Real Church - Sunday Gathering

Peter's prayerlessness, pride, and panic, caused him to follow Jesus from a distance. When we have one foot in this world and one foot in the will of God, we try to convince ourselves that its ok to follow from a distance. But distant causes great damage to our souls if we remain there. If we want to follow Jesus, we must remain "Close."

Part 4 of "Name Above All Names." discusses Jesus' unusual journey to restore His name as "Name Above All Names." In order to be exalted He would travel the road of Humility. He humbled himself and took up a low position, subjecting himself to slander, abuse, and death on a cross. Christians are expected to display this same attitude. If we want Jesus to remain exalted, we must follow Him in humility. To live like Christ, we must stay "Low."

Today we dive into part 3 of how to keep Jesus exalted as the Name Above All Names in our own heart. Jesus came to bring His kingdom to this upside-down world. Following Jesus will challenge us to selflessly live outside of our comfort zone and be willing to live in a way that is counter to culture. God's church must be willing to lay aside selfish ambition and embrace the opposite.

Last week we talked about how exalting things above Jesus causes us to have an upside-down heart. This week we look at Jesus' prayer, as well as His interaction with His disciples in the garden and the 4 things we can do to remain "Right Side Up."

When God's creation rebelled against their creator, they exalted themselves above the One they were created to worship. As a result, the world was flipped upside down. What Jesus did through his death and resurrection exalted Him as the Name Above All Names. However, His name is not always exalted in our own hearts. Because of this, even Christians can contribute to the chaos of this upside-down world. Today we discuss how we can exalt his name and flip over our upside-down hearts!

A realistic call for people to follow Jesus wholeheartedly; with everything they are and have. A call for pre-Christians and Christians!

As we continue to discuss the defining characteristics of the early church and the "table culture" that God wants us to embody, we turn our attention to the contents of the table. It's not enough to have a horizontal focus, to extend the table for others, and fill the empty chairs, if we don't have "Real Food" on the table. To become the church that God wants us to be, we have to "Get Real."

Today we discuss the third characteristic of a "table culture" The responsibility and privilege to fill the empty chairs.

If we are to return to some of the defining characteristics of the early church, we must embody a "table culture." The second characteristic of the table culture is that we make room at the table for others. God's table must be Extendable.

The early church embodied such a compelling community that their number was added to daily. They often gathered around tables for worship and their culture reflected their gathering space. Rather than ministry taking place from the stage down to the pews, there was horizontal ministry from across the table. These next few weeks, we will discuss the defining characteristics of the early church and how today, we can recapture the "table culture."