When online we tend to say things that we might not say in-person. We talk big hidden behind our social media profile and perhaps hundreds or thousands of miles of physical distance. But for the believer, who we are both in-person and online should be the same is we want to look like Jesus. So you'll learn some questions to ask before you post or comment that might help you look more like Jesus and much less like the world - be it virtual or physical.

Social Media is a part of our lives and will only increase as time goes on. As followers of Jesus our online presence should be present Jesus in way that causes others to want to know Him more, even if that means they know us less.

Our primary function as follower of Jesus is to look like Him. We look like Jesus by acting, talking and loving God and others, like Him. Jesus said that that if we truly loved Him we'd obey Him, regardless of what we personally wanted, we'd do what He said to do. The last thing Jesus told His disciples to do is known as the Great Commission and it's the rallying cry for Christians and the Church. Jesus commanded us to make disciples, baptize them and then teach them to obey all His commands... which can be boiled down to two, love God and others (see above). Well, Jesus was baptized, He commanded His Church to baptize and He even said it fulfilled all righteousness. So what are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized, calling on the Name of the Lord!

Those who have surrendered their lives to God through obedience to Jesus become carriers of the Gospel to the world as Jesus' disciples. Our desire is to look more like Jesus every day in a world that looks less and less like the garden of Eden every day. The Church is the place where disciples get together to be built up in order to faithfully and fruitfully return to the world in order to invite others into the very same relationship with God that we enjoy. Not just to avoid hell, but to experience real life both here and then (when Jesus brings heaven and earth together).

Jesus left his followers with a specific set of instructions regarding what their role was in His Kingdom. Just as He had called each individual to repent, believe and follow (Mark 1&8) He now called the Church to make disciples, baptize and teach to obedience. The questions we answer in part 3 of This is Us are "What does it mean to be a disciple? And since a disciple is supposed to follow Jesus, what does that look like? By the end of this message you'll know what a disciple is (and isn't) and what it looks like to actually follow Jesus every day

If you were asked the question, "What is the Gospel?" How would you respond? The Good News? The Story of Jesus? Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? If we don't know what the Gospel is how can we share it? And if we don't share the correct Gospel, Jesus' Gospel, are we even really making disciples as Jesus commanded us to in Matthew 28:19? Let's discover what Jesus said His Gospel was so we're sure we're making the right kind of disciples!

When you take a 30K foot view of humanity you come to one overwhelming conclusion - Houston, we have a problem. Adam and Eve, Abraham, the nation of Israel and even the man after God's own heart, King David, couldn't get it right. Over and over every person failed to be who God created them to be. God repeatedly extended opportunities to partner with Him for the benefit of all humanity but we could not stop sinning. Because our sin problem appears so often in the Bible you might mistake it as a self-help book, encouraging you to, "get it right next time." But that would be missing the point. God didn't preserve the Bible to highlight a problem, He did it to present His plan for dealing with that problem so that we could finally enter into that partnership that He's always wanted.

2020 was a rough year for many with the pandemic and how that changed our lives. Let's call 2020 year Zero (like patient zero). And let's call 202ONE year One. A year where we refocus and regroup in order to be intentional about our lives again. We became lazy spiritually, relationally, economically and 2020 woke us up. Now it's time to get to work and figure out what the most important things are so we don't get distracted and complacent again.

It seems like our the problems we're facing in 2020 are nearly insurmountable. Life seemed like that for the people of Judah in 742bc too. Their Capital city was surrounded, their king was terrible and their hope was gone. And it got worse. God told Isaiah that the people would soon be taken captive as exiles into a foreign land. The problems of Isaiah's day were pretty big, that's why they... and we, need an even bigger promise.

Everybody wants to know the same thing, "what's the plan?" When will do our Christmas shopping? What will we eat at Chick-fil-A while we're out? Real tree or fake this year? Which Christmas Eve service will we go to at Church? When are we opening presents on Christmas day? But in the world of 2020 knowing what the plan is has become much more difficult. It's in times of trouble and discouragement when hope is waining and the plan is unknown that we hold tighter to promises. Promises restore hope and create excitement for a future that might be hard to fathom in the current situation. And it's into the unknown of our present situation that we must hold tighter to the promise of God with Us.