . a space of turbulence, and radical change. This "world" is a space in which our lives are driven by powerful forces. The "world" is the earthly space  where we experience beauty and joy as well as ugliness, sorrow and death. We can get hopelessly lost in this world.  

·       THE WORLD:  AN EVER CHANGING SEA

o      This world is a vast sea. Always moving. Always changing.

o      The sea can be calm and beautiful at times. 

o      There are times when we find prevailing winds moving us forward into the future and we are full of hope.

o      There are other times when dark, threatening clouds gather and a great storm breaks upon that sea threatening our little ship with powerful waves.

o      The changing winds can blow us far off course and we feel that we are hopelessly lost at sea.

·       Experienced sailors of old found their way across vast oceans by charting their course by the stars.  The North Star gave them a fixed point from which their could determine their course.

II.  THE FIXED POINT:  JESUS CHIRST

·       Spiritually, Christians understand that Jesus is that fixed point in the vast space of the heavens that will guide us through this ever changing world.

o      5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  6 This is the one who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

·       John makes it very clear here that if we are to overcome the world we must believe in Jesus Christ! This is a critically important point for John, and he takes a few verses here to help us understand what he means by believing in Jesus.

·       John is saying that  Jesus is this fixed point, our Savior and our hope in this world and that three things testify to that truth and define. These three are water and blood and Spirit.

o      By "water and spirit" John is referring to Jesus' baptism. John is saying that Jesus was a real flesh and blood man baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptizer. 

o      Jesus was a real man who felt pain and weep bitterly over Jerusalem. He was a real man felt pain. He suffered and died like all humans do. He was LIKE US in every way! 

o      He goes on to say the "Spirit of Truth" testified that this Jesus was his Son and the Savior of this world. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River just like any other ordinary man or woman, a voice from heaven rang out saying:  "You are my beloved Son in whom I am well please."
 

o      Why does John stop here to make such a powerful point upon the importance of this belief? Because there are those in the early Christian community who were suggesting just the opposite. They were saying Jesus was only a "spirit."  

III.  HOW ARE GOING TO MAINAIN OUR FOCUS ON JESUS AND OVERCOME THE WORLD?

·       This matter of believing in Jesus in not set out there in space without any context!  John makes his argument within the framework of loving relationships. Believing in Jesus is directly connected to our willingness to love God and others. These are intimately connected. They cannot be separated. If they are, you have something very different that a true believer in Jesus.

·       Those who believe in Jesus are born of God and are formed by the Spirit of God into a FAMILY or COMMUNITY OF FAITH.  Our faith is RADICALLY RELATIONAL!

·       One of the chief functions of our faith family is to keep us all FOCUS UPON THE FIXED POINT OF JESUS CHRIST in a ever changing, turbulent world. 

·       To return to the sea analogy for a moment.  The Church of Jesus Christ is a Ship of the Spirit following that fixed point in the sky, the North Star, the Light of Jesus that will guide us home to God's Promised Land!

·       ILLUSTRATION: SAILING STORY - FOLLOW THE NORTH STAR

o      The captain of a small ship sailing far out to sea asked a young sailor to take the helm while he took a brief nap. It was in the middle of the night and the stars were shining brightly. "All you need to do," explained the captain, "is follow the North Star," which he carefully pointed out to the young man. "Do you think you can do it?" said the captain. "Yes, sir!" said the sailor proudly. "You can count on me." And he put his hands on the big wheel and the captain disappeared below.

o      Several hours later the captain woke up from his nap and came up to the helm. Glancing at the sky he knew immediately that something was wrong. "Hey, sailor. What are you doing? Why aren't we headed toward the North Star?"

        

o      "Oh," said the sailor, puzzled at the captain's amazement. "We passed that an hour ago!"

o      The captain knew that the only reliable point in the midst of the wind and the waves, the only steady point in the world of confusion and emotions and guess-work over direction and currents and relationships, was the Polar Star, the North Star. To stray from that star was to stray off course, period.

