REVIEW:

living/Alive: regenerating, engaged, actively pursuing, having an abiding capacity for wonder and a passion for what you treasure.

As if: as it would be if, or as one would do if.

SERMON 1/MAIN IDEA: Sin is able to sabotage our hearts toward lesser, even destructive desires when we avert our “gaze” from Christ.

SERMON 2/MAIN IDEA: A lukewarm faith is able to sabotage our hearts by gradually lulling us into spiritual indifference – living partially alive to God but reflecting him little.

SERMON 3/MAIN IDEA: Lust is able to sabotage our hearts by tempting us to love the pleasure of the body and its objects of desire more than we love God and his Kingdom call to holiness.   

QUESTION FOUR:

How does a anxiety/parasitic fear sabotage the heart from living/ALIVE as if God is really God so you can reflect Him?

DEFINITION OF TERMS:

Fear: is a basic, automatic response (fight or flight) to a specific object, situation or circumstance that involves recognition (perception) of actual or potential danger.

Anxiety: Is a prolonged, complex emotional state of apprehension and physical arousal in which you believe you can’t control or predict potentially aversive future events.

Parasitic fear: a persisting attitude of anxiety or worry which drains the passion and purpose of life from the person, weakening the will to overcome

Worry: a persisting, repetitive, and uncontrollable chain of thinking that mainly focuses on the uncertainty of some future negative or threatening outcome in which the person rehearses various problem-solving solutions, but fails to reduce the heightened sense of uncertainty about the possible threat.

How does anxiety/parasitic fear sabotage the heart from living/ALIVE as if God is really God so you can reflect Him?

SERMON 4/MAIN IDEA: Anxiety/parasitic worry is able to sabotage our hearts by stealing our peace and trust in Christ the overcomer, and obstruct us from embracing the power God has grant us to live our passion and calling.

Matthew 6:25-34

Amplified Bible (AMP)

²⁵ Therefore I tell you, stop being ^[a]perpetually uneasy/pulled apart (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?

²⁷ And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the ^[b]span of his life?

1. Anxiety/parasitic fear sabotage the heart from living/ALIVE to God

by stealing our peace and trust in Christ the Overcomer. It’s a terrorist.

• We learn to fixate on “what-if’s.” (Christ is not sufficient).
• We seek to control the future to prevent the “calamity” that will surely happen if we don’t (catastrophizing). (Christ is uncaring).
• Our trust in Christ the Overcomer becomes feeble. (Christ the Overcomer is a practical fantasy).

2.  Anxiety/parasitic fear sabotage the heart from living/ALIVE to God by believing a chronic vulnerability and powerlessness. It’s a sorcerer and liar.

• Worry settles in and turns us from the present where we have real-time opportunities to do something about our fear.
• Worry can create an abiding feeling of powerlessness (which we “prove” with faulty thinking from past experiences) which creates more worry.

3. Anxiety/parasitic fear sabotage the heart from living/ALIVE to God by obstructing us from embracing the power God has granted us to live passion and calling he has created us to live. It’s a thief.

• Parasitic fear limits our ability to trust the gifts, sensibilities and potential we have because fear says: “Not you,” or “What makes you think you’re going to be able to pull that off?”
• The dreams we’ve been given to make real are overturned by a chronic  insecurity and untested impotence: “I’ll never be able to do this.”

Next Week: How do we expose and defuse anxiety/parasitic fear?

DEFINITION OF TERMS:

Fear is a basic, automatic response (fight or flight) to a specific object, situation or circumstance that involves recognition (perception) of actual or potential danger.

Anxiety is a prolonged, complex emotional state of apprehension and physical arousal in which you believe you can’t control or predict potentially aversive, future events.

Worry is a persisting, and uncontrollable chain of thinking focusing on the uncertainty of some future negative or threatening outcome. You rehearse various problem-solving solutions, but can’t reduce a heightened sense that the potential threat is inevitable.

Parasitic fear is a chronic, internalized attitude of anxiety or worry which slowly drains your passion or purpose of life, weakening your will to overcome what is frightening. (ingrained, accepted powerlessness)

How do we expose and defuse anxiety/parasitic fear/worry?

