Why Vision Is Vital!

We have been on a journey of seeing God’s vision for this church.  We long to see ourselves through the lens of our heavenly Father who I believe created each and everyone us with a sense of purpose. 

Why Vision Is Vital

You were born with a desire to make a difference, to be part of something bigger than yourself. Every person has a desire to live a life of vision, of purpose, and significance.

We were all born with certain hungers and certain desires and this is not just a God thing…  Fast Company magazine reports that psychologists have identified three hungers that are common to all of us: to connect to the creative spirit of life; to express our gifts and talents; and to know that our lives matter:

For those of us who believe in God, He doesn't always reveal the full picture of what he wants us to do with our lives. But we can enter into a relationship with God in which we sense his direction, the burdens and concerns that he places on our hearts. As we follow God in that relationship we can play a role in building God's kingdom.

Lessons from the life of Nehemiah

Nehemiah 6:15,16

15So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.16When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

A vision from God fulfilled gives us incredible confidence that God has enabled us!

He had opposition, he had cynics, he had doubters, he had distractions.  There were a lot of obstacles that he had to overcome!  He had to tear people’s hair out to get their attention… Nehemiah 13:25….It wasn’t just about rebuilding walls for Nehemiah…it was their spiritual walls and sense of identity as God’s people.

Who was Nehemiah – in short one of the exiles led away in captivity to Babylon and put in the service of the king as a cupbearer.  A cupbearer may seem insignificant…bring wine to the king; however;  someone had to be absolutely trustworthy in this position and ready to even swallow what he brought to the king with the fear of plots against him. 

Nehemiah receives news… Why were the walls in disarray?  This city was destroyed and burned by the Babylonian army in 586 BCE….at least 70 years had passed since then.

One of the best examples of somebody who lived a life of vision is Nehemiah. Nehemiah's taught us that vision is a divinely given picture of what could be and should be. Nehemiah heard that the walls of Jerusalem had been broken down. Right away, Nehemiah saw what could be and should be - that the defenses of the city could be restored, and the walls rebuilt. A vision is always a picture of what could be and should be from God's perspective.  I believe that God has placed in each of us a passion for influence.

The 7 Mountains of Influence in our Culture.

In 1975, Bill Bright, founder of Power To Change…known back then as Campus Crusade for Christ, and Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With a Mission, had lunch together in Colorado. God simultaneously gave each of these change agents a message to give to the other. During that same time frame Francis Schaeffer was given a similar message. That message was that if we are to impact any nation for Jesus Christ, then we would have to affect the seven spheres, or mountains of society that are the pillars of any society.

These seven mountains are business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, the family and religion. God was telling these three change agents where the battlefield was. It was here where culture would be won or lost. Their assignment was to raise up change agents to scale the mountains and to help a new generation of change agents understand the larger story.

Influence in Arts and Entertainment – I think of just this week the unmistakeable desire that God put on Sheryl T’s heart -  Saturday Morning Art @ Grace!  encouraging each other in art and life, bringing glory to God and Brian J. w/ art as an initiative with Parkwood Gardens.

Education – Mair G. for the neighbourhood surrounding her school at Brant Public, Elmer W. is for the people of VietNam  

Government – Dr Anne Marie – influencing change agents through the Institute of Global Health that just was launched this past Friday

Business – I think of Rob B, Rob G, my wife Sharon, all part of our B2B initiative to help see new self-sustaining business initiatives and partnerships take place in Lesotho, helping business people there get access to funding, to strong business plans.  Bryan and Dan Andrade’s conversation 43:1

Religion –Amy W and Sam B is for the youth and children of Carmen Bajo,

Yours could be for a certain people group or a need that you've observed. What do you burn about? What do you dream about, laugh about, cry about? God has given you some burden, concern, or passion that will eventually grow into a vision.

Nehemiah's was to change government and it was  for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.

Remember, what God originates, God orchestrates. Nehemiah didn't have the resources to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He didn't have the money. He didn't have the freedom. He didn't have the authority. But when God originates a vision, God always orchestrates the how. God is the God of the what, but he's also the God of the how.

Some of you may be thinking, "I'm not a visionary. I don't even believe that God will give me an overarching plan for my life. I don't buy this vision stuff. God is calling me to walk with him - nothing more." You may be right - God may not give you the full plan for your life and what he should be doing. But he will give you a picture of what could be and should be in different areas of your life - in your marriage, in your family, in your business. That picture will come directly as a result of your walk with him.  There is something that he is calling you to do, you have a greater destiny.

The vision may not be a plan of what you're going to do. The vision may that you would develop the character qualities of a person that God can bless. It may be specific and lifelong; it may relate to a specific area of your life, either lifelong or temporal. But God does give his followers promptings, stirrings, pictures of what could be and should be in the various areas of our lives.

This morning from the life of Nehemiah, -we are going to get life lessons.

A vision is birthed through a realization and a revelation  Nehemiah 1:1-4

Let me explain what I mean by both:

A realization comes as a  deep dissatisfaction with how things are. 

At the root of every history maker’s calling is a complaint.  The complaint is our cause, our fuel, our drive, our motiviation.  Complaining is not whining.  Whiners are people who complain about things they permit or tolerate.

You will get to the point where you are not comfortable

When Nehemiah is given the report of the conditions in Jerusalem, it arrests him to the point of becoming undone, to tears, to being driven to his knees in prayer and fasting.

Let me show you another example of this:

Habbakuk 2:1,2

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint. ² Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablet  so that a herald may run with it.

