Winter Snow

In light of the snowiest February in Denver, I felt this Winter Snow by Audrey Assad was greatly appropriate.

As a follower of Christ, one of my great joys is celebrating Christmas, no matter the date on the calendar.  Advent represents God loving us and coming to rescue us from our sin.  Jesus’ incarnation was not world headline news, yet is one of the most important events in history.

Galatians 4:4-7, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,’Abba! Father!’  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir though God.”

I am grateful that God offers redemption to those who are guilty under the law.  I am thankful for a baby that came to die for my sin.  I am in awe of the kind of love that God has for us.  I am amazed that I am a child of the King through adoption.

It is my prayer that the next time is snows, our thoughts will not be that of snowmen, cabin fever, or milk, bread and eggs but of the Son of God who came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

 

The Art of Neighboring

Take just a few minutes to think about those who live nearest to you.  What are their names, jobs, hobbies, and political and religious views?  If you are unable to answer all of those questions, you are not alone.  A majorty of Americans cannot answer those questions about their neighbors.

The Art of NeighboringWe have lived in the Lowry neighborhood for just a little over one year and we are working hard to engage those around us at a deeper level.  The genesis for came from The Art of Neighboring by Pathak and Runyon.  We have been putting into practice many of the principles of this book.  We host a monthly party, with the intent of getting to know our neighbors.  We also actively engage in caring for our neighbors by getting to know more than just their names. We celebrate with them, pray for them and walk with them through difficult times.  We now, more than ever before, view those who live near us as our mission field.  As we plant our church, we are focusing on creating a culture of loving our neighbors.

Who is it, who lives within proximity to you, that you need to know more deeply?  How can you build a relationship that opens the door for conversations, not just about likes, but deep rooted heart issues (loves and hurts)?

Tents (Part 1)

Incarnation is a fancy term.  Like much of Christianese, we throw it around and seldom know what it means.  The first chapter of John’s gospel provides us a word picture of incarnation, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Jesus was willing to put off his position in glory and humble himself so that we might be saved.  The Greek word for dwelt is tabernacle or tent.  Jesus was a tent dweller.  The idea of incarnational ministry is to be a tent dweller.  We have the opportunity to become tent dwellers in Lowry.

We desire to dwell in Lowry but also to dwell with the people of Lowry.  Jesus did not come to earth and become a hermit, or monk; He came to be a friend of sinners.  We seek to have Jesus as our example and leader in all things.  In order for us to follow that example, we will view our home as a center for incarnational ministry with the people of Lowry.  This will mean cookouts, parties, missional communities, kids sleepovers, and many other intentional connections to the community.  We want to be known as a family that loves the people of Lowry and are for them.  We want to be the incarnation of Jesus in Lowry.