Ezekiel 17 ( The Connection)

I really thought the time of worship last Sunday was good. I love to express my thoughts and thanks to God in tangible ways. The art wall and the prayer station really helped me do that. And the band (thanks Devon, Cole, Thomas, and Becca!) playing made a beautiful atmosphere for the gathering. Also, all the set up helped us experience the reality of God's presence (thanks Tom, Laurie, and Sherrinda). It was good for us all to be together and share with each other.

We need to carry on the conversation about what the Lord is calling us to be and do. What is the Lord impressing on your heart? Sherrinda and I just watched the movie Chocolat. I thought it was great, have any of you seen it? It reminded me of Babette's Feast. And it really awoke in me a desire to live in the fullness of life that God gives.

We have been having discussions about some foundational ideas for our new community. I wrote some things and Devon has added some of his thoughts. Now I think it's important for us to continue the conversation. So, here are some of the things we've written down as basic characteristics of a community of Jesus...

The Gospel - The Gospel message is that God came to live among us in the person of Jesus Christ and that His life, death, and resurrection are the actions of redemption and restoration of all creation. We trust in Him and His work for our salvation. We accept this Gospel story as the true story of our own lives. We read scripture with the Gospel as our method of interpretation. Therefore we are followers of Jesus.

Life Transformation – People are transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in this world. That begins with us as we live our lives trusting in Jesus as the source of real life. Therefore we will pursue spiritual disciplines so that our lives will be wholly given to following Jesus. Then our evangelism, witness, and service are not activities or programs that we participate in but they are a constant result of the character that the Holy Spirit is producing in us. We also seek to be honest with every part of our lives. We refuse to live in the false dichotomy of the sacred and the secular. We aim to fuse our work, play, art, and education into one seamless life in Christ.

Community – God dwells in relationship and community (theology of the Trinity) and we are being renewed in his image. So, we too live our lives in relationship and community. We love and support each other. We read and interpret scripture together and understand it as a body. We pray together to be in tune with God’s purposes. We worship together as a communal expression of what God is doing in our lives. We believe that the way the kingdom of God shows itself on this earth is through compassionate community. As we live within the Gospel story through the power of the Holy Spirit in the context of community, we are moving together more and more into the Kingdom of God.

Continuing the conversation....

John Ketchersid