The Roof: Missional Mercy
When Jesus was approached by a lawyer who wished to test him, he asked, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus’ reply was the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan was a neighbor to a man beaten, stripped, and left for dead because he showed him mercy. As we continue our series on our core values, Missional Mercy serves as the roof of the house we’ve been constructing. It is because God has shown such great mercy to us that we are freed to show mercy to others. This is our calling, our mission, our work, and our vision.
The Front Door: Relational Hospitality
Hospitality in the Bible indicates a willingness to love and serve Jesus Christ by serving strangers. It is perhaps the most tangible way you and I can share the Good News of the Gospel and when we turn the stranger away we send them along with dirty feet.
The Foundation: Biblical Orthodoxy
Unless our orthodoxy is capable of burning within our hearts, I’m not sure it is very biblical...Does our orthodoxy lead us to Jesus? Does it train us in righteousness, equip us for every good work, make us look more like the One who purchased our salvation? Because if it doesn’t, it is dead.
I Will Build My Church
Friends, the Church of Jesus Christ is founded upon Jesus Christ. He is the One who is building His Church, outside of which salvation cannot be found. This Church is the possessor, the steward, and the upholder of truth, which is why she is indispensable for every Christian.
Grafted In
…and this is the glorious good news of the gospel. We have no right or claim to these promises. Neither can we graft ourselves into them on our own. We must be grafted in. Welcome to Holy Baptism.
Losing Control
“I’m not saying to be reckless and unwise, but we can serve our fear more than we serve our Lord! That is not God’s call on the Christian’s life. He did not give us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. We weren’t created to control everything around us.”
God’s Merciful Compassion
There will be times when we will be tempted to use and abuse compassion. And if we do so, we end up harming the least of these. It does not give life; it does not feed the soul. But we also harm ourselves. We embolden self-will. We attempt to subvert God’s will. The result of the use and abuse of compassion are not life-giving; they are life-taking because, at its core, compassion is about mercy.
Start Small
Why did Jesus heal them just so they could grow older and die anyway? It’s because the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed; it grows even as we doubt and get discouraged.
Wheat & Weeds
God has planted within you His love, His kindness, His abilities, all of the fruits, all of the gifts––God lives within you…and since [He] lives within you, there will be weeds cast in your life. Remove them, for there is a judgment coming; you do not want to keep living in the weeds.
Good Soil
We don’t exist to simply meet in a building on Sundays…There is a harvest out there! There is a garden to be planted right here in Jackson. Bearing fruit requires us to understand the word of the kingdom! To seek it out! To meditate on it! To pray it! And most importantly, to live it!
Prisoners of Hope
“Jesus is offering us rest from trying to earn something that is being given to us for free.”
Selling Out
If we are to faithfully steward the gospel, the hope of the world, we have to get our own house in order: we must prioritize the Kingdom of God over all others.
Resident Aliens
“…there are 3 dangers that come with being resident aliens, or citizens of two kingdoms at the same time: The danger of being delivered, the danger of being despised, and the danger of being destroyed.”
Getting Our House in Order
“We need to get our priorities straight in the church today. We need to minister to one another so that we are inviting the lost into something good and godly. We need to get over fear, anxiety, and reluctance and get into the game. And we need to keep the church’s mission in our sights at all times before we settle into cozy Christianity.”
Two Places at Once
“The hope of the world depends on the Church prioritizing God’s Kingdom over any other commitment. That’s why you and I aren’t caught up to heaven the second we are reborn. We are sent out into the Kingdom of Man to demonstrate a better way. Not the way of asserting moral superiority over our neighbors, but the way of crying out for God’s mercy and receiving more than we could ever dream. It is our calling and it is the hope of the world.”
Friendship with Christ
…so keep loving. Keep loving Jesus. See how Jesus has loved you, and me, and others around him, and go love like that.
Nourished on the Word
We fill our hearts and our minds with his Word, right? We do that. That's the data. That's the stuff that the Holy Spirit uses, and we just fill it. He gives us understanding as time goes on. We have to be patient, but faithful, and understanding is Word, seeking understanding, meditating on it, praying through it.
Hearing Voices
Do you know the voice of the Good Shepherd? Are you listening to his voice or are you hearing other voices; the voices of strangers? Does Psalm 23 describe your life or do you feel like you are in a sheepfold being destroyed by ravenous wolves? There is a Good Shepherd, friend. He laid down his life for you.
Now You See Him, Now You Don’t
We are not above Thomas, we stand beside him. He is our big brother in the faith with something crucial to teach us. That our journey of faith is to have a Thomas-like quality to it. That we don’t just accept things without thinking, but that we learn how to doubt.
Plunge Into Hope
“The resurrection of Jesus is good news because he changed the human story from a Tragedy to a grand Comedy, the Greatest of Happy Endings!”