Great Doubt to Great Joy

Authority of Jesus and His Mission

This Sunday we dove into Luke 4:31-44, and recognized Jesus' absolute authority over evil as demonstrated through his miraculous healings. These miracles serve as signs of Christ's power over the effects of sin and death, while cautioning that the ultimate purpose of Jesus's mission was to offer access to the Father through the proclamation of the Gospel rather than just temporary physical healing. How are we called to participate in the mission of Jesus?

Prayer

We considered the concept of becoming a "house of prayer" as defined in Mark 11, and emphasized that believers carry both the authority of Jesus and the intimacy with God. In what ways are we using prayer as a tool to see God's kingdom break out into our city?

Ministry in the Church Body

As we looked at Ephesians 4, we focused on the Ministry & Mission environment of our Discipleship Pathway, and zoomed in on the Ministry side. We considered how believers can participate with the Holy Spirit to build up the church. Just as Jesus received authority from God to give the ultimate gift of His "body" (the church) to the world, individual believers have also received unique gifts meant to be given back to strengthen that body.

To The Ends of the Earth

We considered that every believer is part of a "royal priesthood" called to both an inward-facing role of worshiping God and an outward-facing role of sharing the Gospel. As the church body, we are called to align our earthly priorities with the realities of heaven through local and global mission.

Heavenly Humanity on Earth Part 2

Humanity is aching for a kind of life it cannot manufacture on it's own. The future re-creation that humanity longs for has broken into the present through Jesus. We can't do the Lord's work without the Lord's way. His way is empowered by the Holy Spirit. We, the church, are the Spirit filled, Heavenly Humanity on Earth.