Waiting For; Rejoicing In -- HOPE

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

This past Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent -- four weeks of preparation and anticipation leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Immanuel (Lord with us). The history of the people of God is one of waiting -- it still is. We wait for what one day will be, even as we attempt to partner day by day with God in the what is. The history of the people of God is one of hoping -- it still is. We hope for what one day will be, even as we attempt to partner day by day with God in the hope of what is. We hope, we wait, and in the midst of the hoping and the waiting, God is there inviting, leading and guiding us.

Advent is a time to enter more fully into the already and not yet reality of the Kingdom of God. We wait and hope as Israel did, waiting and hoping for God's Kingdom to break in -- even as it has already done so.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear,
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel, shall come to thee, O Israel.

How does the reality of hope sit with you as you sit with it today?

It might be that you are in a place of seeming hopelessness, as were the disciples of John the Baptist who went to Jesus and asked him, doubtingly, “are you the one, or should we look for another?” My prayer for you, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and rescue captive Israel.”

It might be that you are in a time where the hope of Jesus is obvious, as did Peter who by the grace of God was able to recognize Jesus saying, “you are the Christ, the son of the living God . . . to whom else would we go?” My prayer for you, Rejoice! Rejoice!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.(Romans 15:13)

Step Into Your Life

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:5–11

Hi Everybody

This past Sunday we wrapped up our series The Keys to the Keys to the Kingdom of God by having a conversation with Killian Noe founder and director of Recovery Cafe in Seattle. I chose to have Killian come and share with us because she is one of the people I know who truly embodies what it means to live in the intertwined rhythm of INWARD (toward our identify as God's perfectly loved child), OUTWARD (as redemptive agents in a broken world) and TOGETHER (as a unique people of God). Killian Noe has all of the credentials one would need to be an "expert" in transformation, but more importantly she lives it out. She has learned by experience that in order for her live as the hand and feet of Jesus in the world (and to sustain the very successful ministries she has founded) that she needs to be grounded in -- to abide in -- Jesus, first. All the ministry in the world, all the love, the forgiveness, the life of transformation begins in the intentional INWARD journey and shows it's fruit in the ways that we live OUTWARD and TOGETHER as Kingdom people -- it is the key to the keys to the Kingdom of God.

As we move from our specific emphasis on the INWARD, we must not think that we are leaving it behind. If we do, if we move on from this, it will just be a nice idea that we might agree with but one that does not change us. We need to take the things that God teaches us and incorporate them into our lives. The INWARD journey is something that you must take responsibility for -- not purely individualistically, but as part of the community of Creekside. How do you keep yourself focused on this crucial piece? What book might you read next? What smaller group of friends will hold you accountable as you journey together? What practices will you commit to for extended periods of time (90 days) to see if they in fact connect you with God? Perhaps you have immediate answers to these questions and are developing action steps. Perhaps you think it is a good idea and will now do so. Perhaps you'd like to and do not know how to begin. That is why it takes a community of people to come alongside one another. If you do not know how, there are others that do. Ask me, Lynn, Noah or Jesse. Ask your small group leader. Ask. Act. Move.

If God has revealed to you the necessity of actually learning how to abide in him, don't let time pass before you move. If you do, you will lose the momentum. Connect with at least one other person and step into continuing on in the INWARD Journey. Grab the keys, they are yours.

Peace, hope and love

Doug

P.S. Some other resources you might want to explore are: Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen (speaks of our identity as beloved by God), Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Jeanne Guyon (speaks of our need to simply sit with God and how to do so); or Prayer by Richard Foster (introduces a number of helpful prayer techniques) to name just a few.

Infinitely More

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1 NIV

This past Sunday we had the privilege to have Alex Krutov share his story at at Creekside. His story started in apparent hopelessness – disposed of at three days old in a garbage dumpster in St. Petersburg, Russia. It seemingly did not get much better for a long time.

An orphan, abandoned and neglected, he was introduced to the person of Jesus and embraced his new identity as the beloved of God – an identity bought by God, salvation. Sometimes here the word “salvation” and we limit it to Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. While this amazing act of love did in fact accomplish that, his work on the cross, his life and his resurrection accomplished so much more. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10). The Message paraphrase says “more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” That is why Jesus came, that is what Jesus bought.

