In 2017 I can say with all faith enthusiasm that we as Our Savior’s have been Facebooked with Jesus in Community. Jesus is written on our pages, our hearts, our faces, our very lives. Jesus has been seen in countless ways. Jesus has been unleashed throughout our body. We have been Facebooked!
Now I know that all of us are not on the major social networking sites of the internet. But surely we have all heard of facebook. This networking site has gained in popularity since its inception in 2004, and today garners most folk’s attention. By logging on, setting up your page, posting photos, a descriptive profile of who you are, etc., you are set to navigate the social circles of today. After setting up your page, before long you will have invited or been invited to be friends with people throughout space and time. Childhood friends, work contacts, distant relatives, you name it – you will find them and be ‘accepted’ or ‘accept’ them as friends. And then, you find yourself touching base with these friends throughout your weeks and days – with simple thoughts, birthday notes, prayer requests, and invitations to events. It’s all there. More and more folks are getting Facebooked.
So why do I share notes about this internet sensation with you? Well it’s not to market what is already popular. It’s not to endorse the great things about it or caution against the ills of it. It’s simply to use the metaphor facebook and remind us as the church that Jesus has been facebookingwith the world all along. Our call as the church is to facebook with Him and all people.
Facebook reminds me of the human desire for connection with other people. I can log onto facebook and post a note and within minutes someone will reply to that note. The folks I know who use it will rise a bit early to check their page and before going to bed spend a few minutes posting and reading their notes found there. Most are checking it several times throughout the day on their phones. We desire connection with other people…and facebook is one tool that gives that desire opportunity.
Well imagine with me facebooking with Jesus throughout our day. Rising early to check in with Him, ending our day by spending a few additional moments with Him, and pausing throughout the day to simply log into Him. What would He have posted to our page? What would the notes be that we find there from Him? How would we be changed by the time spent communicating back and forth in that relationship?
Our Savior’s, Jesus has been facebooking with the world all along. Our call as the church is to facebook with Him and all people.
The Scriptures that we have been immersed in through our worship in the past month and the ones we continue to reflect on this month all have a common overarching theme: “Jesus reaches – connects – befriends – loves – communicates – travels to where folks are – unleashes the Spirit – facebooks – with the people. And more and more people begin to reach – search – desire – love – facebook – this Jesus.” They – the world – are being changed by Him!
And that is what Jesus does! When He facebooks with us – we are changed. I have been an eyewitness along with many of you to His life change in our lives over this past year here at Our Savior’s.
I have seen Jesus facebooked with us in community through:
Our young people as they learn, grow, and serve in their faith.
Our small group ministries and the connections of life that are fostered there.
Our worship life where we grow in passionate faith.
Our outreach ministries that raise people here and around the globe.
Our Anyuak worship service where resurrection hope rings true.
Our Wednesday evening meals where we gather around table in sharing life together.
Our Staff that pours out their lives into the whole church in making a difference in our world.
Our leadership teams that are discerning and prayerful in fostering a relevant church for the future.
Our thirty-nine new families who joined the church in October, a true sign and symbol that God is alive in them and in this place.
Our children’s ministries that equip even our littlest ones to be the heart, hands, and feet of Jesus.
Our forty committed youth and adults who will attend the National Youth Gathering this summer.
And the countless daily acts of service that often go unnoticed, but would be incredibly missed if they were not accomplished.
Jesus is facebooking with us and we are facebooking with Him and all people as we live and serve with our gifts and passions.
As we have celebrated throughout this article so much of what Jesus has been doing in and through us, let us also not forget the missional challenges that also lay before us. There is so much yet to be done. There is so much need and burden to be shared. Even in challenge, we can facebook with Jesus.
There are many hurting folks in this community – facebook them with your touch. There are many who do not yet know the great love and grace of Jesus –facebook them with your faith. Our children of all ages still watch and wonder if God really does care – facebook them with the story of Jesus. There are souls thirsty and hungry for real life – facebookthem through an invite to worship together.
This much is sure Church…..Jesus has been facebooking with us all along! May we facebook with him throughout all of our days!
Peace and Hope,
Pastor Chad
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