New Vision for Northgate Church

Speaker 1 0:31

Yeah , like I said , just like by giving something , you're giving to everything and supporting that . So so thankful for those of you who have supported . I'm humbled by so many people's generosity . Continue to see things goes . And just a reminder it's not about equal giving , it's about equal sacrifice to see the kingdom continue to move forward , and we're gonna talk about how the kingdom is gonna move forward .

Speaker 1 0:51

This is a special Sunday for us . This is a new vision Sunday . This isn't just vision for , like this year , some faith communities give vision like okay , this is what we're gonna be focused on this year . I'll give you an idea of what this year's gonna look like through some of the things and initiatives that we wanna do . But we really feel like God has given us a fresh , new vision , which is how we live out our mission for the next five to 10 years and what that's gonna look like , and so we wanted to share that with you .

Speaker 1 1:21

Norcates mission is to help unchurched people become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ . One of those words has been expanded a little bit over the years because of its definition , so it's really our mission statement is to help unchurched , anti-churched and de-churched people become wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ . So those represent a couple different people . Unchurched is maybe some people who just never experienced church , never had an interaction with someone through church . Anti-church is someone who has experienced church through someone else and did not have a good experience the way someone in their family was treated or a friend was treated , or , from a distance , the way they experienced a church community . And de-churched is someone who was actually a part of a church and walked away from faith or their church because of an experience they had with that faith community or the way that they didn't have a safe space to wrestle with the larger questions and purpose of life and who is God . So we have never changed our mission .

Speaker 1 2:28

From the very beginning , northgate was founded on this mission . It still is and is going to be for its existence . That is our mission . That's always where we're headed . That's true North .

Speaker 1 2:39

For us as a faith community , vision is the vehicle in which you take to get there and it's the thing that we can all kind of come around and link arms up with . And so vision can change every once in a while depending on how culture changes and the church changes and people change . And we had a couple different visions just over a decade ago probably about 12 years ago , we had one that we really grasped onto for a season , which was we wanted to . Our vision was to change the way people view the church , which was small seed church , local faith community and the large seed church , and so we looked through that lens of hey , we're a people , we're sitting here trying to change the way people view the church . Everyone has an idea what church is and who they are , and we wanna change some of that point of view .

Speaker 1 3:26

About five and a half years ago , we had a new vision that we unveiled and we've been living through , which was we want to transform our homes , communities and world by three big things . Our homes and our community world is gonna be transformed by pursuing God . It's gonna help reorienting your family cause now it's part of what your family does and then it changes the community . You're gonna do that by building community , by serving or being in small groups into circles rather than rows . We're gonna have fun , we're gonna make friends , we're gonna follow Jesus . And the third thing was is that we were gonna unleash compassion , that we were gonna be a people that's about compassion and caring for those in need and unleashing being of extravagant in this way , and that was what was gonna change our homes , our community and world , what we feel like for the next five , maybe 10 plus years . God's given us a fresh vision to be able to grasp and respond to after the things that we've gone through and how things have kind of shifted and changed , and what God's actually inviting into us and creating a bit of a burning passion , and so I've been spending a lot of time really seeking the Lord in this . Our board of counsel has spent time praying about this , trying to figure out what is this fresh new thing that's coming , is gonna be , and so I'm gonna be kind of teasing that out a little bit today and then over the next month of January , every week we're gonna attach it to a story , as we're teaching through Matthew expositorily about Jesus' words or action that actually show this vision being lived out and how we can grasp onto that together .

Decline of Religion, Rise of 'Nones

Speaker 1 5:05

Well , first for today , I wanted to start out with this fundamental question right off the bat that I think needs to be kind of asked , which is who needs God ? Who needs God or do we really need God ? For some people , the question isn't actually who needs God or do we really need the God . For a lot of people , the real question is do we need religion ? Who needs religion ?