            A realization comes from the potential of what could be.

In that time of prayer and fasting, waiting on God, God gives Nehemiah the picture and it is about a city restored to it’s place of greatness and influence.  A stronghold, a fortress to remind the people of God that their God surrounds them.

A revelation is a prompting that we receive from the Spirit of God

Notice that on receiving the news about the walls of Jerusalem that Nehemiah spent days in God’s presence seeking His face. 

It is not enough just to picture what it could like, but a strong sense of determination that I am the one called to lead this change.  Things can’t stand the same.  It is time to change our perspective.  The beating in your heart for what God has put there won’t go away!

A vision crystalizes through time spent in God’s presence v4-10

prayer and fasting

crystalizing - to give a definite, precise, and usually permanent form to

-        Why should we fast?...is it so our prayers are heard more? No.  It is to remind me of

-        Isaiah 58:6  Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  It leads me to action.

-         It is many ways like margins, it creates space for me to hear God more clearly,

-          like leaving my phone at home for the week I was gone on vacation!

-        What should a week of not reading God’s Word do in you?  Make you feel guilty?  It should make you feel hungry!

Before he takes any action, he waits on direction from the Lord, he calls out to awesome God, he repents for the sins of His people, He reminds God of the promise that He made with Moses

Then notice the request for a prayer of favor v11  (read)

Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”

A vision is developed through a strategic plan.  Nehemiah 2:1-10

Nehemiah's also taught us that vision takes time to grow. A vision isn't necessarily a green light. You've got to wait until you sense that it's time to move on that vision. Waiting time isn't wasted time

Step 1  Convince the king to allow me to leave his service in order to rebuild the wall around a city that in years past posed a threat to him and his kingdom

Step 2 Convince the king to lend financial support to the building project

Step 3 Procure letters from the king to the governors in the surrounding area asking them to provide us with safe passage.

Step 4 Work out a deal with Asaph, keeper of the King’s forest, to secure enough lumber to build the city gates as well as a home for himself

Step 5 Ask the king for the title of Governor of Judah

Step 6 Organize and equip the people living in the city of Jerusalem

Step 7 Begin construction!

Andy Stanley in "Visioneering"

Strategic planning is a process that helps you focus on the unique gifts and resources God has given your church to take advantage of the opportunities in front of you.  Ephesians 5:15,16

You've been praying and planning. You've trusted God and watched as he has orchestrated events and people to accomplish the vision. If it's of God, you've seen God's thumbprint all over that vision. But we've now come to a scary point. We've come closer to the implementation of the vision, but before you can implement, there's one important step left. You've got to share the vision with others.

After months of waiting, Nehemiah finally had the green light to proceed. The pace was picking up. The vision had been launched. Nehemiah was given permission to use trees from the king's forest. He was given permission to travel back to Jerusalem, along with an armed escort. After years of routine and menial service, Nehemiah must have felt like a caged bird set free. For the first time in a long time, his abilities were about to be put to good use.

A  vision involves others and transforms others.  Nehemiah 2:11-20

11 I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. 

But there was one step left. Nehemiah knew what God had put in his heart to do. He even had the green light and the resources to proceed. But there was still one crucial step. Nehemiah had to share the vision with others. 

Two things are true of every God-given vision: it involves others, and it transforms others. Before Nehemiah could proceed, he had to share his vision with the residents of Jerusalem. Without their support, success would be impossible. Before you can begin to implement God's vision for your life, you need to share your vision with others who can partner with you and support you in accomplishing that vision.

Nehemiah 2 is an example of how to share your vision with others.  

Share your vision with the appropriate people at the appropriate time.

Nehemiah teaches both groups three important lessons on how to share your vision in to the appropriate people at the appropriate time:

Timing is everything!

Investigate before you initiate. Walk before you talk. Before you ever open your mouth to share the vision, you've got to do your homework. When God first gives you a vision, don't tell anyone. Investigate before you initiate.

Before you can move ahead with the vision, you need to know everything possible about that can be known before moving ahead. Jesus once said, "Don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills?" Luke 14:28 It's not a lack of faith or a change of heart to do some research. We need to get the facts.

Nehemiah  2:17,18

Once Nehemiah completed the investigation phase, he took action by beginning to share his vision. Here's the second lesson on how to communicate vision to the right people at the right time:

Expect Criticism    Nehemiah 2:19,20

Whenever you share your vision, expect criticism. Opposition is the price of vision. Just expect criticism right from the start.

Nobody likes criticism. But you've probably figured out that you'll be criticized no matter what you do. Even if you do nothing, you'll still be criticized. You may as well be criticized for living out God's vision for your life.

There's nothing more exciting than following God's leading in our lives. There's nothing more exciting than sensing and obeying God's promptings on your life.

I believe that God is calling some of you to follow his promptings. It's time to share with others what God is calling you to do and to be. It's time to share the character changes that he's asking you to make. Whatever it is, follow Nehemiah's example.

If you've never signed on to the adventure of following God, then I invite you to do so today. Why wouldn't you want to live out God's vision in your marriage, your family, your business, your calling?

The Takeaway

When your vision is from God, you are ready to give your life to it.

Nehemiah left a comfortable job with the Persian government and risked his life in the presence of the king for the opportunity to rebuild the walls.  God’s vision for his life was worth everything to him.

His job security. His status of living. Even his life.

Jesus had us in His sights when He shared with the disciples, “greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” in John 15:13  We were the vision He gave His life for!!

