What Might God Be Stirring "Underground" in Wormtown?

What would it look like if more people embodied Jesus' Words, Works, and Ways in Worcester (aka Wormtown), Mass. in the years to come?

In the midst of Emmaus City's journey of being a people who follow Jesus together and share and show His Good News in Worcester, there have been three churches of missional communities we continue to learn from along the way. 

One is Missio Dei Communities in Phoenix, Arizona (you can find links to notes from our time in Soma School with them here), and another is East End Fellowship in Richmond, Virginia (you can learn more about East End's story here).

The other is the Underground in Tampa, Florida. The Underground pursues innovative ideas and servant leadership encouragement, equipping, and community. You can read more about their story in Brian Sanders' book, Underground Church. With the Underground, their mission is to:

+ Inspire people to surrender all their lives to Jesus and His cause;

+ Connect individuals into communities who do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, each other, and their neighbors; 

+ Empower new communities to discover and obey their God-given mission; and

+ Engage every kind of evil in their towns or cities with prayerful action.

I would love to see this come alive more in Worcester (maybe we would call it Wormtown Underground to honor Worcester's historic moniker) with missional communities (i.e. people who follow Jesus together going, serving, learning, sharing and showing His Good News, and loving their neighbors together in community in the nooks, crannies, and alcoves of Worcester) across denominations and parishes multiplying throughout our beloved city. 

One of the reasons I'm praying and asking that this would happen is because of the Underground's Values (see image above and list below) that drive how they walk by faith (for the wicked deep dive, you can check out the 18 Underground Manifesto talks, 1 video for each value). 

Below are descriptions for each of the 18 values followed by a collection of Bible verses and links related to each value. In many ways, they are an elaboration of Emmaus City Church's Values and complement the 13 Marks of a Faithful Missional Church we aim to embody from Michael Goheen's A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story. With these values held and embodied, people who follow Jesus in Worcester would grow into and take on:

+ Practical Dreamers 

+ Experimentation 

+ Unity & Diversity (Respect & Missional Priority)

+ Embodied Protest (Prophetic & Personal) 

+ Humility & Confidence (Submission) 

+ Passion & Suffering Love

I invite you to read, pray, and consider if you would affirm these values rooted in the Holy Scriptures linked to below. If the values and passages of the Bible resonate with you and you start to get excited, please reach out to me. I'd love to hear what God is stirring in you for the love of your neighbors in the Worcester County area, and ultimately, for the life of the world and the awe, obedience, worship, and love of Jesus.

Underground Manifesto or Values

| 1 | Jesus | The way of Jesus is our way. Before and in all things we value Jesus as the image of the invisible God. We long to worship Jesus by imitating his life and ministry. Both our theology and praxis is relentlessly Christological. He is our model, mentor, hero, mediator, savior, judge, king and ruler of all. All of our values flow from what we understand about His character, concerns, and the practices of His ministry (Matthew 28:19; John 1:3, 13:15, 14:6, 17:18; Romans 5:10; Ephesians 1:22-23; Philippians 2:5; Colossians 1:15-20, 2:9, 3:17; Hebrews 1:3, 12:2; Ephesians 5:1-2; John 13:14-15; Acts 26:16; Romans 1:4; 1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 7:25; Acts 4:12; Titus 3:6; Romans 2:16; John 9:39; 2 Timothy 4:1; Revelation 1:5, 19:16; Colossians 1:18; Revelation 17:14).

| 2 | The Poor | We will remember the poor because we believe that God does. We believe that they are central to His mission in the world. It is our conviction that God is always on the side of those who have no one on their side. For that reason we believe the Church should also stand on the side of the poor, and in so doing stand in solidarity with the heart and work of God. Jesus’ own ministry is our model. We welcome all people but prioritize the poor in our ministry concern, allocation of resources and advocacy. We do this, not because the rich and middle class are less important to God, but because they already have access to resources and are able to advocate their own cause. It is our belief that the Church should therefore prioritize and remember those who have less, and access to less, so that in all things there might be equality (Deuteronomy 15:7, 11; Psalm 82:3, 140:12; Proverbs 14:31; Isaiah 61:1; Jeremiah 8:21, 22:16; Matthew 11:5, 25:40; Mark 2:17; Luke 4:18, 6:20, 7:22, 14:23, 18:22; 2 Corinthians 8:9, 13; Galatians 2:10).

