Where's your focus?

This past Sunday night we pulled a quick change of plans maneuver. We attended a rally put together by an organization of youth leaders called Connect designed to promote the Rock The Lakes event coming up this weekend. I'm so thankful our teens, parents, and our volunteers were so willing to be flexible. 

This rally was a great way to get our teens excited about going and bringing friends with them. We were taught that we can focus our lives on protecting ourselves from what Gods Word says is inevitable or we can focus on reaching others with the gospel. Rock The Lakes is focused on reaching others with the gospel. 

What is the Church?

The Church is the body of believers who have committed their lives to Jesus Christ and through evangelism, community, and discipleship. This short video linked below, describes discipleship according to Jewish custom.  
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1333325384809&comment_id=464517&offset=0&total_comments=2

After Christ was crucified, he rose from the dead. Before he could challenge his followers, who would lead the charge of starting His Church, he had to reveal himself to them.

Luke 24:13
¹³ Now that same day two of them were on their way to a village called^[d] Emmaus, which was about seven miles^[e] from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Together they were discussing everything that had taken place. ¹⁵ And while they were discussing and arguing, Jesus Himself came near and began to walk along with them. ¹⁶ But they^[f] were prevented from recognizing Him. ¹⁷ Then He asked them, “What is this dispute that you’re having^[g] with each other as you are walking?” And they stopped walking and looked discouraged.

¹⁸ The one named Cleopas answered Him, “Are You the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” He asked them.

So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, who was a Prophet powerful in action and speech before God and all the people, ²⁰ and how our chief priests and leaders handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him. ²¹ But we were hoping that He was the One who was about to redeem Israel. Besides all this, it’s the third day since these things happened. ²² Moreover, some women from our group astounded us. They arrived early at the tomb, ²³ and when they didn’t find His body, they came and reported that they had seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they didn’t see Him.”

²⁵ He said to them, “How unwise and slow you are to believe in your hearts all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Didn’t the Messiah have to suffer these things and enter into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

²⁸ They came near the village where they were going, and He gave the impression that He was going farther. ²⁹ But they urged Him: “Stay with us, because it’s almost evening, and now the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.

³⁰ It was as He reclined at the table with them that He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him, but He disappeared from their sight. ³² So they said to each other, “Weren’t our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?” ³³ That very hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and those with them gathered together, ³⁴ who said,^[h] “The Lord has certainly been raised, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ Then they began to describe what had happened on the road and how He was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

I think this portrays several ideas. I believe this shows us the importance of relationships for a couple of reasons. 1. He was so enjoyable to be around that these two guys invited him, who they thought was a stranger, to stay with them in their home. 2. When they sat down to eat, he helped himself to the bread, but when he broke off some for them, their eyes were opened to who he was. like that was a magical moment.

The people of the church should be the type of people that other people like to be around. hospitable, friendly, easy to laugh, willing to change their plans.

Matthew 5:13-16
 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ...

Up until Jesus' death, the church had been a building called a synagogue. A place to go worship God with teaching and animal sacrifices. but when Jesus was killed on the cross, a new church was formed. The salvation that Gods people were waiting for had arrived, and grace had replaced the bloodshed of animals with the bloodshed of the savior. Since Adam and Eve committed the first sin, God had required bloodshed for worship and the cleansing of sins. Bloodshed showed sacrifice. Animals were a sign of wealth. the purpose of sacrificing that animal was a way of giving back a portion of your wealth to God. Where did you get that wealth anyways, right? They received that from God. God replaced those actions required for worship and salvation, with grace and mercy by allowing His son to be the ultimate bloodshed for the forgiveness of sins eternally.

So, after Jesus' death, he came back to life. He reveals himself to his disciples, and now he is telling them that he is going to leave again. But what he says to his disciples are the commands he wants them to live by after he's gone. those commands are then passed on to us through God's word and through this idea of discipleship.

Great Commission:

Matthew 28:16  ¹⁶ The 11 disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped,^[e] but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of^[f] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember,^[g] I am with you always,^[h] to the end of the age.”

Discussion

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever. Do you believe this?”
  ---  People are the seeds of the new church which sprouted into thousands when the Holy Spirit came upon them, enabling them to carry out the mission Jesus gave them.

This is where the Church went from being a synagogue to a group of people. This is where rules and standards were replaced by grace and mercy.

what do you view people of the church to be like?

Are they hospitable? friendly? Trustworthy? Are you?

Why do you think Jesus had to die instead of continuing with animal sacrifice?

How is it that the Church has spread from then until now?

What does it mean to make disciples?

Got Questions?

I believe that something we should always do is ask questions. I question everything.

But eventually we will need a standard. Something that we know and believe is set in stone that we line our questions up against. For me, that standard is God's Word. I believe this to be true and I line up my questions against this truth. Some questions don't pertain to this standard and so I don’t need to bounce the questions off this truth. My neighbor taught my daughters a song called Grey Squirrel. You can watch the video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1U5i_scF_M So questions like, why don’t squirrels smell with their tail? That has nothing to do with this book. But I'm still curious. As big and bushy as a squirrels tail is, you'd think it would be a better sniffer than that little nub on the front of their face. But questions about life, nature, people, those questions can be answered by this book. One of my biggest questions has been, How am I to relate to other people. I'm mostly introverted, I don’t always like people. I like to be alone, in the quiet, or somewhere where I don’t have to talk to people. Like at a UFC event, or a movie. Still not sure why I allowed my wife to talk me into having kids. we have a 4 and a 2 yr old. They are not quiet. The scream, they cry, the talk your ear off, and that’s just the older one.  But I love my kids to death and I enjoy watching them grow and develop.
But that leads me to ask even more, what am I to do with these relationships that I cannot seem to escape from. There are people everywhere, especially in my home. What do I do with that. And so I take what I know about this book and find out what all it says on the matter and I apply it to my life b/c that is how I will have life to the fullest. Things like teach your child the ways they should go so when they are old they will not depart from it. And that we are to love our neighbors. I also believe that we are to live in community with others and so that often forces me to go outside of my comfort zone and talk to people I don’t know. And most of the time, I enjoy getting to know people. And after I have talked to people and spent time getting to know them, I am glad I did. I have just found that being alone recharges me so that I can go back out and communicate with others.
So, most real, relevant questions can be answered by reading and studying Gods Word.