Exodus 16 (yes, the entire chapter) -- Week 2 of our series leads us into the desert wilderness with some hangry Israelites struggling to trust the God of Abundance.  God abundantly responds to their complaining with steadfast sustenance, but with instructions to help guide them into a better way of life well beyond the clutches of the place "restriction" and "narrowing" (Egypt).  The trouble is, they are having a hard time letting go.

We all struggle with letting go of what was for what is.  We often reflect on the past with an obscured view of that reality--sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.  The God of Abundance is ever calling us forward into growth and life through the presence of Jesus Christ within us through what we call The Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is always working to provide for us so that we can experience true life in all of its fullness (eternal life here and now).  But we have to let go of what we knew for what the Spirit knows.  We have to trust.

We are all stuck in Egypts and are hesitant to follow the God of Abundance into the unknown wilderness that leads to a Promised Life (land).  Will we trust?

Will we discover that all we need is already here?

Will we find the extraordinary miracle within the ordinary path before us?

Will we discover a simple truth: The God of Abundance already gives us All We Need.

1 Kings 17 -- The prophet Elijah enters the scene for our first week of "God of Abundance" to display trust in God while also depending on the most unlikely sources of life and strength.

God of Abundance focuses on the Wisdom of God offered through the symbol of bread.  We will spend the next four weeks considering the double image so often used in Scripture to better understand what God is offering us all abundantly.

In the droughts of our lives, are we ready to trust and keep giving of ourselves to others?

Luke 13.10-17  &  Hebrews 12.18-29 -- We conclude our series with Wesley's third general rule: Stay in Love with God (attend to all the ordinances of God).

When it comes to justice, we must begin with our own relationship with God.  How can we see God's justice if we are not in relationship with God through the means of grace made available through the Holy Spirit?

So often today we hear many voices from multiple sides of justice issues all claiming to be speaking the truth.  How can we stay grounded in truth in a way that is responsibly biblically responsible (not a typo)?

What is our relationship with God?  Is it like Mt. Sinai or Mt. Zion from Hebrews 12?

Are we like the synagogue leader from Luke 13 or Jesus?

We must attend to our own souls if we hope to ever attend to the world around us from the perspective of God.  If we wish to be in pursuit of God's life made available to us, we must walk our faith with the utmost serious devotion and allegiance to the Holy Spirit who promises to shake us up and help us reach perfection.

Upon what do we build our foundation in our faith?  How do our choices speak to our motivations, our allegiance, and our devotion?

The Flip-Side of God's justice is an unshakeable joy.  Are we ready for to find it?

Isaiah 5.1-7,  Luke 12.49-56,  Hebrews 11.29-12.2 -- We continue our series by focusing  on the faith of our Biblical heroes and heroines while reflecting upon our part in the story of faith today.  We look back to the past stories to help keep us focused on running our race of faith amidst the trials and temptations of our day.

The author of Hebrews introduces us to an image of our faith ancestors which, coupled alongside of John Wesley's Three General Rules and his 22 questions, provides us with all we need to remember our place in the story of God's promise in Jesus Christ.

Let us revisit what it means to have the Holy Spirit of fire within us.

Let us remember what it is to run faithfully.

Ecclesiastes 1.2, 12-14;  Luke 12.13-21;  & Colossians 3.1-11  --  In our final week of our series LIVING AS DISCIPLES, we bring it all together as we walk through Paul's exhortation to the church in Colossae from 2,000 years ago.  He emphasizes the new self which is set on things above in comparison with the old/former self we have left behind when we died with Christ in baptism and rose again with him in a new life with the Holy Spirit.

Our journey of faith living as disciples of Jesus Christ is not over at baptism.  Rather, it just begins.  We MUST seek after the knowledge which is offered as we conform to the image of God in Jesus Christ.  We have so much left to learn.  We have so much left to do in our world.  We have so much yet to leave behind.  We must be vigilant in our faith.

With our foundation built upon the HOPE of Christ, with the VISION of God before us, in a life of being ruled by LOVE alone, we must seek the things of God "above."

