One Mission pt.1

A few weeks ago we finished a series called “One” and it was a book study on Jeremiah and how he helped rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days. We talked about how our inner walls needed to be built up so that Satan couldn’t come in and “steal” things from us. This week we begin a series called One Mission. It’s a study based on the book of Acts. Now Acts really is sometimes over looked, simply because most people like to go from the time Jesus was around and his death/resurrection to the apostle Paul and his transformation so often times acts is just kind of left alone. But there is so much that we can learn from the book, which is why were going to start studying it. I encourage you
all to go home and read the book as we go along it’s quite an interesting book. So let’s get started, ecology style.

            Didyou know that there is a bird in the seagull family names the Albatross? Now this bird is special it has one of the largest wing spans of all birds, their wing spans can actually grow to be 11 feet long! That’s crazy awesome, because when their on the beach or floating in the water they look like normal seagulls. Its wing span is what makes this bird so special, it’s what makes it unique, now because of its huge wing span the Albatross is able to reach distances that other birds just can’t cover. It can go places other birds just can’t go. See the Albatross is meant to soar using the wind to carry it. In fact the wind is so important to the Albatross that at full speed its heart rate is the same as when it’s sitting on the beach. On days when there is no wind. Guess where you’ll find the Albatross? You’ll find it just floating in the water soaking up some rays. See without the wind the Albatross is almost powerless. Other birds work really hard to get where they are going. They flap their wings, and try. The Albatross though is different. Its wings were made to rely on the wind not on their own power. In the same way God has made us uniquely dependent on him. So many of us rely on our own strength to live out our faith, we wear ourselves out as we “flap our wings” to get where were going. Instead like the wind for the Albatross, God has given us his Holy Spirit, to empower us for our life mission. In fact the Hebrew word for spirit can be translated as wind. Now Jesus knew that his followers needed the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. In the first chapter of Acts he tells them to go and wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 2 we read that when the day of Pentecost had come that they were all gathered in one place, and suddenly the sound of a blowing like a violent wind came from Heaven and filled the whole house. See for the early disciples they desperately needed the power, and the anointing of the spirit of God, to fulfill their life’s mission. The same is true for you and me today. For us to be the Disciples of Christ and to live out the life that God has for us to live, we need to surrender to the working of the spirit of God, and allow him to invade every part of our lives. God wants you to soar to new heights today.

            Now the book of Acts is an amazing book in the bible, we see how the first church was created. We see God as he begins to move through the early followers. It’s filled with adventures, and thrills, but it doesn’t start off that way. In fact in Acts chapter 1 we see that the disciples are a little confused, and slightly bewildered. I mean just a few weeks ago Jesus had been crucified. For three days they hid, they were scared for their own lives. And of course three days later Jesus was resurrected, and he spent with them 40 days. Here we find Jesus leaving them again, imagine what it must of felt like to them, put yourself in their shoes. Their dearest friend, the one that they walked with for 3 years, day and night, they had seen him perform many miracles, and now he was gone again. And they were supposed to carry out his mission. And so they stayed there in Jerusalem waiting to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. And so they go to the room, and they wait, and wait…and wait.  For 10 days they waited. I don’t know about you but I don’t like to wait. I HATE TO WAIT. In fact this week alone when I was standing in line to get a drink from the water fountain, I found myself growing impatient with the people in front of me, TAKING SUCH A LONG TIME! It’s like come on I have a class to get to, people to talk with, SAVE SOME FOR THE STINK’N FISH! I guess I need help, but the whole point is we need to slow down. God wants us to slow down; often times for me if I’m going to fast in my life I tend to not hear God speak to me. In fact it seems like sometimes he will throw obstacles in my path to get me to slow down a little so that I can hear him. It’s good for us to slow down, or you may call it “stopping to smell the roses.” In fact just for the heck of it lets have a fast on April 4^th. Let’s fast together as a group, to hear the voice of God. It’ll be a 18 day fast. Now some of you are thinking 18 days, no food for 18 days, no were going to have food. It’s a Daniel Fast, now the idea of the fast is not to go without food; the idea of fasting is to grow closer to God by distancing yourself from other things. I will have more on that next week. Back to the book of Acts though, Acts 2:1-4 read; “On the day of Pentecost* all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,* as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.” Now for some people they’re like keep going, don’t stop there, tongues whew spooky, just keep reading. Satan is trying to make us scared of the Holy Spirit. See some people think that the Holy Spirit is weird because they have seen weird people, do weird things, and they’ve blamed it on the Holy Spirit. Let me tell you something though; trust me that was not the Holy Spirit. Those people were just weird, and they’re going to be weird with or without the Holy Spirit, so don’t blame it on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not weird, turn and tell somebody that the Holy Spirit is not weird. The Holy Spirit is not weird, it’s not wild, it’s not out of control, or spooky, or something to be scared of, see the enemy would love for us to be confused about the Holy Spirit and who he is, because the power of the Holy Spirit is also the power for us, and the power for the church. So we as Christians need to understand the Holy Spirit because without it we become broken and un-useful in the church.

