When Your Walk Becomes Your Talk
Colossians 2:6-15
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this worldrather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities,he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
When Your Walk Becomes Your Talk
I was sitting across from a friend and he asks, “What’s new with you?”
I begin to tell him about the activities I’m involved in and projects I am working on. I toss the same question back to him and he fills me in on the events of his past few days. But what I really want to ask him is, “What gives your life meaning and purpose these days?” I want to know what is underneath everything he is doing. The timing wasn’t quite right to ask at that moment, but I know I will ask him in the very near future.
I’ve started to ask this question in various ways after I read what Will Mancini said in the book, “God Dreams”. He stated,
“Our heart is made to live in a larger story; having lost that, we do the best we can by developing our own smaller dramas. Look at the things people get caught up in: sports, politics, soap operas, rock bands. Desperate for something larger to give our lives transcendence, we try to lose ourselves in the smallest kind of stories.”
In the past couple of weeks since I started this I’ve been keeping track of the answers people give. I’ll summarize the top four answers I’ve been given starting with the number one answer…
#1: “I’m not really sure… I haven’t thought about it much… I’ll have to think more about that.”
#2: “My family and friends”
#3: “Trying to do my best… being a good person.”
#4: “God… my faith… my relationship with Jesus”.
I invited you last week on a journey with me to fall more in love with Jesus. One of the wonderful outcomes of asking the question I’ve highlighted above is that most people want to know where I’m finding meaning and purpose these days! Well, I’ve been sharing with them what Jesus means to me and how I am pursuing him at this time.
I’ve been reflecting on the following verses that continue to give me inspiration and strength. I hope they will for you as well!
The Apostle Paul said, “…the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began… That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. (1 Corinthians 2:7-10)
Grateful to be on this journey with you,
John
READ & REFLECT: Colossians 2:6-15
6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.
7 Let your roots grow down into him,
and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking
and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ,
who is the head over every ruler and authority.
11 When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
13 You were dead because of your sins
and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.
Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.
14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
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What is character? It is perhaps best described as the sum of moral qualities associated with a person, and suggests ethical strength and excellence.
Character is about doing what is right, regardless of what is convenient or popular.
It comprises the core principles and values of who you really are,
both inwardly and outwardly, in your behavior and relationships.
Leon Van Rooyen,Does Your Walk Match Your Talk?
Reflecting On God’s Word
Colossians 2:6 states, “…just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him…”.
The question that is central to the verse is:
“What does it look like to follow Jesus in today’s world?”
I have found this pattern to be evident in all those who truly follow Jesus:
1. They are in tune with the Spirit that God has placed inside them when they dedicated their life to follow him.
But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:26-27
2. They set aside time to BE with Jesus because they deeply value the relationship with him!
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
3. Following Jesus entails both obeying his teachings and imitating his example.
But this is not the sum of the matter. For obeying and imitating are not ends in themselves but are means to a greater end. That end or goal of discipleship is to become like Jesus himself: to think as he thought, to feel as he felt, to act as he acted, desire what he desired. As John puts it, “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6)
4. They are compelled to serve others in a variety of different ways!
13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you…. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. John 13:13-17
RESPONDING TO GOD
Where Have You Seen God At Work In Your Life?
In what ways did God speak to you through the sharing of John & Kathy Rueter?
Q: Which of the 4 areas that we shared is our Lord prompting you to act on?
CHALLENGE:Take some time this week to go for a walk with Jesus and thank him for the changes he has and IS bringing about in your life.Invite him to show you any area of your life that He would like to work on with you.
NewDay - Envisioning Our Ministry Together
Phase I: Regroup & Revision: (April-June, 2021) Begin the process of gathering back together through both online and in-person to prayerfully discern God’s direction for our church body.
Over the next few months we are inviting you into prayer and discussion as we seek God’s leading in what He wants to do in and through us. Alan Hirsch noted in his book, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church that, “a missional church is a community of God's people that defines itself, and organizes its life around, its real purpose of being an agent of God's mission to the world… Being the church that Jesus intended means that we must participate in God’s eternal purposes for his world. Renewal means more than reinventing ourselves; it means rediscovering the primal power of the Spirit and the gospel already present in the life of the church—reconnecting with this purpose and recovering the forgotten ways.”
How will that happen?
1. Monday night Zoom prayer time together – 8:30-9:00 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82860208647?pwd=Tk1CeEZaekNVTVRzYUJWTmdjMnh3QT09
2. Sunday morning worship & sharing: Drawing close to God & hearing how God is at work in our lives
3. Read & Reflect on Scripture and discipleship resources that give us clarity in aligning our lives with Christ’s call on our lives.
4. Leadership Team asks for your continual prayers as they seek to put together a nominating team who will be prayerfully inviting and bringing forward those leaders God is raising up to step into a greater role of leadership at NewDay. Please bring any suggestions of people you believe are Christ-centered leaders to the current leadership team (Roger Hofer, Colleen Maddox, Jason Rebhahn, Grace Buckner, Pastor John)
Phase II. Refocus: (June-August, 2021) Validate the unique giftedness of NewDay and its congregation and then chart God’s inspired vision for NewDay that utilizes our giftedness to address specific ministry needs.
Phase III. Realign: (September-October, 2021) Adjust staffing and volunteer teams to support the fulfillment of this vision.
Phase IV. Reenergize: (November-December 2021) Engage and energize the NewDay congregation through short and long-term goals that support the vision