Speaker 1 5:30

And more and more Americans than ever are giving up on religion or backing away from religion . They disconnect from religion . They disconnect from God because they think I just don't need it . And it's not because they found out things like atheism or agnosticism so appealing . It's because a lot of people have found religion or the God of their childhood so unappealing . It's not because they've investigated in these truths or teachings around things like atheism or agnosticism . It's that they've disconnected from something that they just don't feel like they need anymore , like it just doesn't even seem real anymore . And it's not necessarily attraction to something else like atheism or agnosticism . It's just that religion doesn't seem to hold the same attraction that it used to hold . So , in fact , many would say that religion is actually the problem . You know , growing up many of us were told that religion has the answers , that God has all the answers , that church has all the answers . Now more people than ever , especially in this country , say no . The opposite is true . Not only does religion not offer us any answers , religion is actually part of , or actually the problem In the debate I was watching out too long ago .

Speaker 1 6:57

There was two sides of this coin and they were in the midst of this debate and one side says , well , like where does evil come from ? Like what is the source for evil ? And the person that they were debating said religion , and then the entire audience erupted in applause . It gives you kind of like a pulse . I don't know how many of you actually remember this or kind of the shift culturally that happened , but immediately following 9-11 , there was actually an author named Sam Harris . He began to wrote a book that would eventually be published under the title the End of Faith , and the subtitle of this book was Religion , terror and the Future of Reason . This was basically a massive scathing critique on all religions , and when he turned in the manuscript to the publisher , the first publisher turned him down . So then he turned it into a second publisher and that publisher turned him down . In fact , he ended up turning this into 12 different publishers and they all turned him down .

Speaker 1 8:03

Now , when you write a book and 12 publishers say we don't want it , it should tell you something . But here's what was taking place . This is the assumption among the publishers . They were saying post 9-11 , when kind of the country had synergized together and linked arms together , they said we just don't feel like there's an appetite for a book that criticizes Christianity . There was no appetite in America right now , after what everyone had just experienced and what was going on , to critique religion . But finally a publisher took the manuscript and they published it , and it stayed on the New York best selling list for 33 weeks , and it was effective because the Christians of this country mainly many , many Christians of this country , came unglued at this book when they read it , and so they began to email him and bombard him with letters and critiques about this . And so then he came out with another book entitled Letter to a Christian Nation , and in this short little book it takes apart Christianity and basically says that religion is part of the problem , and Christianity in particular is part of the problem .

Speaker 1 9:25

Now there were books written after this . There was a handful that came out with a much of this similar idea , and what happened was these people who wrote these different books about this idea immediately became like rock stars . They were on late night television , they were doing debates , they were doing speeches all over the place , and millions of millions of people were reading their books and what turned out is that this group that are now called the new atheists , this group it gave voice to a significant percentage of the population who were already thinking that religion is , in fact , the problem . Now , the interesting thing if you know any of this literature , some of you have read these books or know these books . Some of you have never read these types of books or heard of these books , but here's what happened in our country at the time , and some of you remember this kind of cultural shift .

Speaker 1 10:20

While there wasn't like this surge in atheism , in other words , where it was just like all of a sudden , tens and tens of thousands of people went and checked the atheist box overnight , banning the church , banning God , what did happen was an immediate migration from all religions , all religious activities in this country , into a brand new category of people . That tens or even hundreds of thousands of people just disconnected religion altogether , not because they were embracing something new , they just realized I don't believe anymore . And we've experienced the trickle down effect for the last 15 plus years . Some of you maybe they'll actually remember this and I'm gonna help you ignite it to know that when this cultural shift took place I don't know if you remember , like it , all of a sudden , overnight it seemed like you said , oh no , no , I'm not religious , I'm spiritual . Remember that one ? All of a sudden it was not cool to say I'm religious , I'm spiritual . And then over time it's trickled down to no , I'm not religious , I'm not gonna be putting that box , I'm not really spiritual , I'm just not anything . I'm just kind of out there and perhaps I would like to say maybe religion is the problem . And as we look around the world today , it's understandable why people would begin to come to that conclusion not a particular religion , but religion in general .

Speaker 1 11:45

And what happened was is this then created this new category of people that you may have heard of or may not have heard of , called the nuns ? Not like nuns , like a nun , but like the nothings ? This is this new category of people . The nuns are essentially this new group of people . They're not a new group from something in the past . They are new group with this new name that's been around for a while this idea of unaffiliated or nun-affiliated people . The nun-affiliated is that they're saying I don't embrace anything , we've just disconnected from religion affiliation altogether . That doesn't mean we've joined a new religion . That doesn't mean we've joined a new group . We're not necessarily atheists . We wouldn't even , maybe , label ourselves as agnostic . We just know what we're not . We're not sure at this point what we really are , but they're known as nuns , meaning no faith .

