Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: The Persecuted Church

Hello Antioch Church of Santa Cruz; I’m sorry for the lapse in time on the blog, but I just got back from the Rainbow Gathering, which was a 2hr drive from Portland & a mile & a half hike from the parking lot into various meadows. We had a great time for sure.

This week we find ourselves in week four of Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar & the second week where we will be taking a detailed look into the life of the early church. In our reading from Acts this week, God continues to pour out His Spirit on the early church for their mission in the world. Through the church, God displays remarkable signs of His presence & authority. Non-believers watch in fascination & many join the small community of believers. But all of this doesn’t prevent backlash & harassment. The authorities are threatened & they react persecuting the disciples. Like Jesus we face persecution, but we see how God exerts His power & provides for us when we undergo hardships.

The main text this week is:

Acts 5:12-42 conveys the people’s growing fascination with the new community of Jesus followers in Jerusalem: the amazing miracles, the open meetings, the many healings & the increasing number of believers. But the Jewish authorities are not pleased.

This next Sunday we’ll be discussing this passage in detail & discussing what it meant for the early church & what it means for us as a church here in Santa Cruz.

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: Trinity

On the first Sunday after Pentecost, we turn our attention & celebrate the Trinitarian nature of God. While associated with a doctrine rather than an event in salvation history, we recognize & honor the one triune God who has acted through all of time. Pentecost highlights the coming of the Spirit, but we must remember that the Spirit has always ben at work: creating & sustaining the cosmos, forming & preserving Israel, choosing kings & speaking through prophets, overshadowing Mary & anointing Jesus, &, yes, baptizing & empowering the church. The oneness & threeness of god is a mystery. The Father, Son, & Spirit are coeternal & coequal, existing in a trinity of persons & a unity of being. Recall the sweep of the story from Advent to Pentecost this week as you meditate upon the mystery of the Three-in-One.

Here’s the Scriptures for this week:

Psalm 8 exalts God & puts us in our place. When we look at God’s creation, the vast cosmos—& this is even more true today—we human beings should be utterly humbled.

Matthew 28:6-20 This is the famous Great Commission of Jesus. It fits well in this week because of the Trinitarian formula used in baptism & also the idea of Jesus continuing his mission through us, the church, you & me.

Romans 5:1-5 help us to meditate on the interrelatedness of the work of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit in our salvation & in our lives.

Read these verses & then re-read them. Let them soak into your soul & allow yourself to be transformed into the image of Christ, which is the true image of the Triune God. Although the Trinity is mystery it reveals the interconnectedness of God, which is something He deeply wants to share with us &, likewise, with our neighbors. The church, our church, is a reflection of the Trinity relationship.  

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: The Feast of Pentecost

With the outpouring of the Spirit, the themes of resurrection & new life are amplified & the focus on the church & its mission are introduced. This we we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit. The readings are full of images & metaphors that describe the mystery of the Spirit & his working. Wind & fire; we are rightly awed. We're also drawn by the invitation; Receive the gift, be filled. Our experiences may range from quiet to dramatic--the Wind blows as it pleases--but in every case, we encounter the Being of God within our own being, his transforming, empowering, & loving presence.

Here's the readings for this upcoming Sunday:
John 7:37-39
Acts 2:1-42
Romans 8:9-27

Again, take time over the next few days to meditate upon these texts & allow them to shape your relationship with God. Too, ask to be filled again & again. God does not grow tired of filling us with Himself; it is a joy to Him.

Antioch Church of Santa Cruz: Easter week #7

Hello incredible Antioch Church. Sorry for missing last week’s portion of the liturgical year. One of the things the church left out of the calendar was: Moving. We moved & it was pretty intense. Anyways we’re here. Too, because we don’t have internet I’ll do my best. I’m trying to hit a good rhythm of life knowing when I can post on this blog. We missed many of you last night, but I must admit we had a great time & God's presence was obvious. Good time; good friends; Good God.

This is the beginning of the last week of Easter. This week we “wait for the Spirit.” After Jesus ascended to be with the Father the disciples waited, as Jesus asked them, to be filled with the Spirit of God. We too wait & long to be filled with God’s Spirit in order to “do the stuff” He calls us to do. Whether living a holy life, sharing God’s love with others, performing miracles, or feeding the poor; we need God’s power to accomplish God’s desires. Take some time this week & allow your soul to be molded by the text & the Spirit.

Scriptures:

Acts 1:1-26

John 17

Revelation 22

As any athlete trains in order to compete in a contest, we too train through spiritual practices in order to gain a crown that will never perish or fade. Practice, train, love, wait, search, & discover God today & again tomorrow. His greatest delight is found in us.

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’

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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

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