Grace Awakening # 3 "Focus On Living"

Our Vision  "People Living Everyday Grace In Our Community"

I want to speak about life this morning.  I want us to focus on everything that God has placed within us that was always meant to overflow out of us. 

There is no more fulfilling way to live than to draw daily on God’s all satisfying grace and let it flow through us to others.  John Piper

So, my question this morning to start us off is this?

When have you felt most alive?   A time when you knew that you were really living!

When have you felt most alive in a conversation?

Sports teams, weather, travel plans, photography, sunsets…

What about God stories, stories of healing, stories that build up your faith?

I light up when I hear stories about how people are sharing their faith with others

Chris B. was telling me about a conversation he had this week.  This guy was sharing with him about 3 things life is about - body, blood and truth.  It couldn’t have been a better segue for him to talk about Jesus and he took it.  So, if God puts you in a situation like that, make sure you are asking the HS how you should respond.

I want to talk this morning about someone who really lived in the OT and it was Elijah.

In 1 Kings 18 Elijah has this incredible showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal on the top of Mt. Carmel.  It’s an incredible scene with the real God who answers by fire.  There were prophets slashing themselves until their blood flowed, but Elijah is downright confident in God.

Ok, now enter the scene with me in 1 Kings 19.  We have Ahab, who was a wicked king in Israel and his wife Jezebel who was even more wicked and the story is being relayed to her about what Elijah has done

She is swearing by the same gods who failed miserably against the God of Elijah in the previous chapter and then we read...

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.  

I don’t get it….You just saw God demonstrate Himself powerfully on the mountaintop, He answered your prayers and now he is going to let one woman scare him to the point where he runs away from his next assignment

Elijah was running for his life.

There is a lot of reasons that we run and for Elijah, I don’t think it was necessarily fear of dying.

It is the daily fear.  Elijah is tired, tired of standing for righteousness, He is afraid of the battles that he is fighting and even if you know you are going to win the battle, it takes energy.

He’s running because he doesn’t want to fight another battle.

V4 Again something that I don’t understand…another paradox - If you are running for your life, why are you asking to die?

Elijah is afraid.

You can’t have a great faith, great God and great fear or can you?

You can wake up in the morning after a great day of serving God in some form or fashion, helping people out, serving others, blessing people, singing His praises and wake up feeling defeated.

We were never meant to leave God’s presence

So, how do you live through it…It’s not that the fear is gone, but they found a faith in God

I’m so grateful that the Bible shows me a man of great faith in 1 Kings 18… and then in 1 Kings 19, a man so low he is ready to die …he’s real, we can relate to him!

My question today is, “Are you running away from the direction that God is calling you?”

A lot of believers are not in danger of ruining their lives….they are in danger of wasting their lives.

We easily get caught up in what everyone else is thinking and forget about listening to the most important voice in our life, the voice of our Father God through His Holy Spirit.

Here are three keys to really living from the life of Elijah:

Get up and eat. 

Go out and stand.

Go back the way you came.

All statements were made to Elijah right from this story

Get Up and Eat!

You like that verse!  Would you like as your life verse?

Elijah runs far away, he wants God to take his life… and what does God do…He tells him to eat. 

If you and I were managing a network of prophets, we might act differently.  You might think,  I need to challenge this guy to stand his ground, but God is so gracious even when he is running away from Him.  Who else will feed you and sustain you even when you go in the opposite direction?

We’ve been talking about developing better margins in our lives as well, eating healthy etc…

This is just not a picture of physical food,  it is a picture of how God’s Word meets our spiritual needs

One of the stories that I love in the NT is when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman by the well.  He tells her, “13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Or John 6:35  Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

God cooked the food for Elijah, meal service was coming through; He has given you his promises, but you got to get up and eat it.  I have given you daily devotionals, Bible apps….the greatest time in history for the advance of the gospel, but you got to eat it!

But sometimes we waste time asking God for stuff we can already have…God give me faith.  Faith comes by hearing the Word of God…  Romans 10:17 Your faith may be malnourished. 

So start listening to His Word, listen to His voice. 

I love the story of Billy Graham who had a Bible opened in every room of his house.  He said he did it so he could keep himself filled and have snacks throughout the day!

I have given you my word that you might have joy. 

How amazing it is for us…right there by our beds we have translations of the Bible for free in any language!

We are not all readers…I have listened to the Word of God many times since choosing a new Bible app from Joansoft on my android phone.  It’s another way for us to appreciate the Word of God in a fresh way.

Ok, Sword Drill, put your swords in the air.  Technology vs PRINT, phones and Bibles in the air, let’s see what is quicker.  The first one that finds this verse has to stand up and read it.

Repeat after me 1Kings 19:9-10  stand up and read it out loud. No kinks in the elbows, arms straight up

Repeat after me… GO

Go out and stand v9-11

It is one thing that God speaks to you on the mountain when we are in a good place, but He also speaks to us in the cave, when we are going through darker times.  You feel more distant from God sort of like when your “wifi signal” is not as strong in the cave.  Here’s the truth, in isolation there can be more despondency.  But why do we do that.  We make a mistake, we crash spiritually or something devastating happens in our life and the first thing we do is go into hiding.  It happened in the beginning with Adam and Eve and it still happens now. I was just talking with someone whose husband left her and the first thing I asked is do you have a good support system of people around you and she replied by saying that she was too embarrassed to go to church.

Remember this Grace, whatever you are going through, you are not the only one left.

You are not the only one left.  God says I’m with you when you pull the covers over your head, when you’ve eaten the last dessert.

