look what's the point if I drop flows
and rock shows mic in my hand if I don't
show love and hold up the highest
commands love your neighbor every second
but first love your guy imagine if your
heart might have just one more throb and
you're the last to know the truth about
this life soul cause you probably
wouldn't hesitate or fight all pause to
be obedient and share God's love with
people needing it yet we've been leaning
in and conveying this key ingredient to
the recipe of life how could I fail to
live a life of love but claimed my
destiny is in Christ it definitely isn't
right so that anyone who's ever seen the
light let's see to it that we're living
sacrificial I'm not just talking giving
back a fistful and collection plates but
giving of yourself in service for
heaven's sake step in faith as simple as
lending a listening ear instead of
gawking at the sin of our peers or
try feeding the hungry instead of
feeding greed he decrees we serve him by
serving the least of these look I could
do a song lead a long discussion on how
the world's broken people are lost and
we should long to love them but if you
faithfully lead a life that beams the
later Jesus Christ some people you don't
need to write a song or a book or an
academic paper you can say a lot more
through a sacrificial favor about the
love mercy and compassion of our Savior
see all you need to put love into
practice is a neighbor if anybody wants
to come through and I and hang out with
me in the front row feel free feel free
so I go by the name origin is my man Q
over here providing the sounds and let
me see a peace sign if you believe
not being a peacemaker hey put your head
let's go it's gonna be a friday i'm a
star feelings in my neighbors giving
haters the right of way they kind of got
it would be the light of day and let a
little love until the string of the
titlewave it's gonna be a rotten
thing let me see you do whenever I give
a hater the right way so we can be the
change that we really need one thread
woven together tight and a skinny jean I
don't need drama you don't need it
either last thing I'm doing is living to
be a people pleaser I keep the people on
my comments they going they doubt the
power grace and humbly show up so what
unmarried and mercy when they ain't deserved
purposely get up on my nerves for my
free naruto blessing for his racial
slurs and make my shoes guest reviews at
least i lay the hurt breaking the
foundation don't sit around weigh-in
this week except awards reconciliation
and let the evil know that other brother
be exposed I think in the brutal Road
your body goal even broke that your
school will be picking on a smaller team
every man must stop feeling all food
bill guy goes don't like here's a llama
goon make an extra sandwich but I've on
the phone so here I before like is a
real NFC's man I don't got no bread hard
feelings or deceit man you can yield
myself out and the beast man or gonna
wanna look at week ten let the kid up
Liam cat fast and then commence with
anyone again without read that right are
your conduct a common the one over a
lotta y'all rickety nonsense turn the
cheek when you slap to the face that's
right don't know we get hand over
radical great yeah see that's the thing
for mercy twice and wasters 20
portrait as long as it tastes like soup
gonna be riding day let me see you right
away I kind of gotta see the light of
day let alone ripples and feel it but
you got away yeah it's going to breathe
quite a bit let me see your yield to a
neighbor get my hands on the right of
way if we could be the change that we
really need one gram hoping to gather
data the skinny jeans yeah and that
includes freezing outside still don't
think we came in you and oak hill right
now
go keep it going
yeah Hey Hey look me and my people we
stand firm as a rock lanterns in the
dark if love is the key but God's hand
turning the light up defend the peace
not our own egos I'd rather hit my
offender with a hug been a torpedo of
course we know we want to combat the
forces of evil we gotta spread the truth
to more people cuz it's a matter of life
and death but there's more of us
fighting for peace that you might
suspect right to left Ramar Qing into a
war zone swords wrong swinging at hate
and before long we're gonna see it fall
if only we get all he's a call imagine
the world we can see tomorrow imagine
how far we could evolve the world
problems we can solve if we all try to
be involved now show me your palms if
y'all would agree that we gotta be the
change that we all want to see Grayson
easy on God listen whoo welcome to
church that was origin and cue origin
attends the meeting house here and when
we're into this series almost or mine
like gotta have this dude perform
because when you talk about living this
radical life it just bleeds through
everything that he raps about his spoken
words his life if you get to know him an
incredibly inspiring example talking
about some cool things happening here at
the mean house we also have Andrew
Williams in the house and let's give it
a huge welcome to Andrew Andrews another
one another meeting Howser and what site
have you been a part of downtown uptown
uptown at our yorkdale site and he has
worked in the corporate sector also work
for non-for-profits he'll tell a little
bit about his journey in this but when
we're going through this almost normal
series challenging ourselves as we head
into 2015 how do we live that counter
cultural life where we allow God to
change us and to the point where we
stand out there were not just normal
people but we've shifted into a
different sort
zone where we stand out and we represent
God's kingdom on earth and we allow that