EXPOSE:

1. Take time to expose where you learned to be afraid – painful or traumatic experiences.

2. Learn to recognize your threatening triggers. What’s the pattern?

3. Learn to recognize your habitual anxious thinking and subject it to the evidence (reality testing).

DEFUSE:

1. Train yourself to calm. (Deep breathing, un-tensing the body; practicing stillness in the Presence of God)

2. Train your mind and will to intercept anxious thought patterns before they gain a foothold.

3. Train your mind and will to focus on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent or worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8-9)

TRUST:

1. Train your heart and mind to hold a firm belief toward the truth, reliability, compassion, and strength of Christ the Overcomer on your behalf.

Philippians 4:6-7  Do not be anxious about anything, (Greek word = “to be pulled in different directions” – our hopes pull us in one direction and our fears in another and we are pulled apart; not even one thing) but in everything, by prayer (Prayer (4335) (proseuche from pros = toward or immediately before + euchomai = to pray or vow) is the more general word for prayer and is used only of prayer to God. The prefix pros would convey the sense of being immediately before Him and hence the ideas of adoration, devotion, and worship.  The basic idea is to bring something, and in prayer this pertains to bringing up prayer requests. In early Greek culture an offering was brought with a prayer that it be accepted. Later the idea was changed slightly, so that the thing brought to God was a prayer. In later Greek, prayers appealed to God for His presence; he NT transforms the classical stiffness into the warmth of genuine conversation.).

and petition(asking; means, keep it up, over and over again, passion, urgency), with thanksgiving (that forward look of faith that thanks God for the answer before you see it. Knowing His character, you know something will be done), present your requests (be specific; Paul is saying, in effect, that prayer is a conversation with, a plea directed to, a request made of, information given to a person, in this case the supreme Person of the universe Who can hear, know, understand, care about and respond to the concerns that otherwise would sink you in despair.) to God. And the peace of God(Peace (1515) (eirene from eiro = to joining or binding or joining together what is broken or divided) means  to set at one again, a meaning convey by the common expression of one “having it all together”.; experiential; comes from union with God), which transcends (means literally to hold above and in context means to transcend the reach of man’s ability to comprehend. This word speaks of that which is superior to  or of surpassing and exceptional value; this peace is continually a peace that baffles men’s futile attempts to explain it or rationalize it; it is supernatural peace-we can’t produce it). all understanding, (that a man surrounded by care and anxiety and harassment and concern can still live with the tranquility of God in his soul!) will guard(The peace of God acts as a guard, or sentinel, at the door of the heart and mind. Paul said that it “shall keep [or garrison] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”) your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.( Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful (Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled)” (Jn 14:27).

Lightfoot: Entertain no anxious cares, but throw them all upon God. By your prayer and your supplication make your every want known to him.

Wuest: Stop perpetually worrying about even one thing, but in everything by prayer whose essence is that of worship and devotion and by supplication which is a cry for your personal needs, with thanksgiving, let your requests for the things asked for be made known in the presence of God,  and the peace of God which surpasses all power of comprehension shall mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

(Eerdmans)

1 Peter 5:6-7  Humble  yourselves, (literally means to bring to the ground or make level and figuratively to abase or cause someone to lose prestige or status; Humility is an attitude toward God that gives Him the credit for who we are and what we do.”) is an aorist command (aorist imperative) which is a call to make decision and even conveys a sense of urgency). therefore, under the mighty hand of God(God is manifest strength in our lives; “The…hand of God” was an OT picture of God’s active presence and power working in the experience of men to accomplish His sovereign purpose ). It refers to God’s hand upon our destiny; another way of describing God’s providential activity or “manifest strength” in our lives, divinely orchestrating every circumstance and every trial that comes our way.

Peter’s inference is that we are not to fight the sovereign hand of God, even (or especially) when His hand brings us into times of testing. We need to remember that because He is sovereign (in total control), whatever we experience must first be “filtered” through His “strong (omnipotent) hand of everlasting love”) so that in the proper time (fitting appropriate ready for it) he may exalt you, casting (act of the will) all your anxiety(being pulled apart) on him (an act once for all; throwing the whole life with its care on him; confident reliance on His goodness; Ruthless Trust) Phillips: You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.) because he cares for you (the watchful care of interest and affection; what you go through matter to him). Cares (melo) means to be interested in, to show watchful care and affection or to show concern for. The verb melo is in the present tense which indicates that God cares for us continually, so much so that one might say that God is our caretaker!

