REALLIFE Spokane

A new thing. That is what we are talking about in this series. God has you here for a purpose. He wants you to know who you are and who He is. But there is a very big thing that keeps us from that – sin. Sin is everything that is against God’s plan for your life and it is toxic. Our sin can’t just be cleaned up. The world is selling a story of self-improvement. The Bible tells a story of total transformation from the inside out. A new way of thinking. A new way of doing. A new way of being. You were created with a purpose and to do good works in every area of your life. But before you can walk into those, you must learn how to abide in Jesus. And that starts with the death of the worldly way of living and the birth of a new life.

When we come to faith in Jesus – we bring all our brokenness and baggage – maturing is about leaving that behind and becoming someone new. All things are made new in Christ. If we don’t work out our salvation with fear and trembling – we risk staying in the same place as where Christ rescued us. Still wrestling in our broken ways. Are you becoming new in all areas of your life? Pursue, connect, give and multiply. Are you maturing in Christ? This is my heart in this message and in this whole series…are we becoming new? Are you allowing Jesus to transform every area of your life? We baptize so many people around here – we call us to get connected in a group – but maturity is isn’t just connection – it’s a whole process of every area of your life being transformed. We can’t accomplish this on a Sunday – we need conversations and relationships to help us mature this way. So let’s start the conversation on Sunday’s and allow you to work through this in your connections and relationships.

Happy Easter REALLIFE! We have hope and life because Jesus lives. We have freedom and expectation for God to move powerfully because He defeated the thing that separated us from Him - sin and death itself!

What we do when things are good, and God seems to be speaking and moving in profound ways, often reflects the depth of our faith and our intimacy with God. But everyone can be good when things seem good. The reality is that what we do when we DON’T hear God’s voice and have a hard time seeing his movement can actually be a more powerful testimony to God’s goodness and the strength of our faith.

It’s easy to follow Jesus when miracles are obviously happening around us, but it is a much greater act of worship to remain faithful and committed in the silence. God IS moving! Will we have the patience and faith to stay the course? Will we hold on to the hope that God is doing something incredible during the down time? Will we believe that salvation and the powerful work of God will burst forth in new creation when the time is ripe? We are God’s treasured possession, and he loves us very much. Let’s live like that is true, even through our own silent years!

In this episode, Richie walks us through the life of King Josiah, and how God may want us to reform areas of our lives.

God has entrusted you with a position of great influence. Can you see it? Are you aware that he has brought you to the crossroads of your world in the realms of your family, your neighborhood, your workplace, and many others? God has put you there because the darkness that is present in those places is no match for the light of Christ within you. Will you let him shine? Will you allow God to reach the world through you? Will you fight right, stewarding your crossroads well? God has used person after person through history who took this seriously to bring revival and salvation all over the world. He wants to do the same thing through us.

God wants to use your deserts to refine your character and to prepare you for what is coming next in your life. Will you run away from the desert, complain bitterly about it, reject God in the midst of it, or give up? Or will you trust him to lead you like a bride, knowing that if you trust his process of refinement you are going to be so much stronger spiritually, wiser, and more prepared for what is to come at the end of it?

God has called us. God is calling us to reach and invite people into his family and we are to be together with God to bring hope and restoration to the world. God is calling us beyond being the center of our own universe and seeing that we are a part of a miraculous story that has been moving through human history for centuries. We are a part of a rescue plan. God wants all his children rescued from sin and shame and brought back to right relationship with him.

Reaching the world for Jesus is not something that we have to figure out on our own. Our job is to walk with God one day at a time – trusting Him to guide us. Proverbs 3.5-6 NIV – Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Knowing that sin has affected every person that has ever been born compels us to spread the message of hope everywhere we go. That God has a plan to restore everything. As we go

about life, we will have the opportunity to show the people around us what God is like – to help them see where they fit into His story. This is WHY you were created – to be God’s image bearer and partner with him in this world. The rebellion of people was disastrous – no question about it. But God’s response is what gives us reason to hope. We don’t have to look any further than the cross to see just how much God loves us! And He has called us to partner with Him in His mission.

We long to be a church of impact. A people who actually see the world changed through us. We long to be a generous people. We are created with a purpose. We are called to love and see our city and our world changed through us. We have finances in our lives to be able to love and bless people with. I am so proud of you all for embracing this conversation. I believe God is turning our hearts toward him through this principal of Sowing and Reaping. I pray your heart is responsive.