Citizens Weekly

“Love your neighbor” – it’s a simple command with incredible consequences.  Paul and his team share in I Thessalonians 2 how their mission to the city of Thessalonica transformed them as they learned to love (and be loved) by their neighbors.  As we approach a new school year and thousands of strangers descending upon our city, what would it look like if Jesus’ church stepped forward and saw every man, woman, and child as a neighbor God loves?  How would Bryan College Station change?  How would we change?

Jesus sees the world differently than we do. When he sees us, his first instinct is not towards judgement but towards compassion. Jesus' sight of us is passionate, piercing, and has the power to transform us from the inside out. We are exactly what he's looking for.

“God is intensely and fundamentally relational,” is a phrase we repeat from time to time at Citizens. Josh breaks down this phrase, explains its motivations and unpacks deeper meaning behind each of the words. He explores three of the qualities of being relational and how this critical aspect of God leads us to the understanding that love is the basis of all reality.

Anything we set against the perfect nature and character of our Lord – as He revealed in Scripture – will fall like the idol of Dagon before the Ark of the Covenant. As believers, it is tempting to exalt the peace and joy of the Kingdom of God while ignoring, or fighting against, God’s righteousness. But Romans 14 says we need all three. And Jesus said to seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness. In a cultural age that decries righteousness as “hate-speech”, we believers need to be reminded by scripture that God’s righteousness is deeply connected to His love, and vice versa. His love and righteousness are one in the same.

The Father’s heart for us is to live in freedom and to become more like him. Fear is not freedom and it is not the Father’s voice. It can easily keep us from moving forward through whatever chapter we find ourselves in. This week, we look at why and how we as believers must behold him and see him rightly. We also discover what we see about the cross when we look closely and what we can do with the things that have had a hold on us for too long.

Only Jesus can pronounce Salvation. Only Jesus can grant access, by His Blood, to the Kingdom of God. However, Jesus still waits for us to actively repent of our self-constructed securities, to break allegiances with false “gospels” that suggest we are perfectly fine exactly as we are or that our passion for His works is enough to win Him over. The true Gospel of Jesus is worth making room for in our lives. For this reason, may His Kingdom extend still further into each one of us.

As Adam held fig leaves to cover the shame of his body, God asked him, “Who told you that you were naked?” Much later, after a wealthy fellow asked Jesus how to get religious rewards, Jesus ups the ante and tells him, “Go sell your possessions and give your money to the poor.” Jesus said this because he knew, just as Adam held his fig leaves, the rich young man held his possessions. What fig leaves are we holding? What lies or weaknesses are we trying to hide? And what do we do when dropping those fig leaves is easier said than done? In Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation, but there is also no room to hold to self-protective / self-destructive coverings.

Nick talks about how to silence the inner critic and accusatory tone many believers can have towards themselves and how to be as kind to themselves as God is.

Jesus departed from crowds to "desolate places" to meet with His Father. If this was a regular practice for Jesus, perhaps it should be for us as well. Summer in a college town provides an ample opportunity for such, especially as the crowds around here have departed. But what should our time in those desolate places look like? We can see examples in Luke of people encountering Jesus, that mirror similar Old Testament encounters with Father God, that seemed to please both. And we know, if something pleases God, we want to give that to Him. The desolate places just became more inviting.