Speaker 1 12:49

Now this group of people , the nuns , makes them about 23% , generally , of the US population . This is where it gets a little bit more intriguing and , I think , scary for this next generation , that that represents about 35% of millennials and 25% of Gen Z , this next generation that's coming up . They're primarily educated . They're theologically agnostic or theologically apathetic . They don't know , they don't care , they don't feel like they even need to know . The nuns aren't , like , hostile towards any religion , necessarily . They're just not affiliated with it . In numbers , if you look at this , they're even higher in the Bay Area .

Speaker 1 13:32

Here's the thing , though . I wanna say that I can't speak for all religions , obviously , and I can't speak for all of Christianity , obviously , but here's one I am absolutely convinced of that this migration that happened from Christianity to this nun group , this migration , this enormous migration away from the church in this country , away from the church in this state or these communities in the Bay , that it lies at the feet , that it is the church's fault . The responsibility lies at the feet of people who do what I do and people who gather like we gather , weekend after weekend after weekend . And the reason so many people have disengaged from the church is not because of the message , it's because of the messenger . It's oftentimes because of the messenger , because it's because of the vehicle , because of media , it's because of the way things are talked about or not talked about . It's their behavior . And if we were gonna go all the way down that road , it's our behavior .

Speaker 1 14:45

But at the end of the day , it's not the nun's fault that they found Christianity so unengaging and so unappealing and so unscientific and so irrational . It's my fault , it's our fault , friends . And here's why I say that , because when you open up the gospels in the Bible , these first four books that tell us about the life of Jesus , when you read through Matthew and Mark and Luke and John to see the life of Jesus , when you look at the way that Jesus interacted with people , the person who is at the epicenter of everything that we believe and everything we do as Christians , when you read these gospels , you discover that people who are nothing like Jesus liked Jesus and you discover that he actually liked them back . So perhaps if our Christianity isn't compelling , if our Christianity isn't attractive , if our Christianity doesn't have any stick , perhaps we have the wrong version . Now , the thing that convinces me that I think we have the wrong version is , out of all the deconversion stories that I've heard from someone who has left the church and every time I hear one there's somebody who says they've walked away from faith of the church or Christianity I think in my heart like but wait , like that's interesting that you had that experience , that's fascinating that you thought this way or were told this , that's heartbreaking that you experienced this , that's curious that that's where you got . But out of all of the reasons that I hear , none of those reasons are reasons to walk away from faith . It's usually just manifested around the wrong version of faith .

Speaker 1 16:46

And I feel like deep within my soul that God is inviting and asking and calling us , as a faith community located in the Bay Area of Northern California , to address that . And if I had the power , I would like to just correct that . But I'm going to tell you my agenda . My agenda is for us , as a faith community , to represent and to represent perhaps , christianity to others in a way that has never been presented before . Not because , like we have this unique insight , not because we have stumbled across something that no one else has ever stumbled across , but because I think , as Americans , we have embraced the wrong version . It's kind of like the new American Standard Version of Christianity and it's not appealing in some cases and , as we discover , it's not even , at times , accurate . So for those in our communities or our families who've said you know what ? I've lost faith in traditional religion . I have lost faith in the God of my childhood . I've lost faith in God as God has been presented or represented by someone else . I've moved away from that .

Speaker 1 18:03

Our vision is to lean all the way in , to represent the God who Jesus represented , what he was like , who he liked and how we treated others and how you treat yourself . So we're going to focus on a big faith community that intentionally represents this God , this Jesus . To others Might ask what does that look like ? What is representing God like ? Well , we actually get some really clear ideas of that After the resurrection , actually after the ascension .

Speaker 1 18:41

John , the gospel writer , who chronicles the life of Jesus . He's actually writing a letter to some Christians in those other books of John verse 2nd , 3rd John , and he's trying to encapsulate everything he's learned from Jesus about God , who is his master , and he writes this statement that I think has been impressed into our minds and has been imprinted into our culture , and a lot of people actually claim this to be true , but they actually have no idea where this idea came from in the first place . You might actually be one of them . John said this God is spirit , god is father , and here it is God is love , god is love . Heard that one before .