The enemy wants to keep you in the cave.  He wants you to keep replaying the film of how you went down and how you lost your perspective

You made a good decision to come here today!

David knew it and shared it in the Psalms.  There is nowhere that we can run from God’s presence.

If I make my bed in hell, you are there  Psalm 139:8

He speaks into our depression, dysfunction, addiction.  Elijah is still running but the LORD keeps pursuing him.  There are lies that bounce around in the walls of your cave and God wants to get you out of the cave.  You may be stuck and He wants to get you unstuck.

When you get on the mountain, it’s a picture of worship, we hear God more clearly, in the presence of the LORD.

How do we stay calm?  We do it by listening to our Father’s voice through His Spirit

Look how God passes by!

The wind tears apart the mountains…He is not there.

A fire consumes, a flashback scene for Elijah… He is not there.

There are so many more dramatic ways that God could have shown Himself that He is in control but then…a gentle whisper…  Elijah, what are you doing here?

Why did he whisper to Elijah?  He whispers because He is close.The enemy can yell, the voices inside your head can yell, but God chooses to whisper in this moment. He doesn’t need to shout because He is right, He is in control, he holds you in the palm of His hand.

What about you?  What are you doing here, how long are you going to stay in that cave, how long are you going to refuse to forgive that person and hold them and yourself hostage?

How long are you going to stay awake at night trying to fight a battle He already has won for you?

Remember how I was with you, how I provided for you

The hairs on your head are #. Luke 12:7; Matthew 10:30 You have to be close enough to someone to do that.  God is closer than you think!

His Spirit is inside of you and I believe there are things He wants to tell you.

The 3^rd Thing God tells Elijah -

Go back the way you came v15

Go to the desert of Damascus….anoint  Nimshi…hand the torch over to Elisha, get back to the work I called you.

How many more nights will you spend in the cave, are you ready to get back to the place I called you to be?

Keep pressing in for more of His sustaining grace DAILY!  Maybe you feel like you blew it, maybe you are in a cave today,  I believe He wants to speak into your situation.  He has called you out on the mountain to be in His presence

REMEMBER…you didn’t get into a relationship with God by your own achievements, performance or effort….It was all by grace.

The same grace that brought you this far will carry you through.  I don’t know what threats you are up against, what mistakes are staring you in the face.

2 Corinthians 4:8  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

You might be pressed, but you are not crushed…

You might be persecuted, but you are not abandoned

You might be struck down, but you are not destroyed.

Keep moving forward for the glory of God.

I was at an event a few weeks ago called MoMondays that Sharon and I were invited to and Matt Ward was there as well.   It was there I heard people share about their struggles with depression, learning how to take baby steps, failed business opportunities and what they learned through their journey, perseverance, character, but the one thing that was so sad was the sense of hopelessness.  Inside I was so distraught listening to their stories was that there is someone who longs to be part of their journey and that is our God.  

They were missing the Jesus factor.

The day after Matt shared the lyrics to this song with me...a blast from the past from Steve Green, still so powerful today.

Everyday they pass me by,
I can see it in their eye.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?
On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear.
Laughter hides their silent cries,
Only Jesus hears.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize --people need the Lord?
We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right.
What would be too great a cost
For sharing life with one who's lost?
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear.
They must hear the words of life
Only we can share.

3 THINGS –

EAT, STAND, GO

Listen to God, live in His strength and go where He is leading you!

Grace Awakening #2 A Vision Message focus on "People"

Most often we identify who we are by what we do, possibly our heritage or even the community that we grew up in.

Check out this video  “Identity in Christ” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsDQEb-qlyM

Do you have a hard time accepting your identity in Christ?

It is often very hard to accept the identity given to us by our heavenly Father because we are so drawn to achieve it or prove that we are worthy of such titles…but everything we have and all that we are is all because of Jesus, because of His finished work when He paid for our freedom on the cross.

So, what is our identity as a church?

We believe the identity God has given us is this and “grace” is our history and our identity.  Here is a quote from John Fairchild when we came to this property

Grace Community Church is a Christ centered community that celebrates God’s Grace, striving to grow in Christ, living passionately for Him and sharing the good news of freedom in Christ with each other and the people we encounter every day.

Grace is made up of all kinds of ordinary people who’ve become part of our Marden church family for different reasons. One thing we all hold in common is a desire to understand how God would have us live.

None of us do it perfectly and for that reason we have included the beautiful word “Grace” in our church’s name. Grace describes God’s free and undeserved favor and love to all of us. God’s grace is about giving us ‘fresh starts’ in our life adventures.

We want to become “People Living Everyday Grace In Our Community”

When you know your identity, it allows your purpose have crystal clear focus.

In our previous vision, we spoke specifically of “a time and a place where love abounds”

The question I want to answer this morning is, “Why is it so important for us to shift from “a time and a place” to a people in our vision?”

The answer is threefold:

1.       God has created His people to belong in community.

2.       God has created His people to be strong and secure in their identity.

3.       God has created His people to live transformed lives by the power of the HS

1 Peter 2:9

In this passage Peter is bringing in the eternal and invisible dimension of our lives. He is describing to his readers how special they are to God. Everyone knew that the Israelites were God's chosen people, but God had just increased the dimensions to His community!

The family of God expanded beyond the nation of Israel to include all of us who are part of His family.

1.       God has created His people to belong in community.

But you are a chosen people.

The Israelite community…look at Deuteronomy 7:6

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

The word chosen is spoken of the Hebrew nation as they left Egypt in Psalm 105:43.  It was the word used that was spoken of Jesus prophecied in Isaiah 42:1

1“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight;I will put my Spirit on him,and he will bring justice to the nations.

