If there is one certainity in life, it is that things won’t always go as planned. The problem with this, especially if you’re a Christian, is what do we do when the unexpected happens. In his book “Plan B” Pastor Pete Wilson shows you how God is still working even when you are walking a path you never expected. Wilson uses personal “Plan Bs” he has faced as well as numerous other stories to that reinforce the fact that God is sovergn despite what your current situation might lead you to believe. Here are some quotes that I really identified with from “Plan B”:

• Despite what your current circumstances are telling you, God is for you.
• Fear, of course, is a universal human experience, and it’s not limited to Plan B experiences.
• The best step is to know God.
• Throughout life you will face one situation after another that will be completely beyond what you can handle.
• We’re called to love him even when we feel abandoned.
• It may feel like it’s over, but it’s not over.
• Once again, I realized I didn’t have a good answer.

After reading this book you will come away with the fact that there in no definite answer to why you are hurting except that God is working in your life through your pain.  If you are currently going through a “Plan B”  this is a must read and if your not in a “Plan B” situation you will be, so grab a copy of this book it.

Have you ever found yourself in a leadership role and wondered, “How do we get there from here?” If you have, then Steering Through Chaos is a must read.   Author Scott Wilson draws from his experience (both personally and organizationally) to share down- to-earth methods that will have you embracing the chaotic times ahead instead of running from them. Here are a few things I enjoyed while reading this great new book.

• “We had to face the honest truth: if we continued to follow our present methods, we’d keep hitting the same ceiling again and again.”
• “Understanding demographics isn’t only significant only for the U.S. Census Bureau.”
• “When you communicate vision to the congregation, never communicate beyond the level that your leaders have embraced.”
• “Vision isn’t something I determine – it’s something I discover as I walk with God day after day.”
• “Make no mistake: Leadership can be incredibly lonely.”
• “Let’s learn all that we can can from business principles but make it a priority to look to the spirit for guidance.”
• “Visionary leadership necessarily involves a strange blend of certainty and ambiguity.”
• “Share set backs as well as successes.”

If you’re ready to grow as a leader and if you’re ready to lead your church through the chaos that leads to growth then you owe it to yourself to read Steering Through Chaos.

1. Vision
2. Prayer
3. Compassion
4. Stewardship

Today we are focusing on VISION.

John 9

A lack of vision leads to the following:

1. Distorts reality
2. Skews Judgement
3. Results in poor choices Proverbs 14:12

Proverbs 29:18

John 8:12

Walk in the Light… John implies the need for vision.

The Darknesses We Must Avoid

1. The darkness of limited thinking: John 9:2

2 myths of limited thinking..

• Someone had to have sinned for this to happen
• God causes bad things to happen when we fail Him

1. The darkness of missed opportunities: John 9:4

• Why are you here?

1. The darkness of blind legalism: John 9:14-16

Becoming…An intentional community of Christ’s followers

This vision is rooted in Philippians  3:12

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

Here are some highlights from today’s service:

• God’s people are always called to be a people of vision
• In order to have vision we must have light… Jesus is that light
• When we are obedient God floods our lives with His light
• Vision is inseparably tied to faith

“for we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Cor 5:7

• Faith allows you to visualize what has not yet happened, and the question is: will we trust in God in those things that we cannot yet see?
• Our problem is not having sight, it’s that we don’t use our sight

Saw 8 kids and 2 adults get baptized today, and that’s what it’ all about!!!

What’s in a name:

• Peter was the 1st person to speak of Jesus as a “rock” v 11

Who is the Way?

• Jesus is!!! John 14:6
• He is the cornerstone of the true house of God.
• His ministry went against the religious current.

- Judaism was centered in a building – Temple

- “Concentric circles of sacred space.”

- Jesus is the place where God and Humans meet.  Not in anything that we have done ourselves.

- Jesus erased the lines between sacred space and secular space. . . are you trying to draw them again?

- Who follows the way?

