The Perfecting Church

We were not designed for ourselves and our own glory. God designed us to interdependently bring Him glory. As we find our uniqueness in Christ, we also find what we’ve been uniquely given as a part of a greater whole. This Is Us reconstructs the beauty of us and we, while dismantling the heart crushing deception of me, me, me.

Before the foundation of the world, God existed completely united as one. God’s eternal purpose was to extend the union of the Godhead into the earth through Us, His image bearers. Satan has worked from the very beginning to break the unity God was extending through Us into the earth. Jesus waged war against Satan and the fallen angels with His cross, reconciling and restoring Us back to God. Today, we are fighting in a war already won — giving our lives to the reconciliation and the restoration of all things. This Is Us.

None of us are exempt from experiencing tragedies and traumas in life. And yet, because of our divine call, God has graced us with His love so that we are not imprisoned by our wounds, but empowered to live fearlessly under the influence of His Holy Spirit.

The Western world teaches us to focus almost entirely on self. Personal choice and personal happiness are celebrated, valued and exalted above nearly all else. This worldview and mindset aren’t unique to the secular world; it’s embraced and preached among the redeemed. But the shared calling on our lives will not be accomplished with a focus on self, personal choice or individual happiness – We have a shared, divine call.

Christians are called to be in this world but not of this world. Our union with Christ has made us distinct from all people, in all places. God has fashioned us in Himself and as we draw from the fullness of His powerful love — He is able to accomplish in and through us infinitely more than we could ask or think. While others draw from this world, we’ve been called to draw from Christ, the source of all life, love and power, that we might display His glorious wisdom established before the world began.

In a world full of possibilities and choices, we all end up in one of two categories — collaborators or perpetrators. Collaborators are those who surrender to the reality that God’s wisdom and glory exceed all other pursuits and in Him we find the truest version of ourselves. Perpetrators are those who choose the deception of being a god unto themselves, investing their lives in the pursuit of their own glory by their own wisdom — making themselves enemies of God. Collaborating or perpetrating is not a choice we make at once, it’s one we make day by day — to collaborate or to perpetrate, that is the question each our lives will ultimately answer.

Every day we make a myriad of decisions which impact our destiny. The mechanisms and parameters we employ to arrive at these decisions affect every area of our lives. As ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven, our God-King does not want us to walk through life making our decisions according to any current cultural, familial or national parameters or appetites, but He desires and requires that we Walk THIS Way!

We live in a time and age that puts so much emphasis on the individual and personal choice. Our focus on self tears at the very fabric of our design and human relationships. But God has called us together into something bigger than ourselves. And one of the keys to the eyes of our understanding being opened is the revelation of Us.

There are three sacred things that only the Heavenly Father can provide for us. Apart from them our lives are filled with disorder, inadequacy and purposelessness. And there are three significant things that our earthly fathers can provide for us that stabilize and advantage us in this world. We’re all in need of the Father Factor.

The hardships and suffering we experience in this world have a purpose that works for us and extends far beyond us. Our response to hardships and suffering shape us and set a stage for God’s glory and for God’s judgement to be revealed. God’s glory is revealed when we respond His way, with His words and His intent. God’s judgement is revealed to those who resist and refuse His way, words and intent. But the present suffering, hardships, glory and judgements are not worthy to be compared with what we will soon see — at His second coming.

So much of the culture wars of our day are about responsibility and culpability. Who’s at fault for the injustices and inequities that plague this world? Some lean towards seeing everything as a matter of individual responsibility — if they hadn’t been there, if they hadn’t done that, if they had worked harder or been smarter. Others lean towards seeing everything as systemic and structural — the deck is stacked, the system is broken, there's no justice for some. Both perspectives carry truth, but both are secular world views. The follower of Jesus is called to biblical responsibility — to participate, demonstrate and advocate for a way of life that is accountable for one another. We are one another’s keeper.

God is generous, God is just and equitable and God is our advocate. Biblical justice is the overflow of God’s character into our lives, our practices and our social structures. The follower of Jesus is called to be an advocate, one who stands against unjust, ungodly practices and systems that undermine the wellbeing and opportunities for flourishing in the lives of others. To be a follower of Jesus is to be one that speaks up, stands up and shows up for others but especially for the marginalized.

Pentecost Sunday - May 23rd, 2021

Justice in the eyes of God is not about us or anyone else getting what they deserve. Justice in God’s eyes is about us getting what He intended. Biblical justice is connected to the very character of God and its outworking in our everyday lives. If we are going to live justly and promote God’s brand of justice, we will answer the call to see our neighbor as those who bear His image and not our own.

For some, Mother’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate mom and our gratitude for her special place in our lives. For others, it’s a reminder of what they’ve lost or never had. To honor these intricately faceted perceptions of motherhood, we’ll host an up-close and personal panel discussion with women who’ll share their insights of A Legacy of Motherhood.