a glimpse towards Sunday 6.21.13
Over 1,500 man hours were logged last weekend as we literally tore into our campus to begin the necessary work of turning our facility into an EPIC restoration community center. WOW! So many great hearts turned out to serve their brains out on a Father’s Day weekend. I really was blown away by all that took place during this incredibly messy F.I.A. (Faith In Action) Sunday.
Is this what a disciple of Jesus looks like? Does discipleship look like people who serve their brains out? Does paint on your jeans, a dust mask on your face, cuts and scrapes on your legs, sore muscles, and exhaustion become the necessary water marks of a disciple?
Many churches are beginning to serve their brains out. They’re called missional churches. These churches are all about mission. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Mike Breen, who leads a discipleship ministry called 3DM, believes the missional movement is destined to fail. Why? How could serving fail?
It’s possible for someone to work FOR Jesus, and never actually be WITH Him. Serving your brains out without a passion for Jesus just cannot be sustained.
Skye Juthani wrote in a recent Out Of Ur post, “Many church leaders unknowingly replace the transcendent vitality of a life with God for the ego satisfaction they derive from a life for God.” Recently, a 30-day study of Christian Twitter conversations took place. Between 100-150 times as many people were talking about mission than they were discipleship. Breen surmises, “We are a group of people addicted to and obsessed with the work of the Kingdom, with little to no idea how to be with the King.”
Have you noticed lately how trendy, global, and hip serving has become. Mission trips and rescue efforts are currently culturally sexy. Discipleship is not. Living to imitate Jesus isn’t trendy and never has been. Will our serving simply degrade into a pop culture memory if we are not passionate disciples of Jesus?
BUT… what does a disciple really look like? What DO we DO? Can someone just spell this out for me? THAT is what we’ll try to do this Sunday as we gather. Jesus’s friends just weren’t grasping the idea of discipleship, and so Rabbi Yeshua sits down to teach his friends two specific principles found in Mark 9:30-50. It’s all about discipleship.
I hope you’ll sustain your brains in serving by also pursuing a passionate relationship with Jesus as His disciple. THAT will be how the Kingdom advances in a place called Cumberland and in your life.
I’m looking forward to teaching on Sunday. Please bring a Bible and a friend. Please pardon our dust. As our hearts are, so our building is under construction. See you on Sunday… 9 & 11!
(P.S. – Would you take a few minutes and watch this brief video from our Outside The Walls Pastor, Rob Irvine? Rob is doing a great job leading our gospel-centered, EPIC, messy restoration ministries. Click here to watch.)
Blessings,
Weekly Giving | 06/16/13
$7,842.00
Weekly Need $29,000.00
