Spark Cast

A personal testimony of being seen by Jesus.

Because of Jesus, we are not alone. We are brought into the big family of God, as sons and daughters, finding ourselves with sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers from every tongue and every nation.

There are times and seasons in life "when you're down and troubled and you need a helping hand, and nothing, whoa, nothing is going right." This testimony speaks of learning to live through moments and seasons of uncertainty.

Pastor Tom shares his "Because of Jesus story … what he's seen — in Ethiopia, in a Bay Area shelter, at Spark Church, and in his own hardest season — and why it's convinced him that the kingdom of God is not someday. It's here. It's now. And the invitation is open to everyone.

How has Jesus changed our lives? What is different as a result? And how has Jesus transformed our Story, our Community, and our Purpose?

It has been said that the ultimate aim of Christian faith is not to make people "believers" in the faith (per se), but rather to make exemplars of the very best of humanity. (God did create "humanity" after all, in the very beginning.) If this is true, understanding what it means to be human is part and parcel of faithful discipleship. In short, everyone needs a story by which they live, a community with whom they belong, and a purpose to which they contribute. That's it. Followers of Jesus can be invigorated by their faith as one of the most powerful and life-transforming conduits for these three most important needs of being human.

Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. They are created by repeating a simple process over and over in an ongoing feedback loop. Fractals form the underlying pattern of all of life (in our bodies and in our food!) What does this have to do with discipleship? Everything! Understanding "Fractal Discipleship" not only tunes us in to the deep and natural realities of God's design of the universe, but it also exhorts us to expand our consciousness and our behavior as followers of Jesus.

What the Spirit did through the multi-national gathering of Jewish followers of Jesus on Pentecost in Acts 2 is perhaps one of the most jarring demonstrations of God’s love for the whole world. Even so, it was just the beginning. Hear our communal Pentecost tradition of proclaiming Jesus in languages from all over the world, and the Spirit’s relentless push to love everyone as if they were family.