In this inaugural series for 2017, we will lay out some reflections regarding the direction of the Reynoldsburg church. Our way forward flows out of our ability to see what God is doing and our willingness be faithful to what he is calling us to accomplish through him. Accordingly, Proverbs 29:18 provides a fitting launching point: "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed." (Proverbs 29:18, The Message)
In this series, we will introduce four core features of the vision of the Reynoldsburg church. Interestingly, as we explore these core features of our way forward, we will also discover that these four features also represent desires expressed by men and women in the community in that they seek to be a part of a cause, they want change in their lives, they want to serve and they want to feel connected.
In this sermon we look back at 2016. We recognize the highs and lows of the year while identifying God?s fingerprints on the events of the year. The case will be made that we begin 2017 making a commitment to attend to God?s revelation and to one another in community.
How has God changed you? We often pose this question to others and are hesitant to answer it for ourselves. In Paul?s letter to the Ephesians, he makes a strong case regarding God?s grace and its power to change. The Reynoldsburg direction begins to takes form when we embody the Lord?s gift of grace, a gift that awakens us, give us life and transforms us. Our lives lived in community, in worship to God and in service to others reflect that we have been changed.
God's attention to detail can be celebrated as we consider how he created humankind. Paul says we are his "masterpiece" (NLT). As his masterpiece, God has commissioned us to participate with him in global mission to declare the reign of God (The Kingdom of God). Our service in our community is one of the loudest cries that we believe that the kingdom of God is here.
Reynoldsburg's participation in God's mission is a team sport. As a diverse group of disciples, we "come to the table" together with our gifts, talents, differences and conflicts. To think that we can accomplish anything apart from the integral work of the Holy Spirit is idiotic and a recipe for failure. Our way forward demands we feel our connection to the Triune God and to one another.
The reason behind us looking at core values and coming together around a common vision is not necessarily to suggest that we have been stumbling. But it is our belief that coming together with a unified vision for the body here will place us in a prime position of experiencing the blessing of God and sharing that blessing with our community.