Heart For The Lost.

Read Mark 2:13-17...
"Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

One thing we can take away from this passage is that Jesus had an unbelievable heart for the lost, which compelled Him to engage with them. We so desperately need to develop a heart for the lost. In the words of Josh Storie at Ignite last night, the Pharisees were "studs" or what we would call "solid." But despite their judgment and questioning, Jesus ate with sinners and tax collectors, which dumbfounded the Pharisees. 

Jesus came for the sick and broken. If we want to be people whose lives look like Jesus, we must develop a heart for the lost. There is a need for balance in our Christian bubble. I have been searching for the right way to go about this balance ever since I can remember. Now, this doesn't mean completely neglecting our Christian communities and never talking to our friends again, but rather to step outside and to engage with lost people. This can be hard. It's hard for a lot of people. It can be scary. Maybe it's not your thing, maybe you won't know what to say. We know that at some point we are going to have to talk about our faith if we sit down with lost people, and that may intimidate us. We don't want to be forceful. 

The most important thing to remember is that we should have a heart for the lost, because we were lost. I know this is another long chunk of Scripture but definitely worth the read. Ephesians 2:4-10 says, "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Paul is telling us that that used to be you, but something happened. By Grace we have been saved. God opened our eyes to our need for Him and our sin. We can connect with the lost because we have been there and we know what they're missing out on. Shouldn't we long for others to experience Him and the joy He brings? Don't not have a conversation with someone about the Gospel because you don't want to be pushy, it's one of the most unloving things you can do. Don't watch someone walk down a road that you know leads to death. Step outside your circle and talk to the lost. We let people blinded by their sin go down the wrong road all the time. We may not do it intentionally, but we still do it. Let your heart compel you to move and to get to know the lost. Do something. 

After worship last night my eyes were really opened to this concept. A concept that I've heard hundreds of times. While I sat in the Rec gym at school I realized what an awesome community of Believers I am able to be a part of and in fellowship with every week. Along with that I was able to see the many opportunities I have to go out and love the lost and share God's Grace with them, both amongst this community of Believers in my Christian bubble, and outside the confines of TCU. Gods joy reaches far beyond whatever bubble you may be in, and it is our job to share that with as many people as we can. 

Our experience with Christ should push us forward and propel us to look less like Christians and more like Jesus, 

Courtney

See God for Who He Is.

Jesus asks His Disciples: Who do you say that I am? (Who am I to you?) Through Scripture we can see that Christ has revealed Himself as the Messiah through His works. This Messiah engages us right we we are: broken and in need. God approaches broken people, not people who have it all together (if such person even exists). He finds us with enough faith to know that we don't know what we have fully, and that we recognize what we need. Our God works for people who wait for Him.

When He calls us, He calls on us personally. The work He begins, He finishes. There is nothing else like our God, who is more amazing that we could ever imagine and who displays His glory not by our working for Him, but His working for us. Jesus approaches us in a personal way. He will give us understanding and work in us until we see Him clearly. If God is pursuing someones life, He is not going to leave them hanging. Something that I have realized lately is that I can't make my friends walk with me, God is the only one who can do that. Christs works lead us to a question of who He is, and then confession that will lead to the removal of our spiritual blindness.

Gods method is His people. He puts Christians next to people who need Him. I am a firm believer in this. Christ knows where His followers need to be and He calls us to be in community with all people. You never know who you'll meet and have an impact on.“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10).We should seek to speak the truth of Christ in love to one another. Such work requires nothing less than the power and wisdom of Christ Himself. The words in the Gospel point us to spread love to all who will listen, because it magnifies the greatness of God. We love God because He first loved us, therefore we must show off our love for Him by radically loving others. Our love for Him should show our deep commitment and our longing for community among others. This love will seep into all areas of our lives, and by living in this joy-filled love we will emit radicalness.

Christ has gone into the dark to bring about the light. He is the Savior of the world. God, what are you calling us to do, what are you calling me to be about? These are questions we must ask. Is He a part of your life or is He your life? This is what we were meant for. He is a divine King, He is the song of the living God, He has come to redeem mankind. See God for Who He is. As I said above, He will give us understanding. Understanding is a process. Be patient. Trust the Lord. Pray. Spiritual growth is a process. He will call you to do things that seem impossible, and that is when we lean on Him.

God we need You to move, to be our lives,
Courtney

Die To Yourself.

What do you think of when you think of a typical Christian? I'll give you a little list that we came up with during Ignite last night. Christians normally rock the Chacos (it doesn't matter the time of year), their jeans are a little tighter, maybe they're into flannel and rock cool glasses. They typically hang out at coffee shops and abbreviate cuss words (son of a B/what the F)…This is all well and good, but do we look like Christians or do we look like Jesus? This is the question we need to ask ourselves. Once we know how to look like Him, we can take an inventory of our lives. You can make someone look like a Christian, but you can't make them look like a Disciple. A Disciple is someone who imitates and obeys their creator. 

John 13:34-35 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

If we are called to love others like Christ loves us, we need to know what that looks like. It is selfless. Jesus is supreme. Instead of allowing us to die the death we deserve, He allowed his own creation to kill Him. I don't know about you but that is crazy to me. Can you imagine creating something and then allowing it to torture and humiliate you? I can only try to come close to understanding that kind of love. He loves us too much to let us perish. Here's what makes this love more mind boggling: He didn't have to do this for us. We must give up the things we are entitled to. We must die to our pride and our wants and lust in order to love people. We must live life as a sacrifice to Him.

But are we dying to ourselves? Are we taking the time to sit down and engage with people? How aware are we of the people that we cross paths with on our way to do something? People are not an interruption to your day, they are your day. Don't get caught up in "me" and miss the boat. Are we willing to stop and love them or do we see them as interruptions or burdens? Are we willing to discern what is important and what is not? When we see people who are hurt and broken, what do we do? We need to engage. Look for places where God puts opportunities in your life. He is up to things that He wants us to be involved in. If we want to be a people who look like Jesus, we need to die to ourselves. That is the way Christ has loved us, selflessly and sacrificially. 

Ezekiel 36:26 says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." A new heart makes all the difference, 

Courtney