Here's some of the thoughts I shared at our CU chapel closing Global Opportunities Week...they flow from my engagement with Bill Hybels' book by the same name that helped frame what God was at work doing in my own faith and life...
OPENING QUESTIONS: Why do certain people care about certain things? AND Why do people do what they do in their lives?
IDEA #1: The motivating reason why millions of people choose to do good in the world around them is because there is something wrong in the world that gains their attention.
IDEA #2: THE POPEYE MOMENT...It happens when we reach the point where we can’t “stands no more!”
IDEA #3: TWO THEOLOGICAL DRIVING FORCES: Restoration and Reconciliation
IDEA #4:Restoration…Romans 8:20-21
Against its will, all creation was subjected
to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the
creation looks forward to the day when it
will join God’s children in glorious freedom
from death and decay.
IDEA #5:Reconciliation: Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers
or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for
him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning
and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he
might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his
fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all
things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making
peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
IDEA #6: LUKE 4:18-22…Jesus’ Passion for Mission...He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the
Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to
the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim
the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back
to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue
were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this
scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
IDEA #7: The Kingdom Begins to Come.. Thoughts from Dave Livermore’s Cultural Intelligence...
*The “already/not yet” tension exists where the kingdom is already
present/embodied in Jesus’ life/ministry while not yet fully present…
*Jesus’ work is already present while also moving history forward to
the time when all will be made right…so we have to forever hold in
tension both the present and the future realities of the kingdom. One
without the other just isn’t possible. If the kingdom is fully future, the
church is without power. If the kingdom is fully present, the church is
without hope.
*We are a colony of the kingdom created to give people pictures of what
Jesus’ reign looks like and as a testimony of the kingdom that will one day
be fully realized. And a huge part of the contextualization process is
learning to put on kingdom sensors so we can spot where God’s reign has
sprung forth into our fallen world and where it has not yet come to bear.
IDEA #8: The Process…There develops an irresistible attraction to a specific cause that compels people to invest joyfully of their time, their money, and their energies…and it is almost always linked back to a single spark of frustration that fuels what is now a raging fire in their souls…and you become an unstoppable force for good
IDEA #9: The Outcome…You see, what wrecks the heart of someone who loves God is often the very thing God wants to use to fire them up to do something that, under normal circumstances, they would never attempt to do in their normal condition and lives.
IDEA #10: Scripture’s Push On Our Lives…And so we then refuse to stay just fed up…and we get fueled to action by this restless longing for the better day realities God says are coming soon. It is entirely possible to rest in God’s promise of a better day while we work our tails off to usher it in…
IDEA #11: Helpful Steps in Becoming More Discontent:
*Feed Your Frustration
*Take More Risk
*Fan the Flame
IDEA #12: APPLICATION QUESTIONS: Where Do You Go From Here?
1. What one thing can’t you stand in our present community/world?
2. What piece of God’s restoration work do you long to be part of in your life?
3. What is your next one specific step in acting on your own “holy discontent?”
IDEA #13: A FRANCISCAN BENEDICTION
May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen
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