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Balancing Life’s relationships: The triangle

 

Jesus' lifestyle had a 3 way focus: three basic dimensions that we describe as UP, IN and OUT:

UP - Identity defined by time spent in intimate relationship with the Father.

IN - Relationships defined by a community following together after God.

OUT - Purpose defined by a lifestyle that makes a difference in the world.

 

One of those days Jesus went up to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them designating them apostles….

Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God”

 

Choosing to Learn from Life: the circle

Change is at the heart of following God. As we follow we are. Jesus came announcing Good News. News of Release, Rescue, Hope. That the rule & reign of God is available to us. And our response to that momentous event? To choose to get defined by it. To repent and believe – to change our minds & actively put our faith into practice. Ongoingly. Again & again. Like a circle. Each time we sense God’s voice, his prod of conviction, experience a defining moment – that event remains just a memory if it doesn’t lead to a process of transformation.

A process of consideration, choice and response – to plan for change. A process to challenge all our relationships and places that need to change… change into territory where God’s Kingdom can come…

The challenge is to be open to where he is getting our attention - in the small things and the big things of life - & then keeping on going around the circle – the process of aligning our lives to his rule. And then we are transformed. 

 

“The time has come,” Jesus said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

 
 

Finding the Rhythm of Life: the semi-circle

 

Jesus offers to show us "the unforced rhythms of grace." So how do we get with the beat? A beat that is about rest & work, adventure & retreat, hiding & seeking, fruitfulness & abiding, coming & going. Like a pendulum. Backwards & forwards. An outward journey & a return journey. A return ticket.

The dynamic here is counter-cultural. In a world traveling with the ‘pedal to the metal’ as fast as it can all the time, how do we embrace the challenge of the Father taking us through the gears? How do we recognize and embrace growing times & pruning times? The ebb of the tide as well as the flood?

The Gardener wants to train us as we grow and cut us back in the areas where we can be more fruitful. The challenge is to let Him. There are consequences if we don’t.

 

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Knowing your role in Life: the pentagon

‘I just want to know what I am good for…’ Healthy churches & communities release every member into roles that fit who they are. We can discover our talents & abilities, but if we don’t know where to use them it remains information with no application. What is the role that makes sense of your abilities? The Apostle Paul describes the church body as something that knows its ‘functions’. So what criteria make a church fully functioning?

Taking the only place in the Bible that Jesus is described as apportioning roles to His church, this shape considers the 5 dynamics apportioned by Jesus to prepare people & build them up so that the Church reaches unity, maturity & attains to reflect the whole range of attributes of Jesus. In other words, the key dynamics of the church. So how do we recognize them in one another, acknowledge phases of growth & stretching for us in areas that may not be our natural base - & affirm roles that allow us as the church to pioneer new ground and then consolidate it?

Because the only thing Jesus is coming back for is his bride the Church, and she’s only fit and healthy if she is fully playing her role.It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up