• A people, A Family,
• More than Christians by identity, we are the WAY- Jesus-Followers by practice.

My favorite part of this passage is when Peter and John tell the guy to “look at them”. (verse 4)   I really like this verse because it is exactly what God is telling us . . .  He is calling us to look at Him and into His eyes.  The cool part about this is that when we do trust Him enough to look into His eyes, we realize that everything else fades into the background.  It is in that moment, that we will finally experience an intimate relationship that Christ desires with us.

So are you looking into His eyes?  If so, what is He showing you? If not, try it and you will experience God in a way you have never thought possible.

BTW if you missed the service yesterday here is the picture of Paul that we found.

our focus for todays message was Acts 2:36-38

In review:

- the way is not a religion, or any other human institution!

- It not a set of propositions to believe in!

- The Way IS a life pattern which = habits

- The Way has 2 aspects

1 – Salvation = beginning

2 – Stewardship = life style

Acts 2:38

1 – Repent = turning or changing ones course

- do not confuse repentance with being sorry . . .

2 – Baptized = An act of love and obedience

- being baptized does not save us . . . but it’s our first chance to publicly display our new found faith.

3 – Forgiveness = cancellation of the penalty

- “redemption” bought us back to usefullness

- Restored in relationship

4.  Choice =

- the way requires choices Joshua 24:15

- the choices are not always between good and bad . . . but they always bare consequences.

* Are you living the Way?  How?

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— The Way: How it Began—

• The church was “jump started” by an appearance of the risen Jesus.

                        - It was by the strength they gained after seeing Him, that they were able to go into all the world.

3 Things Jesus told them in the 1st chapter:

 1.  Wait on the Holy Spirit

 - Psalm 27:14

-Isaiah 40:31

-So what’s so important about waiting on the Lord?

   — We are powerless to act without Him.

   — We will fail if we act without him.

2.  Don’t count the days (v 7)

  — Don’t ask the wrong questions when serving God.

  — We should ask How instead of when…

3.  Be my witness  (v 8)

  — What is a witness: The Greek word is martureo, this is the word where we get “martyr”.

  — Matthew 16:24-25

  — How far are you willing to go to stand by your convictions?

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How are you living the Way?

And all who believed were together and had all things in common. ⁴⁵And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. Acts 2:44-45

These verses make me the most excited when I read my bible. I can picture what this attitude of giving looked like. Obviously this is an example of community, but I think we can learn so much more from what we read here.

For example, they went beyond just helping everyone and gave to everyone “as they had need”… which tells me that they didn’t give  the same to everyone (as we tend to want to do these days) but they gave more to people who had a greater need.  This is what service is all about.  It’s not about making it fair, it’s about meeting the needs of people no matter how big or small they are.  That’s what the Way is all about.  It’s a lifestyle that reflects God and you do this by simply living the gospel.  

So are you serving people as they have need?  If your are currently not serving people, all you have to do is go from seeing the need to acting on what you see.

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

Fellowship just might be the favorite pastime for church goers.  However if we want to start living a lifestyle that reflects God (also called the Way) then we are going to have to start rethinking our fellowship.  Sunday I talked about how fellowship is more than just the food . . . it’s about relationships.  We have to start realizing that fellowship is an opportunity to touch each other’s lives.  Food has changed from a way to get people to fellowship to what fellowship is all about.  Think about it, when was the last time you had someone over that didn’t involve a meal?  Can you even think of a time?  We can see in Acts 2 that the people were devoted to fellowship (and before you think it, I know that both verses above talk about “breaking the bread”) but also notice that Luke lists fellowship separately in verse 42.  This tells me that fellowship is more than “breaking bread“.   Yes, a meal time is a good way for us to meet and not have anything else going on . . . but ask yourself this question: What would happen if I looked for other ways to have fellowship?  
 
Living “The Way”  is doing everything you can to reflect God . . . let’s start making that true through our fellowship