Current Series:
In the time of Jesus, Rome ruled Israel with an iron fist. They had the superior army and greater reach across the known world. There was a common practice in that time designed to help facilitate movement of their supplies back and forth across their great empire and to remind everyone that Rome was in charge. A Roman soldier could at any time require a passer by to carry his things for him up to a mile. It did not matter if this person was busy or headed in the opposite direction or even that they would have to travel back a mile once the requirement was completed. It was a requirement. As you can probably guess this form or humiliating manual labor did not sit well with the Jews who did their requirement begrudgingly. Jesus, however, desired for his followers to take on a radically different approach. Instead of doing their required mile with hate and bitterness, he wanted them to offer an extra mile with love and willingness. By this simple act the followers of Jesus would dramatically deny what was normal and instead embrace what was Godly. They would show love to those who made their lives more difficult by going the extra mile. It is still Jesus’ desire for his followers today. Although the “extra mile” may not look exactly the same as it did 2,000+ years ago, it still as powerful as it was then. Join us for the next three weeks as we explore how to show dramatic love by going the extra mile.
April 29th : Awareness
Most of us prefer love over hate. There are certainly times in all our lives when hate or at the very least, doing the bare minimum requirement is easier and less complicated. Still, when given a choice to live in a world full of love or a world filled with uncaring and minimum requirements, most will choose love. Why is it then, that we don’t experience radical love more in our day-to-day lives? There are probably a million reasons, but one may be that we have not positioned ourselves to truly see the need and opportunities to go the extra mile. Awareness is a key element in living the life that Jesus talked about with his disciples. It allows us to have a much broader scope of what God is doing and the possibilities to show radical love He has for us. This week we will explore how to be more aware of the world around us and to embrace the “extra mile” opportunities that are right in front of us everyday.
May 6th : Decision
We live in a fast-paced, ready-fire-aim society. Slogans like “just do it” are so common they have become almost cliché. It is easy to feel that decision-making resembles jumping off a cliff and brings with it the same amount of anxiety. We have all seen and many have experienced the consequences that follow this kind of knee-jerk action. This kind of decision-making is reactive. However, decisions that bring life-changing, healthy, sustainable growth and stability to our lives don’t happen by being reactive. Wise decision-making starts with being aware. Wise decision-making counts the costs and embraces the risk. Wise, life-giving decision-making is done when a person is fully aware of what they are about to do and commits to making it happen. This week we will explore the love-bringing, life-changing decision to go the extra mile.
May 13th : Action
Jesus asked his followers to carry the supplies of the harsh Roman soldiers not just the required mile, but to offer an extra mile in love. He did this to usher in the calling card for his people of radical love. Over the last weeks you have worked to become more aware of the extra mile opportunities that lie all around us everyday. You have spent time counting the costs and aligning your lives so that you can freely give your extra mile. Now it is time to act. This week we will discuss how you can impact not just your life, but also your community, your nation, and the world with the life-changing acts of radical love. We will challenge you to look outside of the four walls of the church building to impact the world as well as offer you an opportunity this Sunday for action.