This brings me to our first question; who is the Holy Spirit? He is the PROMISE of God. All throughout the gospels we see Jesus preaching about one/something/counselor that’s going to come, and 800 years before Jesus preached about the coming of the Holy Spirit, God promised it to the prophet Joel. In Joel chapter 2 verse 28: “Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.” See this is significant because in the Old Testament, the Spirit would descend upon a priest, a king, or a prophet for only a moment and then leave. The promise of Joel is that the Holy Spirit is not longer going to be for a priest, a king, or a leader; it’s going to be for everyone. We also see that the Holy Spirit is GOD. He is the third person of the trinity; God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit. Every day we need to SURRENDER full control to the Holy Spirit, then we begin to see a transformation within us, we begin to understand that we can STEP UP AND STEP OUT. The more you surrender to the Holy Spirit the greater the things you can do.  In these next few weeks were going to begin to explore the Holy Spirit, and the book of Acts. We’re going to do some serious thinking, and as I said earlier I want to encourage you to go home and read the book of Acts. This is the first church this is the first generation. This is where the churches journey began. We can learn so much from it. This week go out and know that the Holy Spirit is with you always, if you let him.

The New Christians

There are many “Christians” out in the world today. I was  recently reading a book called “The Next Christians” by Gabe Lyons. In his book he discusses how Christians fall into three big main categories. Separatists, Cultural, and the third one we will talk about in a few. The first two categories break down into separate categories. So let’s start first with the Separatists side. The Separatists side breaks down into 3 mini categories; Insiders, Culture Warriors, and Evangelizers. Now I will give a brief explanation of each one of the mini categories.

            Insiders- these are the people who avoid non-believers at all cost. These people are only involved in “Christian” activities. They chose not to face the outside world. Why? Because these people are afraid that any outside influence could prove to be disastrous with their relationship with Christ. They find it best to stay involved in their local church and not branch out.

            Culture Warriors-now these are the people not to get in a fight with. They will fight every person that tries to take any hint of Christianity out of America. These people tend to not be violent in their views (with exceptions). Instead they only vote for pro-life politicians and anti-gay candidates. Their determined to keep God and Christ within America and will not stand for it being taken out. Their determination is driven be a deep belief that America and Christianity are “deeply intertwined.”

            Evangelizers-I guarantee that you all at least know one person that falls into this category. These people are so obsessed with winning souls for God that they end up turning more people away from him then to him. In his book Gabe gives this explanation “many evangelizers take seriously Old Testament Scripture that suggests that ‘blood will be on the hands’ of those who neglect to share the good news.” These people believe that the only true Christian activity is to win souls for God. Like I said earlier however, they end up turning more people away then bringing people closer.

Now I mentioned another major category which was called Cultural, these guys are interesting as well, and I feel that more people can relate to this group then perhaps the Separatist group. Cultural Christians break down into 2 mini categories; Blenders and Philanthropists. Once again I know that you can think of people that fall into these categories; maybe even you fall into one of these, only you know.

