CONNECTED TO GOD

(1-6) 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. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Ephesians 2: 1-6 (The Message)

God gives us a clear picture of the beginning place for our quest for worth, fulfillment and significance. His Son, Jesus Christ is the Gateway to all of those longings. Jesus is the Gateway to life as it was meant to be lived. It is only through a deep and abiding relationship with God, through Christ, that we are in position to have a healthy perspective of who we are and who we were created to be. Why? Because God is our source of wholeness, love, contentment, strength, joy and purpose. We will never be truly satisfied with ourselves or our lives until we see ourselves through God’s eyes. A “beginning” isn’t the only dimension of a Fresh Start. “Fresh” describes an ongoing, ever-developing relationship with God through Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the freshness of our relationship with Jesus that is attractive to spiritually disconnected people.

CONNECTED TO THE FAMILY OF GOD

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2: 42-47 NIV

People long for relationships, a place to belong, to fit in and to be known. God’s grand plan is for us to be in relationship with one another in His community as we pursue an ever developing relationship with Him. Great relationships enhance our life and our understanding of God is enriched through this collective experience. As we grow in relationship with God and other Christ followers, we begin to look, act and love more like He does. This transformation in “likeness” attracts spiritually disconnected people.

CONNECTED TO OUR GOD-DESIGNED PURPOSE

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn't take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I've become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn't just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it! Corinthians 9:19-23 (The Message)

Jesus is our pattern for developing and exercising spiritual influence. He was connected to His Father in purpose and prayer and was led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus was and is the only Gateway to eternal life. However, inherent in His call to follow Him is our call to be gateways for others to enter into a relationship with Him. God has strategically placed us in specific environments and empowered each of His followers with specific spiritual gifts so that through our love and service spiritually disconnected people can discover the Gateway to God, Jesus Christ.