“34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
- Jesus in John 13:34-35
NOTE: Keen to learn how to fast for spiritual reasons? See below.
Ahoy Church,
It was wonderful to enjoy the beautiful weather along with great stories and sharing as we considered Jesus' teaching on marriage and divorce, "Don't separate what God joins".
In the wonderful time of sharing, Renee shared from Romans about intentionally offering our bodies as "living sacrifices":
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:2
This was relevant not only in relationships, where our faith requires an intentional, active expression, but also in Andrew's wonderfully practical testimony about fasting. In both cases, it becomes clear that being a Jesus follower is different from being a Jesus admirer or a Jesus contemplator.
Being a follower of Jesus engages our entire being. Our intelligence (Christianity is entirely credible and coherent), our emotions (Jesus' mission was a mission of love and actual sacrifice on your/our behalf), and also our will (Jesus asks things of us).
Our intellectualised, individualistic, Western culture tends to see our Christian faith as private, internal, and almost invisible. However, Jesus invites us to a public, external, and readily visible faith.
What should the defining characteristic of this visible faith be? Great doctrine? Mind-bending apologetics? Effective political campaigns? Despite the richness of our centuries-long Christian culture, the defining characteristic of visible faith was outlined 2,000 years ago: love.
Not only does love best express the person, teaching and work of Jesus. Jesus himself says that the world will pay the most attention to his work in and through us when it's defined by love. It's win-win.
If you're tempted to look for legal, lawful, socially acceptable ways out of loving your spouse, don't. Lean into love. This is not just healthy; it's deeply spiritual.
It's the visible expression of faith in Jesus. It's a declaration that your faith is not just a convenient, emotional sacrifice, but a living one.
If you're tempted to avoid fasting for another year, don't. You may have all the reasons why it won't work for you. This is not just healthy; it's deeply spiritual.
It's the visible expression of faith in Jesus. It's a declaration that your faith is not just a thinking sacrifice, but a living one.
[Confused about fasting? Read a simple summary of fasting from last week]
Jesus is often known as God's Living Word, or God with flesh on. God's truth made public, external, and visible.
My practical way of describing this is that God's truth (theology) is best understood when it's embodied. In Jesus' case, it was literal; He was truth embodied. In our lives, we aren't truth itself, but we can live it out.
I encourage you to come to trust that God has created you as a whole being, internal and external united as one. We are not meant to live out our faith internally (trusting God with our sin, offering him our minds to be renewed and transformed, thinking his thoughts) without living it out externally ("good works", public prayers, justice, generosity).
You and I are meant to embody every truth we believe.
We can all do this by loving our neighbour, friend or relative as Christ has loved us.
Husbands and wives can do this by loving their spouse as Christ has loved them; by staying faithful to them as Christ stays faithful to us.
You and I can do this by bringing a grief or sacred moment into a season of fasting. Not to get an outcome or reward from God, but to give a moment, season or heartache to him.
Your body matters. Just like Jesus' did.
As he embodied loving truth, so can we.
Your body doesn't just matter to you; it's the vehicle that God uses to broadcast his love to your loved ones, colleagues, friends, neighbours and church fam.
So, this week, may you find many ways to"glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20), publicly, externally, visibly. And, whatever way you embody God's truth, may it look, feel and taste like love.
Much love, see you Sunday,
Dan
Simple ways to start fasting with us
Keen to fast, but haven't started yet?
August - Fasting Phase #1
Try fasting one meal, one day/wk in August.
- Choose which meal you'll fast: breakfast, lunch or dinner.
- Choose some part of your life to give to God (concern, grief, illness, etc)
- Plan the meals on either end, so you know what's coming. For example, have a decent breakfast, and prep (or plan) your evening meal, if you're fasting lunch.
September - Fasting Phase #2
Choose a day each week to fast. For 2,000 years Christians have chosen Wednesdays and Fridays for fasting. You can bring your own sacred moment or season (sickness, grief, sin or transformation) to God on those days, but Christians often remember Christ's betrayal on Wednesdays, and his sacrificial death on Fridays.
- Choose the day in advance. Wednesday or Friday if you can't decide.
- Choose some part of your life to give to God (concern, grief, illness, etc)
- Choose your fast:
- Single meal: breakfast, lunch or dinner
- 24hrs: Dinner to dinner, lunch to lunch, breakfast to breakfast.
- Other: Sunrise to sunset, evening till 3 pm the following day. Your choice!
- OPTIONAL: Ask a friend to fast with you. Encourage + pray for each other.
Coming Up
August - 9am [Home] + 3pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Aug 23 Sunday Gatherings: Home + Beach
Aug 30 Sunday Gatherings: Home + Beach
September - 9am [Home] + 3pm [Moffat]
Mondays - Young Adults - Marcello + Mariela 0428 986 423
Fridays - 6am Men's Prayer - Fred 0431 437 080
Sep 07 EHD: "Emotionally Healthy Relationships" Ends
Our Mission
To help people find and follow Jesus.
Our Vision
Fully Alive through faith in Jesus. To see this vision come to life, we developed FAM, our Fully Alive Model. Ideally, you can work through FAM with someone else.
Our Rhythms
Get to Know Jesus: how are you getting to know Jesus this week?
Invite people into your life: who can you intentionally open up your life to?
Gather and get involved: who can you connect, listen, share, or pray with this weekend?
Giving Up, In, and Out
Our church follows the same simple pattern of giving that we encourage each other individually: UP, IN, and OUT.
Giving UP
As a church, we give 2.5% to our denomination to support what's happening in churches like ours statewide and show appreciation for all the support they provide. We encourage each follower to consider giving "up" to support their local church - in this case ours :)
Giving IN
We give to personal/family needs within our church from our $5,000 Giving Kitty. Please alert us if you know someone with genuine needs that you're unable to meet out of your own resources.
Giving OUT
This term, we are encouraging our church to give to the family who visit us each year from the country where they share Jesus. We'll give to them as a church, and we encourage you to give to them too.
BSB: 923100
Account #: 37443010
REF: KyleG GIFT
Last month's giving: $11,459
Last month's expenses: $10,033
Balance: $69,660
Giving in : Oct 23-Jul 26: $5,000
Giving out : Oct 23-Jul 26: $20,293
"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." - Proverbs 19:17
If you would like to support what we are doing and our giving to those in need, you can get started giving to Open Road to meet the needs of our church or get in touch with any questions you may have.
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