Community Updates from Dr. Bob: 10/25/2023
I’m excited to affirm the progress so many of us are making in the Monday Night Discipleship Lab as we are actually puttinginto practice and applying the teachings of Jesus. As I look around at the conversations happening around the table, I see people leaning in… both literally and figuratively. They are listening deeply, speaking reflectively, processing carefully, and seeking to engage the deeper heart of the life of Jesus. As Brett and I had hoped would happen during these weekly gatherings, we are truly processing together what it means to live and love like Jesus: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6).
The total number of people participating continues to grow. Even on weeks when some of the regulars can’t make it, we still have more tables filled than the week before. You can see the difference when our actions flow out of our relationship with God as we imitate what Jesus did. Consider the trajectory of our sermons…
We begin by experiencing God in all the wide variety of ways he opens himself to us: through vision, through community, through service, through our intellect, through the scriptures, through adversity and conflict, through investing in others. That experience of God opens our hearts to the joy he brings, as we walked through Philippians. Then we looked to the actions of Jesus during his time on earth to see how he cultivated that intimacy with God: through the two-way dialogue of prayer, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, through imitating the Father. From that foundation, Jesus proclaimed and manifested the Kingdom. We see how he loved others—which means everyone—with both feeling and action and that love moves us to serve from the heart. The deeper point of serving not being specifically what we do, but from with what kind of heart. Part of that is a spirit of humility, as we benefit and growth through our service as well. And as we live that kind of Kingdom life, we have more of the heart of God to discern who are some of the people who are ready to take the next steps toward Jesus.
That’s the next part of our series: making disciples. That’s what it ultimately means to accept Jesus’ invitation into his mission. Even if this is something you’ve been hesitant to think through in the past, this is a great time to join us at the Discipleship Lab—even if you haven’t been before. You’ll see how making disciples can be natural rather than forced. Come experience the difference.
As a bonus, it’s out of this heart of Jesus we’re talking about on Monday nights that the future direction of Community Church Rancho will be established. These are the kinds of things we are talking about and working out together. In so many cases, we already KNOW what Jesus wants us to do—and we can get started doing it right now, at the grassroots level, because the Holy Spirit is alive, at work, and prompting us. All over the world, this is how the Spirit works and we consistently see others outside the church attracted to this kind of Kingdom living.
So—together—let’s lean into the next section of living and loving like Jesus… as we see how he made disciples. It’s a critical piece of our life together and our mission as a church.
Practicing the way of Jesus together…
Dr. Bob
