I’ve been wrestling a lot lately with what it means to really love others. I’ve been following Jesus for 50 years, and I feel like I’ve barely moved the dial in being one who consistently loves like Jesus. In addition to loving God with our whole being, Jesus said nothing more important than to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. This is the heart of what it means to follow Jesus. I still have so far to go.
As I engage people, especially difficult folks, I’ve been trying to ask a question Pastor Andy Stanely famously posed: What does love require of me? It’s a tough question. My challenge isn’t so much an unwillingness to answer it in the right way; it’s just difficult to remember to even ask the question. My natural response to so many people is to be thinking about how they should act or be rather than how I should respond – that’s called an agenda.
I came across a quote from Jimmy Spencer from Love Without Agenda: Moving Our Spiritual Goalposts from Heaven and Hell to Wholeness: We can stop focusing on an agenda for others and find the freedom to focus on a purpose for ourselves. While agenda is rooted in how we see others, purpose is rooted in how we see ourselves. While agenda requires us to conquer others, purpose requires us to conform ourselves. While agenda relegates us to coercing others, purpose releases us to appreciate others. While agenda reduces us to a sliver of life, purpose moves us toward a whole humanity. And we – as Christians – may actually start to look and live like Jesus.
My agenda for others is a huge obstacle in loving others the way Jesus loves. Whether it’s a bad driver or someone painfully slow in a check-out line, or someone I care deeply about, I have great ideas and plans for how others should speak, act, and live… if they would just care enough to listen!
Spencer’s quote reminds me to ask – What’s my purpose? It’s the same as the mission of our church – Loving people to Jesus! My agenda comes far too often before my decision to love others.
I have a simple definition of love. Love is to seek the best for others. What’s best for others may or may not fit my agenda. The point is that my agenda for others often snuffs out love and can, in fact, drive people away from Jesus.
This Sunday, we start a short two-week series called Story. We are going to look at how to share our story and God’s story with anyone, but especially with our “One.” Not long ago, I encouraged all of us to prayerfully identify that “One” person we would engage as we pray for and love them. In this series, we’ll look at how we can use our story and God’s story to help our “One” find hope in Jesus. But we have to be so careful that we are not just operating out of our agenda. What comes first and motivates our storytelling is love. Love first.
Glen ElliottSubscribe: https://pantano.church/blogsubscription
One Person Matters
Jesus told a parable or story in Luke 15:1-7 about a shepherd who left ninety-nine sheep in the dangerous open field to find one that was lost. That one sheep mattered to the shepherd. That one represents anyone who is not connected to God and has lost a life-giving relationship with him. The lost ones of the world matter to God. I believe Jesus wants us also to focus on our “one,” loving people to Jesus one person at a time.
Who’s Your “One”?
We just finished a series we called Engage One. If you missed any of the three messages, I encourage you to watch them through our Pantano On Demand channel. This year, our focus as a church is to identify and pray for one person that we can love to Jesus. Who’s your “one?” Who has God put on your heart to pray for? Who can you love through kindness and service? Who is that “one” whom you can engage with both the love and hope of Jesus?
Need Help?
Need help identifying, praying for, engaging, or sharing the hope of Jesus with your “one?” We’ve created a resource page to help you. Go to pantano.church/engageone/ and you’ll find ideas and five short videos to help you love your “one” to Jesus. We’ve also listed some additional books and articles to equip you to engage and help your “one” find Jesus.
Invite Your “One”
We’ll be providing regular opportunities to invite your “one” to discover faith. For example, I’ll be sharing the message of Jesus and salvation on Easter Sunday, April 4th. Invite your “one” to join you. Don’t forget to reserve your in-person space at either 7 am, 9am, 11 am, or 1 pm services. We’ll have additional special times when you can invite your “one,” like our Father’s Day car show and our Deeper Dives as well.
Our teaching series after Easter will speak to the challenge of living under the burden of “shoulds.” We’ll explore the dangers of when we put “shoulds” on ourselves, others, and on God, as well as the “shoulds” others put on us. Invite your “one” to explore how practical, helpful, and freeing the Bible is about everyday life.
Alpha Course
On Easter, we’ll encourage folks who are not yet following Jesus to consider the eleven-week Alpha Course. Over 30 million people in 112 countries have taken this course! We’ll be offering it both in-person and online starting Wednesday, April 14th. I’ll specifically be inviting your “one” and others like your “one” to join us. Sign up here – pantano.church/event/alpha-course/
If you haven’t yet selected your “one”, pray about who that might be, invest in the relationship, and prepare to watch God move in their life!
