10.26.06 thequest UPdate

thequest family,

One of the huge pieces of what thequest has at it's essence is RELATIONSHIPS. You can see in the mission statement in the upper left of this screen that "relationships" is in big letters. That is on purpose.

This value is driven from the essence of the Scriptures and how it describes God's relationship with us as humans. Check out these two passages written by the man who was closest to Jesus as he lived on the earth:

1) We can see God as he is revealed in Jesus:
"No one has ever seen God. But the one and only Son is himself God and is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us." John 1:18 NLT


2) We can see God as he is revealed in a loving Christian fellowship:
"No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us." 1 John 4:12 NLT

Powerful passages when laid right next to each other aren't they?

Now sometimes that "full expression" of God's love is hard to measure. It's one of those intangibles that you either have it or you don't. It's one of those things that to quantify is difficult. It doesn't show up easily in the typical ways of measuring the life following Jesus: going to church or prayer or reading your Bible. Those things are REALLY IMPORTANT, but each can be done without fellowship.

So the church then is about relationships. That would seem to be primary. In fact in the first description of what the church was like, we are told that those first people in the first days of the church were: "devoted to...the fellowship." (Acts 2:42) They were devoted ( not just acquainted or associated) to the community. Relationships--authentic and loving ones--are at the center of being the people of God.

In the midst of our lives and culture, relationships are difficult. We get busy. We get our feelings hurt. We are insecure. We hide. We don't want to work hard at loving people. We don't want to be fully known. We have tensions with people we are attracted to. We get hurt.

Relationships are the thing...but they are a difficult thing. And yet they are worth all the effort. Maybe you are hurt or disappointed. That is to be expected. Don't be surprised by that. We do live with sinners you know?

I just want to encourage you to press into loving and authentic relationships. Not by pushing your "gotta do this duty button", but by being motivated with the thankfulness that Jesus went through pure hell to give us an opportunity to have a relationship with God. Beyond that He lives in us and wants His love to burst out on others around us. Let the flow go...even through the hard times.

Press On,

Mike

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