Empowered

The earliest church met together every day.  Their "greenhouse" was always filled with growth-producing activity.  Life Bridge is filled with growth-producing activity, too.  It is obvious that our mission is to empower one more to walk together with God.

Our culture communicates certain expectations with the word "membership."  With it, we expect to receive privileges and to be served.  God's design for His Church, however, is that we consider it a privilege to serve.  This is why we don't focus on membership at Life Bridge.  Instead, we encourage everyone to "get involved." 

Here are some of the growth-producing activities we saw in the early church that we still live out at Life Bridge today.

Encounter God (Worship)
Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts...praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people... (Acts 2:46-47 NIV)

They gathered together with other believers wherever they could.  Large groups would meet together in the temple courts where it was public and there was plenty of room.  They praised God together in a way that other people (non church-goers) treated them favorably.  We gather together every weekend in a large group setting to praise God in a way that, hopefully,  non church-goers would like, too.

Make it Real (Groups)
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts... (Acts 2:46 NIV)

They met together in smaller groups as well.  They shared meals together.  They shared life together.  By sharing life with others who wanted to walk with God, they encouraged one another in their faith.  It became more "real" (personal) when they took what they had learned, talked it out with others, and applied it to their lives.  

We meet in small groups as well.  Many of them share a meal together.  We walk through parts of God's Word together.  Then we talk it through, apply it to our lives, and make our faith real as well. 

Live it Out (Steps)
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42 NIV)

The apostles learned how to draw near to God from Jesus.  These new believers learned from the apostles' teaching.  The Bible contains the Scriptures they had (our Old Testament) and the apostles' teachings (our New Testament) as well.  

We hear these teachings shared every weekend at our large group services.  These teachings are explored more deeply through devotional studies made available each day.  In small groups, we discuss the apostles' teachings as well.  

Perhaps the most helpful steps, however, are the teachings found in The Path here at Life Bridge.  You are checking out the first steps of The Path right now.  These studies take us through the Bible that show us, step by step, how to draw near to, and then walk together with, God.  We learn from the apostles' teaching, and their Scriptures, how to move closer to "the chair."  We move toward God's ideal picture for our lives.

Empower One More (Ministry)
Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. (Acts 2:43-45 NIV)

The apostles did their part of God's plan.  They performed miracles and taught.  The rest of the church did their part of God's plan.  They pooled God's resources and served one another.  This is why we always have opportunities to participate in ministry at Life Bridge.  This way, we can live out our walk together with God by serving one another as well.

Their ministries not only created a "greenhouse-like" safe environment for growth, but they also created a welcoming environment that new people were attracted to and enjoyed.  The result?

And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47 NIV)

How about you?  Are you empowered to walk together with God?  Are you empowered to empower one more?  Are you ready to "get involved?"

The Mission

You may be saying to yourself, "Pete, I want a safe environment where I can draw near to God and pursue God's design for my life.  Not only that, I want to create that safe environment for others, too."  Well, then, you and I have something in common.  We both want to pursue this picture.  I have a simple statement I use to remind myself of this picture.  It is the Mission for Life Bridge Christian Church here in Valparaiso, IN.  It is my personal mission as well.  It goes like this:

Empower one more to walk together with God.

This simple statement sticks in my head.  It stays with me throughout the day and enters into every detail of my life.  My priorities, projects, task lists and calendar all pass through this filter.  My finances, time, and talents are all dedicate toward this end.  More than anything in life, I want to faithfully live out my part of God's plan for our world.  So, I regularly ask myself, "Does this empower one more to walk together with God."

The statement isn't something I've pulled out of the air.  It is based on two "great" pieces of God's Word: The Great Commandment and The Great Commission.

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:36-40 ESV)

The Great Commandment got its name because Jesus was asked what was the greatest command of the law.  He replied with two commands that were equally important.  Actually, he replied with one command: love.  We love God by walking with God.  We love people by walking together.  My way of remembering this Great Commandment, then, is to remember "walk together with God."

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

Right before ascending into heaven, Jesus gave his followers The Great Commission.  This was a command that had not existed before.  It was a command to go and take God's picture to all people, teaching them to walk together with God.  This Great Commission isn't about power, politics, position, or control.  Instead, it's about helping, evangelizing, and teaching while trusting God to give us what we need live out our part of God's plan.  God empowers us to empower one more.

How about you?  Do you want to walk together with God?  Do you want to empower one more?  Do you want to walk and empower together?

The Greenhouse

Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation!" So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:38-41 NASB)

Not all environments are conducive to growth.  No one understood this better than the first followers of Jesus.  Thousands of people were baptized on that first day of Pentecost, declaring their faith in Jesus as the Christ.  They were turning away from the things that separated them from God and turning back to God in repentance.  They were baptized in water but clothed with Christ that day.  They had returned to the garden.  Their world, though, was anything but the garden of Eden.  They wanted to walk toward God's ideal for their lives, but had to face many inhibitors to that growth.

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42 NASB)

The world around them wasn't conducive for growth, so they created their own environment.  They gathered together with others who were trying to walk together with God.  They dedicated themselves to walking toward the chair.  They learned together, lived life together, ate meals together, and prayed for one another.  They created a sort of "greenhouse effect" with one another.  They had created a safe environment for growth.

Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. (Acts 2:43 NASB)

They encountered God regularly in this environment.  God was at working through people.  They could see the difference God made in the lives of others in that environment.  These encounters with God affected them and changed their priorities, their task lists, and the way their days.

And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. (Acts 2:44-45 NASB)

Suddenly, they had a reason for everything they had.  Life, breath, water, and food were suddenly recognized as gifts from God.  Shelter wasn't needed just from physical elements like the weather.  It was needed from those who would try to stop them spiritually.  They needed shelter from those who wanted to stop them from drawing near to God.  So, they pooled their resources to make sure their "greenhouse" continued and grew and served all who wanted to grow.

Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47 NASB)

The result was the first church: a greenhouse with people walking toward the chair.  Perhaps we should say it this way.  The church is a safe environment for people to draw near to God and pursue God's design for their lives.

How about you?  Have you experienced this kind of church?  Are you a part of the "greenhouse," creating a safe environment for others?  Do you see God at work?

The Chair

The ideal picture is great until "break out of it," leave our imaginations, and look at ourselves.  Our reality doesn't match the perfect picture enjoyed by the first people in the original garden.  No we live in a world that is much different than then.  Our lives are much different from that.

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. (Genesis 3:7 NLT)

When we see where our lives don't align, we look for ways to cover it up.  We may try to change the picture, saying God really didn't design things that way.  We may try to point to others or circumstances, hoping to escape the blame.  We may admit our part of the shortfall, but try to cover it up.

And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21 ESV)

When our lives fall short of the ideal, God knows.  God sees it.  God understands.  Not only that, God will take care of covering our shame at being naked.  God is the only one who can do this sufficiently.

I am overwhelmed with joy in the LORD my God! For He has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10 NLT)

God can make right what was wrong in your life.  God can clothe you with righteousness again.  When God does this, we return to the ideal picture again.  We can have nothing hidden and nothing to hide before God.

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27 NIV)

All of our shame is removed.  All of our sin had been covered.  All of our penalty has been paid.  When God clothes us in Christ, we are returned to the Garden.  We can, once again, walk together with God.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV)

Returning to God in this way, though, does not erase the memory of our failings.  It does not change our habits.  It does not remove the temptations that caused us to fall in the first place.  Returning to the garden can happen in an instant.  Experiencing the fullness of the garden will take a lifetime.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:14 NIV)

This takes time.  It is a process.  It is a path.  It is a walk.  As we walk toward God's ideal picture, we will draw near to God.  As we walk toward this picture, we will draw near to one another.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:15 NIV)

Picture a room full of people  with a single chair in the middle of the room.  Now imagine everyone walking toward that chair.  This is what happens to us as we walk toward God's picture for our lives.  Christ is at the center of that picture.  Christ is the chair.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16 NIV)

The process is good.

How about you?  Do you see God's process for restoring us to a garden walk?  Have you been clothed again?  Are you walking toward the chair?

The Ideal

This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the LORD God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person. (Genesis 2:4-7 NLT)

God has a perfect design for our lives.  Before the first person was created, every detail was thought out.  Light, darkness, the sun, the moon, the stars, gravity, rotation, heat, water, and air would each have their part to play in an amazingly complex and beautiful environment woven together just for you and me.

Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there He placed the man He had made. The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden He placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates. (Genesis 2:8-14 NLT)

Before the first breath of life, God had already designed green-leafed plants and trees that would take our discarded waste-breath and use it to sustain life, only to return breath to us.  Before the first person muttered the words, "I thirst," God had already surrounded humanity with crystal clear, refreshing, continually reviving, water.

The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. (Genesis 2:8-15 NLT)

Before humanity could say, "I've got nothing to do," God provided us with a reason to get up in the morning.  Each day would be filled with a sense of purpose as we find satisfaction in work and watch over God's creation.

But the LORD God warned him, "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden —except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die." (Genesis 2:16-17 NLT)

Before humanity could say, "I didn't know," God warned us of dangers involved in the beauty and majesty of creation.  Yes, the view from the cliff will be magnificent and gravity does its well-designed job of keeping us standing in place on that cliff.  That same integral aspect of God's design, however, has a dangerous side.  So, God would warn with a protecting voice, do not jump off the cliff.

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him." So the LORD God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. (Genesis 2:18-20 NLT)

Before the first person could say, "I'm bored," God provided a seemingly infinite playground to explore.  Fellow creatures would be available to name and watch and figure out.  We would never be without something more to learn.  Of course, we would also uncover the desire to share all of this with someone else like us.

So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the opening. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and He brought her to the man. "At last!" the man exclaimed. "This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.'" This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. (Genesis 2:21-24 NLT)

Before Adam could mutter, "I'm alone," God had already said it was not good.  In God's perfect design, one was created same-different.  Human, yet different enough to join together with Adam and produce another human.  Before Adam recognized the need for human relationship and intimacy, God had already designed marriage, sexuality, and the gift of children.

Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame. (Genesis 2:25 NLT)

God's design is perfect.  The people living out this design were perfect.  They had nothing hidden, but there was no shame.  That was because they had nothing to hide.

How about you?  Do you see God's perfect design for our lives?  
How does your life compare to this perfect design?