New Life

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God has rescued us and given us new life in Christ —

A new heart. A new spirit.
A new citizenship. A new family.
A new Sovereign and Father.
A new identity and culture.

Together, we are learning to walk in this newness of life.

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People like us —

Exchange life with God.
Exchange life with one another.
Honor the identity God has given me, us, and every person.
Live in the patterns of God's kingdom.
Work for good in the world.
Make new disciples of Jesus.

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Let this become our lived experience —

God is great. God is good. And God is near.
We are trustworthy stewards of the many forms of God's grace.
We are God's treasured possession and we live Jesus-like lives.
We so love the world that we give our first and our best.
Our everyday story is for God's glory.

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So that

God's people are blessed by him

so that

God's people will be a blessing to every people

so that

Every people will be blessed by God.

Relay

Maybe you are familiar with an electrical component called a relay. With relays, you can use a low voltage signal to switch a high voltage circuit on and off. A small thing helps you realize a big thing.

This morning I had a ‘relay’ moment during my run (sort of a bad play on words I guess).

The story begins a few weeks ago.

I got out early to run. It was chilly so I wore a pair of blue gloves. These aren’t expensive gloves—just thin polar fleece. As the sun came up—and after a few miles of running—I got too warm. So I took off my gloves and tucked them into my waistband. Well, somewhere between there and home, I lost one of the gloves.

I hate losing stuff and I prayed that I might find it. Not the biggest deal. Just a cheap glove. But still.

The next few times I ran my loop, I kept my eyes open for the glove but never saw it. Oh well. Eventually I forgot about it.

Now, this morning I went for a run. It was a little cool to start and I wore a sweatshirt. After a while, I started getting warm so I stopped to remove the shirt and tied it around my waist. For some reason, this reminded me of the glove I lost a few weeks ago. As I started running again, not ten steps further down the street, I saw a patch of blue off to my left in a vacant lot. I went to have a look—and—it was my glove!

That was my ‘relay’ moment. I found treasure in a field. No, not the glove. That was a small thing. The big thing was God’s answer to my prayer. It was his care for me in the small thing that was the big thing. The glove just helped me see it.

Had I found the glove right away, I would have been grateful. But finding it weeks later, stopping where I did to remove my sweatshirt, being reminded of the glove, and then finding it right there—well—that was really special!