Speaker 1 19:30

People use that saying all the time God is love , whether they're associated with Christianity or a religious institution or not . In 1st John 416 , he says whoever lives in love , lives in God , and God in them , he is love . This is where we get this idea from the first time . Now don't miss this . This is unbelievable .

Speaker 1 19:56

See , when Jesus was about to be crucified and he gathered all of his disciples for this last time , he said here's what I don't want you to ever forget . This is actually going to be the distinguishing mark for those who follow me . It's not about what you know , it's not about what you memorize , it's not about what you do on Sundays . They're going to matter the distinguishing mark of those who claim to be my followers is that you love one another . Why ? Because the love for other people reflects the nature of God . And here's the thing If you have ever in your life , if you have ever in your life said , well , I'm not really a Christian , I don't really know about the Jesus thing , I don't really believe in the Bible thing , I just believe God loves everybody , if you've ever don't dismiss this , this , that idea , that line , right , there is distinctly a Christian teaching and it started with John , after spending years with Jesus .

Reconsidering Faith

Speaker 1 21:04

Before Jesus , no one ever said that the essence of God is love . That never was a thing . In all kinds of literature that you read in history , people said the essence of the gods are a lot of things , but it was never love . And John says man , I got to tell you guys , I have been with the man who introduced us to the Father . In the best way that I can describe it , the best way that I can write it and pin it down , the best way I can help you kind of understand , just encapsulates who God is and all of our versions and thoughts and ideas of who he was , is to put it this way God is love , and so I want you to .

Speaker 1 21:52

Our vision is that we want our friends , to our family , to our coworkers , our neighbors , our community to reconsider faith , because you may have left unnecessarily and you may have left unnecessarily and it's the church's fault . I own that , but don't use me , and I don't want anyone to dare use any of us as the excuse and miss out on God . Think of it this way the God who says I am spirit , that I'm behind everything that exists , but I'm not far away . The God who says I want to invite you to approach me as Father , that I can be your Father , a perfect Father who understands you and is approachable , regardless of what you see and regardless of what you experience . I am the light of the world and I am love . So , as we set up this new vision and I kind of unveil this to you I wanted to share with you some statistics that tell you a bit about our culture and our community , so you can grasp what the need is and who people are and how they really are represented .

Speaker 1 23:27

This is a slide deck from a group named Barna Research . This is a poll done that's gonna give us a lot of information , specifically five insights of faith trends among non-Christians . Remember what our mission is , and you'll hear about the vision to do that , and just think about non-Christians today . So here's a slide that gives us a bit more information . The next one there it is yeah , okay , so each going this way are categories . This is do you consider yourself to be any of the following religious faiths ? And so you can look at Christian , other faith , agnostic , atheist and the one I want you to focus on and see where they're is actually the nuns , the no faith . This is a group that's represented , you can see over all US adults , but then you can see Gen Z 25% in their group , millennials , 15% and you can see it goes down from there . This gives us a really clear picture at what , how large this group of people is that are not interested or have no faith , particularly right now , and how it's affecting these , like I said , these generational moments that we're living in here , right here , locally . This next screen is now gonna tell you , if any .

Speaker 1 24:49

Which would you use to describe yourself spiritually ? Now , this one should surprise you . If you've been around any kind of like theological conversations or church stuff , you may have heard this word called deconstruction . It became kind of popular in the last two years that a lot of people were deconstructing , which meant they were tearing down . Why do I do that ? Or , as old traditions and a lot of the problem is that people got themselves into is they deconstructed and they never figured out where to reconstruct . So you can tear something down , but you have to figure out what's right when you rebuild this

Understanding Atheists, Agnostics, and the Nones

Speaker 1 25:20

together .

Speaker 1 25:21

Now here's what I think is a really interesting part for us to see this Look at the very end , the least that describes the non-faith people , not deconstruction . I think what gives us much hope and what are called in this is that the most things that they're using to describe themselves is open , that they're growing and that they're curious , they're mature , they're spiritual , they're exploring . This , I think , gives us great hope and understanding . Our friends , our family , our neighbors , our coworkers . You can go to the next one . So then the top causes for doubt . You can see that they asked pastors and then the general population . They asked pastors what do you believe make people doubt Christian beliefs ? And then later you will see , they asked the general population . Do any of the following cause you to doubt Christian beliefs ? So this is where the pastors that were polled came up and think as their top four , so number one they said that their past experiences , their interactions with the religious institution , causes them to doubt their Christian beliefs .

