Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: Easter week #5

Hello incredible Antioch people. We had an incredible time last night as we looked at one of Jesus' post resurrection appearances. One of the things I'm thankful for is seeing what Jesus does when He interacts with His friends: Eat, talk, sit, enjoy a fire, drink, forgive, love, & talk theology. Once again the Kingdom isn't about doing super-spiritual things as much as it is seeing the Kingdom within the things we find so normal.

In the 5th week of Easter, we focus on the transformation of our lives. First, we read of Jesus' appearance to Saul "as to one untimely born." Saul is heading in one direction, but when confronted by the Risen Christ, he is radically changed & sent in the opposite direction. Later he explains to the Ephesian church that we all must take off the "old self," & be clothed with the "new self," which is being ever created into the image of Christ. How does this work? It's a mystery for sure, but Jesus says the answer lies in staying connected to Him, the true Vine.

Here's the scriptures for this week:
Acts 9:1-22 The dramatic conversion of Saul. Your own conversion might not be as dramatic as Saul, but let this story prompt reflection on ways Gos has intersected your life, turning  you around & sending you in new directions.
Ephesians 4 Paul (his new name for his new identity) makes theology practical in this section of scripture. All of this points to imitating Christ & allowing our daily devotion to Him to transform us into His image; a lifelong adventure for sure. 

A prayer worth praying: "Jesus, thank you for choosing me & changing me, even as you chose & changed your servant Paul; continue your transforming work in me this day & this week as I seek to stay close to you, my source of love & joy. Amen.

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: Easter week #4

Hey everybody. Sorry for such a late post, but I got really sick this week & have been playing catch up since I started feeling better. This will be short & sweet.

After Jesus was resurrected He showed Himself to the disciples several times. This Sunday we'll look at one of those episodes & meditate upon an incredible Psalm.

Here's the two scriptures we'll be looking at:
Psalm 23 Although you might already know this song, push past the familiarty of it & read it in light of the resurrection. Take time to really see the promise of the new creation found in Jesus within the poetic lines of this Psalm.
John 21:1-19 This in an incredbily rich section of scripture. Jesus gives the men a huge catch of fish; He eats food with them & Jesus extends grace after Peter's failure & recommissions him to leadership. How is God asking you to have faith to "cast out your nets?" Why does Jesus eat with the men? How do you feel when Jesus shows so much grace to Peter?

Blessings. We'll see each other Sunday night.

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: Easter #3

So we are officially in the season of Easter. Last night we spoke about "practicing Resurrection," living the life Jesus lived before He died. As followers of Jesus we have become professionals at helping people get "reborn" & helping them understand the after life, but it's the in between part that is difficult for us. How do we live a life of devotion here & now? How did Jesus do it? How did the disciples live so passionately for the one they loved? Thankfully, Jesus left them with an incredible example & although we aren't to replicate it exactly, we are to take notice of the rhythms of his life & do what He still invites so many to do: "Follow Me."

Last night we all took a card & put one or two spiritual practices from the list below we are going to practice throughout the week. Make space to practice; & remember, learning how to do something isn't easy, yet in the end the reward is well worth the effort; this is "a long obedience in the same direction." Be patient.
Below is the sheet I handed out.

Learning from Jesus by practicing

Habits that Place You before God

Key Verse

Jeremiah 6:16 

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says:

   “Stand at the crossroads and look;
   ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
   and you will find rest for your souls.
   But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’

Thoughts

We long to see our lives whole, to know they matter. We wonder whether our many

activities might ever come together in a way of life that is good for ourselves and

others. Lacking a vision of a life-giving way of life, we turn from one task to another,

doing as well as we can, but increasingly uncertain about what doing things well would

look like. We yearn for a deeper understanding of how to order human life in accord

with what is true and good.

Craig Dystra and Dorothy Bass, “Practicing Our Faith” p.146

Spiritual Practices:

 “The main task is, by engaging in ways of using the body differently, to disrupt and

conquer habits of thought, feeling, and action that govern our lives as if we or someone

other than God were God and as if his kingdom were irrelevant or inaccessible to us…

Appropriate disciplines for developing new habits, kingdom habits, are practiced. A

further help in understanding what spiritual disciplines are for the disciples of Jesus is to

recognize them as simply a matter of following him into his own practices, appropriately

modified to suit our own condition.” (Dallas Willard, Divine Conspiracy)

Some Disciplines of Abstinence:

Solitude, Silence, Study, Worship,

Fasting, Frugality, Chastity, Secrecy, Prayer

Some Disciplines of Engagement:

Service, Celebration, Fellowship,

Sacrifice, Confession, Submission, Extra Giving.

My Spiritual Interests (check three or four you are most interested in)

CONNECT: You were formed for God and His family

I would like to live more of my life by faith _________

I would like my relationship with Christ to grow stronger _________

I would like to love people more deeply _________

I would like to resolve conflict constructively and learn to forgive _________

GROW: You were created to become like Christ

I would like to read the Bible more and know how to talk to God _________

I would like to become more like Jesus Christ in my character _________

I would like to be free of addictive behaviors _________

I would like to be free of the love of money and live generously _________

SERVE: You were shaped for serving God

I would like to develop my unique God-given shape for ministry _________

I would like God to open up opportunities to serve Him _________

I would like my home to be a place where I serve God and know his love _________

I would like to know how to help someone else become a follower of Christ _________

SHARE: You were made for a mission

I would like to build relationships with non-Christians and share God’s love _________

I would like to invite unchurched or unconnected friends into my community _________

I would like to reach out to people across cultural barriers _________

I would like to make my workplace a place of service and ministry _________

WORSHIP: You were planned for God's pleasure

I would like to experience more of the presence and power of God in my everyday life _________

I would like to please God by surrendering to Him every area of my life _________

I would like to accept the things I cannot change and become more grateful for all God

has given me _________

I would like to spend more time telling God how great and wonderful He is! _________

How can you live out the things you’ve marked this week at work, school, relationships, home, or in other areas of your life?

