Here is God's will for the world: that they might have life and life in abundance. This was central to Jesus's mission. This was the reason why Jesus lived and died. This is also what should define our lives: that we be life-giving witnesses of Jesus. This is the will of God. | John 10:10

The will of God for the church is to be a witness of solidarity to the world. Jesus commanded it and prayed for it; that we would be one, perfectly one as is the relationship between the Father, Son and the Spirit. This seems like an impossible task, the fulfillment of which will not be seen until Jesus returns. But we are called to be participants in that witness to the world. | John 17:20-23 | 1 Cor. 1:10-13

The will of God for your family is that your family be defined by the will of God. What defines your family today will be what is passed on to your children and your children's children. When you frame what the will of God is for your family think about legacy. Joshua declared, "...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." His house was definitely his immediate family. But it could have also been his extended family or the generations of his "house" that were to come. | Joshua 24:14-15

God's will for our lives is that we be free. God's will is that we be free to contribute to God's will for humanity. God's will for us is bigger than us. We must decide if we want to each be consumers of God's will or re-creators of God's will.

When we pray for God to cause something to happen we must be prepared to engage and participate in what God is doing to accomplish the very thing we prayed for. This participation is central to our witness. When we do the will of God it is, as Jesus said, "food." That means doing the will of God is essential to life, it gives us energy, and we ought to enjoy it. To engage in doing God's will is to enter into "play" with and for God. | John 4:32

Possibly the most necessary step to healing individually and collectively is Sabbath rest. We must acknowledge the issue. We must name (diagnose) the issue so that we can properly treat the issue. Once we treat the issue we must then rehab and be strengthened. Whether it is a physical injury, a mental/emotional injury, a spiritual injury, or a social/communal injury, Sabbath rest is critical to our healing.

The second issue that must be named in our personal and collective lives that we need to heal from is trauma. There is trauma imposed upon each of us by the violations or abandonment of others. There is the trauma we may have brought upon ourselves because of poor decisions. There is also the trauma we all face when we witness a murder such as George Floyd's. But we can learn from the trauma experienced by Mary, Jesus's mother, and the disciple whom Jesus loved after they witnessed the traumatic event of his execution. The treatment is for human community to reoriented towards divine community. Just as Jesus calls them to community, he calls us to it as well. | John 19:25-27

The third "step" in our journey to individual and collective healing is to decide on how to treat the personal/social sin. After we acknowledge that we are sick we then must name (diagnose) the sickness. Naming the issue/sin/virus informs what treatment is appropriate. In this message we name the issue as "ideology" that is the root of much of our personal and societal issues. The treatment is found in Romans 12:2 when Paul exhorts us to be "transformed by the renewal of our minds." A re-education must take place.

The first step to moving towards personal or communal healing is to acknowledge the issue/sickness/sin (see previous message). The second step discussed in this message is to name the issue/sickness/sin. This is where we diagnose the problem. Without the right diagnosis we won't figure out the proper treatment. Listen as we take a quick glance at how Jesus confronted and named the issues that caused the sickness in the first place. Mark 5:1-9 | Mark 9:14-29

The first step to individual and communal healing is to acknowledge that their is an issue. To ignore personal and social sins/isms is to welcome them and allow them to prevail. Let's learn from Achan, David, and Ezra why it is important to acknowledge what makes us sick so that we can move towards healing.