Last Day of the Church Year 11/26/23
Reflect on your year: Through each season, what are the high’s, low’s and in between’s? Do you see a thread of God’s movement?
Church year: Top half we receive identity | Bottom half we work out of that identity
Already & Not Yet | We are already fully adopted, redeemed and forgiven. Yet we also do not fully experience the complete reality of the Kingdom of Jesus.
1. Reorient to the Biblical trajectory.
2. How do we live in our ‘already’ life?
3. Engage the hope for our ‘not yet’ life.
Reorient to the Biblical trajectory.
We are God’s Temple
• Holy Spirit lives in you
• Holy Spirit lives among us
• According to the Bible, followers of Jesus, who are Jilled with the Spirit, are the best place to meet with God.
How do we live in our ‘already’ life? Jude 17-25 | NIV
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the Jire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted Jlesh. To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Jude 20-21 | NASB | Rearranged "But you, beloved, keep yourselves in the love of God, [by:]
• Building yourselves up on your most holy faith,
– Building yourselves as a temple, a meeting place, for people to come and encounter the risen Lord Jesus through the presence of His Spirit living and active inside you.
– on the foundation of the good news
• Praying in the Holy Spirit,
– "Prayer is simply the medium through which we communicate and commune with God. The practice of prayer is learning to set aside dedicated time to intentionally be with God, in order to become like him and partner with him in the world." - Practicing the Way
• Prayer is not just talking, it is listening. Prayer is not just words, it is communicating. Prayer is like texting your friend throughout the day, it is like long conversations over a meal with your partner, it is like holding the hand of a loved one while watching a movie.
• Prayer is the language of communication
• Looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
Engage the hope for our ‘not yet’ life.
There is a day when all sad things become untrue
When Jesus shows the disciples his hands and feet, [after his death and resurrection] he is showing them his scars. The last time the disciples saw Jesus, they thought those scars were ruining their lives. …they believed those wounds had destroyed their lives. And now Jesus is showing them that in his resurrected body his scars are still there. On the Day of the Lord - the day when God makes everything right, the day that everything sad comes untrue - on that day the same thing will happen to your own hurts and sadness. You will Jind that the worst things that have ever happened to you will in the end only enhance your eternal delight. On that day, all of it will be turned inside out and you will know joy beyond the walls of the world. The joy of your glory will be that much greater for every scar you bear. So live in the light of the resurrection and renewal of this world, and of yourself, in a glorious, never-ending, joyful dance of grace.