Last night we welcomed Stephen McAlpine to come and share with us what the church is going to look like in the future as our culture keeps on changing. It was a great time of reflecting on where our world is at and the non-anxious hope that can only be found in Jesus in a world that has lost all sense of meaning and purpose.
The encouragement that I took away was that although navigating the future won't be easy, the resurrection of Jesus and the ongoing witness of the church is assured because the Lord God sovereignly rules over all. We need not fear the 'ground that's been lost' nor despair that there is no hope for the world because we know the God who will reconcile all things to himself through Jesus.
Stephen challenged us to be a church that out-purposes, out-relates and outlasts the culture around us. What he means by that is we ought to be a community of people that has a meaning and a purpose that the world around is missing, that we ought to love and forgive one another in a way that is unusually attractive all with the hope, knowledge and confidence that God will continue the work to redeem his people.
As we read in 1 Peter 1,
'Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.'
If you missed out we have a recording of the talk and the Q&A session afterwards here.
Grace and Peace
Andrew