This is Us

Peace through Scars

There is an old joke about the response a beauty pageant contestant gave to a question concerning the population of a foreign country. When asked, “What is the population of the Philippines, more or less?”, her response was, “More.” When everyone laughed at that, she quickly replied, “Less.” (Please know that no offense is intended to any beauty pageant contestants who may come across this devotional!) I thought of that joke because I was thinking of the classic question all contestants receive - “If you were in charge of the world, what would you do to bring about world peace?” That’s a solid question because it’s a real concern. And as you know, there are all kinds of well-meaning, and not-so-well meaning, people in power who give us answers every day about how we can have peace with each other. Hardly any of them, and perhaps none of them, ever suggest the answer Jesus does in John 20:19-21.

As we learned in the weekend message, we are the strategy God has crafted to fulfill His mission. And what is His mission? Among other things it is to teach the world they can have peace with God (Rom. 5:1-2), the peace of God (Phil 4:6-7), and then peace with others who belong to Him through faith (Eph. 2:14), but only through the scars of Jesus. And as such, if we were ever to find ourselves asked what we would do to bring about world peace, our response must be, “I’d tell everyone to be reconciled to God through the cross of Christ.” (Now you may choose to use less religious language than this, but the point is still the point.)

I believe the two greatest challenges we missionaries face are to practice the peace we are to offer people and then to actually offer it! And I get it. Those are my “opportunity areas,” too. So how do we live in the peace of God? We constantly remind ourselves that we are at peace with Him through our faith in Christ. We are no longer His enemies (Rom. 5:9-11). We have been reconciled to Him (2 Cor. 5:18). There is no substitute for spending time with these truths.

But then, how do we live with the peace of God? We spend time in prayer, giving thanks to Him for all He’s done and giving our worries over to Him (Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Peter 5:7). Also, we don’t let ourselves feel guilty for not being worried. This can be exceedingly difficult to do, can it not? But, it is a good thing to not be worried because it means we are trusting God with the affairs of our lives!

As we live this way, people who don’t will take note. And that’s when the opportunity to tell them about the source of our peace comes in. Until then, remind yourself to pray for those you see the most, and who don’t know the peace of God. There is no pressure on us to share that there is peace through scars. God will set it all up. But let’s continue to encourage each other to ask for those appointments and to take advantage of them as He provides.

Scott Smith
Connections and Growth Pastor

by Scott Smith

Resurrection Reality

Have you ever been in a situation where you were so stuck, there didn’t seem to be a way out?  I still remember the last few days of being stuck in a foreign country (against my will), just waiting for God to open the heavens or do something because I couldn’t sit and wait any longer. Then the elation and surprise when I saw two Coast Guard cutters (really nice ships) come into the harbor to escort us home was surreal. I was not sure if I was dreaming or if this was finally happening. Sometimes our perspective of reality needs to change so we can see what God has done.

The disciples needed a perspective change after the crucifixion, they needed to live in the reality of the resurrection! Jesus had died, there was no more life in his earthly body and the disciples witnessed everything. Imagine trying to process what was actually happening for them, imagine the range of emotions, and imagine the sense of loss. Some of us can relate to some of their experiences. Then Jesus came back. He was/is alive and to prove it he showed them the scars of the piercings he received. Everything changed because Jesus was alive!

Do you live in the reality that Jesus is living and reigning now? He is risen, he is leading, he is forgiving to this day. Does his resurrection shape the way you view life, your day, or other people? Sometimes I don’t live in resurrection reality, I forget the mission Jesus set forth, and I just look at my circumstances. When my mission (typically short-sighted selfishness or misguided perception, if I’m being honest) becomes about my life or my next step, then I change from living on mission-aligned with Jesus to trying to do his mission on my own.

Jesus rose to reveal the love, forgiveness, and power of the Father to fix our reality. In doing this, Jesus gave us a mission (to make disciples that then make disciples) by living in his way with his heart. That is our mission and it is powered by the reality that Jesus is alive. Will you join me in living on mission in light of Jesus' reality? This is about a few people in your life that need to meet Jesus? Pray about how you can introduce Jesus to them, then step into the mission and introduce them! Praying Jesus’ resurrection changes all of our daily realities.

Pastor Jeremy Johnson
Family Pastor

by Jeremy Johnson

He Believes in Us!

“As the Father has sent me, even so, I am sending you.” - John 20:21

Jesus was sent by the Father “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), but Jesus decided not to stick around (at least in a physical sense) to see this mission completed. Instead, in his infinite wisdom, he has decided to work through people like you and me to accomplish what the Father sent him to do. Here in John 20, at the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, he tells his followers (us!) that they/we are being sent “even so.” This means that those of us who claim the name of Jesus has a mission… Jesus’ mission! To seek and save the “lost.” Those who don’t know, who don’t act like us, who don’t behave like us, who don’t have the same convictions, who might look differently, who vote differently, who speak differently . . . these are the people that we are called to. Now, God didn’t ask me if that was a good idea, but if he had, I would have told him that there is no way that he should trust us with such an important task. I would have told him about our pathetic history of mistreating, demeaning, belittling, enslaving, and even killing our fellow humans. Of course, he would have reassured me that he knew all that, but that he still believed in us. This might sound baffling, but it is true. He believes in us. But, I think it is important to point out that God doesn’t believe in “me” the same way that he believes in “us.”  I don’t think that God believes that I have much hope if I am alone and on my own as an isolated individual. He loves me that way and he loves you that way, but he doesn’t expect much of either of us when we are alone. If you remember, a solitary human was the one part of creation that God said was “not good.”

What I’m suggesting is that the God of the universe believes in “us.” He believes that we can actually come together and do something together, with His Spirit, that we could never do alone. Jesus believes that we can accomplish, even in some small way, a part of what he began. This is awesome! So, my challenge to you today is to join in! In fact, join a team of people serving together. Find some other followers of Jesus who are already on a mission doing something together and join them. When you do, you’ll be surprised by how great it is. Have you ever wanted to get connected to others more? The best way to do that is actually to be a part of a team of people on a mission together. Do you want to learn more about Jesus? The best way to do that is to join a team of people who are on a mission together telling others about Jesus. So, join one of our Faith Kids teams, our Jr. High team, or our High School team, or link arms with our Outreach team, or join one of our many partners in North County. Contact any of us Pastors or Directors and we’d love to help you become a part of finishing what Jesus started.

Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor

by Josh Rose