What is Love?

It is worshipped. It is adored. It is given the highest place in our movies, in our music, and even in our phones. Look no further than Valentine’s Day. Last year, Americans spent $19.6 BILLION on Valentine’s Day, an average of $143.56 per person. That is a lot of candy, flowers, alcohol, and jewelry, isn’t it? That is enough that we could dig 1.5 million wells for the 800 million people around the world who lack access to clean drinking water. We sure love the idea of love.
But God doesn’t work like that.
Love is about forgiveness. It is about freedom. You see, God is love, and love is sacrificial. Love is serving the other. Love is putting the needs of the other before your own. That is what God has done for us.
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A New Partnership for the Next Season

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Imaginary Jesus

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What are you worshipping this Christmas?
It is a celebration that out of love he came to walk among us, to experience what we have experienced first hand, the joys the pains, the struggle, the temptation all of it—to live, die, and resurrect for us—so that by having faith in him we might be forgiven of the ways we’ve gone wrong and freed from its hold on us, so we might experience all the love, joy, peace, and hope we see plastered everywhere at Christmas.
If we find ourselves feeling empty at Christmas, it is probably because we’ve begun to worship something that can never actually satisfy us. That is what had happened to me.
In themselves, these things will never satisfy the deepest longing of our hearts. Only Jesus can do that. Maybe that sounds a little cliché, but all of these things were meant to be sign posts that point us back to God, that help prepare us to receive the gifts that God offers us. So let me ask, “What is Christmas about for you?” “Are you expecting your Christmas activities and preparations to fill you up, or are they sign posts that are leading you to the one who can?” I ask because I want nothing more than for you to have a truly merry Christmas.
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What is your favorite Christmas Story?
Just say what plot it is, like the one where the big city dweller travels to a small town to destroy it or some icon in it, only to fall in love with someone who lives there and the town itself and end up staying there. Of course, that is like 1/4 of them. Maybe your favorite Christmas story it is a personal story of a really special time for you or your family, a special gift or experience.
It reads:
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:1-5, 10-14
You can find all that in Luke chapter 2, and it is a great story, but while Luke tells us the whole, “Who, what, when, where…”, John—in his account—cuts straight to the why. And what he tells us is that in Jesus coming—who he calls the Word—the creator was stepping into his creation. This is kind of a crazy thing to think about. It would be like an author stepping into the story they had written. The Oxford scholar and author, C.S. Lewis, noted that William Shakespeare knew more about Hamlet than anyone—his thoughts, his motivations, his actions, his hopes, his dreams, his struggles—nobody knew more, for he created him. And yet, he could not actually know him. He could not meet him and have a relationship with him.
John tells us that at Christmas, the author of it all was coming into the world he had created to be with those he created.It says he came and made his dwelling among us. The pastor Eugene Peterson said he “moved into our neighborhood.” Became one of us. In this way we know that he knows. He experienced all that we experience—all the good and all the bad. Especially the bad—for he was mocked, ridiculed, falsely accused, arrested, tortured, beaten and even died before rising again.
I’m reminded of it when my family gathers and I think of those who should be there but aren’t—like my uncle, Eric, who lost his battle with cancer at only 54. And I’m reminded of it every time I personally screw up. Something within me says, “This is not the way the world should be. This isn’t the way you should be.”
But the good news of Christmas is that God didn’t leave the world in that desperate situation. To the problems of this world, God sent a solution. Into the darkness he sent a great light, and that light was Jesus. We can look at the darkness in the world and think, “God, why don’t you do something?” The good news of Christmas is that he has. I am glad that Christmas comes at the darkest time of year, just three days after the winter solstice, when the length of daylight is at its lowest, because it is a reminder that even in the darkest of days, God is making a way. He sees the brokenness of the world, has heard our cries and has answered us. He has not forgotten us. He has not forsaken us.
We celebrate not only what God has done, but what God will do. The day is coming when all the darkness will be dispelled: the crooked made straight, the wrong made right. But in the mean time, Christ invites us to bring our pain, to bring him our failures, to bring him our sin. He wants us to show him the wounds where we have been hurt by others. Jesus wants to bring joy where before there was only sorrow, love where hate had abounded, peace where before there was only turmoil, and hope where there was none. Later in John’s gospel, chapter 8, we read that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Christmas reminds us that Jesus wants us step into the darkness of our world and our lives, and bring light. There are many things we celebrate at Christmas, but this sticks with me, and that my friends, is why it is my favorite Christmas story. What is yours?
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We Have Been Sent

Now, whenever you see something repeated in a chapter or book of the Bible, it is there for emphasis—so we get it. Repetition indicates importance.
Yet instead, we find him responding to this great need in an unexpected way: By telling his disciples to call for backup.He said the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few—or in other words, the need was very great, greater than one man could handle alone.Even though Jesus was God himself, he was fully human and was thus limited by space and time, so he told his disciples to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers into the harvest.
People often ask me, “Why are you planting a church when there are already churches around?” Because the harvest is great, but the workers are few, and we have compassion on our neighbors who are harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Every church in the area could grow by 1000 people overnight and there would still be thousands left out. We need to recognize this fact for ourselves and have compassion.
You see, Christian mission is “incarnational.” We remember this every Christmas that God came and dwelled among us, as one of us. He is not distant from the troubles of the world because he came and experienced them for himself, suffering along side us so we may suffer no more.In Jesus’ life we find that he experienced everything we experience. He knew our pain first hand and had compassion on us, which allows us to better relate to him since we know that he knows our pain.
There are still many who are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. They are waiting for someone to come to them to bring them hope.
When you look at people, particularly non-believers, do you see them has harassed and helpless? Has God given you his heart for people?