IV.  WE ARE CALLED OF GOD TO BE  SPIRITUAL MOTHERS AND FATHERS.

·       In this faith family, we are to be mothers and fathers to those who need guidance.

o      We are to keep our eyes focused upon the Light of Jesus shining in this ever changing world

o      This is a very difficult task.  It requires our up most attention.  It requires a faith disciplined by the Word of God.

·       One again let me make this point clear.

Faith in God defined by Jesus is  

RADICALLY RELATIONAL!

We are not saved individually. 

We are saved individually in community with others.

·       None of us will make it through this world spiritually alive without the gift of SPIRITUAL MOTHERS AND FATHERS.  In this divided world which places so much emphasis upon the "individual" this concept is often ignored.  Personal self-determination is important.  Personal discipline is critical.  We need strong individuals to build a strong community.  Yet, even these seemingly individual character traits are in fact, radically relational.

V.  CLOSING STORY:  MOTHER TERESA

·       Mother Teresa was speaking to a group of people who had come from around the world to see her and her work. When she asked for questions, one person from a religious order asked, "How is it that your religious order is gaining members by the thousands and most of our orders are losing members?"

·       Without hesitating, Mother Teresa answered, "I give them Jesus."

·       "Yes, I know," pursued the woman. "But take habits, for example. Do your women object to wearing habits? And how do you set up the rules of your order?"

·       "I give them Jesus," Mother Teresa replied. "Yes, I know, Mother, but can you be more specific?"

·       "I give them Jesus," she repeated. "Mother," went on the questioner, "we are so very much aware of your fine work. I want to know about something else ..."

·       Mother Teresa said quietly, "I give them Jesus. There is nothing else."

·       Mother Teresa was able to stay focused on "the least of these" and was able to inspire others to do the same because, while she was not afraid to speak out on matters of policy and root causes, she had a center. She had a still point.

o       Story above from The World's Still Point; Sixth Sunday of Easter from the book Sermons On The Second Readings For Sundays In Advent, Christmas, And Epiphany;  Paul E. Robinson

VI.  CONCLUSION

·       Six young people are coming on board our Ship of Faith today.

·       They will not overcome this world without the help of spiritual mothers and grandmothers . . . fathers and grandfathers. . . sisters and brothers who will keep them focused on the one thing that matter, Jesus Christ and the life of love God has given us.

·       We are to live and love as Easter People!  We are to be "little Christ" or "little anointed ones" to each other.   

·       If you choose to call me your captain, then let me ask for God's grace and guidance to always point you in the direction of the Star of Jesus.

·       Together as one family, undivided by our differences, united in love, our hearts focused upon  our North Star, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, we will OVERCOME THE WORLD! 

THANKS BE TO GOD!

PASTOR MILT

Loving the One's You're With

Series   
Living and Loving As Easter People

Part 3
Loving the Ones You're With

Focus Texts
 1 John 4:7-21 
John 15:1-17

What the world needs now is love, sweet love. 

That's the only thing that there's just too little of.

Lyric: Hal David; Music: Burt Bacharach.

All you need is love, love! Love is all you need!

John Lesson & Paul McCartney

________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION

Many years ago the Miles Brothers recorded the song "You Always Hurt the One Your Love."  Take a careful look at the lyrics to this old song. 

You always hurt the one you love,

The one you shouldn't hurt at all;

You always take the sweetest rose,

And crush it till the petals fall;

You always break the kindest heart,

With a hasty word you can't recall;

So if I broke your heart last night,

It's because I love you most of all. 

___________________________________________________________

  

Point 1
Love in the abstract is always easy.
Loving up close and personal is amazingly hard.

When we get close to someone and try to truly love as Christ loved, the enormity of the call to love become even more apparent.  When loving gets hard. . .  when loving requires self-giving and personal sacrifice . . . when the rewards for loving are not immediate there is a strong tendency to give up on love

_______________________________________

Point 2
Even though loving it very hard for us, 
it is clear that love is the key 
to both our personal happiness
and peace in this world.

In this letter by John, John tells us that the only way we will "see" and "experience" the presence of God, is when we love one another.

 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

In short, we are to love as Jesus loved.

 Love defined by John is not like the definition of love we find in romance magazines and feel good movies moves. It is not self-centered. It is not motives by the need for control.  It is not manipulative. 