| 3 | The Lost | We value lost people because they are spiritually poor. We believe the Good News of the Kingdom is the most important commodity with which the Church and the people of God have been entrusted. For this reason we will engage the lost. We believe that the Church should not expect lost people to come and find them, but that we are called and sent to “seek and save that which was lost”. Again, we will emphasize the life and ministry of Jesus by prioritizing those who have not yet heard and believed the Good News. This is our first and most important task, even in our ministry to the poor and the lost (who could be considered the spiritually poor). They are our first concern (Genesis 22:17-18; Matthew 4:23, 10:7, 18:14, 28:19; Mark 13:10; Luke 15:4, 6, 19:10, 24:46-47; Acts 1:8, 10:42; Romans 10:14-15, 15:20).

| 4 | The Whole World | While we understand that our most transforming ministry will take place where we are planted and in our own city, we commit ourselves to the mission of God to reach the whole world. We believe that Jesus came as the Savior, not of one people, but of the whole world. We value the world because we believe that God is a global God. We assume responsibility for the world, not because we believe we can reach it alone, but because we accept the mandate of the great commission and the heart of God to love and sacrifice for the discipleship of the whole world. We accept this apostolic mandate to send and be sent into every part of the world and our place in partnership with the global church (Psalm 22:27, 24:1; Isaiah 41:9; Matthew 24:14; Mark 16:15; John 1:29, 3:16-17, 4:42, 6:33, 51, 8:12, 12:46-47, 17:21; Romans 5:18; 2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 John 2:2, 4:14; Revelation 14:6).

| 5 | Culture + Ethnicity | Similarly, we affirm that every culture and ethnicity, while imperfect, reflects the mosaic of God’s own image and together we better glorify and serve the God of creation. We value every people, language and culture in our city and in the world. We believe that the Church of Jesus Christ was meant to demonstrate the power of the Gospel through reconciliation, unity, and the beauty of a multi-ethnic community. For that reason we do not just admire multi-ethnic communities, but purpose to become one. We do not believe in being color blind. Rather, we hope to accept and include the beauty and wisdom of every culture in our city and in our communities (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 67:2-3; Isaiah 56:7; Daniel 7:13-14; Joel 2:28; Haggai 2:7; Malachi 1:11; John 17:20-22; Acts 10:34-35, 17:26-27; Romans 14:11, 15:5-6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-14; Ephesians 2:14-22; Philippians 2:10-11; Revelation 5:9-10, 7:9, 14:6).

| 6 | Contextualization | We will not trust in franchising or empire building through paradigm propagation. Rather we will value the empowerment of every microchurch community to contextualize the proclamation and demonstration of the gospel to the people they hope to reach. Our paradigm is that there is no one paradigm. We believe in contextualized structures with revolutionary content. Learning from the ministry of Jesus we will not try to bring surface transformation (to culture or structures) but rather contextualize our structures to what people can and will understand, so that the revolutionary message of the kingdom and the liberating work of the Holy Spirit will be received (John 1:14; Acts 16:3, 17:22-23; Romans 12:2; 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, 9:19-23, 10:32-33; Philippians 2:5-8 [the passages of the ministry of Jesus and his parables are all examples of contextualization]).

| 7 | Zeal + Contemplation | We will value the paradox of exuberance and zeal in worship, community life, and evangelism while at the same time whole heartedly pursuing the rhythm and profound importance of silence and solitude for personal contemplation and rest. We affirm seasons of zeal and charismatic expression of the greatness and majesty of God along with seasons of silence and stillness before God. We value each and both together. We hope for a fusion of the two in a life of zeal, lived ablaze and unashamed for God, and contemplation, lived in deep awareness and quiet appreciation for God (Zeal: Psalm 47:5, 98:4; Isaiah 42:13; Matthew 17:5; Romans 12:11; Titus 2:14 | Contemplation: Psalm 46:10, 48:9, 95:6; Matthew 11:28-30; Mark 6:31; John 10:27; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 3:2; 1 Peter 1:13).