It was also used of the apostles for their work.  Acts 10:41

Well here’s the truth about this community.

Romans 9:21Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? 22What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”26and,“In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ”

It is a community designed intentionally by God and if you have chosen Jesus as your Savior you are part of this community both in a worldwide sense and a local one

Have you ever experienced being chosen first or for that matter last as part of a schoolyard pick?  It provides this lasting impression in your mind… a great sense of pride or utter humiliation and it has everything to do with people’s perception of you for that particular team.

God has a perception of you and He knows you the same way He knew His prophet Jeremiah when he said of him.

1:5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations

Let’s imagine a singing competition in our church

We ask a person new to our congregation to randomly select participants without any knowledge of their gifts and talents…they are just going by their looks!

Now enter…Kathy Lambkin who intentionally picks based on her knowledge of their gifts and abilities…no contest right!  And that is what Your heavenly Father is like…

He knows everything about your design, your gifting and the people He has placed you around.  It’s not random and it’s no accident.  1 Corinthians 12

He has you here for a specific reason…It isn’t a place where you will be just comfortable to warm a seat from week to week.  You are here to discover your God-given purpose as part of this family, this community, this specific group of chosen people.

Now granted I understand that many of you have chosen to be part of this church, but ultimately I believe that God chose you to be part of this congregation for such a time as this.  You will be part of His manifest destiny for the future success of this church in fulfilling this mandate.

Why am I so confident of this?…it is because God has chosen US by His design.  It had everything to do with Him and His grace and mercy in our lives and it had nothing to do with us.  The moment we forget that, the moment we start becoming people of entitlement.

We are the people that God has chosen to connect with those He has placed around us.  We have a special sense of calling.

2.       God has created His people to be strong and secure in their identity.

A royal priesthood -  The priest was to “stand in the gap” on behalf of the people and represent them before God.  He was to continually offer sacrifices on behalf of the people for the forgiveness of sins, teach the law, take care of the temple. Numbers 18

 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

 We are a new creation and we have been given a ministry of reconciliation.  We have been given the mandate to help people find their way home, to their true home, their destiny to become children of God!  

We are part of the universal priesthood of all believers.

The priests performed sacrifices

Romans 12:1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

A holy nation -  A people have a commitment to one another…you see a Canadian in a foreign country – there is that comraderie, they are from home. 

There is something special about being Canadian – doors are open for you that are not open for Americans for that matter.  Canadians are especially loved in Holland.

The Liberation of Holland was completed on May 5, 1945 by the First Canadian Army. It had been a long and difficult campaign. Following the initial Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and the breakout from the bridgehead which saw the Canadians engaged in bitter fighting at Caen and Falaise, the First Canadian Army was assigned the task of clearing the coastal areas and opening the channel ports for vital supplies.

Some wonder how the story of the heroic Canadians lives on in Holland almost 70 years later. The story of what the Canadians did during the War is passed down through each generation and is taught to children in public schools in Holland. There are a variety of war cemeteries devoted to the 7600 Canadian soldiers who gave their lives for the liberation of Holland. The Dutch lovingly tend to each cemetery. When the Canadians visit Holland they are treated with much respect and admiration. The people of Holland are not quick to forget that it was the Canadians who freed them from the Germans so many years ago.

Melanie Cashin

The bond is even experienced in a stronger way when we connect with other believers across the nations.  Being part of a holy nation means we have a passport to places where others have limited or no access….the throne room!  Hebrews 4:15,16

15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Where else does your passport as a believer give you access to???

We are “A people belonging to God” -  We have the power of God, we are agents of change.  We are carriers of grace and we have the Holy Spirit

Now, certain cultures and ethnic groups are known for specific things.

The French – wine and cheese.. Sharon and I had French friends in BC, Martin and Annie of all places who let’s just say educated our palette.

Latin cultures are known for great salsa and salsa dancing…we learned both, well Sharon learned the dancing thanks to our friends from Mexico.

The Sherpa people in Eastern Nepal   elite mountaineers and experts in their local terrain  – those who guide explorers to climb Mt. Everest.  My passport as a Christian gave me access to the high mountain villages of Nepal where from out of a mud hut a man walks out and gives me an ice cold coca cola….However, more miraculous for me was to hear the story of a community of believers who shared with me about a person in their community had died and during the funeral that went on all night and that was more a celebration of worship and prayer.  At some point during that time of worship, she came back to life!

What will we be known for?  First and foremost – a people belonging to God!  Never forget that.

3.       God has created His people to live transformed lives by the power of the Holy Spirit

That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light.

That HS communicates with your spirit, you have a spirit in which the HS resides

The HS wants to reveal the significance of the fact that God chose you…when you were dead, when you had no options, you were brought into a family with eternal difference.  We are heirs of God

Creation groans…Christ groans…the HS groans so that we can understand the significance of our identity.  God is birthing something in you! Romans 8

Syria is a very dark place right now…with the UN reporting now over 90 000 people have died in this civil war that has lasted more than 2 years.

It was just the other day that I heard about Canada is going to sponsor 1300 Syrian refugees…  It may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to the 1.6 million displaced by the unrest in their country.  However, these 1300 have been chosen to live in a new country, with new opportunities… 

Who is God calling you to sponsor?  Bring them out of darkness and into His glorious light.

This means sharing our story.