Care, according to the Greek word, is that which divides and distracts the soul, which diverts us from present duty to weary calculations of how to meet conditions which may never arrive. Fret; worry; anxiety; the habit of anticipating evil; crossing bridges before we reach them; the permission of foreboding fears about the future; all that attitude of mind which broods over the mistakes of the past and dwells on the shadows which coming events may cast, rather than on the love and will of God–this is Care.

Come what will, it cannot injure—come when it likes, it is welcome—and come as it may, it is blessing in disguise (Ed note: equates with supernatural “fruit” borne by the indwelling Spirit

Next Week:  How does depression sabotage our hearts from living/ALIVE to God so our lives can reflect him?

Here are the notes from Question 6 of the “Saboteurs of the Heart” series:

DEFINITION OF TERMS:

living/Alive: regenerating, engaged, actively pursuing, having an abiding capacity for wonder and a passion for what you treasure.

A life that reflects him: “And we, without unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are changed (metamorpho) into the image that we reflect. This is the work of the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect ” (Romans 12:2)

Depression:

According to the DSM-IV, major depressive disorder (or “depression”) is diagnosed when five or more of the following symptoms of depression are present for most of the day, nearly every day for at least 2 weeks. At least one of the symptoms must be either persistent sad or “empty” feelings or loss of interest in activities. Persistent sadness, anxiety, or “empty” mood:

• Feelings of hopelessness, pessimism.
• Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, persisting negative self-talk.
• Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed, including sex.
• Decreased energy, fatigue, being “slowed down”.
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions.
• Insomnia, early-morning awakening, or oversleeping.
• Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain.
• Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide attempts.
• Restlessness, irritability.
• Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain.

Depression can be biologically-induced (chemical, hormonal imbalance, major illness, medicine reaction, genetic predisposition, aging) experientially-induced (trauma, catastrophic change or loss, stress, substance abuse, , chronic frustration, unrealistic expectations), relationally-induced (abuse, divorce, death in the family, chronic family instability) spiritually-induced (morbid guilt and shame over sin, feeling rejected by God for failure, disappointing God).

How does depressive thinking sabotage the heart from living/ALIVE to God so you can reflect him?

We are created to live/ALIVE to God and others, but when depressive thinking takes hold as a result of a persisting depressed mood, it sabotages our heart by supporting faulty thinking which deepens and sustains the depression. Here’s how:

We legitimately feel depressed with all of its symptoms because of the actual pain of what we’ve experienced, or are going through. If it persists, however, we begin to feel trapped with no end in sight.

If we do not get help and examine what happened, how it happened; why, and how we might work through what happened, we open the door to morbidly faulty thinking:

1. DEPRESSIVE PESSIMISM: “This is bad and I know it’s going to get worse. Nothing ever works out for me. Nothing good will happen anyway. I’m doomed.”

The heart lives/ALIVE and reflects God when it believes it can overcome through Christ.

“I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:12-3)

2. DEPRESSIVE HOPELESSNESS: “There is nothing I can do about it.

Why even try; it won’t make any difference. It’s too late. No one cares. My life is over.

The heart lives/ALIVE and reflects God when it holds fast to hope.

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:2-5)

3. DEPRESSIVE SELF-CRITIQUE: I’m a loser. I’m stupid. I always fail at everything. Everybody knows I’m worthless. No one could like or love someone like me.

The heart lives/ALIVE and reflects God when it embraces it is loved even in profound brokenness.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

4. DEPRESSIVE FORTUNE-TELLING: “I’ll never have any friends. No one will ever love me. It’s just not my lot to be successful. I’ll never have a chance to pursue my dream.”

The heart lives/ALIVE and reflects God when it entrusts the future to him with confidence.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 26:3-4)

Next Week:  How does addiction-slavery sabotage our hearts from living/ALIVE to God so our lives can reflect him?

In short, 2012 was a fluid mix of joys and sorrows, gains and losses. First, the sorrows and losses:

• As most of you know, Tricia’s dad, Elliott Hawley, went home to the Lord in July, and we also had to put down our dog, Tiger, in April.
• Smithies and imagineers Angelica Falcinelli, and Nhung Bui, graduated and began the next leg of their journeys – Angelica to New York City, and Nhung to Princeton.
• We lost some folks due to job relocation, differences of vision, church culture, and theology.
• Throughout the year, I dealt with some of the toughest relationship issues of my entire life, and so did Tricia. Grace was manifest, but these things still leave a mark on the heart.

