Without joy, there is little fulfillment in belief. Speaker: Tony Vis Scripture: Philippians 1:1-11, 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 https://www.bible.com/events/49275906

It's pretty clearly established that Jesus is a terrible salesman when he tells people to follow him. He has 4 conversations that challenge people with what he's selling. But what is he selling? 1) He's selling rejection and extreme patience. Jesus gets rejected by Samaritans - a bunch of people who believe different things about all the things. James and John want to call down fire from heaven to burn the village (WTF, right?). Jesus rebukes them. Just like the disciples we have the capacity to lead with anger instead of love. Jesus rebukes that. I imagine he reminds them that to follow Jesus is to bring life, not death - even if it's to people who disagree with us. 2) Jesus is selling movement and constant change. He has no place to lay his head. Homeless Jesus. The call to follow Jesus is the call to always move, always learn, always grow, always change. Change is hard - not sure I'm buying what Jesus is selling. 3) Jesus is selling disruption and disorientation. Dude just wants to take care of his family obligations before following. I think the thing Jesus is selling here is a testing of our loyalties. Following Jesus comes with a certain detachment to all other commitments. Jesus if primary. That means our families and other relationships. even prior beliefs may be disrupted. 4) Jesus is selling a sense of urgency. We always have excuses for not following when the call of God comes. Jesus is all, don't hesitate - if you're gonna hesitate, don't follow. Sheesh! Look, Jesus might be a horrible salesperson – but at least he’s honest. And if we’re honest, we know he’s telling the truth. We know that Jesus has the cure for our boredom and hunger. He knows we have this deep hunger for a sense of real value and purpose in this life. Jesus seems to be so hard on us because he too has a sense of urgency on our behalf. He knows that what we really yearn for is transformation and renewal. So Jesus says, “Follow me. Come, die with me. Die to all of that other stuff so that you can truly live.” Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: Luke 9:51-62 https://www.bible.com/events/49272456

In several different places in the gospels, Jesus shares what his purpose is. Here's one from John 10 - he says, "I have come so that you may have life and have it abundantly." Then a little later on - in John 15 - he tells his followers that if we want to have abundant life, we need to stay connected to the vine. Problem is, that's not always that easy. That picture of abundance isn't the only one offered to us. Our world gives us plenty of ideas for living an abundant life. Most of it has to do with the accumulation of stuff and status. But those things don't last. So Jesus gives us a different view of abundance. He says, "I am the vine and you are the branches - remain in me and you will bear fruit - fruit that will last." In a sense, what Jesus is saying is that if we stay connected to him and allow God to work in us and through us, we will bear fruit. The fruit we bear looks a lot like the list that Paul gives in his letter to the Galatians. Most of us have this sense that our lives are only characterized as abundant when we display and create that kind of fruit. Are we connected to the vine? What are the ways we can stay connected to the divine? How else do we create fruit that will last? We ask God to do a little pruning. In a world of addition, what might God be asking us to cut out? Let go? What might God be pruning in our lives so that we can become fruit-bearing branches - so that our lives can truly be abundant? Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: John 15:1-8 https://www.bible.com/events/49268391

Pentecost - birthday of the church - the day the Spirit came. All of that. Wind is unpredictable. I think one of the best ways to describe wind is that it's powerful. We've been harnessing the power of wind for a really long time. Windmills - sails - etc. As we enter the story of Pentecost, here are three things to think about: 1) This wind power - spirit power is creative power - it can bring something out of nothing. I'll connect it to the creation story. The Spirit can still do that for us today. 2) This spirit power is unsettling - can make us uncomfortable. Yet it still draws you in and has this intoxicating effect. We have tornados and wind storms and derechos that are fascinating in a horrifying way, we often stare at them in awe. This spirit can sometimes be unsettling. It can transform us and sometimes that can be uncomfortable. The Spirit can also sometimes lead you to change what you believe. There's the story in Acts 15 when they disregarded a whole bunch of the OT to let non Jews into the movement - literally changed their beliefs all because it seemed good to the Spirit. 3) This spirit can make God's future for creation real in the present. There will come a time when God's kingdom will come - when God's dream for the world will happen. The prophets talked about what that looks like. And every time we follow the Spirit, we help make God's dream for the world real in the present. Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: Acts 2:1-21 http://bible.com/events/49262237