Glen ElliottSubscribe: https://pantano.church/blogsubscription
Last Spring, as a staff, we prayerfully sought God regarding what our church’s priority focus should be over the next year or so. Little could we have imagined the impact of Covid. But, that didn’t change the direction God had for us. It was clear that God wanted our church to fulfill our mission – Loving people to Jesus, launching passionate people to make a difference. We needed to provide practical help for all of us to do this well.
We concluded that the best way to do that was to have each person in our church focus on one person following the parable Jesus gave in Luke 15:3-7: A shepherd had a hundred sheep. One was lost. He left the ninety-nine in the open field to search for the one. All of heaven celebrated when the lost was found.
I’m asking each of us to identify one person who’s lost, meaning they have lost a connection or relationship with God available only through Jesus. I’m asking you to start by praying to identify your “one.” Ask God to help you love that person through an authentic relationship. Ask God to help you engage them and for the Holy Spirit to open up natural opportunities to have spiritual conversations.
We are calling this focus – Engage One. This past Sunday, we began a series that addresses this, and we’ve created some practical help, resources, and tools to help you love your “one.”
Please go to our Engage One webpage – https://pantano.church/engageone/. You’ll find a brief description of how to go about praying for and identifying your “one.” We’ve also prepared some short videos to help encourage and guide you to love your “one.” There are two videos there based on the teaching I presented on Sunday. An additional video will be added each week of our teaching series, for the next two weeks.
We have listed some books, articles, and video suggestions if you want to go further and deeper regarding how to love and serve your one and how to engage in spiritual conversations and share the Good News of Jesus.
You’ll also notice on our Engage One webpage that we will be offering the Alpha Course right after Easter. We’ll announce more information coming up about options for an in-person and online version of this course. The Alpha Course is a world-wide phenomenon designed to help those who don’t know Jesus, the Bible, or much about faith to begin the journey toward God. While experienced disciples of Jesus will gain from the course, it is primarily intended for our “ones” who are open to, new to, or on a journey toward faith.
Who’s your “one”? Who’s the one you are praying for?
Glen ElliottSubscribe: https://pantano.church/blogsubscription
Happy New Year! 2020 is here. Many have noticed an interesting twist to the year 2020 and it’s the idea that our new year parallels the idea of 20/20 vision. If you have 20/20 vision then you have a normal visual acuity, clarity, and sharpness of sight. I have 20/20 vision… when I’m wearing my glasses!
We want to help you start 2020 with a clear vision for what God wants for you. We want to help you focus on what God wants for you in this new year. So, we started a new series last Sunday called One. If you missed it, you can watch here.
There is power in the idea of one – focusing on one thing. Somehow, what’s important tends to get lost in the “many”. A person can get lost in a crowd. A great idea can be drowned out among many distracting thoughts. A good intention can be weakened in the midst of too many good resolutions. The idea and power of one is focus, and in a world of ever-increasing noise and distractions, we need to recapture the power of one and focus on what is truly important.
Last Sunday, in case you missed it, we looked at how we can focus on one change God wants to bring into our lives in 2020. And while New Year’s resolutions are good, we know they are not as effective as focusing on one thing for a whole year. As we begin 2020, ask this question: What does God want you to focus on in 2020? Then prayerfully pick ONE WORD that represents the change God wants you to experience. It should be more than a good change. It should be a God change. It should be more than a good word. It should be a word from God.
When we focus on one word, our mind and heart are more open to how God is at work in ways we might have otherwise missed. Once we choose one word and intentionally focus on it, then we see more of the ways God wants us to embrace that word or the idea that word carries. One word is a powerful way to focus our thinking. Focused thinking and praying rewires our brain as we cooperate with God to experience real transformation. A better 2020 is possible…with God and with a focus.
Here’s the digital link (https://mypantano.church/oneword) so that you can access the One Word card download and a social media graphic. Share your one word on social media using #oneword. The site also has the basic steps to discover your one word for 2020.
God’s Word has the power to change us. I encourage you to find and even memorize a verse that goes along with your one word. As we begin a new year, I also strongly encourage you to engage in regular Bible reading. When we are consistently in God’s Word, it gives God a much greater influence in our daily lives. There are lots of plans available. Download the YouVersion Bible app which has numerous plans. We have a Pantano Bible reading plan that is one chapter a day for five days a week. Go to https://pantano.church/biblereadingplan/ and you can subscribe to get the daily reading delivered to you. We also have printed bookmarks at Guest Services at both campuses.
Glen Elliott
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