transforming work to flow into who we
are and so we're trying to hear not just
from the professional preachers but from
voices within our own community and
other people speaking their lives we can
hear how people wrestle with a dr. Blake
Martin and neuro scientists and
kinesiologist he was talking about
change is possible it is possible then
last week we heard from mark Buchanan
and as he was talking about an author
talking about how far does this really
go how much transformation is possible
as we look at life through the heart of
jesus and now andrew is going to be
bringing from his own experience his own
journey you know what does this look
like in daily life now before I exit and
let him take over shout out to our High
Park site there in soft launch mode and
so yay for our High Park site downtown
they're launching another study the
meeting house is getting into full swing
and so get the word out we're a pump for
High Park looking forward to that coming
online in a couple weeks so take it away
brother Andrew thank you thanks very
much a couple of years ago I got an
opportunity that a lot of people don't
get and that was to move from the
corporate sector to the not-for-profit
sector and one of the best things I got
to get my hands on when I first made
that move was overseeing a program that
was designed to help young people
trapped in the sex trade in the city it
was a great program for two different
reasons first of all it reached out to
the most vulnerable you have people 12
13 and 14 entering the sex trade and
they're completely vulnerable completely
broken and flying off the grid under the
radar flying under the radar off the
grid the second thing that was great
about this program was that it hit the
objectives it's at its set out to
achieve for every 36 kids who entered
this program 24 would exit the sex trade
great stats the problem was that of
those 24
only two or three made it all the way
over here to a place that we might call
full health a place where there were in
stable relationships where they could
hold down a job where their reconcile
the family and community the majority of
them ended up in this kind of supported
purgatory we're sure they'd left the sex
trade sure there are off the streets but
they were in abusive relationships there
a drug addicted they couldn't hold down
jobs or hold down permanent housing so
the question became how do you get
people from here to there it's funny
when you talk to a lot of people who
made it over into some kind of full
health they would tell you that
something spiritual happen here so what
is that best practice that we can grab
on to and apply to try and move more
people forward so the same questions
that we struggle with as a Christian
community are being struggled with right
now by the public sector not-for-profits
major donors everybody wants to know can
we transform individuals and kin
community's change so today I'd like to
talk to you a little bit about
transformation and about transforming
your world and therefore points I'd like
to make anchored in the story of the
woman at the well so point number one
you were born to transform I want to get
this on the table right off the bat you
were born to transform to be an active
agent of god wielding his immense
creative power to make a difference in
the world and in your own life to me
this is the ultimate overriding truth
about human story everything else is
supportive to it the glory of God to me
is just an isolated objective fact
unless it allows me to experience it
enrich in some rich way and some sort of
relationship form of relationship with
them
salvation through Christ is meaningless
to me unless God is restoring me to some
kind of meaningless meaningful form of
existence with him and within creation
you were born to transform empowered by
God and every day he knocks and actively
pursues you with the chance to restore
you to that purpose that he's given you
so let's take a look at someone Christ
pursued with these same thoughts in mind
this woman at the well reading in John 4
he came to sikkre a Samaritan village
that bordered the field Jacob have given
his son Joseph Jacob's Well was there
Jesus worn out by his trip sat down at
the well it was noon at noon a Samaritan
woman came to draw water jesus said
would you give me a drink of this water
his disciples and God back to the
village to buy food for lunch the
Samaritan woman taken aback asked how
come you a Jew are asking me a Samaritan
for a drink Jews in those days wouldn't
be caught dead speaking to Samaritans
jesus answered if you knew the
generosity of God and who I am you would
be asking me for a drink and I would
give you fresh living water and here's
the kicker for me Jesus goes on to say
everyone who drinks this water will get
thirsty again and again anyone who
drinks the water I give will never
thirst again not ever the water I give
will be an artesian spring within
gushing fountains of endless life the
idea of endless life has always
fascinated me it's not a quantitative
thing it's a qualitative term it's about
a richness of life it's about it's about
a richness of life about a quality and
because of that the attribute of God
that most attracts me is the attribute
of God as creator the wellspring of
endless life in Scripture the fur
images we get of God are of the Spirit
hovering over the waters breathing life
into everything God declares declares
into existence we see God create the
heavens in the earth and the water and
the land and the animals and the plants
and finally he creates man but when he
does that he does something scandalously
generous he makes us in His image in the