Speaker 1 26:29

The hypocrisy I think that's a pretty popular one , that a lot of us understand the hypocrisy of religious people and the negative reputation for the church as a big seed church and then as a small seed church in a local community . And then the one , I think , that hits everyone for all of time , which is human suffering . The thing that is just so difficult for us to reconcile on our own is why we hurt each other and why bad things happen to people . So this is what the pastors think . So now you can see the comparison . This is what actually gets . You have other faith , but then you have no faith . So I'm gonna focus on the no faith . So these are the no faith , these are the nuns , this is this big group . 42% says the hypocrisy of religious people . That's the thing that make them uninterested . It's actually how we act , who we are , how vulnerable , how transparent we are . Science we covered a lot of this one . This was really helpful during our Explore God series in discussing this and talking about the things that most other people don't talk about Human suffering again .

Speaker 1 27:31

That's always gonna be up there , this idea that one religion that's hard for people to grasp , one religion can't have all the answers . Like I'm not sure if Jesus really is the only way we like . Having many paths to get to one place and then , of course , conflict in the world , you can go to the next one . So the importance of honesty this , I think , deals with this hypocrisy type of thing . The importance of honesty is the most important to the no faith group .

Speaker 1 28:03

The idea that we're honest about saying like I don't actually know , or yeah , I'm really being challenged , I'm thriving this area , but I am like a wreck in this area . Like I present , like I have it all together , and then you don't , this generation that's coming up . It's like just be honest with me . Like we are all a mess . If you remember , we talked about this a few weeks ago that Jesus isn't the reason for the season . You're the reason for the season , I'm the reason . That's why Jesus had to show up . Like we're a mess . We need to be honest about that , that we're broken and we're still struggling . We're still fighting with this .

Speaker 1 28:41

Being open about new ideas . I think this is a beautiful gift that actually the Holy Spirit gives us , the more we dive in and work out our sanctification as we let loose of some things that maybe aren't the things , or why am I fighting for that ? Or is this just really wrapped in a tradition ? Or what does this mean ? Or where can I grow ? Where is my blind spots ? Being knowledgeable , like , hey , you're gonna put your faith in something , you're gonna show up to a place , you're gonna lift your hands in worship and you don't really know what you have your faith in or why you do the things you do . So , being knowledgeable , your own growth , being curious , being correct , surprising how low that is . We'd rather have honesty than right .

Speaker 1 29:27

Oh , you can see this next one what they're looking for . So what are people looking for that have no faith ? Well , guess what ? There's a lot of things that we're looking for . In fact , it's most all of the things that we're looking for and we liked coming and being a part of a faith community and specifically , a relationship with Jesus , because we have found inner peace , we have found hope in the midst of the chaos , we start to understand truth , what is true , what is not true . We've learned to grow and , for many of us . We're experiencing a healing or a mending on this side of eternity . This is exactly what they're looking for .

Speaker 1 30:03

The atheists , agnostics and the nuns you can go to the next one . So these are the five insights . This notable one is one in four young people today are opting out of religion . I just want some of this to settle in on you guys . We just had baby dedications , but I mean we got kids in here right now . Students One in four are opting out altogether , saying they have no faith .

Speaker 1 30:27

And among atheists , agnostics and nuns , the most common ways they describe themselves spiritually is open . That is so hopeful . Like that actually says like oh , you know what ? We have an opportunity , we have a way that we can come alongside of this , that they're growing , that they're curious . And it's the hypocrisy of religious people 42% . It's because we're just not willing to be honest and like apologize and say I don't got it all together and we're too interested in judging and saying you're in my camp or you're not in my camp . You're either fully alive or you're fully dead . Science being willing to discuss things is we kind of crack open and discover and learn Human suffering . Honesty is the most important trait . I know we keep hearing that . It's a good bell to ring , though , that non-Christians value in themselves and in others . So hopeful Atheists , agnostics and nuns admit that they're looking for inner peace and hope . You can go to this next one .

