1 Peter 3:1-7 (part 1)
Blog/Vlog
Sitting by the window overlooking the sink in my mother-in-law’s kitchen, where it is nice and sunny, are a set of beautiful purple and pink Cyclamen. Cyclamen are gorgeous plants with vibrant flowering during fall, winter, and spring. When the hot and dry summer comes the flower goes dormant, appearing dead, throwing off leaf and flower. But actually the dormancy is the flower’s inherent strategy to adjust to the summer months. Similarly, this season of COVID-19 restriction has made us learn more about adjusting than we would like to know…
Renewal Church, I was praying with a small group of folks and I’d like to share a word of encouragement that the Lord gave us for you! That’s right — you...us...our church! First, the way the Lord revealed this to us was really cool. Five people in the group each received a specific word or impression that, when put together, became one specific word of encouragement — sort of like Voltron…
What would it do for our lives if we celebrated more often? Celebration is how we identify, symbolize, and dramatize our values. Values are our stance on what is important in life. We celebrate what we value. Celebration is related to praise, and praise is what we do to express appreciation for everything and everyone that we enjoy…
1 Peter 2:21-25
When we practice the ingredients of healthy Church with participatory facilitation and when our Vision, Mission, and Values are integrated into our Communities, ownership happens. Reproductive capability is assumed. So that whether you are cut off from Sunday gatherings or have moved to a new city, you can—as a severed limb so to speak—start, cultivate, multiply, and sustain Communities wherever you go. You can be like a starfish…
1 Peter 2:18-21
Sometimes, all we need is a reminder to help us see differently and do differently. Sundays are like that. Sundays are reminders telling us the world is different. Jesus is alive and the resurrection is a living hope. Sunday, the first day of the week, the day Jesus rose again, is a reminder that Jesus is Lord over the world, over the next 6 days. Sundays are our commission into the week as a community of communities…
1 Peter 2:13-17
Today, we need a theologically rich paradigm for Sunday morning gatherings- a paradigm triggered by the event of Jesus’ resurrection which took place on the first day of the week, a Sunday. Jesus punched a hole through death and came out on the other side of Sabbath. In the creation account, Sabbath, the 7th day, was a day of rest without morning or evening (Gen. 2:2). Unlike any other day, it was a day, like a signpost pointing into the future, that would never end. Jesus rose into the state of eternal rest- the predicament Sabbath anticipated- the new creation…