When Jesus stated his mission as he read from the prophets he was quite clear that he came to bring good news to the poor. Sometimes the church forgets the balance. We get preoccupied with everything else we have made the good news to be, most of which is very good. We forget that all of it is incomplete if it is not good news to the poor. We must, as Paul was also instructed by the apostles, always remember the poor. 

We never know what lies at stake. In the present we are faced with seemingly small decisions that may even seem unrelated to the possible future God is calling us to be. Yet all these present an opportunity to practice the faithfulness muscle. If we are faithful in small things we will be faithful in bigger things, because it is the same faithfulness muscle. In this repost we take a look at the story of Joseph and how that played out. 

But even better news revealed in that story is that God is faithful and he kept His promises and He will keep his promises to you, to the church and to the world.

Even in this season of advent as people get into celebrations and holidays God is inviting us to join him in what he is doing. Just ordinary people, doing extraordinary things by saying Yes to the Holy Spirit. Even in places where we will find ourselves by chance, even there God might just give us an invitation to be part of something beautiful. To bring his unspeakable Joy. The Joy of the Holy Spirit is infectious. It breaks walls down and flushes out bitterness and unforgiveness.

We do not cause ourselves to grow. We keep our eyes focused on God as he is the one who brings the growth.

God desires for us to grow to become all he has created us to be. Jesus said that those who believe in him would do more than he had done. God sees us as we are meant to be and so really desires growth for us. 

And we cannot grow outside community. But for communities to function well, it is important that leadership is in place because where there is poor leadership, people perish. Communities, countries, churches and even families rise and fall with leadership.

Leading well is, like Jesus, leadership that is submitted to the rule and reign of God. Constantly seeking God's heart for people in your charge. And like Jesus, leadership that is secure enough to give leadership away for people to grow.

Jesus said that we those who believe in him will do more than he did while on earth. To get to the people God sees us as, we need to grow. To grow we need community because faith is a team sport as opposed to a being a solo mission. And Faith is the kind of team sport where everyone gets to play. You got to have skin in the game to grow.

The invitation we are given in Jesus allows us, even in the mess of life, to see God. See his wisdom. That we can trust him completely. He puts everything in place with no mistake and we become storytellers of his goodness and kindness.