Speaker 1 31:30

So I would say let us commit to growing in our understanding and compassion towards non-Christians , especially atheists and nuns . This is our mission . This is why we're up on this hill . This is why we do the things that we do . This is why we're a grace-filled community . This is why we're about people going through a spiritual process of growth . This is why we're about redemptive relationships and a lifestyle , a lifestyle of worship . This is why we're about generous living in living that way . I think this is interesting .

Speaker 1 32:06

Five percent of pastors say my church is very effective at reaching out to unchurched . That should break our heart Like that should move us . This is why we exist Five percent . There's actually another statistic that says only about 35 percent of churches make it an effort , make an effort or actually are concerned about reaching the atheists , the agnostic and the nuns that they love their little circles and so they're not equipping . That's not who they are . They're going to build Bible people and we're going to wait for Jesus and then , because of that , most people don't have friends or family . That's not a part of the church , because all those people have felt unwelcomed , pushed away , not cared for , and that's not who we are , that's not who we're ever going to be . And so how are we going to do the opposite ? How are we going to get there ? What is our new vision here for Northgate for the next five to 10 years that we feel like God has called us , invited us and , I think , begging us to do and be a part of it's this .

Speaker 1 33:18

It's one word , you can remember it . It's represent . It's broken down in three different ways . Let me unpack this a little bit for you . It first starts with represent , like . We need to represent who Jesus is to other people by the way that we act , by the way that we talk , by the way that we care and word , indeed , who Jesus is and who he liked , and the people that weren't like him or like us that would like us , and that's how we go out of our way to represent who Jesus really is .

Speaker 1 33:55

And for many of the nuns and the people who are uninterested , it's because someone else unfortunately did a poor job of representing and being honest and transparent about their own vulnerability and transparent about their own growth and their growth edges . You know we are so good . You know we're so good at judging somebody else . Like , oh yeah , you got a problem , I can probably help you fix that , but we're not going to turn around and be like , can you actually help me fix my problem , because you're probably way better at that . It's represent the three categories that I think are pretty easy to remember .

Speaker 1 34:30

I would say that my vision . I feel like this is the win . If someone in the community asked you what's Northgate about ? Like , why don't you go to Northgate , what's this about ? It would be the win to me if the response was you know , we're just trying to represent Jesus to people , representing those who need representing , and it's really hard to represent the real , true , graceful , loving , merciful Jesus to someone if you're not a good representative yourself , if you can't say like I'm the mess , you're the mess . Let's go be messy and struggle with this and figure this out together , and so that's exactly what we wanna do . There is a huge group of people we're gonna be teasing this out all through January as we hop back into Matthew , about what it looks like and what Jesus did and what he said . That actually represents these ideas , as we wanna be a people who represents who the real Jesus is .

Speaker 1 35:35

And so to represent , you need to represent . And so how do you represent and be a good representative ? You're present , we need to be present , and it's not just like , hey , this year we're gonna be , and these coming years we're gonna be present with other people , we're gonna put our phone down . No , no , no , I'm talking about you need to be present with the Lord . You need to be present and understanding where the Holy Spirit is whispering to you and guiding you , and then you can be responsive . When he's saying you need to forgive that person , you need to reach out and check on that person and then actually doing it . And you don't do that unless you're present to hear the whisper . You don't get filled up to be able to , like , fill out my bucket and pour it out other places if you're not present somewhere and experiencing the God of the universe and how he wants to love you and care for you and mend you and find you and everything that he does comfort you , give you faith and courage and strength and power . You don't get to experience those things and hope unless you're present .

Speaker 1 36:41

And then what's your presence ? You get to actually represent guys . This is what hope looks like . This is what faith looks like . This is what mending looks like in the midst of my mess and my brokenness . This is what love looks like . This is what mercy looks like . This is what forgiveness oh , I hate it , but it's what it looks like .

