sanctuarycg

Let us return to the story...

I would like to take the next couple weeks to clarify some of the vision and values of Sanctuary. To begin with, at the top of this page you'll see a very important phrase to our Sunday night community at CrossRoads: "a community of Jesus-followers living out the story of God."

This phrase has helped fine-tune my thinking as I lead Sanctuary. It contains values vital to our vision:

a community: God's very being lies in community. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have eternally lived as one in community. In God's good creation man and woman were created and invited to live in communion with the holy community. God used the community of Israel to be a "light to the nations." Jesus lived in community with His disciples and He birthed the new community of His kingdom--the Church.

Jesus-followers: For too many years Christians have been referred to as those who "believe in Jesus." While this definition is true, it is not complete. The Bible tells us even the demons believe in Jesus. Instead, we are seeking to follow Jesus, trusting Him as our Savior from sin, Redeemer, and King. Our following is made possible by grace through faith empowered by His Spirit.

living out the story of God:  The Bible is filled with poetry, but it is more than poetry. The Bible is filled with law, but it is more than law. The Bible is filled with history, but it is more than history. Taken as a whole, the Bible is the "God-breathed" narrative of God's restoration of creation to Himself. It is God's story--a story without end, a story of which we all play a part.

It is in living out God's story by following Jesus in community that we find our purpose and joy in living. May God guide us as we seek to live the loving revolution of His Kingdom.

Last night...

A big thank you to everyone for participating in an amazing worship service last night. For those of you who missed it, we spent time simply focusing on and praying for our violent world. In light of what happened at Virginia Tech last week and what goes on all over the world (Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, etc.) we asked the question: WHERE IS GOD IN THIS VIOLENT WORLD?

A couple of you asked me where we found the song O MY GOD that Ryan sang. FYI: it's off of Jars of Clay's newest CD Monster.

Also, a big thank you to Kristen Lunceford for her reflection piece Numbness. She has given me permission to post it below.

Numbnesss

Sanctuary: April 17, 2007

Kristen Lunceford

 

33 dead. Is anyone really surprised?

Some numbness resounds from a people grown accustomed to darkness.

We say we grieve for the first 32 and then struggle to accept that number 33 was created and loved by God, too. But soon we’ll move on and wait for the next headline, running between the raindrops they’ll say we should have seen coming.

 

So how did we get here and to what extent are we to blame?

When did violence become entertainment?

When did the right to bear muskets turn into the need to tow semi-automatic weapons?

Why does the media indulge the notoriety sought by the McVeighs, Mansons, Klebolds, and Chos, of this world while thousands of coffins from war go missing from the evening news?

 

What is more dangerous: bullets fired on a college campus or the art of distraction?

 

And what of the other kinds of brutality and affliction we ingest?

Why did the stranded wait for days on submerged rooftops in plain sight of us all? And how come they still don’t have proper roofs over their heads?

How is it that a handbag sells for $42,000 while a father watches his 18-lb six-year old starve to death?

Why does the cancer refuse to relent?

What kind of desperation drives a woman to toss her infant in a clothes dryer?

 

These aren’t political issues. These are human voids.

We pretend they don’t affect us so we aren’t obliged to act

We distance ourselves; ignorance is bliss.

Why are we so afraid to feel?

 

We follow celebrities to escape

Only to find that it’s all the same song, just a different verse.

Vanity begets emptiness, or maybe it’s the other way around.

Depravity surfaces, it’s all a destructive illusion.

 

We watch on as

The Amish forgive

And the mothers march

And the resilient families cling to flags folded neatly into triangles.

 

And what do we do?

Well, we blame and we consume and we give up and pass by,

Thinking somehow our insulation will render us unaccountable.

All the while forgetting that we are to be the peacemakers.

 

You see, the rhythm of the world is off and so we struggle to move.

We’ve lost our taste for salt,

Our vision for radiance,

Our capacity for empathy,

Our motivation to step outside ourselves,

Our belief, maybe, that we are part of the solution,

That salvation and mercy really do live in us.

 

We perpetuate violence by our indifference to it.

We move greed forward with our appetite for it.

We facilitate oppression by choosing to ignore it.

We diminish the light when we neglect to stand for it…to live in it…to change because of it.

 

What will it take to make us cry or pray or do our part?

Must we become widows or orphans ourselves? Must we bury our own children?

 

How close must grief come to us before we cry out for the ones it has already consumed?

 

Oh, my God, you’ve saved us from these sins, now save us from ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

Where would you be without Jesus?

Does Jesus make any difference whatsoever? I have always said without Jesus I would be a millionaire-alcoholic on his third wife. In short, I'd be a wreck. What about you? This Sunday night I would like to read some examples of the difference Jesus makes in a life. Would you be willing to share a bit of your story?