As counter-cultural as the Way of Jesus is, no practice goes against the grain of our busy culture as much as the practice of creating space. To create space is to make time for God and others. We're stretched thin, we're too busy, or we're too drained. So we follow Jesus' rhythm of healthy disengagement to rest, recharge, and re-enter the work to which God has called us. In this message we look to Jesus and the reasons why and how we need this practice.

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Luke 6.12-19

// CORE PRACTICE 4 -- We commit to make time for God and others for transformational relationships to grow.

// The Pitcher, the cup, and the saucer -- We place ourselves in the presence of God to be acted upon. We bless others from the overflow of our life with God.

// "Margin is defined as space between your current situation or performance and your limits. Margin is a buffer or gap, a place of reserve for reflecting, relating, recharging your batteries and focusing on the things that matter most." [When there's a lack of margin in your life...] "You have a little margin for anything or anyone who is not already in your schedule. If anything out of the ordinary happens or a special opportunity presents itself, you have little capacity to respond to it. If God wants to drop a miracle in your life, you do not have room to receive it." (RICHARD SWENSON, M.D., Margin)

// Lack of margin financially -- 63% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck / 49% making $100k+ live paycheck to paycheck (https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/24/more-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-as-inflation-outpaces-income.html)

// Lack of margin relationally -- 36% of Am. are experiencing “serious loneliness” / 61% of people ages 18-25 reported feeling lonely “frequently” or “almost all the time or all the time” (https://fee.org/articles/harvard-study-an-epidemic-of-loneliness-is-spreading-across-america/)

// Lack of margin spiritually -- Too busy / Too drained / Too out of practice with our neighbors

// Space is the soil for growth. We sit with God and allow ourselves to be acted upon. We sit with others and allow relationships to develop. It's two-directional. We do what we CAN and let God do what we CAN’T.

// BIG IDEA -- We follow Jesus’ movement from mountain to meadow. It’s "formation for mission" (J.R. Briggs)

// WHY CREATE SPACE? To discern / To relax / To feel / To listen / To recharge / To "Be" / To be formed / To be quiet / To be loved / To...?

// HOW DO WE CREATE SPACE? Scripture / Silence / Prayer / Play / Hospitality / Healthy Disengaging

We explore our third Core Practice with Jason Knight as he paints a picture of discipleship as those who have heard, seen, and joined in the work of Jesus. What if we viewed discipleship as an apprenticeship that renews and realigns us with God and empowers to be a renewing presence in our world? Wouldn't we want to invite others into this heaven-on-earth reality? In this message, you're invited (like the first disciples) to "Come and see" and then set off on a journey with us.

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- John 1.35-36

// CORE PRACTICE 3 -- We commit to invite people into a relationship with Jesus by baptizing, teaching, and sending them on mission.

// What is a disciple? “A disciple is an apprentice of Jesus, in the community of Jesus, who relies on the life of Jesus through the Holy Spirit’s presence and power to reproduce Jesus’ life, ministry, and mission.” (DERWIN L. GRAY)

// What is a disciple? Someone who commits to being with Jesus to learn from Jesus how to live like Jesus. Think, "Apprentice." (PARAPHRASE OF DALLAS WILLARD)

// What does discipleship in the Kingdom of Jesus look like? A restoring, renewing, realigning of self to the person of Jesus; that then carries into a restoring, renewing, realigning of others. This is how Heaven and Earth meet.

// How we become/became disciples:

1. We heard about Jesus

2. We saw the works of Jesus

3. We joined the work of Jesus

// “WITH-NESS” is not only about Jesus WITH you, but it’s about you learning and living the Jesus Way WITH others. (ADAM WOOD)

// John 13.34-35 / "The Love of God is working in you when the Love of neighbor is flowing through you" (ADAM WOOD)

// How we make disciples:

1. We talk about Jesus with others

2. We show/do the work of Jesus with others

3. We invite others to join in on the work of Jesus

// Why don't we make disciples - It’s awkward, but why? Maybe we only talk about Jesus with Jesus people. Maybe not even them. Maybe we get a bit missionally out of shape.

1. We stop our own discipleship

2. We don’t invest ourselves

3. We don’t invest in others

// Growth happens when we spend intentional time cultivating our relationship with God and others.

// 1 Corinthians 5.12 / Acts 10.34-48

// Some invitations:

1. Let’s stop assuming people’s needs and actually get to know them.

2. Let’s stop assuming what people want and actually invite them.

3. Let’s stop missing our own connection to Jesus and daily be with Him.

// “The bread that is spoiling in your house belongs to the hungry…" (ST. BASIL THE GREAT) / Let’s stop being people who share crumbs from the table and start being people that make room at the table.

// Colossians 4.2-6

// “The purpose of prayer is not to get God to do the things we think God ought to do; but to be formed.” (BRIAN ZAHND) / You are taking a moment to realign yourself with God.

// Remember: As a follower of Jesus, when you put on the identity of Jesus, you have the opportunity to become that intersection of Heaven and Earth; and where you go, there Kingdom can be.

// The invitation of Jesus:

1. Come follow me.

2. Taste and see.

3. Walk with me.

// Practically, what is it we can invite people into?