Right alongside of the tough stuff, 2012 had joys and gains:

• We participated in emotional, relational and spiritual healing of men and women, both in our counseling work, and in striving as a church to develop and keep “a relational environment where folks can be themselves and be loved.”
• Imagine people are graciously building relationships with peers (roommates, friends, students, co-workers, street folks, etc.) who are searching.
• Since the fall, we have a few new Smith students attending our Sunday worship.
• We met our 2012 goals of seeking and developing new leaders (Jenn Swick and Crystal Fryer), finding a bigger space for Sunday worship (The State Room), connecting with the Arts community: formation of the 1FlightUP jazz trio, Place and Possibility Seminar with poet, Brad Davis, hosting, Inkyung Lee’s disturbing film and improvisational dance piece, Desperate Silence, creating the imagineGallery and participating in Northampton’s monthly Arts Night Out, hosting painter, Catherine Elliott (October), photographer, Joe Don Richardson (November), and printmaker/calligrapher, Anne Hulley (December).
• Nhung was our second baptism!
• We have some wonderful, new single folks and married couples who have joined us.
• Dave Sweeney and Jeff Loomis took kids on an adventure to look at how Northampton sees itself through its signs, displays and graffiti. They took pictures, and Dave compiled it into a video. Through Jenn Swick and Kristen Hastings, we continue to look for fresh ways to help kids discover and follow Jesus.
• Offering the first inward/Outward Mission Formation Group.
• Jim LaMontagne continuing offer the lion’s share of leading us through the Scriptures on Sunday morning. He also shared the work of the Leadership Team and Worship Team. Karin continued her work in Hospice, and also caring for Polly Peterson, our oldest imagineer.
• Developing imagine’s Sunday Worship Team after a frustrating, sometimes bewildering hiatus!
• Continuing to serve monthly meals at the Interfaith Shelter for homeless folks in Northampton.
• Dave Sweeney and his company, VizBang, shooting our second video describing who we are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=hmWuTyk9uzw
• Kevin and Janet Williams conceiving and offering a “Family Movie Night” to parents in Northampton so they can have a night on the town and know their kids are being well taken care of.
• Tricia and I counseling 68 individuals and 17 couples; offering spiritual direction to 9 individuals; leading 3 group Listening in Christ Retreats, and 3 individual Immersion retreats; doing 4 Playmaker Motivational Gifts Assessments and 1 Church Consulting Assignment (Kit, monthly), and 1 Navigator’s Conference (Tricia).
• Imagine  participating in and serving at the Annual 5K Hot Chocolate Run for Safe Passage, a not-for-profit organization which “provides women with the support and information that they need in order to make their own choices to keep themselves and their children safe and to rebuild their lives in the wake of domestic violence.”
• Discovering The Open Table concept to help homeless and working poor recover and get on their feet. Currently building relationships with folks in town and plan to launch the first one early in 2013.

We are grateful to our magnificent Savior and Lord, Jesus who tests and strengthens us to persevere in difficulty, but has also blessed us with encouragers, supporters and imagineers. Ours is a very imperfect effort, but we keep showing up, learning as we go, sharing the mission, and seeking to make a Kingdom difference on our watch. Without him we’d be much ado about very little or nothing at all.

We are also very grateful to all of you who’ve prayed for imagine, supported imagine financially, sent words of encouragement, and served alongside of us in the mission he has summoned us too. Without you, imagine/Northampton would be a mere idea sitting in wait.

Before I end the letter. I thought you might like to hear from a few of the other folks who have touched,  and been touched by the life in Christ we share together at imagine:

JENNIFER SWICK:

There are many things I could write about this year as a member of the imagine community… many, many things. I could write about what it was like to hear Jon Katov, founder of The Open Table, speak about an unexpected experience with a guy from a shelter. I could write about what it’s been like to go to leadership meetings where we patch up large crinkled sheets of paper to the wall as our “chalk board” and let the creative juices flow.

