Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss Pastor Bobby's sermon on "How We Live, part one" in week three of our Membership Orientation series.
Lindsey Blair and Bobby Gilles recap and discuss Pastor Bobby's sermon on "How We Live, part one" in week three of our Membership Orientation series.
Bobby: Welcome to the Midweek Checkup. My name is Bobby Gilles and next to me is Lindsey Blair. This past Sunday, Pastor Jonah Sage preached “How we live, part one” in our series called Orientation.
Lindsey: Jonah said that we follow Jesus and learn to love God and each other like Jesus. But if you missed the sermon or need help remembering, you’re in the right spot for the Midweek Checkup.
Bobby: Jonah began by saying that Identity refers to the way you answer the questions "Who am I" and "Where do I belong?” Here in the U.S., identity is usually a personal, identical question. In Eastern cultures often say that your identity is found within a group. Does Jesus make you a new individual or part of a group? Both! Sojourn believes that adoption into the family of God opens up five ways of being in the world, five identities, five core rhythms. They describe the life of following Jesus. Our mission describes what we're doing. Our core values describe what we love. And our five identities describe HOW WE LIVE.
Lindsey: Our first, fundamental identity is to answer the call of Jesus as a disciple. Discipleship is about more than information. The invitation to discipleship is an invitation to relationship — it’s about the power of presence. Fundamentally, we have to see that discipleship is coming to Jesus to become like Jesus. And as we become like Jesus, the way we relate to God and each other changes. This leads to our second and third identities: we are worshipers and we are servants. "Worshiper" describes the way we relate to God our father. "Servants" describes the way we relate to one another.
Bobby: Worship is our life-long response to the beauty of God. Worship fills our souls with safety, changing us as we honor God. Worship lifts our eyes up off our circumstances and reminds us of what is most true, good, and beautiful: God! It shifts our focus from our hard lives back on to the good news of the gospel. Worship is one of the primary ways we become like Jesus because we become like what we worship. Worship shapes our commitments, receives our sacrifices, and produces our celebrations. So ask yourself, “What am I eager to commit to? What do I sacrifice for? What gets my deepest celebrations?”
Lindsey: Disciples come to Jesus to become like him, and this makes us worshipers of God where we can truly be safe. And this, in turn, shapes the way we relate to our fellow humans. Service to others is the overflow of a life of worship to God. When Peter and John were faced with a man with a disability, asking for money, they couldn’t give him what they didn’t have. But they gave what they could - they called on Jesus to heal him. Servants respond to the goodness of God by growing in awareness of what they have and what they can do, and the willingness to do it. We are not selfish servants here, those who serve only to meet their own needs. We are not selfless servants here, either. Those who think they have unlimited resources.
Bobby: We are not selective servants here, those who only serve when it's convenient. To be a servant is to receive a new identity that shapes the way we relate to one another. This means, like Peter and John, it won't always be convenient. Instead, we are becoming servants of all. We serve to make a meaningful connection with God and others, a response of worship to God and a desire to be blessing to those around us. The two words that guide a servant of all are AWARENESS and WILLINGNESS
Lindsey: Awareness means you know what you are good at, you know your gifts, you know your place in the body of Christ. Willingness means you are eager to give those gifts away for the good of those around you. We are disciples who come to Jesus to become like him. This makes us worshipers of God, able to experience true safety in the presence of God. And this frees us to serve each other, growing in awareness and willingness, growing in courage to step out in faith and trust God for the results.
Bobby: This coming Sunday, Pastor Jonah will finish teaching our series called Orientation, but the next Sunday is a Q&A based on this series. If you have questions, just email info@sojournnewalbany.com. Join us, and bring a friend.