Brynley had a random text from a neighbour the other night and he asked if they could just read the Bible…what ensued was a chapter by chapter reading…5 of them and Bryn had the beautiful opportunity to share her faith.

Live your life in such a way that it demands an explanation.

Ephesians 2:8-10

THE TAKEAWAY

Remember we work from our identity not for our identity.

If I know God loves me, I don’t have to manipulate other to receive their love.

The whole world lives for their identity…

Only a Christian can live from their identity

When you pursue your own identity… I want to be healthy, I want to have kids, nice car, great career etc… and if you labour for that and  accomplish that, you feel proud… you say look what I have accomplished, you become self righteous, you have contempt for other people.  I did it why can’t you.

OR

If you try and fail, you feel depressed…nobody asked me out, we can’t have kids, I thought they would never leave me and I got served divorce papers…despairing

So, remember, today live from your identity, not for your identity.

I was cycling last week and Matt Ward was following me, pushing me to go faster and man, I was just pounding it out as hard as I could….want to impress the man who went to Kona for the Ironman…Anyways, he comes up beside me and says Jack you don’t have to grip your aerobars so hard… you were moving all over on your bike.  He said you need to let your bike work for you, don’t fight your bike…

What’s the point…you don’t have to fight for your identity, Jesus already did.  He fought for you to become a child of God.  Rest in that confidence.

Second….

When you do this you don’t have to hold or grip as tightly to your performance, your status, your things, your position etc…

When you know who you are as a child of God, you can hold loosely  to all of it.

1.       God has created His people to belong in community.  You are chosen.

2.       God has created His people to be strong and secure in their identity.  You are secure.

3.       God has created His people to live transformed lives by the power of the HS… so live a transformed life by the grace of God!

An action plan for this summer!  KEEP AT IT

·         Open your homes and backyards and be hospitable  - It can be really simple.

The power of invitation is an amazing thing.

·         Open your hearts and make new friends (name some new ones by end of summer)

·         Open your hands and do good to people around you

·         Open your mouth (when the opportunity arises) and speak of your faith in Christ

Grace Awakening

I want to talk to you this morning about a grace awakening.  What is a grace awakening?  It is simply being awakened or experiencing a fresh understanding of the amazing, undeserved, unmerited favor of God in our lives.  We all need to experience it, be empowered by it and extend that grace.  The beauty of it is when someone new comes to your church and says they have experienced it here as someone spoke to me the other week.

When John, Bryan and I were away at the D’Elia’s for a couple days last month, we were struck by the power and enormity of grace and all its facets in 2 Corinthians.  We were also so blessed by a couple of people, Bonnie and Perry who are living examples of beautiful grace.  They run a bed and breakfast in Niagara-On-The-Lake but they also have a cottage that they have also renovated for people to seek time away to refresh their body and spirit.

It’s a vision that we have shared with the LB and some of our ministry leaders as well. 

1.      A new vision for Grace built on a time and place where love abounds

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; NASB

We are built for outward flow.

John 17:15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. NASB

We are called to be missional.

The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.  John 1:14 The Message

Jesus became flesh and blood to all those around Him.  He was real and went to where the people were.  He lived among them, He cried with them, He prayed for them, He brought healing to their lives.

We are called to the same thing.

We are called to be real with all those around us, to cry, to laugh, to pray for them and with them as the Spirit leads.  We are called to bring healing to the lives around us .

As one LB member shared, God has called me to serve and meet the needs of my boss who is going through a very difficult time.

                                                                                                                       

The statement:  People living everyday grace in our community

Why is ‘grace’ so powerful.  Charles Swindoll in Grace Awakening

Christ died for us on the cross. He was raised from the dead for us at the tomb. When we believed in the Savior’s death and resurrection, we were dipped into the same scene. Our identity was changed. We didn’t feel it, we didn’t see it, we didn’t hear it, but it occurred, never the less. When we came to Christ we were placed into him as his death became ours, his victorious resurrection became ours, his “awakening” to new life became our “awakening”, his powerful walk became our powerful walk. Before we can experience the benefits of all that, we have to know it.  Chuck Swindoll

•       Our mandate   - A shift from an internal focus to an outward focus. 

The word internally for us at Grace will always be love and the word externally as we focus looking outward will be grace.

I want to take you to a passage which I believe speaks into our vision and gives us our mandate.

2.      The vision is rooted in the transformation of our community.  Jeremiah 29:4-7; 1 Peter 2:11,12

4This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

So, what was going on here?

Israel as a nation was to represent God’s goodness to the other nations.  They were to be a lighthouse to them, to reveal a nation that followed hard after God, but they were stuck.  They had forgotten their purpose; they had completely forgot where they came from.  They were once slaves in Egypt, they were oppressed and they experienced deliverance, but as soon as they became “self-sufficient” they forgot God and worshipped and ran after other gods.  They were the nation that was oppressing other nations.

Here is the account of the forced labor King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s temple… 1 Kings 9:15

In a nutshell, they became all about preserving what they have with their land and possessions instead of a nation that is bent on giving away and blessing those around them. 

So they are stuck and now God must act.  

This very nation was called to be his hands and feet in the world; however they looked just the same as everyone else.   In fact, it was worse…they looked anti-God.

God is looking for people who care about the things that he cares about and he blesses so that justice and righteousness can be upheld. 

Unfortunately at the height of their blessing, Israel misinterpreted everything as entitlement and favoritism.  There  is a word in the Bible for when you have been giving all sorts of blessing, wealth and influence, but completely forget why you were given it in the first place. 

It’s called Exile.

