Renewal Church

Jesus led the way for his first century disciples and he’ll lead the way for us. The invitation still stands, “Follow me.” We have assumptions that prevent us from living courageously with Jesus, but we can’t make peace with those assumptions. Assumptions which encourage doubt and instigate fear. We must look them square in the face and challenge their reality. Resolved to rely on God with all that we ARE. While resisting fear and worst case scenario thinking, we refuse to place confidence in our assumptions. In all our actions we choose to be mindful of Him and trust Him with the details.

This Sunday, we conclude our short series with a dream. What is it that we dream will take place among us and in Memphis if we faithfully follow Jesus and abide in the power of the Holy Spirit? What longings and desires has God given our church as we dream about the possibilities 5 years from now? 10 years from now?

Christ died for our sins. Christ was buried. Christ was raised on the third day. Christ appeared to many.

This is the explicit gospel that the Apostle Paul preached as he called people to follow Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:3-8). It was this gospel that shaped people in Jesus, leading them into an entirely new way of life — God's way of life.

But how? How did these facts — the death, burial, and verified resurrection of Jesus — shape the first disciples? And how should these facts shape us today? What does it look like to root our lives in the gospel? How does the gospel take hold of us in such a way that we are moved from darkness to light, addiction to freedom, malice to love, indifference to hospitality?

What were their practices? Because whatever they did we should do.

The Apostle Paul reminded believers in an ancient city called Corinth that the gospel is “of first importance.”  What is the gospel?

Christ died.

Christ was buried.

Christ was raised on the third day.

There were hundreds of eyewitnesses.

He reminds his readers that if Christ wasn’t raised, then we are still in our sins. We are lost. We are to be pitied most if we worship a Jesus who is still in the grave.

But he was raised. And many, many more will one day be raised alongside of him — those who faithfully follow the resurrected Jesus.

With new bodies. Death destroyed. New Creation. The kingdom of God forever.

We’ve come to the end of our summer-long series on the small, but powerful letter of 1 Thessalonians! Last weekend we learned that we are children of light and, because of this, we are to walk in God’s light – faith, love, and hope.

This weekend we will learn what faith, love, and hope look like: how we care for the hurting among us; how we deal with people who hurt us; what it looks like to be a Spirit-filled community; and practices of the heart which protect us from cynicism and discontentment and also strengthen our joy and intimacy with God.

It’s hard to imagine anything more horrifying than a home invasion. But the Apostle Paul characterizes Jesus’s certain return as just that – “like a thief in the night.” What makes his return so terrifying is that it will abruptly halt people’s obliviousness and self-centered pursuit of pleasure and, suddenly, they will be called upon to give an account for how they lived in God’s world, how they stewarded the lives they were graciously given.

For those who are found in Jesus, his return will be the fulfillment of their deepest longings, it will bring rest to their weary souls, and joy unspeakable. These are the “sober-minded,” those who do not live obliviously, but are aware that God is watching...God is present...and God is coming.

Paul, writing to believers who were grieving their deceased loved ones, spoke of Christ’s return. On that day, he said, a trumpet will sound and Jesus will give an ear-splitting command, calling the dead in Christ to rise. They will awaken and ascend to meet Jesus in the clouds. We who are in Christ, who are still alive when he returns, will be reunited with them. This passage is as strange as it is glorious and we’re going to dive into it this weekend. We may be surprised and encouraged by what we discover!

Hollow religion says, “I must love because I am commanded to.” But love is unlikely to be birthed and nurtured by this sense of obligation.

Love is a gift first to be received: “in your presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). It is to turn our hearts to the One who knows us and loves us more than we can possibly imagine.

But love is more than something to merely be enjoyed. It is practice in which we learn to increasingly give love away: “for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9).

The end of all this is a community of Jesus-people defined by self-giving love.

You need this kind of community. We need this kind of community. Your neighbors need this. Your co-workers need this. Your marriage needs this. Your kids need this. Everyone on our planet needs this.

Love.

Let us be taught by God to love one another.

Sex. A subject scripture doesn’t shy away from. And it’s no wonder – God created it and bestowed it on humanity for our joy and flourishing. But for multitudes throughout human history, sex represents abuse, pain, and addiction. And Jesus has something to say about this...to those who weaponize it and to those who long for his grace and freedom.

What comes to mind when you hear the word, “holy?” That word probably conjures negative feelings. This may be because you were raised in a rigid religious home. Maybe you don’t like the way holiness has been co-opted by political culture warriors. Or maybe the word just sounds medieval.

When we talk about holiness, we are talking about life. Abundant life. Flourishing life. Restorative life. The call to holiness is a call to healing and restoration. But it’s first a call to allegiance...to God who has revealed himself in Jesus.

Why? Because God loves us. Passionately.

Without holiness, we aren’t fully human. The call to holiness is the call to abide in Jesus and experience the restoration of our life’s calling: that we live as God’s image-bearers, revealing his love and glory to a world that has lost its way...a world that has lost its God-given humanity.