This “more and better life” is so often misunderstood, so often defined by a lack of hardship or difficulty. And so when hardship comes we dismiss Jesus and his words, “this is not more, this is not better – I need to look elsewhere.” But more and better life is not dependant upon the circumstances of our life. It is dependent and flows from our identity and the hope, which that identity brings. This is such a hard concept for us to understand. How can I have more and better life if my marriage is going bad, how can it be more and better if I get diagnosed with cancer, where is the abundance if I am estranged from my child?

Hardships will come; difficulties will come – most often in unexpected ways and at inconvenient times. How will you survive if your world is crashing down around you? The answer is only when you are anchored – planted and nourished – into Jesus and his deep and unchanging love for you. As we clear away space for the INWARD journey toward Jesus we make space to rest in and be convinced of our identity as his beloved so that when the hardships come, we will not be crushed by them – Jesus is not a panacea that paves the way for an easy life, rather he is life itself, in the midst of both hardships and joys.

Peace, hope and love

Doug

Poured Out

Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:9–14 ESV

The apostle John’s account of the good news of Jesus is my favorite of the four Gospels. I love words and so I appreciate how John communicates the most profound truths known to man in ways that even through translation into English retain their poetic flayer. In the 15th chapter of his Gospel, John captures the organic and healing words of Jesus. We his disciples are braches, planted and nourished in the vine of Jesus, planted and nourished in the vine of the Father. Our charge, our invitation: abide, rest, and be fed by the love, which flows into us as we are as we are rooted in Jesus.

We are told by Jesus to love as he loved. He instructs us in Matthew’s gospel to love our enemies. These are not mere nice sounding platitudes, but commands, commands that are not possible for us to do – unless we are rooted in and abiding in the love of Jesus. Our INWARD journey is not just a nice diversion for a season before we move onto the important – more measurable – tasks. Rather, our INWARD journey is the only way that we can ever hope to love as Jesus loved, ever hope to realize the abundance of a life infused with transcendent joy. “We love, because he first loved us.” (I John 4:19)

As we end our seven-week INWARD small group emphasis, what practices are you putting into place to ensure that you create and maintain the space and the time to abide in Jesus? This is a very important question for each of us to answer and put into practice – the freedom of INWARD contentment and OUTWARD impact awaits! Share your thoughts and your plan with me and with others.

Peace, hope and love

Doug

Did Anybody Else Hear That?

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1–2

- Have you heard God’s voice? - Would you know if you had? - Imagine how your stress level, your contentment level change your life in general might be different than it is now if you were regularly guided by the voice of God?

As a follower of Jesus, it is God’s intention for you to be guided by him; his plan is for you to know his will, not for it to be some secret that only a few of his followers can decipher. He wants you to be able to ask him for anything so that he can give it to you. Do you believe that? This truth is straight from scripture very often straight from Jesus' lips (Read John 15 for example). For most of Jesus' followers, however, this is not their reality. Why?

I think that a big part of the answer is that we do not put ourselves in situations where we create the likelihood of hearing his voice – maybe because we are just so busy we don’t make the time, maybe because we don’t really believe he will speak, maybe because we actually believe he might and are not sure we want that kind of clarity about what God wants from us. In any event, few followers of Jesus regularly hear his voice – and that’s not ok. So, what do we do?

Like I said, we need to create the likelihood that we will hear his voice. We need to carve out space to put ourselves in situations where that happens. Solitude and silence is a start; sitting at God’s feet, coming regularly -- not occasionally -- clearing the way to be with God as a pattern, a habit, learned and experienced over a long period of time. As you do this, you will hear your true God bought identity (fully loved, fully accepted), see your brokenness (without condemnation), see your healing (as you are fully known and fully loved by God), and see God. You will hear his voice and know that you heard it. Once you experience it, you will want to hear it again, to return and sit with God, to hear his voice again. Once you experience it, it will be easier to order your life around the likelihood of hearing God’s voice and then to move into the ways he guides you.

Ruth Barton in her book, Introduction to Solitude and Silence says, “God’s will for us is generally for us to do more of that which gives us life and to turn away from those activities that drain life from us and debilitate us.” (p. 123) I believe that is true. I believe that is what happens when we are guided by the voice of God. I am convinced that this reality is available to you and to me, and that stillness, solitude and silence in the presence of God are gifts given to us by God, which increase the likelihood of hearing his voice.

What do you think? Let me know and discuss it with others who you are in community with.

Peace, hope and love

Doug