We are to love as Jesus loved. Jesus love sets us free as all true does.

  10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

We are to love as Jesus loved!  In my mind and in my heart I know this is true but in the real world it seems we never quite get it right.

When we get really up close and personal, when we try to build a community around the principle of love, we find so many things that divide us. 

At the personal life, many a couple deeply "in love" with each other early in their relationship discover in the course of a few months that while they have much in common, they do not agree on a host of things. 

 Three Stages of a Loving Relationship

 

o      1.  Knight in Shining Armor / The Perfect Princess

 

o      2.  Who Is This Person I Married?

o      3.  A Deeper Love  . . . choosing to love and honor and cherish the relationship in spite of the differences between them. 

ILLUSTRATION:  Congregations in this deeply polarized world are finding it hard to love.

 A consultant was working with a deeply divided congregation. The arguments were fierce and tempers flared. People were showing selfish attitudes that seemed so unlike what we’re called to in Scripture. Finally the consultant said to the group, “Friends, I’m hearing what you want to do in this situation, but my question is: What do you think Jesus would do here?” One woman blurted out in anger, “I don’t care what Jesus would do. I AM NOT JESUS!”

___________________________________________

Question of the Day
Why Is It So Hard to Love 

Even Those Closest to Us?

1.  The closer you are, the clearer the differences!

In that holy space of a "close" relationship weaknesses and faults are all the more obvious.  (Garrison Keller tells the story of one high school senior who chose to write the following in his friends year books:  "Familiarity breeds contempt.")

The closer you get to a person you begin to see how that persons interests, tastes, life experience, values, and overall view of life differs from your own. 

 It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship.  Henry Ward Beecher

In the wake of discovering differences between you and others you have come to know more closely suddenly that relationship is threatened because you worry that the differences between you are too great for you to overcome. At that point, love becomes a choice and an act of the will. 

2.  Loving others makes you VULNERABILITY.

 The closer you are to someone, the more deeply you are hurt when there is a misunderstanding or a genuine different of opinion on a matter of importance to you.  You react much more strongly to an unthinking word from a loved one than someone whose opinions meaning nothing to you.

  When hurt, the natural tendency is to distance yourself from the person whose words, often said in hast without any real malice, hurt you so deeply.

 You choose to love and stay in relationship with this person even thought there are times when that person hurts you. 

3.  Loving others requires personal commitment and sacrifice.  Loving another forces you to make some hard choices to maintain that  relationship.  

  If the first mark of a true and living church is love, the second is suffering. The one is naturally consequent on the other. A willingness to suffer proves the genuineness of love.     John Stott

Turn to person next you, and say, "I love you!"  Was there just a bit of discomfort in that declaration?  Why?  When you give your love to someone, you are vulnerable and your declaration carries with it a host of expectations.  To say "I love you." is a commitment requiring sacrifice.

 Loving requires your presence and availability to that person.  It's not enough to say "You were always on my mind."  You have to be there for them.  You have to care for them.  You have to give of yourself to maintain that relationship. You have to keep the promises you have made to that person or the trust that holds you together quickly disappears.

Loving relationships have to be maintained.

 

o      There is a strong tendency to simply DRIFT away from those we love

o      Love is an action verb not a noun.  It requires effort.  (Parable of the Sheep and the Goats - "As much as you did or did not do to the least of these . . . )

o      We have a strong tendency to take those of love us for granted.
 

o      We take our church for granted.

4.  True love requires a spiritual or if you will allow, a "mystical" connection with God who is pure love.

The closer you are to others the more you realize there is a spiritual component to all relationships.  A mystical connection with and through God's Spirit is needed to maintain loving relationships.  The energy and unction to love comes from God who is pure love. 

  It is God's Spirit within us that gives us this need to love and be loved.

  It is God's Spirit that places deep within the very fiber of our being the passionate need to experience the unity and oneness of all things.

When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.     C.S. Lewis 

____________________________________________

CONCLUSION

In the end, only love remains.

 Why? Because God is love and His love is eternal.  In His love, God gave us life.

Through the witness of His Spirit, he sustains our lives and all creation. We love God because He first loved us. 