1. Community

2. Kingdom work

3. Prayer

// You are being invited into and are called to invite others into this truth: The God of the universe knows you and He loves you. That is the reality that we get to taste, that we get to walk in, that we get to live in.

// QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION --

1. Do you genuinely believe that Jesus wants to reside in our neighborhood?

2. Who might I invite to come and see, so that they may be transformed?

3. To where and to whom are you invited to go?

4. How can I participate today with Jesus?

Our beliefs inform our behavior. Nowhere is this truer than in our first 2 core practices. If we follow Jesus and love God with everything, loving our neighbor will be the result. In other words, you know the love of God is working in you when love of neighbor is flowing out of you. But who is our neighbor? Are we willing to share a table with them and find Jesus in our midst? Listen as we explore TNC's 2nd Core Practice.

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Matthew 9.9-13

// A step toward God always leads to a step toward neighbor. The love of God is working IN you when love of neighbor is flowing OUT of you.

// “It’s hard to demonize someone when you know them” (Father Greg Boyle, Homeboy Industries)

// TNC MANTRA -- Jesus has rezoned our neighborhood. Now, everyone we encounter is a neighbor to be loved. (Not an enemy to be feared or an "Other" to be hated)

// CORE PRACTICE 2 -- We commit to love others as ourselves regardless of race, background, ethnicity, orientation, or status.

// BIG IDEA -- In calling us to love our neighbor as ourselves, Jesus invites us not to build higher walls but to set longer tables.

// Who you are willing to share a table with says a lot about the God you believe in. The Bible is a story whose main character is a boundary-crossing, reconciling God.

The first core practice is to follow Jesus. We commit to be with Jesus to learn from Jesus how to live like Jesus in our everyday life.

There are many types of followers on social media, we can sometimes underappreciate what Jesus means when He calls us to follow Him.

Looking into Mathew 4:18-20 and 9:8-13, we see that Jesus called very different types of disciples, but we do see a pattern. Jesus called everyday normal people to simply follow and live life with Him. Rather than equipping them first and then sending them out into the world, He invites them into His life, showing them the lifestyle from the mundane to the supernatural.

Big Ideas:

Jesus is not sending you into an unknown abyss. He calls you to follow and go WITH Him in a work He has already started. Jesus invites everyone to follow Him, and He equips us for the work as we go.

Dallas Willard Quote

“A disciple is a learner, a student, an apprentice - a practitioner… Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own, but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth.”

Questions for Reflection:

What have you learned from your apprenticeship with Jesus? What do you want to learn from Him?

Where are the places in your life that Jesus is calling you to follow Him into?

What if God has given us all we need for all that he has called us to? What if the missing piece is simply our attention to God's presence and work around us? At TNC, we're beginning the New Year from a posture of prayer. We bring our intentions for our lives and the year ahead. We bring our attention to the God who is with us now and each step of the road ahead. In this night of guided reflection, we'll use P.R.A.Y. (from https://www.24-7prayer.com/) as our framework and the Lord's Prayer as our prompts. Create space to reflect and pray with us.

NOTES--

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS --

// Prayer is a soul at attention before God.

// Reframe every distraction as an invitation to turn your attention back to God.

// QUOTE -- “I have a very simple way of prayer. It is centered entirely on attention to the presence of God and to His will and His love.” (Thomas Merton)

// P -- Pause to be still; to breathe slowly, to re-center your scattered senses upon the presence of God.

(Our Father... in heaven... hallowed be Your name...)

// R -- Rejoice in who God is and what God has done as well as Reflect on God’s word

(Your kingdom come... Your will be done... on earth as it is in heaven...)

// A -- Ask comprehensively for the little and big things. Ask consistently; attentive to the Source who gives us all we need.

(Give us... forgive us as we forgive... lead us... deliver us...)

// Y -- Yield to God's invitation, will, and way this year. We turn our attention to Jesus and His presence with us at the Table.

(Yours is the kingdom... and the power... and the glory... forever and ever amen.)

If you were to write a "Thank You" note to God for bringing you through another year, what would you say? We explore a poignant story of Jesus and a grateful recipient who pauses to praise God. Join us in looking back at 2022 in our last gathering of the year as we look beyond the gifts to the Giver.

NOTES

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Luke 17.11-19

// Look back long enough to look beyond the gift toward the Giver.

// WHERE matters -- on the border religiously and socially... on the border of a new year and new opportunities...

// WHAT are you asking for? Are we too afraid? Are we asking consistently? Are we keeping our eyes open for answers?

// QUOTE -- "It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful." (DAVID STEINDL-RAST)

// QUOTE -- "Our openness may become the penultimate material for miracles to take place." (JOSE HUMPHREYS, Seeing Jesus in East Harlem)

// WHO matters -- Jesus elevates an outsider as an example.

// REFLECT --

- What does greater openness in your life with God look like in 2023?

- What's in your "Thank You" card to God?

- What story is he sending you out to share with others?

Love is our focus in the fourth week of Advent. Jason Knight reminds us what love looks like in the midst of disruption and calls us to be loved by God and to show up and extend that love to others. But what does that love look like? God dares us to dream big in the midst of fear and doubt. How will God reveal show his love to a people who are waiting, fearful, and vulnerable? How will we?