| 8 | Simplicity | We commit to live a life free from clutter and the allure of materialism. We affirm that every believer and every community of believers has a responsibility to renounce the sins of its own people. As North Americans we renounce the slavery and idolatry of materialism by embracing a simple lifestyle. We do not believe that money or things are in themselves evil or to be avoided, but that the love of money and things is one of the greatest perils facing western Christianity in our time. We willingly use material things and wealth for the service of the Kingdom, but not for personal fulfillment or inappropriate luxury. In so doing we again value the poor who have less, justice in living for equality and personal holiness in pursuing a whole hearted devotion to God (Ecclesiastes 5:10; Matthew 6:19, 24, 26, 10:10; Mark 4:19, 12:43; Luke 9:3, 12:15, 33; 1 Timothy 6:7, Hebrews 13:5).

| 9 | Sharing + Giving | Because we value community and simplicity, we commit ourselves to both sharing and giving. We will share because it promotes relationship and breaks the bondage of possessiveness. We believe the western doctrine of personal property is imperfect and needs to be tempered with the more biblical value of generosity and sacrifice. In sharing what we have with others we confess that God is the true owner and that we are only stewards in His vineyard. We will also give, because in giving we destroy the grip of materialism over our hearts because we release the resource, wealth, or possession completely into the control of another. For that reason we will pursue relentless generosity and the holding of all things in common. For this reason we encourage our people to give as often and as generously as they can, and to consider themselves stewards of the rest. Likewise, the collective finances of the Church and ministries should set an example in this regard (Malachi 3:10; Matthew 25:40; Luke 3:11; Acts 4:32, 20:35; 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9:10-13, 8:13; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Thessalonians 2:8; 1 Timothy 6:18; 1 John 3:17).

| 10 | Each Other | We commit ourselves to each other. We believe that God calls us into his mission together, never alone. We value mission and ministry done in community. We believe that God did not intend for us to be alone, and that isolation, fear of each other, and spiritual competition are cancers in the church. We believe that moral and theological failures, controlling leadership, and many of our emotional struggles stem from a lack of community. We value free, committed and loving friendship. Whenever possible we will lead through teams and the sharing of life at every level with trusted friends who are an extension of the grace and presence of God in our lives (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; Matthew 18:20; John 15:13; Acts 2:44; Romans 12:4-8, 10, 13:8, 15:7; 1 Corinthians 10:24; Galatians 6:2; Ephesians 4:11-13, 5:21; Philippians 2:3-4; Hebrews 3:15, 10:24-25, 6:10-11; 1 Peter 3:8; 1 John 3:16, 7-12; Revelation 4:10-11).

| 11 | Kingdom Mission | We will do mission because we are sent people. We believe that the Church is not the Church until she is engaged in the mission for which God has called her into His marvelous light. We crave healing, discipleship and intimacy with God. But we believe that all of these things come in large part through obedience to the mission. We believe that healing comes through offering healing to others, that discipleship does not primarily take place in a lecture but through doing. We believe that intimacy with God comes from being in His presence and through submission to His will, by doing what He is doing. Since we believe that the life of Jesus and the early Church demonstrate that God Himself is with the lost and the poor of the earth, proclaiming the Good News of His Kingdom, we also believe that when we co-labor with Him as workers in that harvest field, we not only bring the Kingdom into that place, but that we also experience the deepest and truest intimacy with God (Psalm 51:10-13; Isaiah 58:6-8; Matthew 9:35-38, 25:40, 28:18-20; Mark 1:14-15, 38; Luke 4:18-21; John 4:34-35, 6:27, 9:4, 12:26, 15:9-10, 17:18; Acts 1:8; Romans 15:20; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:3; Colossians 3:17, 23; 1 John 3:18; 1 Peter 2:9).

