At the INFOdesk@baylife.org
- Kidapalooza – June 13-17 | applications available at the INFOdesk or online
- Blood Pressure Screening – June 12 | after services in the Cry Room
- Welcome Lunch – June 12 | Register by June 5
- Chick-Fil-A cards at the INFOdesk | Missions Benefit - last day to purchase is June 5
- Men's Choir for Father's Day – June 19 | Meet on stage following any service on June 11 or 12 to participate
Greetings Lifers,
I know it’s a busy season – graduations, school wrapping up, etc., but I really need all Lifers on deck for this weekend’s services – I have much to say about our direction and future in my time with you on Saturday or Sunday. So please join us.
So I am reading a book (just started actually) that is challenging me to remember who I am in Christ and how I am to live my life with Him. I have taught you all to live like Jesus lived (and lives), but this book is saying that we need to let Jesus live in us, that Christ is in you and He will live the abundant life He has given you through you as you allow. It’s not a “He will help me live the life” thing, but a “He will live the life Himself” thing. I just need to get out of the way.
Like I said, I am just starting, but I like the authors point so far (he co-writes with another guy – their names are Dan Stone and David Gregory and the book is called “The Rest of the Gospel”). He uses 2 Corinthians 4:18 to set up for us the focus of life -
“...as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
He argues that we all too often make the seen/temporary things of life the focus of life (how much money do I have, who loves me, how important am I at work?) rather than living for the unseen/eternal things (how can I honor God with my money, how much does He love me, how important is God to me?). The unseen (eternal) things coexist with the seen (temporal), but since we can’t see them, we tend to neglect them for what we can see.
But this should not be the case with those who have been saved by the grace of God through Christ. We are to live as Paul teaches the Romans in 12:1-2 (The Message)
1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
So I am reading a book (just started actually) that is challenging me to remember who I am in Christ and how I am to live my life with Him. I have taught you all to live like Jesus lived (and lives), but this book is saying that we need to let Jesus live in us, that Christ is in you and He will live the abundant life He has given you through you as you allow. It’s not a “He will help me live the life” thing, but a “He will live the life Himself” thing. I just need to get out of the way.
Like I said, I am just starting, but I like the authors point so far (he co-writes with another guy – their names are Dan Stone and David Gregory and the book is called “The Rest of the Gospel”). He uses 2 Corinthians 4:18 to set up for us the focus of life -
“...as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
He argues that we all too often make the seen/temporary things of life the focus of life (how much money do I have, who loves me, how important am I at work?) rather than living for the unseen/eternal things (how can I honor God with my money, how much does He love me, how important is God to me?). The unseen (eternal) things coexist with the seen (temporal), but since we can’t see them, we tend to neglect them for what we can see.
But this should not be the case with those who have been saved by the grace of God through Christ. We are to live as Paul teaches the Romans in 12:1-2 (The Message)
1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
So here’s my question – is your focus on things you can see, or things you can’t? Are you well adjusted to your culture and unaware of your Savior? May it not be so for any of us. See you this weekend.
Free,
Mark
Pastor, Bay Life Church
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