We must stay focused and allow The Holy Spirit to lead us into life.

Are you ready?

Colossians 2.6-19  --  At an early age we learn to function within the context in which we were born.  We learn what parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, pastors, and many others expect of us.  We learn who is in charge in which setting and how to adjust our behavior accordingly.  We are taught who is in charge and where our place is in the ranks.

Paul is urging the Colossians to understand a simple idea: through the cross of Jesus Christ, all things have been reconciled to God--it has been accomplished.  Now...only God is our ruler.  Everything and everyone are led into the way of the Reign of God.  We are all to understand that no other entity or power holds any influence or authority over God in Jesus Christ.  We, as the church...the body of Christ, are urged to not surrender our power and influence over to anything other than Jesus Christ whose presence is within US through the Holy Spirit.

We do not need to appease any higher power for the sake of being at peace with God.

Having built our lives on the HOPE of Jesus Christ and with the VISION of God's great and glorious plan for all Creation, we are to live into the New Order where the WAY of God was revealed in Jesus Christ--the way of LOVE.

We are to ruled by LOVE (agape = self-giving, selfless) in all that we say, do, think, and seek.  We are not to pursue power over anything or anyone...nor are we to give our power over to anyone other than God.

How does this new order impact your life?

What does it mean to be ruled by LOVE in your world?

Are you granting power and authority to anything/anyone other than God?

Deuteronomy 30:9-14  &  Colossians 1:15-28  --  God had a vision for all of creation from the get-go, but not every part of creation cooperated.  Where humanity failed, Jesus succeeded.  Now, through Christ Jesus we all share in the Holy Spirit of God to become disciples: agents of God's vision.

As we celebrate 50 years since a group of individuals fulfilled the great vision of the moon landing given by John F. Kennedy, we consider what it took for them and what it takes for us to fulfill a vision.

Paul offers a grand image of Jesus through an ancient hymn in Colossians to get the church started.  We can apply this same idea to our reality today.  If we know the vision and we understand where we are in the process, we have a great opportunity to get involved with the plan.

Let us consider what it means to have the presence of Jesus Christ, the Word of God, within us.

Let us continue in our series as we seek to live as disciples to participate in God's vision.

Amos 7.7-14  &  Colossians 1.1-14  -  As human beings, as Christians, as Americans, as (insert any other label of identification you might have for yourself), we are often pushed and pulled to understand our world through a variety of lenses.  Our personal histories and home-grown cultures influence how we see and understand everything (especially God, the Bible, religion, etc.).

What influences are actions and decisions most?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is first and foremost a story of HOPE.  We know the goal (end) of all things: Heaven and Earth both renewed completely into one shared reality.  The work needed to assure this reality has already been ACCOMPLISHED through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Does our life reflect a Gospel of Hope?

This HOPE is a plumb line which we can measure the foundation we build our lives upon.

Let us assess our situation with open honesty and a true thirst for the truth.

2 Kings 5.1-14  &  Galatians 6.1-16  -  In our final week of our series we consider what it is to truly put on the new self.

Paul uses the image of new clothes, baptism, and new creation.  Essentially, we cast all of our old ideas, self-understanding, theology, and polity to the trash heap.  We MUST...let it all go.  We MUST...never again pick it back up.

Naaman entered into the grace of God through pure faith and trust in slaves and servants...and the Israelite prophet, Elisha.  When he came to understand a new perspective beyond his own limitations and conceptions, his entire world and view changed...forever.  He truly experienced complete change.

Paul brought that same change to the life of the church in Galatia, but they are venturing back to their old ways because of the unwillingness of some new teachers to truly trust in the cross of Jesus.  Instead, they lean upon the old understanding of "earning" God's favor through following the rules of the Law as if it brought salvation.

Paul pleads with the Galatians, and pleads with us, to lay down our old limits and focus on the only thing that is important--new creation brought through grace in the cross of Jesus Christ.

Is the new creation a part of our own faith journey?

Or is the new EVERYTHING?