likeness of God he makes us to co-create
with him imbued by his power to go
around and perfect creation that he'd
started he gives us all the same job
description perfect and manage the
creative order it's a privilege a
responsibility and a blessing and to
watch God work we realized that if we
live out that purpose it brings deep
fulfillment peace enjoyment and a sense
of community that was the same God that
stopped by a village on his way to Judea
SAT by oh well was thirsty didn't have a
bucket to draw water and talked to a
woman that no one talked to and when he
turns to her and speaks he doesn't bury
the lead he gets right to the point and
says the water I give will be an
artesian well within gushing forth
fountains of endless life think of the
relationships implied in that passage
this empowering relationship with God
that gives me a sense of fulfillment
which allows me to shake off all the
dissatisfying things in my life that I
thought would be fulfilling and it's not
a pool that sits in there that we dive
in by ourselves it's the spring that
bursts out and impacts everyone around
us God is offering her right then in
there Christ is offering her
a chance to reclaim her purpose to
fulfill that that that purpose that he
created her for and put her on the surf
for and he offers the same type of
opportunity to us on a daily basis the
question is will he accept it so the
second point I'd like to talk to you
about is although that offers out there
we often aw we often remain trapped in
our circumstances let's read again and
see what happens to this woman the woman
said sir give me the water so I will so
I won't get thirsty won't ever have to
come back to this well again jesus said
go back and call your husband I have no
husband she said that's nicely put i
have no husband you have five husbands
and the man you're living with right now
isn't even your husband you spoke the
truth there sure enough then they get
into a bit of a back and forth
discussion about culture and religion
and what's better and what's not and
then Jesus says but the time is coming
it has come in fact when what your call
will not matter and where you go to
worship will not matter just then his
disciples came back they were shocked
they couldn't believe he was talking to
this kind of woman no one said what they
were all thinking but their faces showed
it the woman took the hint and left like
this woman we all steamed seem to
sometimes get trapped in our
circumstances and those circumstances
seem to keep us from accepting this
great offer of renewal that Christ
offers us we get trapped in seeking
satisfaction from the things around us
in an ultimate perversion of the purpose
God planned for us instead of breathing
life out into the people around us and
into the communities around us and into
the environment around us we go around
trying to suck
life out of all the people in
relationships we encounter it's amazing
that any marriages survive at all when
you have two people who wake up in the
morning with a laundry list of things
that they expect the other person to
fulfill it wasn't meant to be that way
we were meant to breathe life than to
put it to the person beside us to
partner with God's mission for them so
they could breathe life into people and
the places and the circumstances around
them I think Stephen Covey said it best
when he talked about life being like a
cartwheel and all these elements of our
lives whether it be lot whether it be
job or family or spouse they're the
spokes in the wheel and our job is to
find out what the hub of that wheel is
on which everything else will be
supported in turn cubby the spiritual
man and he goes on to say that so often
you see people who lets something that's
a spoke slip into the center and become
the hub and it can't support the weight
of their entire lives so when that thing
falls apart their whole life falls apart
I have a good friend that I'm journeying
with right now who admittedly says that
he he grew up in in not ideal
circumstances and that financial
security is a big thing to him so he
found himself in a career that made him
the most money possible he was an
investment banker recently he lost his
job and it was amazing what happened how
quickly his marriage fell apart and over
Christmas he said to me we had some
conversations we was talking about his
kids and how desperately need he needed
them because he was separated from his
family and how he wanted to go to his
kids and say you know what daddy needs
you back in his life because dad really
depends on his kids and I said to him
you know what that's not the way the
relationships supposed to be daddy's
supposed to breathe
knife into his kids but it was amazing
to see how quickly everything fell apart
when the wrong thing fell into the
center of his life and collapsed and
allowed everything else to collapse
around it the other thing circumstantial
that that seems to keep us from this
offer God gives us is we get distracted
by argument by cultural religious or
philosophical arguments this whole story
started in Genesis 1 with God's creative
power bursting forward in this
insurmountable journey towards what he
envisions for creation but for so many
of us the story starts and ends in
Genesis 2 and 3 when man first
experiences failure and suffers its
consequences and regret we think the
story just remains within those two
parameters not recognizing that God had
a plan to overcome that from the very
beginning a plan in Christ that's not
the story the story moves on it's a
broader stroke that stretches towards
eternity that will take us there if we
want to latch onto it so a lot of our
