Everyone can say, “If you knew me before…”. We share our testimonies to try to explain who we were before (Before Christ, before surrender, before …) and so that we can give glory to God for His work in our lives.

I have the unique, exciting and somewhat frightening, opportunity to re-connect with a high school friend. She knew me before…, and I knew her before…, it’s going to be interesting to see how the dots get filled in.

Do you have any dots to fill in?

I’ve wondered what the landscape of health insurance would be if we treated it like we do our automobile and home-owner’s insurance. What would happen if we only had coverage for major health issues (injuries, hospital stays, emergency situations) instead of having regular “maintenance” (i.e. annual doctor visits, short-term illness treatments – such as colds and viruses, chronic treatments – such as allergies, high blood pressure, etc.) covered also? How would this change the way our health-care system worked?

Week 2: Kingdom Calling – Mission

1. Scotty Smith writes that “We are not ‘trophies of grace’ to be placed on the mantel for display. We are to become ‘conduits of grace’ placed in the messy world of relationships to serve the forgiving, freeing, healing purposes of God.” (Objects of His Affection, p. 89). If we were able to really see that our main purpose in life was to be a conduit of God’s grace and so participate in His mission to turn back the Fall – what difference would that make in how we live/work/play, etc?

2. Read Luke 10:25-37. Our primary difficulty with mission is our self-centeredness. Interact with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Where do you see yourself in the story? Have you been a recipient of people passing you by in need? How did that feel? Where do you see God in this parable?

3. How have you fallen into the trap of trying to justify yourself with good works of mission?

4. How have you guised your obedience to the call of mission by going to Tarshish instead of Ninevah? What is your Tarshish? What is your Ninevah?

5. How does seeing yourself as God’s mission (yourself as Ninevah) empower you and motivate you to participate in His mission to the world? What is the proper motivation for mission?

6. How can you – as a group – contribute to God’s world mission?

For each of the next ten Wednesdays (with the exception of Oct. 1) leading up to Thanksgiving, we at South City Church are going to be exploring together what it means to live out the Kingdom of God right here, right now. We’d love to do this together and with the help of our friends who may not be able to make it to services to hear the sermons. Our sermons are available to listen to on the South City Sermons blog. This is the first week of discussions. Each week, we will post the questions and hope you will join us in this discussion.

Read Matthew 4:17-23. What does the “Gospel (or good news) of the Kingdom” mean? What does it mean to you? Do you see and understand the “Gospel” as it relates to the “Kingdom”? And what implications does this have on how you view the world, your life and the role of the church in it?

Imagine yourself in Peter or Andrew or James or John’s shoes. You are in thee middle of your work when Jesus walks up and tells you to drop everything and follow him. What sort of internal struggle would you have when faced with the choice? Would you go? What fears would you have? What difference would it make if you realized that he was ushering in the “kingdom of heaven” (v. 17) and wanted YOU to participate?

Do you live in the reality that Jesus calls you by name? That he had you in mind on the cross? That he is with you now – as you eat, sleep, work and play? What difference would it make in your life (your work, your relationships, your private life) if you really lived as if Jesus was your spouse – always with you – knowing everything about you? Is Jesus Christ really your personal savior or is he just some cultural or theological abstract on the fringes of your personal life?

Edmund P. Clowney writes that “The church, according to the Scripture, is not a religious club, a voluntary association of like-minded Christians who cultivate friendship and engage in joint projects.  It is rather the institution of Christ and of the Spirit, formed by his power and governed by his Word.” Do you see the church primarily as a club or as the Covenant family of God? What does your understanding of this have on how you prioritize the church community?

We live in an individualistic culture. We are inundated with exhortations to “do your own thing”, “do what makes you happy,” and to “be all that you can be.” The internet has allowed people to relate with each other on their own terms – to manufacture identities and to make friendships that cost them very little. Do you treat church like just another internet site where you can visit without it costing you anything? What difference would it make if you treated it like a family?

