Pastor Kelly Cohoe
In our desire to focus on "love God, love people, serve joyfully," we must not forget that the outcome of all this is to become mature followers of Jesus Christ. On the bottom of a friend's e-mail I read this statement:"God accepts us and then invites us to grow."
As we discuss the implications of our vision statement, one thing I would like to make clear is that we are committed to experiencing transformation in the context of biblical community. Yes, God loves us and accepts us right where we are, but His heart is for us to be free from those hurts and addictive behaviours that hinder our relationships with Him, others, and even ourselves. He wants to move us from death to life - this requires change. Rick Warren wrote an article called "Building a Foundation for Change." You can find this article in its entirety at: www.christianpost.com (then do a search for it). Here are nine foundational truths about life change as presented by Rick Warren:
1. Understand that the goal of all change is to become like Jesus Christ
2. Realize that both you and God have a part to play in life change
3. Accept that lasting change starts with your choice
4. Change requires truth
5. Lasting change happens in community
6. Lasting change is a step-by-step process
7. Lasting change requires multiple reinforcements
8. Lasting change requires new habits
9. Real change changes others
Loving God, loving people, and serving joyfully does not happen in a vacuum. it takes place in the context of a biblical community that is experiencing the challenging and joyful process fo being transformed.