            Blenders-are the most common group of Christians in my opinion. These are the people that are Christian on Sunday, worldly on Monday (I used to be like that). They go to church because they think it’s cool, or they go simply because it’s another time to hang out with friends, and do that “church stuff”. Though you better believe that when Friday night roles around that they will be at that party living life and drinking that alcohol. I don’t have to go into much detail because we all know people like this.

            Philanthropists-these people simply focus on good works. They believe that it’s the right thing to do, which it is to a point. Often times though these good works replace rather than enhance a good relationship with Christ. These people are deeply involved in community service, yet if you were to ask them “what does Jesus mean to you?” you would be met with an explanation of all his “good deeds”. Once again we all know people like this so not too much detail needed here.

            Now both of these groups are intertwined. They both want to be accepted. They also want to fit in with current culture. “They don’t obsess about the afterlife and generally believe heaven is reserved for most everyone, except awful folk-like murderers, pedophiles, and men who don’t pay child support.” Separatists feel called away from the world, while Cultural Christians actually base their faith on society’s wants and needs. Now if you remember I mentioned that there were 3 main groups of Christians. I’ve only mentioned 2. So I’m sure some of you are anxious to find out a little more about this third group, I personally fall into this group.

            RESTORERS-this is the spiritual revival group I mentioned last week. This is the group that is slowly taking the nation by storm.  They envision the way the world as it was meant to be and they work toward that vision. They recognize that the world will not be completely healed until Christ’s return. However, they know that the process begins with a partnership with God. They are working on restoring the image of Christianity. They don’t separate from the world, nor do they blend in with it. instead they chose to ENGAGE in the world. They combine both the highs of Separatists and Cultural Christians together to create a super Christian. Instead of keeping their faith in religious activities they carry it over into the school week, and extra-curricular activities. In his book Gabe also goes into the differences of these Christians from the other group.

1.)    They are Provoked, not offended

2.)    They are Creators, not critics

3.)    They are Called, not employed

4.)    They are Grounded, not distracted

5.)    They are in Community, not alone

6.)    They are Countercultural, not “relevant”.

What do I mean by each of these well let’s take a little time to explore them.

Provoked, not offended. These Christians believe that God’s love extends to all people. They don’t run from areas that Separatists keep away from instead they run to them. They seek out all those who are broken and offer hope to them. They stand up for what they believe to be good, true, and beautiful. They don’t act because it’s the “Christian thing to do” they act because they know its right.

Creators, not critics. Regardless of faith, class or ethnicity, these Christians feel bound to create goods that tell the truth about how the world works. Like I said before they act even if their actions won’t result in a conversion. They do their good works because it’s the right thing to do.

Called, not employed. These Christians no longer believe that you have to be in “the ministry” in order to do ministry. They go out and share the Gospel with those in the work place. They also believe that they should help those closer to home before going out and helping other people further away. They create missions right in their own backyard.

Grounded, not distracted. These new Christians know that through media, social networking sites, and friends that there will always be people out there that will try to change them. They understand this and thus create a strong foundation in the truth of God. They know that they are going to be under constant fire and so they put on the full armor of God.

In Community, not alone. These Next Christians realize the importance of community involvement. They actively engage in loving, grieving, serving, and suffering with each other. They take criticism from friends and family, and they also expose their deepest secrets even at the risk of rejection. They know that the best way to win souls is not to do it alone but simply to just love on one another to help each other grow deeper spiritually.


Countercultural, not relevant. Often times Christians are looked at as hypocritical, and nothing like Jesus. These new Christians are creating a personal brand rather than a giant brand. They are reflecting the opposite image of what Christianity has become to most people. These Christians are no longer worried about keeping up with society, and all the technology. They simply let it happen as needed. They chose not to follow what’s cool in culture, and instead chose to follow the basics. These Christians are popping up faster than many people realize, and are creating a revolution of Un-Christianizing America. They want to remove the image of what Christianity has become and start new with a clean slate. These are what the Next Christians are doing, are you going to join with them?


Sorry if this post is hard to read, my blog is messed up at the moment and I'm trying my best to fix it.