If you knew you were about to die, what would you say to those in this world you love the most? What hope or dream would you share? What advice would you give? That's essentially what we get in Jesus' words. He knows the end is near. So what dream does he give them? A command and a promise. The command - love each other. Jesus doesn't say, act as if you love each other. He doesn't let us off the hook. He means really love each other - as he has loved us. Man, it seems like he's asking the impossible. Important questions for us to ponder - again, I don't know if I have the answers. What would it look like if we took this seriously? Do we know how to love as Jesus loved? Do we know how to feel the kind of compassion he felt? Do we hunger for justice so fiercely that we'll reorder our entire lives just to bring it about? Do we want this? Most of the time we don't. We'd rather be safe and keep our circles small and manageable. We'd rather love people based on shared values and preferences and beliefs and not on Jesus' all-inclusive command. And yet, love is the thing Jesus calls us to. As he's headed for death - love is the thing he commands. The promise - everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another. Love is the litmus test. Love is THE identifying marker. NOT beliefs. Not doctrinal or personal purity. Not any of the other things we argue about and split over. But love. Jesus seems to be saying that if we fail to love one another then the world will not learn what it needs to learn about who God is. And if we're honest, we've done a whole lot of failing. Fortunately, Jesus doesn't leave us alone. He gives us a road map. As I have loved you. Live and love as I have lived and loved. Weep with those who weep. Laugh with those who laugh. Touch the untouchables. Include those who have been pushed out. Feed the hungry. Visit the prisoners. Free the captive. Confront the oppressors. Stand with the oppressed. Wash each other's feet. Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: John 13:31-35 http://bible.com/events/49258770

The image of the good shepherd brings up complicated feelings for me. I'll explain why - hoping everyone else sort of feels the same way. I don't have answers in this message. All I come with is a bunch of questions. I'll ask them and I'll try to answer them. 1) Why does Jesus use this metaphor for himself in this particular setting? A lot to explain here in the email so I'll boil it down. Given he's in the temple and the people are celebrating the Feast of the Dedication, it seems as though Jesus is equating his presence with the very presence of the divine. This is one of the I AM statements that Jesus makes. OR, it could be that God's presence doesn't dwell in the temple. It's out in the wilderness with the sheep, the hired hands, and the wolves. In other words, God's with the outcasts, the unclean, the nonreligious. 2) What does Jesus mean when he says he knows his sheep and they know him? This part makes me uncomfortable. In my experience, a life of faith isn't quite this straightforward - not this certain. 3) Who are the hired hands in our lives? The hired hands don't have skin in the game. They're in it for themselves - personal gain. When danger comes, they run. Who are the voices we listen to that might be doing us harm? Who are we letting shape us and mold us? 4) What does the church soften this image so much? Yeah, look at those pictures of Jesus as a shepherd. They don't match what Jesus says. The good shepherd is gritty - has skin in the game - even lays down his life for his sheep. How do we embody this kind of love in the wilderness? How do we embody this kind of love for each other? Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: John 10:11-18 http://bible.com/events/49255244