Exile is when you forget who you are; its when you forget your story.  It isn’t just about getting kicked out of a location but it is about of state of your soul.  It’s about when you find yourself as a stranger to the purposes of God.  This is the place from which Jeremiah is speaking to us about.

So what?

Israel as a nation could have just looked at this time  as exiles in a foreign land (“we’re here for a short time…let’s huddle up and protect ourselves and wait for God to get us out of here…whatever you do, don’t make friends with the enemy and don’t get involved in any of their world”)…….. and then, how God actually directed them to live (“you’re going to be here for 70 years, so settle in, get to know people and bless and transform their culture by living among them as God’s people”)

It’s also a place to rediscover your story in a fresh, new way.

Is this just another twist on an OT mandate for a nation or is this for us?

1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Our real home is heaven, but we have been assigned by God to live in this “Babylon” for the foreseeable future, so settle in, get to know people and live out God’s grace so as to bless and transform the world around us by living as God’s people should live.

How do we start living this out?

Matt Naismith, just recently stepped down as the youth pastor of Lakeside moving into the Ward to begin a church plant to reach out to people there.

The move IN – West Willow Woods – reaching out to another need filled community.  James Bast.

Seek the prosperity of the city we are told in Jeremiah 29.  We are called to  pray for it and extend grace to the people living there.

An action plan for this summer!

·        Open your homes and backyards and be hospitable  - It can be really simple.

The power of invitation is an amazing thing.  Go to your street party and if there isn’t one, make one up!  Last night was our street party and it was the 3^rd year in a row for us.  It was a rich delicacy of foods from every continent from samosas to noodles to vegetarian, deep fried from Africa!  We brought pulled pork!

·        Open your hearts and make new friends (name some new ones by end of summer)

     It is because of opportunities like this that I not only know their names, but I now know a number of the names of their children as well.  It’s after midnight and Sharon is still out there having great conversations!

·        Open your hands and do good to people around you

I met some people from Grace as I was out on the garage sale loop with Sharon and one couple said after their neighbourhood garage sale they were having a community BBQ. 

·        Open your mouth (if an opportunity arises) and speak of your faith in Christ

Bonnie D’Elia who I mentioned in the introduction does this with such great ease.  She shared with us how she spoke to the man renovating a meeting area doing renovations at her home.  She said I could just let them do their job or choose to reach out.  So she does and over a meal or a coffee and God is giving her great opportunities to share her faith.

Live your life in such a way that it demands an explanation.   Francis Chan

3.      The vision is intentional in discovering God at work in us for our community  Jeremiah 29:11-13

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And for most people, the memorizing of this passage ends here.  However, there is something very important and not to be missed….

 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord

We really need to be asking God what are your plans for me today?  Why? Because He already has laid the blueprint out for your day. 

Ephesians 2:8-10….look at what kind of grace v7  incomparable riches of His grace.

You can’t give what you don’t have.  I am praying that the vision today will be a grace awakening in all of us.  I pray that you will experience the incomparable depths and riches of His grace!  May it be just like the song, How He Loves, where grace is an ocean and we are all sinking in its depths!

As opposed to a closed community where we cloister ourselves away, we want to build more intentional relationships in our community.

Let’s recommit ourselves to our neighbours and friends and discover and experience the incomparable riches of His grace.

Conflict Resolution

What are words that we think of when we hear the word conflict:

War, power,stress, expectations, fear, rejection. 

Rejection is one of the main reasons we choose to avoid conflict.  As I quoted in your bulletin…  You cannot really resolve conflict and at the same time want to please people.  Conflict is not an event, it is a process and so you have to be able to deal with the tension.  Staying underneath the process requires perseverance.  There is no one size fits all formula.    

Your belief about conflict will greatly affect how you engage in it or your lack of engagement. 

Some people might look at conflict in a “mind map” sort of way and see this as  a psychological thing….

(look at slide)

Some of you may look at conflict as more of a personality type of thing and see 4 basic types

I’m going to look at from more of a graph

The negative side of conflict is:

   Competive – I must win at all costs

   Avoid and withdraw – I will not engage and stuff my feelings, beliefs and ideas deep within

A neutral approach to conflict is to accommodate; however if this constantly happens, it eventually leads to bitterness, may damage trust.  When you come the attitude is what do you want now.

Compromise - allows diverse opinion to work together.  Transactional. I do this,you do that.  Might lead to mission confusion, keep something that is working but does not fit the mission

Collaborative - may slow the process down, but is the highest form of resolution.

Conflict does cause tension; however tension is an essential component for our personal growth and maturity.

This morning I want us to look at answering the question   How do we end conflict in a way that glorifies God?

I believe there are three truths that we may need to embrace and it may include all three truths or possibly just one of these truths or a combination.

1.                    We end conflict well when we learn to agree to disagree.  Compromise

2.                    We end conflict well when we confess our sins.  Confess

3.                    We end conflict well when our perspective has changed.  Collaborate

1.       We end conflict well when we learn to agree to disagree.

A case study in conflict resolution.  Acts 13:13; 15:36-41

In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabus are commissioned to go out on a missionary journey to share the good news of Jesus.  They begin with a travelling companion,  John and their first stop is in Cyprus

5When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

Then at their next stop in Pisidian Antioch, we notice this:

13From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

We pick up the story in Acts 15

36Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

Earlier in the series I spoke about Paul’s personality as one who was a planter.  You could also say that he was a A-type personality. He was driven, a much focused man.  When you listen to verses on how he described the Christian’s life, it resonates with perseverance, running the race, laying aside every weight.  1 Corinthians 9:26  He wanted to surround himself with similar type people.

