A couple years ago now, one of my daughters was invited to a classmate's birthday party. We had to reschedule a couple of things to make it happen, but my daughter really wanted to go so we did what we had to do. When I called to let the parents know that Mary would be coming, the Dad told me that some of the kids at school had been mean and spiteful to his daughter. They were saying that no one wanted to go to her party so why bother having one. Apparently some of the girls she had invited had already called to say no, they couldn't come for whatever reason. So the Dad said that his daughter would be really excited that Mary was coming. Was I ever glad we had gone to the trouble (though not too much trouble at all, really) to change things around so Mary could go!
Can you imagine inviting a bunch of "friends" to your birthday party and no one came? There is something deeply meaningful about having a group of friends gather to not only celebrate with you, but to celebrate you on your birthday. As we move from "Birth" to the next stage of spiritual growth this week ("Infancy"), one thing we see is the importance of celebrating new birth. A baby's most important emotional need is to be loved unconditionally, to be celebrated simply for being alive. This love and celebration is not dependent on what the baby has done or will do. Family and community express to a baby that s/he is precious, wanted, and an incredible joy. If a child doesn't receive this kind of love and affirmation as an infant, its emotional growth will forever but stunted as a result. They will be more guarded, less able to share joy and love with others, and much more besides.
This need to celebrate new birth also holds true when it comes to spiritual birth and growth. "Baby" Christians also need to be celebrated, to be loved unconditionally, and to be joyfully accepted into the "family" or community. Of course, knowing and experiencing the unconditional, unfailing love of our Heavenly Father is critical to this. But this love and celebration also needs to be embodied by the church (i.e. the "body of Christ").
Isn't it interesting, then, that an informal lunch and skating party has been organised for this Sunday, completely separately from this series of messages? One of our Community Groups decided recently to host this event and to extend an invitation to the congregation, and especially to the newer people and families among us. God certainly does have a neat way of pulling these kinds of things together sometimes! So, whether you like to skate or not, please join us on Sunday after church for lunch, skating (weather permitting), games, conversation, and plenty of celebration! (Directions will be available at church Sunday morning.)
January 21, 2010
January 14, 2010
Hitting the Target
You know, whether it's archery, darts, or anything else, anyone can get a bullseye... if you draw the target after you've fired the arrow/dart. The key to improving, though, is to set the target out in front of you, shoot the arrow/dart, and then look to see how you've done. Then you do it again... and again... and again.
Of course the question, for those of us who would call ourselves followers of Jesus, is this: what's the target? In other words, what are we aiming for? What's a bullseye? And how will we know if we're getting better?
Well, here at NPC we have set out the target in the following terms: "Our Mission is to help people experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ." While the Bible can sometimes seem a little arcane and difficult to understand in places, there is absolutely no doubt that God invites us to grow and change, to become more like Jesus (e.g. John 3.3, 2 Corinthians 3.18 and 5.17, Ephesians 4.11-15. This is not something we do for ourselves, mind you, simply trying hard to be like Jesus. It is God's Spirit at work within us, though we do need to open ourselves and partner with the Spirit in this work.) And there is no doubt that those of us who have experienced and are experiencing this transformation are called, also by the work and power of the Holy Spirit, to introduce others to the life-changing love of God as seen in Jesus (e.g. Matthew 28.18-20, Acts 1.8, 1 Peter 3.15-16).
Great, sounds good! But there's an old piece of wisdom that crops up in my mind at this point. Maybe you've heard it before: "You can't lead someone somewhere that you have not been to yourself." If we are setting a target of "helping others experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ" when we have not experienced or are not experiencing that kind of life-changing relationship ourselves, then we are doomed to failure from the start.
Over these next few weeks, we are going to be looking at the question of what it means to grow in Christ, to mature spiritually. Like the stages of development in our physical, emotional and intellectual growth, there are also stages of growth and development in our relationship with God. If it is true that "we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4.15), then maybe we can see similar stages in our spiritual growth, i.e. Birth, Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, Young Adulthood, and Adulthood.
Please understand, I have no interest in wagging my finger at you or anyone else for not being spiritual enough or mature enough. I simply want us to be able to take an honest, searching look at ourselves so we can each figure out where we might be on this continuum of growth. Then we will be able to see more clearly where the target is for us and ask the Holy Spirit to start moving us closer to bullseye, closer to Jesus.
As always, if you can't make it out to the services (Sundays at 10am), you can catch up by downloading an audio recording of the messages HERE. Hope to see you soon!
Of course the question, for those of us who would call ourselves followers of Jesus, is this: what's the target? In other words, what are we aiming for? What's a bullseye? And how will we know if we're getting better?
Well, here at NPC we have set out the target in the following terms: "Our Mission is to help people experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ." While the Bible can sometimes seem a little arcane and difficult to understand in places, there is absolutely no doubt that God invites us to grow and change, to become more like Jesus (e.g. John 3.3, 2 Corinthians 3.18 and 5.17, Ephesians 4.11-15. This is not something we do for ourselves, mind you, simply trying hard to be like Jesus. It is God's Spirit at work within us, though we do need to open ourselves and partner with the Spirit in this work.) And there is no doubt that those of us who have experienced and are experiencing this transformation are called, also by the work and power of the Holy Spirit, to introduce others to the life-changing love of God as seen in Jesus (e.g. Matthew 28.18-20, Acts 1.8, 1 Peter 3.15-16).
Great, sounds good! But there's an old piece of wisdom that crops up in my mind at this point. Maybe you've heard it before: "You can't lead someone somewhere that you have not been to yourself." If we are setting a target of "helping others experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ" when we have not experienced or are not experiencing that kind of life-changing relationship ourselves, then we are doomed to failure from the start.
Over these next few weeks, we are going to be looking at the question of what it means to grow in Christ, to mature spiritually. Like the stages of development in our physical, emotional and intellectual growth, there are also stages of growth and development in our relationship with God. If it is true that "we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4.15), then maybe we can see similar stages in our spiritual growth, i.e. Birth, Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, Young Adulthood, and Adulthood.
Please understand, I have no interest in wagging my finger at you or anyone else for not being spiritual enough or mature enough. I simply want us to be able to take an honest, searching look at ourselves so we can each figure out where we might be on this continuum of growth. Then we will be able to see more clearly where the target is for us and ask the Holy Spirit to start moving us closer to bullseye, closer to Jesus.
As always, if you can't make it out to the services (Sundays at 10am), you can catch up by downloading an audio recording of the messages HERE. Hope to see you soon!
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