Every team has a personality. Some play really fast, some want to slow the game down, some are very disciplined and others play with less concern for the rules. The Church is no different; she has a direction to move and a game plan to execute. The Church must act like the Church!

Jesus loves us where we are, but he doesn’t want to leave us where we are. He desires for us to grow and change. In order for anything to grow it has to have a solid foundation. A plant needs good soil, a child needs a loving home, a building requires a firm foundation.

Paul as an Apostle or a Pastor was not unlike a coach. He had a responsibility to the churches he planted and to the folks he was discipling. We are not so different in our lives. We each have a responsibility for those we are leading to Jesus. Maybe that is our kids or folks in our small groups or our neighbors but we all have or should have someone we are leading to Jesus.

As coaches put together teams they have different criteria they might use in order to put together a team. Sometimes they might really want speed or maybe they value intelligence. Once in a while in professional sports a team decision will come down to the value of a contract. I’m not sure if there is one criteria that is more important than another, but I do know that God’s choices are not always our choices.

Teams come in all shapes and sizes. Everyone is a part of a team somewhere; at work, at the ball field, on the stage, in worship or even in our home each one of us has played a role on a team. In fact we’ve probably experienced good teams and bad teams. Sometimes its hard to determine what makes a team work well. When the mission is as big as the Church’s it is important to figure out how to function well as a team.

We all have a lot to do. Our lives are busy. When we catch God’s vision, realize how amazing His grace is, worship him even when it’s difficult and commit to living for an audience of one we are most certainly a part of His Church. And with so much going on we must share the load.

There are some stories in scripture that are just no fun. Acts 5:1-11 is one of them. In the most severe way possible God lays out what it means to live for an audience of one in His church. When we love others - we love them because God loved us first. When we give to his work - we give because God gave first. When we teach or preach or serve we do so because He has taught us.

It is easy to say the right things about Jesus and to do the right thing for Jesus when we are in Church on Sunday. What does it look like to live for Jesus when we aren’t surrounded by like minded people? How do we live follow Jesus command to be in the world but not of the world?

Gifts are pretty cool. Some of us love giving gifts, but most of us like receiving gifts. Sometimes, though, there are reasons or situations that make receiving gifts difficult. We maybe feel like we don’t deserve a gift. This is instilled in us every Christmas when we’re kids - have you been naughty or nice? Santa is watching. It’s all kind of creepy! We sometimes might think that a gift is inappropriate. A food processor might be the perfect gift for someone who loves to cook or a new set of power tools for the home repair guru but neither is probably appropriate for a seven year old. Once in a while we just don’t understand a gift or we’re not sure what to make of it, the gift just leaves us with questions.

Vision can be a tricky thing. As we age our vision might diminish. Once in a while something just gets in the way of what we are trying to see, impairing our vision. A dark room is always a challenge. Sometimes though our brain doesn’t want to recognize what we see. We just can’t believe that what we’re seeing is really what we’re seeing. As followers of Christ, this happens all the time. Jesus has a big, awe inspiring vision for our lives and our eternities and we struggle to bring that vision into focus...