Speaker 1 37:06

And then , because of that honesty and transparency , it makes people curious , and then we have the opportunity to represent . This is what this looks like and should look like and can look like in your life , and that's what we've been called and asked and invited to do , and I believe that's exactly what we're gonna do for this next season to come , and I am so excited about it . I'm terracided . I'm terrified too , because it decides that the decisions are made for us is what we're doing something where we're gonna be fully present , and we need to lean into that , like , maybe showing up more than just one Sunday a month to get through this , or maybe a month to get filled up for the 16 minutes and be like , oh , it filled me up . You're not gonna be able to be a good representative unless you're letting the spirit do what the spirit needs to do and receive you and mend you and help you . And then it means the different ways that we're gonna be radical about representing who Jesus is to other people .

Speaker 1 38:11

So let me tell you now a little bit about what this next year looks like . Like I said , we're gonna hop back into Matthew . If you haven't been a part of this before . We're gonna be teaching expository , which means verse by verse , which is really being present and trying to grow and understand who God is and Jesus is . So we have a firm understanding of who he is and what our belief is in and what being a disciple , a follower , looks like . We're in Matthew 18 . And , if you haven't been here , we've been doing it for years . It's taken us years to get through 18 chapters .

Speaker 1 38:43

Some of you have been wondering like when does this end ? I'll tell you . I haven't told many people , but I'm gonna let you know . Some of you don't want it to end , so we're gonna wrap up Matthew the week after Easter 2025 . So we're coming . That's gonna be great , but this is what we're doing before then .

Speaker 1 39:03

So next week we're gonna use Matthew 18 right where we are , and we're gonna see this beautiful picture of what it looks like to represent . Then we're gonna talk about being a good representative . We're gonna talk about being present and how it's all right there in the Gospels and Jesus' Word and His Deed . We're gonna run through Matthew all the way until the middle of May , until Labor Day , and some of you guys may actually be recognizing what 2024 has in store for you . Some of you may have forgotten because you wanted to forget and it was healthy to forget . We're coming into a political cycle .

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This next year is gonna be really difficult for a lot of people and so we're gonna unpack this and I think maybe this is one of the best opportunities to actually represent and represent Jesus than any other time than this , when people are desperate for the things of Jesus . So in May we're gonna pause , then Matthew for 12 weeks , and we're gonna spend 12 weeks yes , I said 12 weeks on mental health , because we should , because we can , not just mental health like , hey , I thought of this idea , but we're gonna open this up , unpack this and be messy , and it's okay to not be okay . And here are some tools , as we're kind of coming into this season and we just don't want to experience this stuff again where our families are breaking and we're like I don't even know how to reconcile my relationships and I miss these things . We're gonna be present in the midst of this . We're gonna represent who God is and so we can represent this beautiful gift of hope and love . And then we're gonna hop right back into Matthew . We're gonna run until Easter . We're gonna have Easter and in the book of Matthew it's perfectly Resurrection Sunday . It will be Resurrection Sunday on the

The Great Commission and Personal Reflection

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dot .

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The next week we're gonna do the Great Commission . We're gonna commission this whole place and then I have no idea what we're gonna do , because that's as far as our plans . So that's kind of like in a synopsis of things coming up and in the midst of that we're just gonna wrestle and we're gonna grab with this and we're gonna be full of grace and we're gonna be full of a lifestyle of worship . We're gonna be full of people who are in a process , a people in process , which means you can come all over the place , but the key is to make some movement . It's a spiritual journey we're gonna represent . We're gonna wrap them well in our messiness .

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So I'm gonna ask you actually to close your eyes by your heads . I'm gonna give you just a few moments of time , just as we're wrapping up , to actually and I'm gonna pray for you in just a minute but to actually just ask the Father and say would you just begin to stir in me these three areas of my life where I'm either afraid , I'm feeling challenged , I'm feeling convicted , I'm feeling hopeful . God , what is it you wanna do in me that would be able to represent to me who's in my life that needs ? You need to be represented in a healthy way , in the right way that I've experienced . What things do I need to do or remove in my life or commitments do I need to make to be present with you that you would fill me that this could actually be a year , a new you , a new year changed you , living life on mission and purpose , with a vision that's exciting .

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Would you just ask him , would you just begin to stir me and give me faith and courage and wisdom and discernment , and strength and comfort and hope and gentleness and kindness and joy . Father , you are spirit , you are a loving Father , you are love . Thank you for this invitation . As we receive this , as we link arms together to see your kingdom come , your will be done here , now as in heaven and to your son's name we pray . Amen .