I could write about what it’s been like setting up and tearing down shop every Sunday in a larger venue where the limited storage space makes for a Tangram puzzle trying to squeeze oversized items back into our bins, and restack them all safely on the one teetering rack we have. I could also mention the 4,  6′x8′ area carpets and 10, 2′ x5′ plastic mats that we lay down every Sunday to protect the foyer carpet from food, while putting everyone else in harm’s way as it becomes a hazardous (not to mention, unsightly) sea of moving rugs by 10:15.

I could write about what it’s been like standing outside our door on Main St. on Friday nights inviting people in for an Open Gallery. I could write about what it was like to cook a meal for 16 people at the shelter in town. I could write about the books I’m reading about Spiritual Formation and the Missional Church. But I thought I’d just relay 3 simple (but really not so simple) ways I’ve noticed myself change over the year as a result of my letting Christ have a say in the matters of my heart (which I don’t recommend doing unless you’re prepared to go through change and face things you purposely chose not to face):

1. I enjoy time with my co-workers.

2. I’m starting to challenge long-standing dynamics at work that are wrong and go unacknowledged.

3. I’ve begun to want to make a genuine effort to make amends with my family where it’s needed and see where these new relationships lead.

These are just 3 of the major shifts I’ve felt myself go through this year that each represent larger things the Lord is doing and preparing in me. The imagine community has been a kind of incubator  promoting this growth to take place in me, while calling me to maturity as we focus on the main goal of bringing Christ’s love to the world around us, not just to each other. It’s a community I am very grateful for.

CRYSTAL FRYER:

The Lord has taught me so much about his unconditional love through imagine/Northampton. Through spiritual direction, Sunday morning worship, and leadership training, Imagineers are constantly reminding of the limitless mercy and love of Christ. I have been healed of many lies, insecurities, and doubts about God’s character towards me and in turn I am free to serve and care for my friends and students out of an authentic awareness of God’s love and delight in me.

KEVIN & JANET WILLIAMS:

Nineteen years of marriage; eighteen of those spent in full-time ministry. Who would have imagined that we would find our marriage in danger? Who would have thought that this couple and their family dedicated to the Lord and to serving others were on the threshold of losing each other and destroying their family? We would have never believed that this would become our life story. However, just one short year ago it became our story.

Broken and feeling ostracized we found Kit and Tricia and the folks at imagine/Northampton. We came to Kit and Tricia looking for answers. How had we come to this place in our lives? We came looking for hope that our marriage and family could be restored, refreshed and renewed. We found that help and hope in the counseling and Biblical guidance that they provided. Over months of counseling they lovingly shared with us areas of weakness that they saw. They encouraged us in our walk with the Lord as individuals and as a couple. Their words of hope, encouragement and truth, along with a non-judgmental approach allowed for us to heal and renew our life together.

We started coming to imagine/Northampton in late February. We initially came because Kit and Tricia knowing of the struggles we were facing from our previous church knew that we needed a safe place to weather the storm. We had all but given up on the idea of church community and had stopped going anywhere. Initially Imagine was a safe place; a place where nobody knew us, our story or past ministry years.  What Imagine has become is a family, a community of healing. Imagine is a place where we could reveal our struggles and failings, a place where God’s people came together to encourage, build up and help. We found a community where people are free to struggle, and to admit to difficulties in life. The kind of troubles doubts and fears that we all face, but rarely can share with others out of fear.

The whole leadership team at Imagine has been a blessing to our entire family. The kids have felt accepted and loved. We have built friendships with all of them. We have had the pleasure of fellowship both in and outside of church setting. At Imagine, we have found ourselves to be more than mere visitors; we have found ourselves as part of the Imagine family. Imagine has gone from being our shelter to our home.

What began as the worst year for us as a family has led to many blessings. We have gone from being survivors of marital distress to best friends. We have learned the power of forgiveness and have deepened our love for each other. Our faith has been enriched as we have learned more about a walk with God based upon His love for us, rather that our service to Him. And in the process have found a body of believers that we feel functions as the Church that God had intended; a church focused on the truth of God’s Word, reaching the lost and helping to heal the broken.

Thank you imagine/Northampton.

————————

We hope 2013 will be year where you see the love and grace and power of the One we all serve be manifested in the lives of people you connect with, such that they come to discover and follow this God who they can’t yet recognize, but who lives in you, and desires them to come and see.

On behalf of the entire imagine/Northampton community,

Kit McDermott

We look forward to participating next year!

