Gateway Church - MO

Have you ever looked at where you are in life and wondered if you were really making a difference? It’s not an uncommon worry. Most of us want to do something special, but we are also scared of what God might call us to do. After all, we’re just ordinary people with nothing special to offer. But believe it or not, God is calling you to do something extraordinary, because God calls ordinary people to extraordinary purpose.

Most people assume that following Jesus will make our lives easier. We expect that following him will eliminate our frustrations, our pain, and our difficulties. We expect that, since we've signed on to follow Jesus, things must get easier. But the reality is that following Jesus will not make our lives easier. In fact, because following Jesus goes against the grain of our culture, it will actually make our lives harder. But, the satisfaction, peace and life lived to the fullest that comes with following Jesus makes life it worth the challenge. Following Jesus will not make our lives easier, but it will make them better.

When we choose to follow Jesus, we often expect him to do the hard work for us. We assume that because he loves us, he'll do the hard stuff that we don't want to do or can't do. But the truth is, Jesus never promised to do everything for us or that life would get smoother. However, he did promise that when we surrender to him, he will give us the power we need to be the people he has called us to be.

The common expectation of Jesus is that, when I follow him, he will make me a better person. The problem is that we don’t need to be better. We need to be radically transformed. Self-help books and pop-psychology podcasts can help us be better. But only Jesus can transform us. Once again, Jesus exceeds expectations. Jesus doesn’t make me a better person. Jesus makes me a new person.

Most people expect death to be the end. And a cursory look at the way the world works makes that a realistic expectation. Both his enemies and his followers expected Jesus to stay dead after he was crucified. But Jesus defied that expectation. More than that, he promises that those who follow him can expect the same reality. In Jesus, death isn’t the end. In fact, through his resurrection a new world begins. A world that is radically different than the one we’ve come to expect. If Jesus is alive, then everything is different.

We have all wrestled with shame. Maybe someone did something to us that left us hurting and broken; and we felt shame. Perhaps we said or did something that hurt others and with our guilt came shame. When we are carrying shame, it’s easy to assume that no-one, including God, wants anything to do with us. But the truth is much different. God pursues us, not to punish us, but to invite us to come and sit at his table where his grace covers our shame.

Dr. Devon Smith, our District Superintendent, delivers a message on the distinction between expressing our desires to God and seeking guidance on our needs. While expressing our emotions to God may be a natural response, it does not necessarily convey our specific requirements or demonstrate the faith necessary to interpret and act upon God’s response.

Faith. It’s a word that conjures up a host of ideas and feelings. As followers of Jesus, our relationship with him is founded on faith. But far too often we assume having faith is simply claiming to believe something we’ve been taught. Real faith is deeper. Real faith requires action on our part, and it is always costly. But when we begin to exercise a costly faith, it has eternal consequences for us and for others.

Sometimes it looks like we have everything put together. We like to look like we have our feet on solid ground and our faith firmly in hand. But when we try to pretend to follow Jesus, the only person we fool is ourselves.  Our fake faith pushes others away from Jesus and keeps us from drawing near in humble repentance.  We may look good, but Jesus sees behind the façade to what we really are.

Stress, pain, frustration, difficulty and opposition can shake our world. And when our work gets shaken, we have two choices. We can give up and run and hide or we can look for solid ground. When life hurts, it's tempting to want to let go of our faith and blame God. But when we hold tight to our faith, we find that Jesus keeps us on solid ground even if everything else is shaken.