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Isaiah 7.10-16

// QUOTE -- “The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.” (M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN, The Village)

// QUOTE -- “...And when Jesus comes along saying that the greatest command of all is to love God and to love our neighbor, he too is asking us to pay attention. If we are to love God, we must first stop, look, and listen for him in what is happening around us and inside us. If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else, we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes; that is to say, like artists. We must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.” (FREDERICK BUECHNER, Whistling in the Dark)

// QUOTE -- “Love filled my heart / I forgot myself / And henceforth / I was happy.” (ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX)

// The manner in which Jesus reveals himself speaks to the very nature of God’s love. Present and willingly vulnerable for us.

// Jesus is the God who stops and weeps.

// QUOTE -- “Salvation is not the flight from the wrath of God; it is accepting and reciprocating the love of God. Salvation is not separation. It is the beginning of union…” (JAMES BALDWIN)

// QUOTE -- “Long before we talk about original sin or original rejection, we should speak of God’s original love.” (HENRI NOUWEN)

// Let yourself be loved! Be filled by it. “The further a tree is from water, the weaker and more desperate is. Plant yourself close to Jesus. Let your roots find His love. There is more there than you will ever need.”

// Open up and be vulnerable. To God, to each other. Be honest, acknowledge and then let go of the blockers.

// “Love is essential… Love puts in work” (BERNICE KING). Show up! Be present to others. If there is to be connection, if there is to be love, let’s see it.

Advent invites us to wait - to slow down long enough to perceive the slow, steady, and constant work of God's coming kingdom. Advent waiting beckons us to anticipate JOY in an anxiety-ridden world that tempts us to anticipate disaster... especially when all we see is desert. Will we keep showing up and sowing seed in the desert while we wait for it to bloom?

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Isaiah 35.1-10

// BIG IDEA -- There's joy under the surface of every soil because God is there. Our job is to show up and sow seed in the desert until it blooms.

// Isaiah gives us a RENOVATION POEM and a "GET READY" SERMON. Both give us glimpses of the transformation that happens when God is here.

// QUOTE -- After three and a half years of no rain, Elijah prayed again, the rain came, and the earth produced crops. This implies that the farmers were willing to sow seeds in the dust while there was no rain, believing that one day the rain would come. Prayer sometimes can feel like this - as if I'm sowing seeds in the dust. Physically, it feels as if nothing is happening, but in fact that's not the case spiritually. I want to have seeds in the ground when the rain comes. (JAMES ALADIRAN, "Earnest Prayer" Lectio 365 App Oct. 18, 2022)

// REFLECT --

- What deserts need seeds of prayer in our lives, community, and church?

- What broken places or people need the seeds of the gospel in words and works?

- What path forward in your life and relationships needs God to make a way?

// QUOTE -- “All suffering, all pain, all emptiness, all disappointment is seed: sow it in God and he will, finally, bring a crop of joy from it.” (EUGENE PETERSON, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction)

Waiting is part of life and, like it or not, the Bible shows us that waiting is part of our life with God. Growth takes time. Restoration takes time. Renewing habits and repairing relationships takes time. The real stuff of life isn't eligible for Prime same-day delivery. But Advent waiting beckons us to anticipate peace in an anxiety-ridden world that tempts us to anticipate disaster. Isaiah is inviting us to see the sprout of God's peace breaking through the cracks of our life and world. Will you find it and foster it?

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Isaiah 11.1-10

// Advent trains us to look toward the light that's beyond our present darkness without ignoring it. In other words, Advent invites us to wait for God's King and believe in God's good end despite the evidence to the contrary.

// BIG IDEA -- In every stump there is a sprout of God's newness breaking through. Our job is to find it, foster it, & follow it toward flourishing (Shalom)

// A prophet is someone with a God-inspired imagination to see the world according to God's desire and to speak this reality to God's people.

// When it comes to peace, we can't give what we don't have.

// PRACTICE -- Sit for 2-5 minutes being present to God's presence. Sit until you sense it - being & breathing - then move forward from a posture of peace.

// The arrival of the Prince of Peace transforms the world around him... how has he transformed you?

The Advent season begins (appropriately) with hope. Advent is about waiting and a God-inspired waiting is about trusting that God will bring about a good end in spite of our present darkness. Isaiah gives us just enough light filtering into a dark situation to "walk in the light of the Lord." How will we walk through this season?

NOTES --

// SCRIPTURE FOCUS -- Isaiah 2.1-5

// BIG IDEA -- We embrace hope by walking today in the light of God's tomorrow.

// A prophet is someone with a God-inspired imagination to see the world according to God's desire and to speak this reality to God's people.

// "The 'vision' moves beyond the threat without denying it" (Walter Brueggemann). Isn't this what hope looks like in our time & place? What visions, images, or words of hope help you look ahead in the midst of pain, anxiety, & struggle?

// REFLECT -- What's your "What if..."? What ways of injustice & war need to be recycled into relationship & flourishing? What's the first step toward God's tomorrow you can take this week?