✔When we meet God in Genesis we often miss what is being shown
- We argue evolution when the main point of the story is Creation
- An act of the Creator
- God...going...doing...shaping...calling...cultivating...growing...building!!
*We see God moving ----> from a place of comfort to a new place
**Some refer to this as the Missionary Nature of God
✔Therefore...
- God sends His Son
- Father and Son send Spirit to engulf the Church, creating a new family/community
- The Spirit sends us (As Jesus sends disciples...& breathes on them. Without the Spirit we cannot be sent.)
✔We are created in order to be sent (being sent is how we imitate God’s nature)
✔ The Church is measured on their response to their sentness
**We are currently in a posture of being called or being sent. There is no...
- Middle ground
- Waiting period
- Marking Time
- Treading Water
- Anything else is spiritual stagnancy which is death.
Church (as a result of Christ’s redemptive work and personal and interpersonal working of the Holy Spirit) = A new community living in the midst of a fallen world and broken humanity which is controlled by the power of the air. (Van Gelder)
*There’s a war going on!!
Jesus is incredible important to the Christian faith:
- He represents the nature of the faith
- He covers people’s past
- He represents the New Creation which is the result of & proof of REDEMPTION
There is also a prophetic nature to the church that represents God current and future reign!!
(This is why the Lord and the enemy play for keeps...they know that the NOW is the future!!!)
Luke 4:
✔(Luke 3) Jesus is baptized in Luke 3 by John
✔(Luke 4.1) Jesus is tempted in the wilderness during his fast
✔(Luke 4.14) Jesus goes home to preach & is rejected & his life is threatened
✔(Luke 4.31) Jesus preaches in Capernaum (Galilee) & a demon manifests
...manifests isn’t just what it does.
...it taunts Jesus...at the top of his voice (Luke 4.33 & )
“Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are---the Holy One of God!
“Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. (v. 35)...
*As Jesus arrived in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men from the tombs confronted Jesus...
“What do you want with us, Son of God?” They shouted. “Have you come her to torture us before the appointed time?”
✔ Jesus’s mere presence poses a threat to the status quo
✔ He knew he was sent, so he wasn’t side tracked by this demonic freak show
✔ This out break was proof that he was a threat
✔ Jesus reps the Church (Body of believers) in this story
✔ Believers pose a threat to the enemy as we reflect God’s ultimate & eternal reign
***Only Healthy Missional Churches pose a threat to the enemy. (They pursue Christ & pursue His priorities...his mission in the world.) **Where are you in being sent????
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