There are lots of things we do without thinking about the reason we do them. A relevant example on a Sunday morning is how we order our worship services. Why do we worship? More specifically, why do we do the certain things we do in worship? It's called the liturgy - which means the work of the people. There's an intentionality to it - a reason - a purpose for the order in which we do things and this Hebrews passage helps us think through it. Act one of worship is The Approach to God. There's a welcome - an invitation to stand and sing. We're approaching the divine. In Hebrews, it talks about two mountains - one is wild, the other is sort of mild. The first mountain represents the tangible presence of God through symbols - fire, darkness, gloom, storm - it's the untouchable untamed presence of God. The other mountain is invitational - it's almost like there's a party going on. The Approach to God - it's fear and awe inspiring and yet at the same time it's invitational. It's like Niagra Falls, or the Grand Canyon. From far away, it's beautiful - but get too close and you realize it could kill you - you're mortal. Or it's like a lion - from far away, it's beautiful. But you get close enough and you realize your life is frail, imperfect, small. When we approach God, something like that happens. We recognize the sheer beauty while at the same time recognizing our smallness and our capacity to make a mess of things. This is why we leave room for confession of sins in the prayer - that's why we open ourselves up for receive forgiveness. Act two of worship - the Word of God. Now we're in the position to listen to the divine. Verse 25 - see to it that you do not refuse the one who speaks. Some how, some way, through some miracle of the Spirit, God speaks. And when God speaks, shaking happens - verse 27. God shakes loose those things inside of us that don't belong. Transformation happens. Act three - the Response to God. The bulk of this act of worship happens on the outside - the way we live out our lives as transformed people - we become the presence of Jesus where we are whenever we are there. The benediction isn't an ending - it's a sending. Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: Hebrews 12:18-29 https://www.bible.com/events/49251772

So Jesus has been gone, his disciples aren't with him anymore. Peter says, "I’m going fishing, who’s with me?" And they all go back to their previous way of life. We often do this, too. God reveals something to us and we’re sure of what next steps to take. But life hits us hard and we end up not doing what we just committed to doing. We revert back to the safe and comfortable. Then Jesus shows up again and offers them hospitality. He makes them breakfast! He’s already conveying forgiveness without saying a word. Then he walks with Peter. They have the whole "do you love me?" conversation. Three times, Jesus asks. Three times, Peter answers, "You know I do." It's the flip side of the previous story, where Peter denies Jesus three times. Jesus knows that Peter needs to accept that he’s forgiven before he can move forward. Will we go back to our old way of being, after we have committed to one way of living and walking alongside Jesus? Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: John 21:1-19 http://bible.com/events/49248269

Doubting Thomas story. Yay. The word "believe" is so important to John. He includes this story about someone who just can't believe. I'm glad that Thomas made it into the story. Because sometimes it's hard to believe. Do we really believe this stuff? I think it's a fair question - and it's a question we shouldn't hesitate to ask. Christianity is made out to be a set of beliefs you have to assent to. If that's all it is, then when you doubt, when you question, suddenly the whole thing falls apart. But what if it's more than that? The word "believe" is also translated as "to trust." And it's probably a better translation. Trust is a relational word. Our faith isn't just about believing the right things - it's also about relationships. Maybe that's why John gives us this story - to benefit those who will not see Jesus and touch his wounds. It's John's way of saying, "I was there - trust me." And when we trust each other - when we gather together - even if it is behind closed doors - somehow we get Jesus, too. Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: John 20:19-31 http://bible.com/events/49244737

The disciples are locked in a room. Jesus comes through the door and suddenly dead isn't dead anymore. Twice he says, "Peace be with you." Says, "As the Father is sending me, so I'm sending you." Here's what I think Jesus might be getting at: "Just like I created an environment for you to be transformed - become new - I'm now sending you into the world to create that kind of environment for others to be transformed - so that the world can be transformed." That's what the church is about. Where do we start, Jesus? He's all - start with forgiveness. I think he says start with forgiveness because forgiveness is a lot like resurrection. To forgive is to participate in resurrection. So Jesus sends us into the world with a message - forgiveness. God loves the world, the kingdom of God is near, this world matters, bring good news to the poor, release the captives. But we have more than a message - we're called to participate in resurrection in the world. If we would actually show love, grace, healing, forgiveness - actually participate in resurrection I think more people would want to get in on what God is up to in the world. Speaker: Aaron Vis Scripture: John 20:19-23 http://bible.com/events/49241284