Bay Area Community Church

Happy Palm Sunday! Last week we learned that we shouldn't try to hide our flaws and this week we will dive into the 'why.' You've seen the broken pots around the building, in the videos and branding. What makes them beautiful? The ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, which is a process of mending breakage in pottery with gold, is the image of God's ability to infuse us with His strength. Simply put, God's power is made perfect in weakness - it is in our flaws and weaknesses that God’s strength is made more beautiful and apparent.

Do you have anybody in your life who is a "story-topper?" No matter what story you relay about your life, they can "do ya one better?" Nobody likes that feeling - but that's exactly what Paul does to his opponents in this passage, and its not pretty! But in the end, we're going to see how he completely upends what gives a person "bragging rights" and what we learn just might flip your world upside down.

I cannot stress enough how important this Sunday’s message is for every follower of Jesus. We want to grow. We long to experience a closeness with Christ and a full life. Yet so many are stuck. Stuck in disappointment and unanswered “Why's.” Stuck in an ongoing struggle with unfulfilled desires or fear or anger or greed or lust or addiction. Or, it feels like God is distant and not answering our prayers to set us free. What is the solution to this invisible war?

This week we continue in our series Paradox, by examining Gaining by Giving. The Corinthian church had made a commitment to give resources to the suffering church in Jerusalem. But after a year, they still hadn’t followed through on their commitment. Paul, concerned that the Corinthians would continue to selfishly hold onto their resources, desires to help church understand the bigger loss of not being generous.

Grace. It’s the operating system of a believer. It is the air we breathe. Yet for most of us, we don’t really grasp it. Our default switch is set on performance and works. Grace is the explanation to so many biblical paradoxes. Last Sunday Aaron introduced us to the paradox of happiness in the midst of affliction. This week Paul sets forth another paradox: generosity in the midst of poverty. How are these seemingly contradictory things possible? What is the explanation? In one word: GRACE.

Are Christians always grumpy? Or do we have to be bubbly rainbow unicorns all the time? Should we expect some happiness in this life, or should we just wait until heaven? And what's the difference between joy and happiness anyway - or is there a difference? If you're like me, my happiness levels seem to fluctuate minute to minute, but I'm convinced that Paul had a vision for something more profound and stable than I tend to be.

Throughout history, people’s expectations of what it would look like for the Kingdom of God to manifest itself on earth have needed some adjustments. Jesus continually challenged people’s assumptions about what the Messiah would do, and He is still challenging our expectations and today. What does it mean for us to be His witnesses throughout the earth, and what are we to do with the power that He has promised us?

Who are the least? How do they triumph? What does their triumph look like? Last week Greg talked about how in the upside-down kingdom, the least triumph when we become the least. This week, we will look at how becoming the least of these begins with acknowledging our own least-ness by taking a dive into the gospel of Luke.

This Sunday we launch a new series that will lead us to our annual SOULS World Missions Conference on February 26. God has a heart for the nations and wants to use each of us! And His heart is especially for the least. What is this “upside-down” kingdom we are part of? How do the least triumph? The answer will surprise you.

"Can you remind me WHY we are doing this?" Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you don't think you can take another step of progress until you have some clarity about why in the world this is even necessary? I know that both personally and at work, the better I understand WHY something needs doing, the more effectively I'm able to do it. That principle applies in our lives spiritually as well - this weekend, we'll explore Paul's WHY for ministry, and try to see if we can adopt it to be ours as well.