After the event, we gathered back at 70 Main St. for our monthly Pot of Grace meal. Lots of great food was had by all. The place looked awesome. According to one attendee, “This is the best I’ve ever seen this place look.”

Mary (pink sweatshirt) and Jenn (blue hat) run the race.

Mary, Jenn and Karen (l. to r.) talk about the race.

Liam, Jake and Mary take a break after the race.

Trey getting the job done.

The LaMontagnes put on their gloves (literally) and roll up their sleeves (figuratively).

Caught yellow-handed.

]]> http://imaginenorthampton.org/2012/12/02/fun-at-the-hot-chocolate-run/feed/ 0 ourawesomeadventure Hot Chocolate Run 5K Hot Chocolate Run Clean Up, 12.2.2012 5K Hot Chocolate, Mary & the Kids. HC Run 6 HC Run 8 HC Run 9 http://imaginenorthampton.org/2012/03/01/counseling-and-spiritual-formation-services/ http://imaginenorthampton.org/2012/03/01/counseling-and-spiritual-formation-services/#comments Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:58:22 +0000 Jim http://imaginenorthampton.wordpress.com/?p=98 ]]> Counseling and Spiritual Formation Services

1. inventor or innovator: a person or group that is the first to do something or that leads in developing something new
2. first person to explore territory: a person who is one of the first from another country or region to explore or settle a new area
3. soldier who builds things: a foot soldier whose duties include going ahead of the main company to construct things to pave the way for them

By no means are we the first Christians to move to Northampton with the hopes of planting a church- we’ve heard the stories of the pioneers who have gone before and been wrestled to the ground. But we are the first to move to Northampton to plant this church. We are the pioneers of this vision.

So what does that imply? Being a pioneer is no small challenge.

Look again at the definitions above. Being a pioneer means that when we trek out into new territory, there is no Holiday Inn to get warm in. Being a pioneer means you are the first to attempt your mission.

If this is true, what does a group of pioneers need to do?

• Band together: the group of pioneers has to spend time together. They are going to be working shoulder to shoulder for a while, and whether by choice or necessity, they will get to know each other on the mission.
• Embrace diversityy: no matter how homogeneous a group is, there will always be differences. The unique traits need to be embraced and guided to serve the purpose of the mission and to glorify God.
• Pray: the group needs to pray about their mission and for each other. In reference to our current condition- we need to pray for one another and pray for the city of Northampton. We need to foster a regular personal commitment to a prayer life with God that includes, but is not limited to, the previously mentioned ideas.
• Sacrifice: being the first out into new territory is difficult and can be taxing. Sometimes we will have to give more than we want. Sometimes we will have to leave things behind.
• Serve: part of our mission is to serve the community and one another. Pride and ego have to be checked at the door and left outside to rot otherwise our purpose will turn inward and we will become selfish.
• Persevere: church plants don’t take a month. We all know this and we need to look to Jesus to see how he persevered for us, and how we can model that in our own lives and consequently, the church.

Those are only a few key elements that pioneers need to possess if they hope to accomplish their mission. So, let’s commit to these and maintain a level of humility that will allow us to plant our feet firmly in the ground each step of the way.

- Nate

——–> Some points added by Kit McDermott

Here are some other aspects of pioneering a church plant:

The ability to see what doesn’t exist yet: Vision paints a picture of what could be before it is.

The ability to create. Nothing is there at first, it needs to be brought into being. We need to see the Spirit’s beckoning to creation and go.

The ability to develop. As the footings are laid and life begins to happen, a knack for clarifying, refining, adjusting, and refocusing is necessary.

The ability to laugh and cry freely is required: so much that is funny will occur because we are finding our way together and manifestly imperfectly. There will be goofiness, absurdity in the mix. At the same time, tears need to flow because of the human condition and immensity of the need around us. Having God’s heart for the suffering and near-sighted is paramount.

Wisdom must grow in us or we will be blind guides and full of notions leading to little. Our pioneering will be impotent.

Our love of God must deepen in passion, courage and loyalty. We must love him so much that we will give everything for his Kingdom being manifested in Northampton and wherever else he sends us.

We must be fierce learners able to grow from our mistakes, explore ideas from people smarter and further ahead than we are, and tireless in finding our way forward.

In our pioneering, we must be willing to share with other pioneers just beginning their journey with God. We must teach, pass on and give away what we have been shown.

- Kit