| 12 | Humility | We commit to pursue humility as one of the chief virtues. We expect it in leadership, in community and relationships, in our theology, in the contextualization of our mission, in our prayer, and even in our appraisal of ourselves and others. We are convinced that humility is necessary for following Jesus as an individual and as an organization. In individuals we hope for humility in all our relationships and leadership roles. As an organization we hope to be a flexible learning organization, looking always to refine our commitments and expand our understanding and revelation of God and His call upon us. We believe in the living prophetic word of God, that it can be heard and obeyed, yet we also believe that we are flawed listeners and should always listen and follow with humility (Psalm 25:9, 51:17, 147:6, 149:4; Proverbs 11:2, 18:12, 22:4; Ecclesiastes 5:2; Isaiah 29:19, 57:15, 66:2; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:3, 11:29, 18:3-4, 20:26, 23:12; Luke 1:52, 6:20, 10:21, 14:10, 17:10, 18:13-14, 22:26-27; John 13:14; Romans 11:20, 12:3, 16; 1 Corinthians 1:28, 3:18, 10:12, 13:4; 2 Corinthians 11:30, 12:6, 10; Galatians 5:26, 6:14; Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3-11; Colossians 3:12; James 1:9, 3:1, 4:6, 10; ; 1 Peter 3:8, 5:5-6).

| 13 | Biblical Justice | We will live for the biblical concept of justice. We have to take a prophetic stand against all kinds of evil, not only spiritual, but also societal. All sin and injustice is the enemy of the church and the kingdom of God. The search for the Kingdom of God is also a search for justice. They are the same longing. In the kingdom we find ultimate justice, and biblical justice is more than just punishment for wrongdoing and oppression, it is also the restoration of wholeness, equality, and peace between people and with God. Our value of justice is a call to seek the welfare of every person in our city and in the world that we can influence. It is to hope and work for the kingdom of God to come to bear on the place where we are. For that reason, our value of justice will mean action in the places where we have power, as well as the pursuit of justice in the proclamation of the Kingdom wherever we have voice (Psalm 9:8, 96:10; Proverbs 31:9; Isaiah 1:15-17, 56:1; Jeremiah 29:7; Ezekiel 34:16; Hosea 12:6; Amos 5:15, 24; Micah 6:8; Matthew 5:6, 6:10, 33, 12:18, 18:5, 25:40; Luke 11:42, 18:7-8, 19:8-10; John 2:14-17; Acts 6:1-6; Ephesians 6:12; James 1:27; 1 John 3:17-18).

| 14 | Passion | With Jesus as our model, we want our lives to be characterized by passion. In the most surface sense it means that we should be moved by our relationship with God, and maintain a high level of dedication in all we do for Him. In a deeper sense it means that we value suffering and sacrifice. We see Jesus’ willingness to suffer for the lost and the hopeless as a model for all who would come after Him, and that we likewise are to take up our cross and to walk the way of suffering. Not seeking pain or persecution, but not shrinking back from it either. We are convinced that the clearest expression of the Gospel is love, and that love is forever re-defined by Jesus in His death for us. We value the kind of radical faith that expects every believer to be ready and willing to suffer and sacrifice for Jesus, His name and His Kingdom. We realize that this value is not mainstream, and that it contradicts the cultural current of prosperity and the idea that in all things God wants to give us personal success. We denounce this idea and affirm that the kingdom will not be built through selfish ambition, but through passionate, sacrificial love (Psalm 63:1; Matthew 10:22, 16:24-25, 26:38-39; Romans 5:3, 8:18; Luke 9:61-62, 14:27; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 1:5; Ephesians 5:1-2; Philippians 2:3, 3:10; Colossians 1:24, 3:17, 23; 2 Timothy 2:3, 3:12-15; 1 Peter 3:17; 1 John 2:17, 3:16).

| 15 | Prayer + