Village Community Church. Podcast (Ajax, Ontario. Canada)

Welcome the second and final installment in our DNA series! City Gates is all about Helping People Find and Follow Jesus. It's City Gates' manifesto and mission; it is our raison d'être.

The thrust behind the DNA series is to articulate the values that are embedded in our manifesto. We believe that clarifying common language and expectations around these values will serve us as a church and ultimately serve our neighbours, co-workers and community as we show and share the good news of Jesus.

In part 1 we covered the values (in bold) under HELPING and PEOPLE:

HELPING: We are Holy Spirit empowered servants like Jesus.

PEOPLE: We are the hospitable family of Jesus.

In part 2 we cover FIND and FOLLOW:

FIND: We are strategic missionaries for Jesus.

FOLLOW: We are disciples devoted to Jesus.

(A booklet was handed out prior to the sermon which summarizes the values and includes the assessment tools and suggested growth opportunities that are made reference to. Extra copies will be made available on Sunday.)

At City Gates we're all about helping people find and follow Jesus. That phrase, "Helping People Find and Follow Jesus",  is our manifesto, our mission; it drives us forward. Far from being original, it's simply how we've articulated Jesus' great commission and great commandment.

Although we've repeated our manifesto often, we want to go deeper. In reflecting and re-evaluating where we are as a church, we want to uncover the values that will shape a culture that underpins our manifesto.

Values are so much more than rules to follow but have a major impact on the actions we take. The good news is that as we reflected on our top values they were already embedded into our manifesto!

So join us as we articulate who we are and the kind of community we are hoping to be as we find a common script around our values.

In part 1 we cover the values (in bold) under HELPING and PEOPLE:

HELPING: We are Holy Spirit empowered servants like Jesus.

PEOPLE: We are the hospitable family of Jesus.

In part 2 we will cover FIND and FOLLOW:

FIND: We are strategic missionaries for Jesus.

FOLLOW: We are disciples devoted to Jesus.

Lightning doesn't strike twice. Or so they say. The disciples of Jesus experienced firsthand the jaw-draw-dropping, stomach-filling feeding of five thousand people. What could have been more exhilarating?

In chapter eight of the Gospel of Mark a second miraculous feeding happens, this time for about four thousand. The disciples' interaction with Jesus and the subsequent sequence of events shows that even an event of this magnitude (x2) may not be enough to change their understanding, and ours, of who this Jesus really is.

We are a people addicted to appearances. On the one hand, there is some logic behind it; cleaning ourselves up for an occasion shows our respect for the place and people who receive us. On the other hand, if we are simply a collection of our external actions and attitudes we will quickly miss the point.

In chapter seven of the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus confronts the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees. The Pharisees loved cleaning – washing hands, pots and pans, and couches! – following rules and adding more rules to follow. But they are missing it. It then no small irony the interaction Jesus will have an "unclean" woman beyond the borders of Israel.

What are your resolutions for 2019? What are the habits, practices and choices you want to integrate, not just for this year, but for a lifetime and beyond?

We find Jesus and his disciples in Mark 6 absolutely exhausted and gutted. (Maybe that's how you ended 2018!) The disciples are keen to send the crowds away but Jesus, who may still have been mourning the loss of his friend and forerunner John the Baptist, sees the crowds and has compassion.

What follows is these verses is nothing short of miraculous: feeding thousands from a boys lunch, followed by Jesus walking on water. How did Jesus do this and what habit and practice can we learn from him as we start a new year?

***Spoiler Alert***

The answer is prayer and communion with the Father. After the message, we spent time praying and hearing from one another, which is included at the end of the recording.

A beheading. A striptease. Not your typical Christmas reading.

We continue in the Gospel of Mark in what feels like a bit of an interlude – the beheading of John the Baptist. What does this have to with Christmas? What does the conflicted, perverted King Herod have to do with you? And what does the birth of Jesus have anything to do with our society today.

Hometown heroes: from musicians to athletes to politicians who 'make it', returning home is usually surrounded with fanfare, a large mural, or even a street name.

As Jesus returns home to Nazareth, this definitely was NOT the case. Why? Do we take offence at Jesus like those who thought they knew him all too well?

Undeterred in his mission, Jesus finally sends out the twelve disciples to do as he called them to when he first met them. What will they bring? Will they be received? What implications does this have for us today?

God doesn't drive an ambulance, it's been said. He's never surprised by a call in the night. He's never in a rush. He's never late.

Oh, you agree – he's no paramedic dashing through an intersection. But is he really in control? Will he really come through? Can you put your faith in him?

As a religious leader and a chronic sufferer find out, Jesus takes the little faith we have and gives us more than we could ever ask for – even when he's caught up in traffic.

The power of nature has a way of reminding us how small we are. We report the weather as it is – we don't tell it how to be (though we would love to in months like December!).

When the disciples find themselves in a fierce storm, they fear for their lives. But even greater fear strikes them when Jesus awakes from his slumber to tell the storm to shut it. They know Jesus: the healer, the teacher...the storm tamer?

Do they really know him? Do you?