What simple ways is God asking you to live these passions out this week?

Spiritual Practices

List a series of activities you already do with some regularity that feed your spirit with God’s life. Think large, across all the fabric of your life in developing this list, not just of the ‘devotional’ exercises and tools. Please list up to 10 of them under these two headings, and in this order:

A list of 10 things in your life that bless you, esp. including ‘fun things’

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A list of 10 ‘spiritual tools’ or devotional habits that bless you. (i.e. prayer, service, worship, study, silence, etc.)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Commit to practice at least one spiritual practice from each list each day this week.

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: Easter Week #2

What a wonderful Easter we had: Great food, great company, baptisms, worship, & the sharing of communion with each other. It is a blessing to be church together in His presence & in Santa Cruz.





This last Sunday marked the what is the greatest event in the history of the world: The Rising of a Man captured & killed by the Romans. Jesus, the first person to rise from the dead; Jesus, God's ultimate demonstration of his commitment to redeem creation, God's demonstration to redeem us.

In most churches Easter builds toward one Sunday; however, as we journey through the liturgical calendar we will be taking a journey through Easter for four more weeks. Jesus' resurrection was just the beginning of what God was doing not the end. The resurrection demonstrated what God had done. Now, in the Biblical story the disciples are left to demonstrate what God desires to do through His people the church. For the next four weeks we will explore one of the greatest theological questions about the resurrection: "So what?"

This week we look at three different sections of scripture:
John 20:19-31 This is the account of what happened after those who followed Jesus discovered He had risen from the grave. What are their reactions? Is their disbelief encouraging to you? How would you have responded? How will you respond now?
1 Corinthians 15:1-34 This is one of the great chapters in the Bible about the resurrection. Who is Paul speaking to & why? What was the church believing that wasn't true? Why is it important for the church in Corinth to believe correctly about the resurrection; why does it matter?
Ephesians 1 Paul again describes why the resurrection is crucial to our faith. Why is the resurrection crucial to who we are? Why does it matter so much?

The resurrection is the center piece of our faith. It may sound weird in a day & age when other aspects of Jesus' life are set as being of upmost importance; however, when we look at the amount of text or dialogue given to the resurrection in the New Testament it become clear: The Resurrection matters & it matter a lot. In fact, it's clear the early church wasn't so eager to "go to Heaven," but they were willing to be eaten by lions because they knew they too would rise again as a part of God's new creation. Do we share the same perspective or convictions? The resurrection is the promise we have as God's church. Too, this is the hope for Santa Cruz, that the church would live out the resurrection before them so they too would have the opportunity to know life.

What does it mean to live the Resurrection? What's it mean to be the church in Santa Cruz?

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: The Journey of Lent #6

What's up incredible Antioch Church. This week marks the last week of Lent & celebrates the greatest event not only in church history, but world history: The Resurrection of Jesus. Only one man in history has risen from the grave & this event is the central event in all of creation & our faith as well. In fact, resurrection is one of the main themes throughout the whole New Testament. Why? Because Jesus buried death in the grave &, as I've said several time, "if we die with Him we will also live with Him." God, through Jesus, demonstrates the fullness of His plan: We will be resurrected; death has been defeated; we will enjoy a New Heaven & New Earth. This is the promise for the church both in Santa Cruz & the church world wide.

The Resurrection marks God's promise to redeem creation & Jesus is the firstfruit of what God intends to do, & is in fact, already doing through us his church. When creation was corrupted through sin God made a covenant with man to redeem it, which He has been faithfully doing & now takes it's ultimate form in the resurrection of Jesus. As Jesus is now at the right hand of the Father, we are left behind to demonstrate to the world the power of the resurrection; in fact we would be right in saying, the church is creation as it should be. This is a tall order, but through love, repentance, grace, & worship we are becoming just that. Jesus is the demonstration of the new creation; we, the church, are the demonstration of a new creation. "...on earth as it is in Heaven..."

Here are the scriptures for this week:
Isaiah 25:6-9 Isaiah shares with the church the imagery of the wedding feast & at the same time imagery of what Jesus accomplished through putting death in the grave.
John 20:1-18 John tells us the dramatic story of those who discovered the empty tomb. No one expected Jesus to rise from the dead; yet, his rising revealed God's continued commitment to creation. Too, "as we die with Him, we will live with Him." He is the first fruit of those who will be resurrected; His church, the called out ones: Us.
Acts 10:34-43 Here Peter shares the testimony about the resurrection of Jesus. Is this how we as a church describe our risen King?

Here's a great link to a video by Rob Bell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjXYlwvS5LY&

Please take time to ponder what this week stands for: We are the church, God's called out ones; We are the church, God' redeemed ones; We are the church, the salt, light, & hope of the world; We are the church, those who will be resurrected like our Master; we are the church, God's demonstration of what the Kingdom is like; We are the church, the bride of Christ & the only reason we exist is because Jesus rose from the grave on the third day. Jesus is God's plan for creation & we are a part of the plan.