Month: March 2019

As Jesus was speaking to his disciples on the very last night before his death, he took the very small and precious amount of time he had left — and repeated himself.  A lot.

Over and over Jesus told his disciples that there was one thing that he really wanted them to do.  One thing.  And he said it again and again, as though they would forget.  As though we would forget.

And so we return again in this series to Jesus’ one command.   This time for the people in the back.  Because that’s us.

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This Lent, we are leaning into the last words of Jesus in the Gospel of John. The night before his death, Jesus assembled his disciples and gave them words that would see them through the gathering storm. Among those words were startling promises: that in dying, God would give us his peace; that in departing, God would give us his presence; and that in demonstrating weakness, God would give us his power.

Peace, I leave with you. My peace I give you. I do not give you peace as the world gives peace. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

What kind of unearthly peace is this? What kind of presence can be given by a dying God? What kind of power can steady a powerless, terrified heart in this violent, brutal world? Listen in to hear for yourselves about what Jesus offers to us, for and in our darkest hours.

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In his last words to his disciples on the night before he died, in just one sentence, Jesus offered the only rule that God has for us. One piercing command—and we don’t have to spend our days praying and sweating over what it means. We already understand it; we already know how to live it out. In just one sentence, it’s unavoidably clear.

Listen in as we rededicate ourselves to living out this one thing God asks of us.

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In these next several weeks before Easter, we will celebrate the holy season of Lent by looking deeply into our own habits and behaviors so we can evaluate them in light of who we believe Jesus is and how he has called us to live. Together we will walk through the last words Jesus spoke to his disciples before being crucified and contemplate how they speak to us today exactly where we are.

This week in part 1 of the series, we learn that everything Jesus said at the very end followed something very powerful that he did, with actions that spoke loudly and challenged everyone’s preconceptions — including ours — about his kingdom.

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Over the weeks, we’ve learned about how shalom was the original state of all creation, all people, and all living things. We learned about how nature itself was bound in an interdependent web of mutual flourishing, and how, ever since the fall, God has been relentlessly restoring all of creation to this state of shalom. We’ve learned that we are called by God to join in the holy work of repairing and restoring shalom. But can ordinary, flawed beginners like us really help in the holy work of restoring shalom? Well, yes!

This Sunday, Lindsay Rich shares a message about Gideon—one of the most unlikely leaders in all of Scripture. Tucked away in the book of Judges, Gideon’s story shows us that God can us two essential truths: God delights in calling people just like us, and the first thing we have to do is the very last thing we’re expecting.

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