Wingfoot Church

What good is Christianity for how divided our world is? Rather than creating division, the way of Jesus challenges the definitions of worth and value that are assigned to people and offers us a true way to be united in the midst of our differences - by following in the footsteps of Jesus who bridged the greatest gap possible.

What good is Christianity? In a world facing increasing division, economic disparity, and racial tension, it seems like Christianity is more of a problem than a solution to our problems. But in the letter to Philemon, we find that at the heart of the mission of Jesus is a community that is committed to truth-telling, reconciliation and unity. In order to experience this kind of community, we have to first move from being me-centered, focused only on our individual happiness, to we-centered, buckled in and committed to a diverse community of people marked by the belonging that Jesus won for us us. 

We're often too distracted to appreciate that we have a greater need in life. We are disconnected with what we're really feeling and what we really need. But when we do finally wake up to our need, we realize that nothing can really satisfy that need so we're left wanting. Is there any way we can truly be satisfied in life? Psalm 34:8 invites us to "taste and see that the Lord is good" - to experience his goodness and ultimately be satisfied in the person of Jesus.

Featuring Ray Byrne, church planting resident with OrchardNEO.

It's possible to serve others but really be serving ourselves. We do it for the likes, the resume, to look good. But Jesus doesn't serve others in that way. In Mark 7, Jesus gets close to a man who is hurting, healing him privately so he doesn't become a spectacle. As Jesus gets proximate to those who are hurting and serves them personally, they become open to who he really is. In the same way as we seek to learn from and live out the way of Jesus on our block, we must be willing to get close and personal with the people around us to be able to share the good news of Jesus.

 In Mark 2, Jesus calls Levi, a political traitor and morally questionable character to become his disciple and immediately takes him to a party at his own house surrounded by his equally questionable friends. Jesus says this is his whole mission: to invite sinners to dinner with him. And the way he accomplishes this mission is by taking characters like Levi - and us - outcasts, morally questionable characters, people without all the answers - and inviting us to invite our friends to dinner with him. Because Levi chooses to follow this Jesus who invites sinners to dinner his friends are able to see the immediate transforming power of Jesus in his life. Our friends and neighbors need to see the same thing in our lives as we invite them to dinner with us and Jesus.

The idea of talking to someone about what you believe can be pretty intimidating. But what if sharing Jesus wasn't about a sale pitch or a set of canned questions but about sharing your life with others? What would it look like if we lived out the way of Jesus right where we live? In the next three weeks we're looking at how Jesus shared his life with others and what it looks like for us to do the same - starting with being prayerfully present right where we live.

Sometimes it feels like God is social-distancing from us. That feeling you get when you end a video call with a friend or family member can be what it feels like when you leave church or find yourself in a hard spot in life. God is out there, but at a distance. In fact that was the picture people got of God in the Old Testament. He was there, but you could only see and experience God through layers of a tent and a priest. But in John 1:14, John says that Jesus comes to us, not in a tent, but in person, bringing God to dwell with us permanently. God is no longer socially-distant, but present in and among us as one of us. This changes everything. 

The legend of Santa Claus - this guy who lives up north with lots of helpers watching over everyone, keeping a list of who's good and who's bad - sounds kind of like what some people think of when they think of God. And it kind of works. He's not too overbearing or over-involved in our lives, just there when we have a list of things we need.  But how do you know if you're on the nice list or the naughty list? There's no real way to know. And that's what John is saying in John 1:16-18. No one's seen God, we're all just guessing. But if did tell us what God is like, we'd better be prepared to be wrong. Which means if we want to know God, we're going to need grace. 

In a normal year this time of year might give us a chance to reconnect with family around the table. This year is different, but we still long for a place like family where we know we'll belong and where our seat at the table is secure no matter what. John tells us that he's writing his account of the life of Jesus so that we might see that is "the Son of God." He uses this picture of family to tell us something about Jesus. But what does it actually mean that Jesus is "God's Son?" What we find when we understand who Jesus really is is that no matter what, through Jesus we are welcomed into God's family. 

You probably have some idea of what Christmas is all about - whether it's from Linus telling you in the Charlie Brown Christmas Movie or from driving past nativity scenes in the neighborhood with shepherds and angels and sheep. It's kind of cute. In John's story of the life of Jesus, he skips all of that and gets right to the heart of the most important question: who really is this kid in the manger? And what John tells us in John 1:1-3 is that he's more than just a kid - he's God himself.