Transformed Lives

Seeking to be an authentic community of disciples, becoming more like Jesus - walking in step with God, alongside each other and seeing lives transformed

This morning we come to last in our series of Friday posts exploring our Vision here at CBC. Next week we'll begin to think about our seven Core Values. If you've missed any posts along the way use the links above to look at specific posts or the 'Vision' label at the bottom of the page to view the whole series.

When you read through the gospels - the accounts of Jesus' life - you can't help but notice how people's lives were transformed. In the most drastic cases people were brought back from the dead - a transformation for them, but also for their dependant relatives. 

At other times individuals with illnesses that excluded them from the religious and social aspects of Israel's life were healed and restored. 

Lifestyles were turned upside down. People experienced love, forgiveness, hope, joy, peace... in place of loneliness, bitterness, despair, sorrow, anxiety...

Jesus told the disciples that he had come that people may have life - but not just a hanging on in there by the skin of your teeth kind of life - but life to the full. The word that Jesus uses here talks about going beyond, abundant, exceeding, much more, over much ...

Paul talks about the follower of Jesus being a new creation - the old has gone, the new has come.

The symbolism of baptism speaks of this transformed life - no longer being defined by the past, dying to the old way of life, being re-born into a new life, a fresh start.

Jesus and his first followers were in the business of changing lives - or in the case of the disciples, seeing God transform lives through them. Within a few years of Jesus' death and resurrection his disciples had turned the world upside down.

There are many ways in which we can help to bring transformation in people's lives. But true transformation is only possible through the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. 

One of the most interesting stories in the New Testament sees a paralysed man lowered through a roof in front of Jesus. He is lowered by his friends who want to see him healed - who want to see him walk and run and jump again. But Jesus' first instinct is to forgive him his sin. He only later heals the man physically as evidence that he has the authority to also forgive sins. You can read this story in Luke 5:17-26. I wonder what was going through the man's mind as this story unfolds around him - what was he thinking as Jesus forgave his sin, but left him paralysed on his mat? What were the friends who had carried him and then made a hole in this roof thinking?

As I place myself in this story what do my thoughts and questions reveal about my priorities and the things that I think are important?

As a church it is right that we expect to make a difference in our community.

Timothy Keller asks the question:

If you and your church were to disappear off the face of the earth tomorrow, would anyone in the community around you notice you were gone? And if the community did even notice would they say 'we are really glad they are gone', or 'we are really going to miss them'?

Archbishop William Temple said about the church:

The church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.

But what kind of difference should we expect to make?

I believe that as we increasingly become an authentic community of disciples, becoming more like Jesus - walking in step with God and alongside each other we will see lives transformed. As we are changed - becoming more like Jesus - God will change others through us - because that's what happened when Jesus was around.

And we need to be confident and unashamed of the fact that when we talk about lives being transformed we're ultimately talking about people deciding to follow Jesus. Not everyone who met Jesus in the New Testament decided to follow, many walked away. But for those who followed their lives were never the same again. 


 Picture Credit: LumoProject.com

Think outside the box

For many people thinking outside the box is a very difficult thing to do. Given a task, and a blank sheet of paper, they almost inevitably come up with something they have seen or done before. And that is also true in the church.

As we continue our Sunday series in Luke's gospel, Jesus' challenge this week to the Pharisees is 'Think outside the box' (Luke 5:27-39). That's the point of the two parables at the end - the new thing won't fit into the old way of doing things, they are incompatible. Therefore to do the new things you need a totally new way of thinking and doing and being.

But because they find it so hard to put aside the way they've always thought and done things, they can't get their heads round the fact that Jesus could be God (5:21), or that eating with a tax-collector might not make you ceremonially unclean (5:30), or that not fasting might not be a sign that you're not serious about your faith (5:33), or that doing good on the Sabbath is better than doing nothing (6:9)...

2000 years later and in a very different society it is very easy to pass judgement on these Pharisees. But are we any better at the new kind of thinking that Jesus requires? Where do I need to start thinking outside of the box?