Paul made a judgement call on Mark’s abilities based on his past performance.  You may have heard the saying “past performance determines future behavior”…  well, Paul lived by that.

Enter Barnabus and his name means “son of encouragement”.  I believe he saw something in John Mark that others didn’t see.  He may have seen someone with great potential.  He may have seen someone who needed a second chance.  He may have seen someone who had been written off but he was going to be used of God to bring out the best in him. 

Don’t forget it was Barnabus who was the first person to really vouch for Paul after Ananias initially prayed for Paul to be filled with the HS.

Acts 9: 27But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus.

 Acts 11: 25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people.

You can imagine how many Christians really wanted to trust Paul (formerly Saul)

It was a sharp disagreement. 

When someone raises their voice, some might view this as fighting and others simply as just the ‘entry into the debate’.  There is no mention that Barnabus or Paul had sinned in this situation.  However, it is clear that it most likely was a heated exchange and no doubt there was tension in the room where they had their discussion.

If I could quote Rodney Cooper again he states,   as Christians we have come to believe that anger is sinful and as such we suffer from over controlled hostility. There is an appropriate anger, which is not an explosive anger.

There is a couple of sayings out there that sound biblical, but they are not:

If you can’t say something nice about someone, you should not say anything at all or can’t we just get along?  

   

They are simply conflict avoiders and they really don’t serve us any good in the end.  Conflict is not a sign of disloyalty because if it is done well, it can build even a stronger trust and respect for one another.

•             The art of listening

When we agree to disagree, we must first be willing to listen to each other’s point of view.

•             The art of humility

It is the realization that I may be wrong.

While serving as a youth pastor in a previous church, I had a youth leadership team that were always looking for new ways to reach out to the youth in the community.  We had some great "extreme sport" youthleaders!

I had a strong disagreement with some people in the church over the amount of black marks on the gym walls created by the skateboards. They were of the firm belief that this was lack of respect for the church building.  I also had people who saw youth wearing hats in a church service as again a lack of respect for God.  I was of the mindset that I was just excited to see them in a church service and I believed that God could overlook their hats and if that was a real concern to God, He could convict them of that.

I have also had disagreements with others about people and their potential

As a student, I had disagreements about eschatology… the study of end times.

2.            We end conflict well when we confess our sin

James 5:16  Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Again, let’s affirm that not all conflict is sin; however when in conflict there is certainly the potential for sin and when we have crossed the line from a place of passion in our viewpoint to one that displays one of the following qualities, there is a need for confession with those around us.

In our human weakness we can either result to brute force, go for the knockout punch, or grace.  We need to sort out your own situation after conflict.  We should not let unresolved conflict fester indefinitely.  We need to admit (acknowledge) where we are at.  Here are a few potential sins in conflict.

•             defensiveness -   It is human nature to defend ourselves to the point of not admitting our mistakes.   SIN   It is defined as constantly protecting oneself from criticism, exposure of one's shortcomings, or other real or perceived threats to the ego.

•             intimidation – It is the use of a forceful nature to belittle someone else’s point of view.  SIN  It is filling someone else with fear as a result of our threats or ‘browbeating’

•             ignorance – Ignorance is a sin when we continue to live in it after being made aware of the truth. 

It is part of the futility of thinking in Ephesians 4:18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their

We need to come back and confess our sin when we have fallen short.

  

3.            We end conflict well when our perspective has changed

•             perspective on truth

When someone graciously shows us a new way to understand the Word of God, it takes humility.

A case in point is this very message.  My original title was how to redeem conflict that has gone bad and my original thought was that Paul had sinned in this situation and had judged John Mark prematurely.  However, it was Bryan who pointed out to me that there is no indication that any sin took place in

•             perspective on an individual

2 Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

Colossians 4:10My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.

Clearly something had taken place over time that had enabled Paul to gain a different perspective on John Mark.

In time, God had enabled him to look at John Mark differently.

In God’s family, we should never get to the place where we “write someone off”!

•             perspective on a situation

Two very different perspectives on the same situation:

Psalm 137:1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2We hanged our harps on the willows in the middle thereof. 3For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion

Ezekiel 1:1 In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

www.peacemaker.net

 Words play a key role in almost every conflict. When used properly, words promote understanding and encourage agreement. When misused, they usually aggravate conflicts and drive people further apart. If your words seem to do more harm than good when you try to resolve a disagreement, don’t give up. With God’s help you can improve your ability to communicate constructively.

Conflict can truly be our ally when it allows us to:

• exposes problems and where we may have blindspots.
• build relational capital - if you go through a conflict with someone, you feel like you can go through anything!
• provides clarity.  We really can get to the depth of what we are really feeling and communicate it.

As we seek to resolve conflict, may we learn the principles that we can agree to disagree and still show love to one another.  God doesn’t call us to uniformity but unity.  There is rich diversity in the body of Christ and we need to understand and appreciate that as we see from all the different parts of the body in 1 Corinthians 12….some parts of the body may have stronger preference.

May we learn to graciously confess our sin when it has become an offence to another and may we gain a new perspective every day on the undeserved grace and favor that God has shown us  in that He does not treat us as our sins deserve  

Psalm 103:10  MSG

God is sheer mercy and grace;
    not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
    nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
    nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
    so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
    he has separated us from our sins.

Thanks to the sacrifice of His Son and the shed blood of His forgiveness, God has a new perspective on US. 

Ephesians 2:1-5 MSG   It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