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Want To Make a Difference? Know Your Neighbor

In it, his daughter talked about how her father had always worked so hard to give his family everything he could, putting them in a great house in one of the best school districts in the state, ensuring every material need was not only met but exceeded, and provided his kids the opportunity to take part in amazing extracurricular activities.
But as he read the letter to the congregation, he began to cry. His daughter went on to say that the one thing she really wanted and needed her whole life was the one thing that he never gave her: Himself. The only thing she ever wanted growing up was her father, to be in relationship with him and to spend time together. She didn’t need him to give her everything in the world. She just needed him to be with her, talk with her, and actually know her and allow her to know him in return. She needed him to not just be her provider. She needed him to be her father. She said that the sad truth was she didn’t really even know him and that he didn’t know her.
The pastor said it was a sobering moment in the congregation as many realized they were doing the exact same thing and needed to change their ways. And for us, it should be a stern cautionary tale that causes us to examine our lives and ask, “Am I giving my family and/or my spouse things, or am I giving myself?” Another way we could put it would be, “Am I doing things for them, or am I doing things with them?” The difference in that one preposition makes all the difference in the world because that difference is relationship.
Relationship is what we were made for as human beings. We read in Genesis chapters 1 and 2 that in the beginning God created humanity to know him and be known by him, and to live in harmony with one another and all of creation. But sadly, each of those relationships is broken by sin and in need of restoration and reconciliation, which is what Jesus came to do.
The amazing truth that we celebrate each Christmas is that Christ came to us, as one of us. God came incarnate, which means “in the flesh” and dwelled with us. We call him Emmanuel, God with us. Yes, he came to die and resurrect for us (a Truth we will celebrate in the coming weeks) that we might be forgiven and set free from sin, but he did this so that God could be with his people again.
The challenge is, even though Christ has come to reverse sin’s tide, there is much in our world that is not yet healed. The brokenness of sin remains widespread and causes us to withhold relationship from others, failing to give of ourselves or to truly accept the other. It is when we withhold relationship that we fall into the trap of doing things for others instead of with them.
You might think I am talking about the executive and his daughter again, but this concept is actually much larger than just interpersonal relationships. It is incredibly widespread in how the American church relates to our neighbors. You see, it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about evangelism or efforts to help the poor, we love to do things for others, but often fear doing them with them.
We notice a problem and quickly try to provide a solution by throwing money and resources at it, then pat ourselves on the back for doing so. Later, we are surprised and confused when it seems our efforts haven’t made the impact we’d hoped for. The problem remains. We don’t realize the way we are relating to others is itself broken by sin and rendered ineffective. Even more concerning is the fact that such an approach reduces people to projects. They become objectives for us to check off rather than people to be known and loved.
Like the executive in our opening story, the problem isn’t that we don’t care. Every church I have encountered has had a sincere concern and desire for others in a way that surpasses anything I have seen in the rest of the world. The problem is we don’t recognize our own brokenness that leads us to keep others at an arm’s length. We can’t just give them material things when what they really need is relationship with us.
I sincerely believe that we as the Church are the hope of the world. We are told time and time again in scripture that the Church is the body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus performing God’s redemptive activity in this world. The Apostle Paul said we are ambassadors of Christ, taking part in the ministry of reconciliation, helping people be reconciled with God through Jesus. We live into this identity not just by doing things for others, but by offering ourselves and receiving them. No one is reconciled to Christ without also being reconciled to the Church.This is why connection is one of our core values of Rooted.
So let me propose a thought: What if our non-Christian neighbors are like the business executive’s daughter? We know that in order for their lives to be restored they need to know Jesus. We also know that God doesn’t desire to see anyone struggling in poverty, addiction, homelessness etc. But what if what they truly need isn’t just for someone to do something for them? What if what would truly be transformational, bringing deep healing and restoration, is for them to be known and to know us, for us to be with them?
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I just want to tell people about Jesus

And we shouldn’t keep these moments inside, because as I look around me and listen to the news each morning I realize that good news, the kind that fills our hearts with joy and peace, is what we need, now more than ever. Most recently, during the attack that claimed the lives of 59 concertgoers and left our nation in a state of despair, it was the stories of heroism and hope that kept us going. And y’all it’s hard. Some days after scrolling through my newsfeed and listening to NPR, I am filled with intense guilt and anguish that I am raising my daughter in a world full of spin and hate. That is not the world I want for her.
As I look back on this past year of parenthood, I realize that I want her to know joy, not pain; hope, over despair, and mostly, I want her to know Jesus! I want her to know Him because He turns “mourning into dancing”! (Psalm 30:11)
I don’t want her to know Jesus because I somehow think that as a result, her life will be perfect and pain-free. She will grieve in this world, and rightly so! I want her to know Jesus because He is the best news this world has. He is the best this world could ever offer! Guys, God loves me and He loves you regardless of what you’ve done or what I’ve done (and let me tell you, I’ve messed up more times than I could count!) and all He asks in return is me; my presence and time. That I would come to Him daily. We need to stop making it more complicated than that!
I pray that God would give her and me (oh, so much me!) His eyes to see this world around me, the world He has entrusted to me. That my heart would continue to break for this world and that I wouldn’t get caught up in the hustle of day-to-day life so much that I forget that people need Jesus. I need Jesus! He is the best news, better than a baby (and mine is still a pretty big deal!). At the end of the day, I just want to tell people about Jesus.
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Tunnel Vision & Community

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Ruined Castles

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