Richard Lovelace says that the trend toward thinking of Christianity only in terms of its personal benefits is like thinking of the Christian life as one where “the individual believer is connected to the source of grace like a diver who draws his air supply from the surface through a hose. He is essentially a self-contained system cut off from the other divers working around him. If their air supply is cut off, this does not damage him nor can he share with them the air that he receives. The situation would be no different if he were working alone a hundred miles away” (Dynamics of Spiritual Life, p. 167-68). What effects does this have on the church? How does it essentially undermine the “Gospel of the Kingdom?”

How can you grow as a disciple of Christ in these areas?

Last Saturday evening, after hearing guitarist Robin Bullock perform in person at the Mississippi River Celtic Music Festival, I rushed to the lobby to buy one of his CDs — Rosewood Castle (to hear samples, follow the link below). I don’t know if it’s possible to wear out a CD just by playing it, but if so, I’ll have to replace this one within a month, because I’ve listened to nothing else for the past week!

There is no evidence anywhere on the CD case that Mr. Bullock puts his faith in Jesus Christ. I hope so, because I want to hear him play over and over again in heaven. But whether or not he has personally experienced God’s saving grace, his beautiful and soulful music reflects humanity created in the image of God, the Creator of everything that is beautiful.

Rosewood Castle also reminds me that for now, although Christ has paid in full the mortgage on my home in heaven, moving day is yet to come. It is not unusual for me to be moved to tears by beautiful music; nearly every tune on this CD provokes that response. You’d think I would rejoice at such exquisite sound, and in fact I do, but along with the joy comes a sense that the peacefulness and freedom conveyed in Bullock’s music cannot be grasped. They belong to the future, when all that God has promised comes to pass.

In the meantime, I listen again and again, while driving, while drifting off to sleep, while praying, all the while longing for that Kingdom of the future. God speaks through Scripture, He speaks through sermons, He speaks through our brothers and sisters in faith; but He also speaks through music, and through Bullock’s music Our Father says “I love you.” Listening to Rosewood Castle is worship.

http://www.amazon.com/Rosewood-Castle-Robin-Bullock/dp/B000TJ6VOG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1208018333&sr=8-1

Please watch this video from a recent Oprah Winfrey Show broadcast.

OK. So, the question is: How does someone who never heard the name Jesus, get into heaven?

We believe that Jesus is the only way – John 14:6. But, it’s obvious that it’s not the name of Jesus, but the person of Jesus. We know his name because we’ve been introduced to him through the New Testament. I think what people get hung up on is that there are many people who have never heard of the name Jesus and yet do many wonderful things and we want to believe that they are going to heaven because of what they do. But what Abraham and David and Noah and all the great men and women of Scriptures knew was not the name of Jesus Christ, but that there was to be a Christ. They knew that there was no way they could go to God, but they knew and trusted that God would come to them, and he did. They knew that there was no way that man could make it to God without God coming to man. That is what Jesus did! He was God on earth – Immanuel!!! God with us!!!

The woman in the audience, when posed with this question, would have been better to say – “You know, Oprah, that’s a really a good question and one I grapple with myself. I know that Jesus is the only way and I know this because I know him. I can see that you have put a great deal of time and effort in trying to find the answer yourself and that you struggle with understanding yourself. I don’t have the answer to your question and I apologize for not being prepared to answer it. I would be willing to continue this discussion later because it is something that I should have a better understanding. There is not a ’10-second soundbite’ answer. It requires a close examination of Scripture and that takes time.” Or something like that.

Some questions to think about from this week’s sermon:
In what ways do you try to manufacture heaven on earth?

In what ways do you continue to add to the wall that separates you from heaven?

Share experiences of tasting heaven on earth.

This is the name of my new blog. The title comes from 1 Corinthians 6:11 – And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

I want to share with my friends my thoughts and what God is revealing to me in living out this life. I hope you will see it as revealing to you as I hope it is for me.

Please let me know your email address if you would like to be an author on this board. Please comment to this entry.

This seemed like as good a place as any to add a thought-sharing component to South City Chruch. We can use this for invitations or comments on the sermons or whatever you feel like sharing with the South City Church community. I hope you enjoy sharing with each of us what’s going on.