discussions become small empty religious
debates about things that really don't
have bearing on latching on to the
promise that God offers us today and
what's the result of that we end up
living small and unsatisfying lives CS
Lewis said it well he said it seems that
our Lord finds our desires not too
strong but too weak we are half hearted
creatures fooling about with drink and
sex and ambition when infinite joy is
offered like an ignorant child who wants
to go on making mud pies in a slum
because you cannot imagine what is meant
by the offer of a holiday at the sea we
are far too easily pleased God wants
people with big desires
a desire to seize on to that promise
that he started in our lives when he
launched man into existence he wants
people like that because when you cease
onto a promise that big the only place
you can look is towards him when you
have a vision for your life that is
smaller there are lots of things get
that can satisfy you temporarily and
distract you so how do we live this out
how do we grab hold of this joyful
transformative life God intends us to
live well there are a couple things we
know you've got to accept the truth
about where you are and the distractions
in your life and the results of those
distractions you've got to accept the
truth about Christ as God's God's remedy
to the Genesis two and three-storey to
put things back on track for all of us
and you've got to drop everything and
take action just like this woman who
leaves drops her water pot forgetting
about the water that she came to draw
and starts on a totally different
journey that will get into the other
thing that's very important is you've
got to lean into your area of weakness
and we if we take another look at the
text it says that the woman went out and
she said come and see a man who knew all
the things I did who knows me inside and
out do you think this could be the
Messiah and they went to see for
themselves this was a woman who was
ostracized not only by the judgment of
the people around her but also by
perhaps her own defiance but she engages
them with almost foolish enthusiasm
because that's what it that's what
happens when you have an authentic
experience with Christ you get almost
foolishly vocal and it's funny because
you'd think that she herself would be a
barrier for them to overcome in coming
to Christ but in fact her willingness to
engage the very people who had isolated
her and shunned her
credential eise's her to them if this
man can make a difference in the life of
this woman such that she will engage us
perhaps he's worth worth listening to
when you first start your journey
towards Christ lean out into your area
of weakness and watch Christ backfill it
is your immediate opportunity to feel
God working in your life it's funny i am
a empty nester and very happy about it I
have you know a couple years ago you
know it was sad but the dog died it was
very sad family was sad but you know I
thought to myself no more poop in the
backyard and then the cat died and that
was sad because me and the cat we had
something going on it was my cat but
after I go to over it i thought to
myself well no more litter box and then
a certain point the kids went away the
University and I thought to myself no
more poop in the backyard and any of you
who have raised teens know what I'm
talking about it so at a certain point
my wife came and said I'd like to get a
dog and I thought I can't start this
whole thing again but I can't deny her
and she she you know and if I wanted to
die i probably couldn't so i had to
count with the strategy so i said you
can get a dog but i did was every
morning if it was raining and sleeting
i'm really bad outside when she woke up
and leaned over and said hello i'd say
morning honey by the way you'll be
walking the dog right now or if we're
going out to dinner and someone said and
she phoned me up and said let's go to
vote over to michael's house for dinner
I'd say yeah that's a great idea by the
way you'd be going home right now to
walk the dog and it worked because guess
what I do not have a dog
and I hesitate to say that because my
wife is here and probably just because I
said it I will have a dog sometime this
week with some story about found on the
street run something like that but it's
fun so at a certain point I haven't
having since that worked my wife came
home at a certain point and said you
know what kids I found a program a
Jessie Center where you can take kids
for the weekend and these are kids of
unwed single teenage mothers who are
trying to make a difference in their
lives and trying to move forward and
they just want you to take these kids
for the weekend so I'd like to start
taking kids for the weekend what do you
think about that so I applied my
tried-and-true poop strategy and I said
okay you can do that but I'm not
changing the diapers and you can imagine
what happened I lost that one but I will
say this credit to my wife because in
her area of deficit when she saw the
nest collapsing what did she do she
leaned forward and said let me make a
difference in my community and in so
doing she made a difference in my life
I'm so happy to convey connected to that
program she's making a difference in the
lives of those kids she's making a
difference in the lives of those mothers
and when she makes me go with her to
walk those kids down the street to the
park and I run into my football buddies
they all come running out and say whose
kids are these and we tell him about the
program and they say oh my wife would
love to be involved in that and we go
inside and you know we show off the kids
in the whole deal and she and then that
