Following Jesus
We began our new series last Sunday at Church which is a journey of sorts: we're travelling "On the road with Jesus" as we follow him to Jerusalem. It's a journey which culminates in his arrest, trial, crucifixion and ultimate vindication through the resurrection. We introduced the series by painting a picture of what we'd love to see happen this year at Seaforth.
As we embark on 2022, I sense there's mixed feelings about this year. Some of us are weary from last year, some of us perhaps feel a sense of anxiety given the uncertainty over just how this year will pan out as we enter into the third year of living with COVID. So how do we make sense of our moment and how do we make the most of these strange days in which we continue to find ourselves? As we think about this year allow me to paint a picture of where I'd love to see us focus our energy.
Imagine with me a church where people's hearts are captivated by the Lord Jesus; where Christians are encouraged to love Jesus more and serve him better; where those who aren't yet followers come to know and trust Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Imagine with me a community where people are continuing to build lives for Christ as they live the transformed life shaped by the Lord Jesus. Imagine then a church where God's people living in such a way, foster such a compelling way of life and community that people are rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of Jesus. And then imagine with me a community of God's people being inspired and equipped to live differently holding out the word of life to people trapped in the clutches of hell.
As I dwell upon that picture one of the words that best sums up this vision is: discipleship.
Discipleship is a word that's so familiar to us. If you've spent any time in the church, it's just part of the Christian lingo, the Christian vocabulary, that we use. And sometimes as a result of that familiarity it's a word that we can water down in our minds over time.
One way that we can think of discipleship and think of it too simply really comes at the beginning of every new year. We begin to reevaluate and think about our own faith and our own personal journey with Christ. We think of new beginnings, new possibilities, new hopes, and so what do we do? Well, we look at our timetable. We try to work in Bible reading and prayer. We maybe try to work in some deeper commitments at church, but in the end, what are we doing? We're thinking, where can Jesus fit? Where can I find room for Jesus in my life?
As we walk with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem in Luke chapters 9-19 we will find some of Jesus's hardest sayings on discipleship that challenge how we think about what it means to follow after him. In fact if you were with us on Sunday And you would've already picked up on the abruptness with which Jesus speaks to three individuals in particular. And we're taken aback because he doesn't leave any room for negotiation, does he?
Jesus' statements in Luke 9 can be so off-putting. Why? Because we think of fitting Jesus into our agenda, and these statements remind us that it's really about us fitting into his.
And throughout this series, Jesus will ask each of us some hard-hitting questions: are you really on mission with me? Do you really know what it means to follow after me?
I think they're great questions because they cut to the heart of what it means to be disciples of the Lord Jesus. Our Church's mission statement is all about "Building lives for Christ". To put it another way we want everyone to be disciple-making disciples - that's what building lives for Christ is about. And the way this will happen is by:
Having hearts captivated by the Lord Jesus
Living transformed lives shaped by the Lord Jesus
Fostering a compelling Christian community as we're
Being equipped to live differently; holding out the Word of life
That's our focus for this year. And each term we will devote ourselves to one of those points. Our staff team will be praying we can do this in the power of God's Spirit by, as the Apostle Paul puts it in Colossians 1:
"... [proclaiming] him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ" .
As we embark upon this third year of the pandemic, I want to encourage us to approach all of this following Paul's model of faithfulness in 2 Corinthians 4 - we live by faith not by sight.