Who are you walking with?

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
- Colossians 2:6-7

Ahoy Open Roaders,

A quick reminder to begin...Nominations close soon for members of our new Governance Group. If you have someone in mind please email marcello@openroad.church or simply REPLY now 😄

Every one of us has had someone, or a number of someones, teach us Jesus and his truth. Last week I invited you to ask yourself a question, "Who taught you?"

One of the stories shared with me was of one of our women who sat next to an older Christian lady one Sunday many decades ago. The woman was about to take communion for the first time and asked the older lady about it.

In one brief conversation not only did this older lady explain communion in a most beautiflu way, but she knit her heart with the young woman for the rest of her life.

Especially when interacting with children and youth in our church, I want to encourage us all to take time to invest not just the truth of Jesus, but the love of Jesus. It may be that the person, truth, light and life of Jesus we share with others is the key to a life long foundation in Jesus.

While pastors like myself have made commitments to give up large chunks of our life to "teaching" others, Jesus makes it clear that we can't outsource this job. It's a responsibility and privilege that we call share together.

More than that, without each of us being willing to teach others, we simply won't be able to get the job done!

Last year I started to share a simple question to focus each of us at Open Road on a life committed to helping others find and follow Jesus.

The simple question is, "Who are you walking with?"

Within this question is not just a challenge to invest spiritually (disciple) others, but an invitation to take your place in God's great plan of bringing his light, love and freedom to the world!

Whereas "teaching" someone might sounds very formal and pastoral (reserved for paid, church staff), each of us can "walk" with someone through the journey of life and faith. We can share the highs and low (there will be both), encourage each other through challenges, and celebrate the presence of God through every season.

While I don't want to put a limit on who you walk with, I want to encourage you to start by looking around you right now. It may be that, like the photo of the girls and I above, you're already walking with someone? It may be that you simply need to more intentionally share Jesus' truth or love with those around you already?

Some of us, however, may need to create a new category of relationship in our days, weeks and years. It may be that we've not recently prioritised relationships where we are walking with someone with a view to encourage them to faith and following of Jesus. If that's you, without judgement or hurry, simply ask God to show you who you are to walk with.

For all of us, the story I shared above reminds us that at any moment there may be a man, woman, boy or girl who wanders into our world looking for a smile and some simple truths about Jesus. We may never see them again, or we may become spiritual friends for life.