Living the Connection

​Time flies when it is a summer of R&R – Rescue and Restoration.
 
I can’t believe it, but this is the last weekend of our summer series. If you remember we started in the Book of Galatians where we clearly see that we have been personally rescued and restored in Jesus. The first seven messages of our series focused on this work that has happened in all of God’s Children. It is a personal interaction with God. He comes for us and changes our hearts, minds and our identity.
 
The second section of the series has helped us to understand our roles as people that live in two kingdoms. Our primary allegiance and citizenship are in God’s Kingdom, but we are to operate in this world as His representatives bringing light and life. Each week we went to God’s Word seeking guidance on living fulling engaged in our immediate context but knowing we are “Not of this world…but sent into it” just like Jesus.
 
My goal for you as you read this little article is for you to understand there was a reason we called this series “Living in the Middle of Rescue and Restoration.” You never outgrow or move beyond this truth. All the days of your life will be about these two “R” words. We are to live out each day with a renewed sense of what God has done for us and then from there to look at the people around us as others that Jesus died on the cross to set free. This perspective will give our days purpose and joy!
 
This Sunday’s message is entitled “Living the Connection.” We will be considering the source of living our lives like this. We wake up each morning to a perpetual barrage of distractions and temptations to be people of mediocrity, selfishness and even despair. How can we stand up against the current that is trying to sweep us away? The first thing we need to know is that we were never created for neutrality or stagnancy. We are either growing, deepening and living or we are deteriorating and falling into a stupor. Yikes! That sounds a bit dramatic. Well, it’s still true.
 
The message on Sunday will lead us to the source of true life and “Living the Connection.” It is really quite simple and yet in many ways the most difficult thing to do. It can be summarized with a few simple words that God has spoken repeatedly in the pages of the Bible in many different ways.
 
                “Come closer and follow me!”
 
From Genesis to Revelation God delivers this message of Rescue and Restoration. He does this because He wants to and because we desperately need what He alone can do for us. We are merely invited to respond in each and every area of our lives through all the days God gives us.
 
Living in the Middle of R&R,
Pastor Nick