We are here to make disciples and plant churches by proclaiming and displaying the grace of God to sinners and sufferers. After seeking the Lord we’ve discerned our rallying cry for 2023 is not a new project or hill to charge, but a focus on being:
We are humble before & joyful in Jesus!
After 5 years, after planting in Aledo, after experiencing a pandemic we feel led by the Spirit to gaze on Jesus! A grand view of Jesus’ majesty will grow our humility and inflame our joy! We want to be known as a humble, joyful, Jesus people.
A family:
Who actively humbles ourselves before the Lord (James 4:10; 1 Pet 5:6)
Who walks in humility towards one another and outsiders (Acts 20:19; Eph 4:1-3; Phil 2:1-4; 1 Pet 5:5)
Who rejoices in, boasts in Jesus (1 Cor 1:28-31; Eph 2:8-10; Phil 3:7-11, 4:4)
Who walks in the deep, abiding joy of the Lord (Ps 16:11; Acts 13:52; 1 Thess 1:6)
We are humble before & joyful in Jesus!
The Father leading us with his voice:
1. Humble yourselves before the Lord
James 4:10 – Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
1 Peter 5:6-7 – Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.
2. Walk in humility towards others
Acts 20:18-19 – “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews” (Paul).
Ephesians 4:1-3 – Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Philippians 2:1-4 – If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.
1 Peter 5:5 – All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
3. Rejoice in Jesus!
1 Corinthians 1:28-31 – God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world — what is viewed as nothing — to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence. It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us — our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,— in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
Ephesians 2:8-10 – For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Philippians 3:7-11 – But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ — the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.
Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
4. Walk in the joy of the Lord
Psalms 16:11– You reveal the path of life to me;
in your presence is abundant joy;
at your right hand are eternal pleasures.
Acts 13:52 – And the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 1:5-6 – You know how we lived among you for your benefit, and you yourselves became imitators of us and of the Lord when, in spite of severe persecution, you welcomed the message with joy from the Holy Spirit.
Two recommended books to help:
Humility by CJ Mahaney
Rejoicing In Christ by Mike Reeves