Through Jesus, God choose to get up close and personal with us.  He chose not to condemn but to love us.  He loved with the force of his whole being to the point of death. Yet, that death gave birth 

Loving others is hard. It is the hardest thing on earth to do. Yet, in the end, we must love for only love lasts forever. 

 When we make the decision to love we move closer to God. Love changes everything.  

There is a holy space between us that only love can fill.  When we truly love, God fills that space and God's Kingdom comes.  

Let us love passionately until death takes us from this earthly plain and we share the love of God in his Kingdom forever. 

Pastor Milt

First Thoughts: Loving the Ones You're With

First Thoughts

Series:   Living and Loving As Easter People

Part 3:   Loving the Ones You're With

Text:  1 John 4:7-21

Many years ago the Miles Brothers recorded the song "You Always Hurt the One Your Love."  Take a careful look at the lyrics to this old song. 

         You always hurt the one you love, the one you should not hurt at all;

         You always take the sweetest rose, and crush it till the petals fall;

         You always break the kindest heart, with a hasty word you can't recall;

         So if I broke your heart last night, it's because I love you most of all. 

The Miles Brothers were on to something with this song.  When we get close to someone and seek to truly love as Christ loved, the enormity of the call to love become even more apparent.  Love in the abstract is always easy.  Loving up close and personal is amazingly hard. 

Why do you always hurt the one you love?  Consider the following suggestions.

1.  The closer you get to a person you begin to see how that persons interests, tastes, life experience, values, and overall view of life differs from your own.  At that point, there is a strong tendency to back away from that persons because you worry that the differences too great for you to overcome.

2.  When you grow close to a person and share invest much more of your real self in that relationship, you become more vulnerable.   The  attitudes and actions of the one you love  become much more important to you.  A harsh word or judgmental comment will hurt you much more deeply.  When hurt, the natural tendency is to distance yourself from the person whose words, often said in hast without any real malice, hurt you so deeply.

3.  Loving others requires a personal commitment that forces you to make some very hard choices .   Loving requires your presence and availability to that person.  It's not enough to say "You were always on my mind."  You have to be there for them.  You have to care for them.  You have to give of yourself to maintain that relationship. You have to keep the promises you have made to that person or the trust that hold you together quickly disappears

4.  True love requires a spiritual connection with God who is love.  The closer you are to others the more you realize there is a spiritual component to all relationships.  A mystical connection with and through God's Spirit  is needed to maintain loving relationships.  The energy and unction to love comes from God who is pure love.  It is God's Spirit within us that gives us this need to love and be loved. It is God's Spirit that places deep within the very fiber of our being the passionate need to experience the unity and oneness of all things. 

In the end, only love remains.  Why? Because God is love and His love is eternal.  In His love, God gave us life. Through the witness of His Spirit, he sustains our lives and all creation.  We love God because He first loved us.  Through Jesus, God choose to get up close and personal with us.  He choose not to condemn but to love us. He loved with the force of his whole being to the point of death. Yet, that death gave birth 

Loving others is hard. It is the hardest thing on earth to do. Yet, in the end, we must love for only love lasts.  When we make the decision to love we move closer to God. Love changes everything.  In the holy space between us and those we love, God's Kingdom comes!  

Loving To The End

A Sermon For


"Good Shepherd Sunday"


Jesus knew that the hour had come 


for him to leave this world and go to the Father. 


Having loved his own who were in the world, 


he loved them to the end.

John 13:1 / NIV

This is how we know what love is: 


Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. 


And we ought to lay down our lives
 

for our brothers and sisters. 


If anyone has material possessions 

and sees a brother or sister in need 


but has no pity on them, 


how can the love of God be in that person? 


Dear children, 


let us not love with words or speech


but with actions and in truth.

1 John 3:16-18 / NIV

Epistle Lesson  -  1 John 3:11-24

Gospel Lesson  -   John 10 

First Question:  What to you love? What are you passionate about?


•     Answer these questions to discover your passion or what you truly love:

o  What makes you smile?


o  What drives you forward in life? 


o  What consumes your "free time?"




o  What brings you not just a moment or two of joy   - but a deep sense of meaning, and purpose?


o  What actions bring you a sense of personal worth . . .  a sense of making a real difference in this world? 


o  What touches your heart, your soul?  Have you listened to the language of your heart and your soul lately to discover just why you are walk around on this earthly plain? 

