Five Exhortations for a New Season

With true summer officially coming up, and the continued momentum on the way out of the pandemic, not to mention the start of our church’s new, rooted chapter, there’s no better time to lean back into our discipleship rhythms and priorities.

Of those priorities, the pastors pray that five things would especially be on the front-burner during this season, each connected to our worshiper-servant-missionary identity as disciples of Jesus. We could summarize the five things like this:

• Bible-saturated Community

• Earnest Prayer

• Loving Service

• Personal Evangelism

• Global missions

We’ve not laid out this list in a super clear and organized way, but over the last several weeks we did five exhortations that hit on each theme. I’ll highlight the exhortations below, but ultimately I encourage you to go back and give them each a read or listen:

Bible in Relationship (Time: 5:24)

Exhortation: Get with others, get in the word. 

Christians will not grow as God intends apart from his word. Therefore, we need more of his word, and we need to avail ourselves to receive more of his word, not just in solitude, but especially in community.

Simply Ask (Time: 5:40)

Exhortation: Ask, and keep on asking. 

“What do the Cross, the resurrection, the outpouring of the very Spirit of Christ at Pentecost demonstrate, if not that God will stop at nothing to give us what we need?”

Pastor Ryan reminded us of God’s continued care for his children, accessed by us through the simple act of prayer. 

Act on Your Love (Time: 4:21)

Exhortation: Consider anew the ways in which we can act out of our love for God and others.

Pastor David Easterwood led us to reexamine the ways that the last year has upended our patterns of loving God and others. He encouraged us to volunteer in the areas of Sunday childcare and greeting, among others, as we rebuild these rhythms of service.

Neighbor Well This Summer (Time: 5:10)

Exhortation: Neighbor with intentionality this summer.

Planting resident Mike Schumann helped us marvel at the honor we have to be neighbors, encouraging us to “neighbor well” this summer, especially after the last year.

Make Disciples of All Nations (Time: 8:45)

Exhortation: Consider your role in global missions.

Pastoral resident Max Kozak encouraged us to consider whether God is calling us to “go” or “send” in the work of global missions.

“Pray that God would break down our fears and our hesitations and replace them with a passion, a passion for missions, a passion for his glory, and with joy—confident joy—knowing that God’s all sustaining power and presence is with us.”