Further up and further in
“Everybody Gets to Play” describes who we are at Liberty Vineyard. It’s part of our Vineyard DNA, where every single person has a valuable contribution to make in the ministry of Jesus. Each week you are invited to jump into what God is doing among us. Take a look and join us in making God’s kingdom visible, as we reimagine how we can together do small things with great love, reaching out to neighbors and nations, for the greater glory of God!
June 23rd, 2024
Liberty Vineyard family,
We’re coming up to the halfway point in 2024 already! As I reflect back on our church family’s journey through the first half of this year, the word that stands out to me more than anything is GENEROSITY. Firstly, God has been lavishly generous with us, pouring out all that we have needed and helping our church family to not just survive but thrive in a season which for many of us has been marked by grief, loss, and transition. Secondly, and I would say as a direct response to God’s generous grace to each and every one of us, I can’t help but notice that y’all are incredibly generous with time, encouragement, serving, courage, laughter, weeping, prayer, finances, perseverance, grace, sharing, faithfulness, talents, meals, kindness, forgiveness, leadership, humility, sense of humor, hunger for God, desire to grow, willingness to try … the list goes on! Liberty Vineyard has gained a reputation of being a faith community that can be counted on to show up for one another AND for our community around us AND to the ends of the earth! Music & Ministry at Meadowbrook, Adopt-a-Road / Pounds Rd cleanup, Pet Blessing, Welcome Baskets, One Roof donations, Goodies for Gardeners … that’s a LOT of reaching out for a group our size. Thank you for your faithfulness to Jesus!
We’ve been continuing our journey together through the Gospel of Mark. Three Sundays ago, Nancy invited us to sit with five of the questions asked in Mark 10. She invited us to soberly notice that much damage has been done looking for ways to disqualify someone rather than looking for ways to include them; to step towards freedom from disordered attachments – those needs, loves, and desires which exert power over us, enslave us, and get in the way of following Jesus; and to ask questions that will help us to know more about ourselves and each other, to do life together, and to understand one another better.
Two Sundays ago, I invited us to take a deeper dive into Jesus’ well-known so-called “Triumphal Entry” in Mark 11, a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and a familiar traditional entry procession to all those living in the Ancient Near East. Jesus came to Jerusalem that day as not just a king, but as the King above “all the kings of the earth and all peoples.” This was a celebration of not just a returning or conquering hero, but a celebration of God’s supreme rule over all people and all of creation, forever and ever! Jesus’ imminent death and resurrection were so powerful that they would break open not only the Temple curtain but all of human history. Every enemy, including sin and death, would be defeated, and the way would be opened for the salvation, restoration, and transformation of every human heart and every part of creation. Suddenly … nothing happened … yet!
Last Sunday, I walked us through the last direct confrontation between a Scribe and Jesus prior to his arrest. Sage asked Jesus, Which commandment is the first of all? This unique interaction offers us three lessons that warn us to stop, look at, and listen to God: we can invest our time and energy in pinnacle arguments about the most important thing, we can learn to be pretty agreeable when we engage in necessary or even beneficial arguments, and we can focus on the first and greatest commandment, that which is paramount, actually. God invites us to stop, look, and listen – to love God, love people, and live in the hope of shalom!
There’s so much more to come! I’ll wrap this up with a favorite quote from C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!” May God continue to enlarge our hearts and the Christ-faith in us, as we journey together in the already-not-yet-fully-here kingdom of God, further up and further in, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and for the greater glory of God!
With you on the journey,
Pastor Karen
Liberty Vineyard Church
Karen Sculley – (404) 388-0518, karen@srsoln.com