       


Now I know what some of you are thinking!


•     Gracious me, Pastor Milt! I've barely had time to think about anything beyond the 1,001 things I have to do each week. I'm too busy for such musings.


•          How’d you spend the week?  Were you too busy to consider anything more than the long list of things that just had to done ASAP!  (Note:  When asked the question "What is your passion?" 75% say they have no idea!)


•     I've been:

o  Running some errands, 


o  Picking up some milk, bread and a few things at the store,

o  Paying the bills,

o  Mowing the lawn

o  Fixing the care

o  Taking the kids to games

o  Doing the laundry,

o  Scheduling appointments,

o  Carrying out the recycling and the garbage,

o  Answering email,

o  Going to meetings,

o  Getting the report done,

o  Waiting, stuck in traffic

o  Add what you've been doing to the list! 

      

•     The Chinese pictograph for “busy”  comprises two characters: heart and killing.   (Click Here to See the Pictograph.)

         


•   Being "busy" with no real goal in mind kills the heart.  It kills the PASSION and the FIRE in our souls.  To be merely "busy" with no real sense of purpose in the things you do brings spiritual death to us long before our bodies find their way to the grave.

  


•   Being "busy" isn't a bad thing if we are engaged in action driven by the passion of the Spirit God has placed deep with the fiber of your being!  John Wesley was an amazingly busy man.  He rode horses and carriages thousands of miles. Wrong thousands of pages of text. Preached thousands of times.  He was "busy" but busy with a mission to bring holiness and hope to broken people and peace to a broken nation.  He was on fire.  He was lit up by the Spirit of Christ.  John Wesley has been quoted as saying "The Holy Spirit sets me on fire and people come to see me burn."  Some scholars question this saying but it expresses the truth about his life.  We was truly on fire for God.  


•     This brings me to a second question for today. 

      

        

Second Question:  Do the things you love the most . . . the things you are really passionate about . . . connect with God's Passionate Purpose for your life and for his whole creation? 


•     To put it another way, can you take the things you love and use that passion, to love as Jesus loved? 


•     Jesus love for us was complete, fully compassionate. He loved us as John puts it "to the end." 


o  John 13:1:  Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 


•     In 1 this first epistle from John, his words repeat his essential message over and over gain. 


o  1 JOHN 3

11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another


14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.


16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.


18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

        

What Jesus' Love and his Passion Accomplished


•    Jesus' love brought new life from death. 


•    It opened the door to a whole new world . . .  a new creation.


•     He revealed to us God's ultimate purpose  -  to restore us and all creation . . . to set all things broken by sin right once more! 


•    He love gave this world faith and hope for the future.

 


•    His love gave us an example of just how to love fully and completely.


•    He love revealed a way to build a new community in which people are able live together in peace and harmony.  


•    This was Jesus mission and it was his passion.  He loved to 'THE END.'

•    As Disciples of Jesus our passion should be to love this life, this earth, others in this life with us in ways that help to bring into being loving and just world.


•    We are to nurture the best in every one: family, friends strangers even our enemies.


•   We are to release the power of God in others not control them or see them as somehow radically different from us. 


•    We are to take all the gifts God has given us and give back. We are to turn our passion into work for this world.


•    We are called of God to reach out to shape  (ie in the sense of "co-creators with God) a loving and just world, 
to nurture one another’s best self, 
to nurture the best selves of every one, family, friends, and strangers.

•    We have received so much. From all that we have, we give back, 
we turn our gifts and passions into work in the world.

      

        

Final Question: What are you willing to die for?


•    Are you willing to allow to die for the cause of Christ?


•    Are you willing to lay down your life
 . . 

o To build bridges that bring unity and give birth to true community; 


o To transform individual lives and 


o To change this world? 



•     We are to let go of everything that keeps us from loving as Jesus loved . . . fully, completely, whole and free!



•     God can take your life and consecrate it to accomplish his purpose to redeem his whole creation.