way she makes a difference in our
community as well lean into your area of
weakness secondly be appreciative like
God is appreciative I had a good friend
who we're talking about donations and
end
some friends of ours who had foundations
for tax reasons and wanted to be his
money and we're looking for places to
put that money and he's a Christian as
well a very good friend and he said to
me that's wrong they don't know that
they're giving for the wrong reasons for
tax reasons they need to learn the true
reason and principles around giving and
we went back and forth and I objected to
that because I said you know what
principal doesn't always go before
practice if they want to engage in the
work of God for the wrong reasons let
them do it just like this woman let them
move forward and God will backfill
because God is appreciative and let me
explain that term in community
development it used to work like this it
was deficit based you would take your
template of what you thought true
community looked like you'd lay it on a
community they're here or abroad and
you'd look for holes and say here all
the things that are whole are wrong
let's fill it in and it's not how we
sometimes raise our kids it advanced
from that deficit based strategy to
something similar asset-based where you
take the same template lay it over a
community and you'd say what are all the
good things that are happening let's
build into those things but it was still
my perspective on what good community
was community development theory has now
moved to a good place I think called an
appreciative inquiry where you go out to
that community and you say in your best
iteration if you imagine what great
community would be what would it look
like and you build towards that
recognizing that if they move forward
positively in that direction they'll
clean up all the bad stuff on the back
end God is appreciative like that with
this woman he didn't Jesus didn't seem
worried about the fact that she was
quite frankly still stuck in the same
circumstantial condition when the story
and she still seems to have relationship
issues she's still not fully integrated
with her community but she seems good
with that why because she's launched on
a journey forward with
and he knows that the rest of the stuff
can get cleaned up on the back end he's
planted and confirmed a vision that was
written in her heart before she was even
conceived and his moving her towards it
and knows that that will carry the whole
ship forward so God is appreciative and
we in our journey should be appreciative
as well recognizing the good things he's
doing and having faith that he'll clean
up the bad so new life what does it look
like finishing off this passage many of
the Samaritans from the village
committed themselves to him because of
the woman's witness he knew all things I
did she said he knows me inside and out
they asked him to stay on so Jesus
stayed two days a lot more people
entrusted their lives to him when they
heard what he had to say they said to
the woman we're no longer taking your
say-so we've heard it for ourselves and
we know it for sure he's the savior of
the world wherever new life comes you
see new relationships restored personal
relationships with God the start of new
journeys around you restored marriages
and Families restored connections
between the affluent who desperately
need to give it appears and the
marginalized who desperately need to be
given to and restored communities I had
a good friend from back in my party days
my whoo-hoo once my wife and I came to a
place where we were firmly black we were
firmly planted back in the direction
with God we tried to bring a lot a lot
of our friends and we ran on different
types of Bible studies and whatnot and
one of our friends at a certain point
who lives in a very affluent area she
decided that this was for her and she
wanted to get baptized and she asked me
if I would baptize her which was
wonderful
but she knew that a lot of her friends
would think it was foolish and other
good friends of ours who had just come
to Christ and seen their marriage
restored said you know what we're going
to throw that baptism in our backyard so
on this friend of mine started putting
together this list of people she was
going to invite she had three lists on 1
list you said these are the people who
are going to be thrilled second list
these are the people who aren't going to
care third list these are the people who
are gonna laugh and they all came she
leaned into an area of weakness and
because she knew that if she did so and
reached out to everybody she could
experience this new life and hopefully
plant seeds that would lead to other
people launching on the same journey so
in closing the kingdom of God is here
now and is advancing and you were born
to transform to be a co-creator with
Christ as he restores and perfects
creation God continually invites you to
the work party it's a privilege and a
responsibility and it's what you were
built for what you were made for and
what you're called to for the benefit of
you the world around you and to the
satisfaction of your thirsty soul let's
pray Creator God we glorify you because
we are in awe of your the magnitude of
your power Lord the plan that you have
set forth in motion to create a universe
in which we can participate Lord we can
we can channel your power to breathe
life into things around us we thank you
for that opportunity Lord we pray that
as we experience both opportunities and
trials this week that we will lean into
them
with the confidence that you will
backfill keep knocking Lord keep
inviting us to the party in all this I
pray amen
