What is good news to us Starbucks sipping, SUV driving, suburbanites living in the wealthiest area of Surrey?
In order to answer that question, I believe that we have to ask another. What drives us? What grips our lives? What captures our imaginations? What is the dream we are pursuing?
I realize that's four questions . . .
I think that we are gripped with a need to succeed, to be secure, to be well thought of, to have a sense of significance and feel deeply fulfilled in what we do. The desire to live full and important lives motivates us to live the way we do.
Our quest for fulfillment can take us in some unhealthy directions. We are prone to greed. To selfish ambition. To anxious workaholism. We are willing to do whatever it takes to realize our dream of a successful, important, secure life.
Good news, then, starts with the message that we are already significant. As those who are made in God's image, we have dignity beyond our means. As those loved by God, we have the status of children with the promise of a full inheritance.
But it goes on from there. In Christ, our cycles of greed can be broken by acts of generosity. Our selfish ambition is rejected in favour of hospitality. And our anxious work is replaced by the principle of Sabbath rest.
As the Church at Southpoint, we are called to live generously, to offer hospitality and to practice restful living. These are the gifts we are receiving from God in Jesus. These are the gifts that we offer to the community. This is the good news.
Generosity. Hospitality. Rest. Does this sound good to you?
In order to answer that question, I believe that we have to ask another. What drives us? What grips our lives? What captures our imaginations? What is the dream we are pursuing?
I realize that's four questions . . .
I think that we are gripped with a need to succeed, to be secure, to be well thought of, to have a sense of significance and feel deeply fulfilled in what we do. The desire to live full and important lives motivates us to live the way we do.
Our quest for fulfillment can take us in some unhealthy directions. We are prone to greed. To selfish ambition. To anxious workaholism. We are willing to do whatever it takes to realize our dream of a successful, important, secure life.
Good news, then, starts with the message that we are already significant. As those who are made in God's image, we have dignity beyond our means. As those loved by God, we have the status of children with the promise of a full inheritance.
But it goes on from there. In Christ, our cycles of greed can be broken by acts of generosity. Our selfish ambition is rejected in favour of hospitality. And our anxious work is replaced by the principle of Sabbath rest.
As the Church at Southpoint, we are called to live generously, to offer hospitality and to practice restful living. These are the gifts we are receiving from God in Jesus. These are the gifts that we offer to the community. This is the good news.
Generosity. Hospitality. Rest. Does this sound good to you?
