How Would Jesus Be?
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
John 1:4 “Life was in him, and that life was the light for all people.”
Who remembers the wrist band slogan-turned-acronym: “WWJD (what would Jesus do)? On some level, sure, this is helpful, particularly for “should I or shouldn’t I?” kinds of questions. But as a prime way of expressing the Kingdom in our lives, it falls a bit short of the biblical idea of “Christ in us”.
“…as a disciple of Jesus I am with him, by choice and by grace, learning from him how to live in the kingdom of God. This is the crucial idea. That means…to say that I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did.” – Dallas Willard, “The Divine Conspiracy” – Emphasis mine.
In this talk we ask the question: What would it mean “to live my life as he would live my life if he were I”?
***Please note, there is reference to a video that was shown during the talk but edited out of this recording. That video can be streamed via youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWrhRBb-1Ig&t=8s
The Simple Gospel: The Good News
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
My dad tells the story of having been a regular church-goer throughout his entire childhood. Yet, as he recalls it, even after an entire childhood of church attendance, he cannot remember ever hearing the gospel of Jesus proclaimed until he was in his 30s!
Without the gospel of Jesus, we have nothing. All our talk of hope, of human flourishing, of lives restored, of justice championed, even of wholeheartedness and love…it all falls flat if not infused with promise of Jesus’ redeeming, restoring, saving work in our lives.
If I Can Just Touch His Robe
Speaker: Eric Humphrey
Eric leads us in a reflection that considers the story of the woman with an issue of blood from Mark 5:21-34. We will take time to examine the story and apply it directly to each of our lives.
Wholeheartedness and the Beautiful Kingdom of God
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
*Please note, this talk has important accompanying images. They can be accessed by right clicking the link below and downloading the attached file.
We are coming to the close of our teaching series on Wholeheartedness. We’ve considered the idea of “wholeheartedness” through Jesus’ understanding of the greatest commandment, found in Matthew: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…..and…. Love your neighbor as yourself.’’
The reality is that every bit of scripture we’ve been reflecting on, and in fact, the overall story of the bible, is cast in light of God’s redemptive work in all creation. He desires for all creation to be wholehearted in Christ “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. ” – Colossians 1:20. His redeeming work in your life and mine isn’t simply about us. It’s all about the beautiful work of God. It’s all about the gospel.
When Life Leaves You Crickets – Scott Roe
Guest Speaker: Scott Roe, Lead Pastor at the Cambridge Vineyard.
We all love a good mystery, providing we know there’s a solution at the end of it. However, that all depends what your definition of solution is. For most of us, life is one mystery after another, and with each mystery we are on a quest for a solution. Jesus points us to the one solution for all of life’s problems, challenges, and victories. It’s not what you think.
Wholeheartedness: The Romans 12 Playlist
Speaker: Kris MacQueen
Romans chapter 12 presents itself almost as a kind practical manifesto for living a wholehearted life. This startling passage of scripture describes a flurry of God-empowered activity. It speaks right to all the things we’ve been considering over the past weeks: love of God, love of self, love of the Church, love of neighbour, and even love of enemy. Buckle up.
Wholehearted Worship
Adrian Wilson looks specifically at our practices of worship. Our hearts are shaped by who/what we worship… this is both a beautiful and startling truth! So much more than simply singing songs, when we fix our attention on God, we come away changed, transformed. At the heart of the great commandment, we are called to love God with our whole selves. Come, let’s gather together and worship!
Wholeheartedness: The Intersection of Kingdom Life – Todd Rutkowski
Speaker: Todd Rutkowski
Todd Rutkowski, Vineyard Emerge Catalyst, joins us to talk about the Kingdom of God and how it intersects with daily life. A Kingdom Centric lens on life helps us understand that the “ACTIVITY OF GOD” is the center of God’s work on earth and that includes the church Gathering as well as what we find ourselves engaged with on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday too!
Wholehearted – Yeses and Noes
As we began reflecting last week, the bullseye of God’s desire for us is a statement by Jesus wherein he distills the whole thing for us by sewing together two principles: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
This week we’re going to dig deeper still into what loving God Wholeheartedly looks like.