Sat-Nav will turn your brain to mush

There was a story in last week's papers about a taxi-driver who picked up a customer near Northampton to take her 75 miles south to Stamford Bridge (the home of Chelsea football club) so that she could watch a football match between Chelsea and Arsenal. Unfortunately when they arrived at Stamford Bridge, courtesy of the taxi's Sat-Nav, they had travelled 146 miles north to the village of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. To be fair to the driver he apparently asked confirmation from his controller when he was told to head north - and he was told by the controller that the electronic voice was right.

This is not the first time such stories involving sat-nav systems have made the news. Some people rely on them to such an extent that even their common sense is silenced. But surely on a 146 mile journey north the passenger in the taxi would have noticed from the road signs on the motorway that they were not headed towards London. If there had been an element of doubt in the taxi driver's mind a simple question to his passenger about their destination would have saved a wasted journey and the match would not have been missed.

But sometimes on our journey through life we just carry on regardless and never stop to ask ourselves where we're going and why. We may have nagging questions and doubts but for whatever reason we just allow ourselves to carry on going - even though we may be going in totally the wrong direction.

When I was a student I used to have a holiday job making bee hives. One of the things that the boss said to me right at the beginning was that if you're not totally sure about what you're supposed to be doing, stop and ask. It's better to waste a few minutes checking than it is to carry on and then find out at the end of the day that you've made a mistake that could cost the company thousands of pounds.

But how often in our churches do we stop and ask, 'what are we doing?' and 'why do we do it that way?' We live in a rapidly changing world, filled with people whose fundamental needs are the same as they've always been. And therefore as we seek to be the people of God in a changing world we need to make sure that stops are built into our journey so that we continue to meet people where they are rather than try to meet them where their parents or grandparents were.

A New Chapter?

Here in the UK we're coming to the end of the 'summer' holidays. This is the time when many children and young people begin to think about the return to school, college or university. And for many of them they'll be going to somewhere new: some may be starting for the first time ... others making the transitition from a relatively small primary school to a much larger secondary school ... And it can be an anxious time. I know when I was moving to secondary school rumours abounded as to what we could expect - and most of them were unpleasant!

The first morning of any new experience can be an anxious and nervous experience, even though it is often exciting and we're looking forward to it at the same time. Whether it be a new school, a new university, a new job, a new house ... there is an element of the unknown, and somehow we often fill the unknowns with worst case scenarios.

In Numbers 13 we read of how the people of Israel were on the borders of the Promised Land, the land that God had promised that He would give them. They sent in 12 spies to see what the land was like. And the land was indeed fruitful and good BUT the people are stonger than us, their cities are fortified, we'll never defeat them... And all but Joshua and Caleb forgot that God was with them. They said, "The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." (14:9).

When we go into a new situation we need to remember that we do not go in alone. But God is with us to help us. He can take away our anxiety and give us His peace (Philippians 4:6-7).

Waste Watchers

What a week. This past week we have run a holiday Bible club for children aged 5-11 and, in my opinion, it has been great. In total we encountered 47 children, which is almost twice as many as last year - many of those children returning and bringing their friends along too.

We looked at stories of transformation: from nothing into something (creation); from water into wine; from darkness to light (healing of a blind man); from death to life; from sadness to joy. God was able to take impossible situations and transform them. And because Jesus came from death to life, and because he lives today he is still in the business of transforming lives. Jesus can transform your life today.

Acted out in front of the children each day was a drama. This was set in a lovely park - the church was transformed using a forest of artificial Christmas trees and smaller garden plants. But not long after the start of the week this lovely park had been ruined by litter etc. But soon those who visited the park began to clear it up and transform some of the rubbish into beautiful features - an old bath into a pond (equipped with large yellow duck).

Each day the children completed a craft activity, recycling old tubes, bottles, boxes...into desk tidies, musical instruments, picture frames...

We were also reminded throughout the week of the importance of looking after the planet and taking care of God's creation.

Tomorrow we have a funday, and then we wrap the week up with a family service on Sunday. At the beginning of John 21, Peter is feeling pretty rubbish - but Jesus transforms him, he turns him around. Jesus' death and resurrection makes it possible for our rubbish to be dealt with too.

Click here to listen to Keith at Camrose on 29 July 2007.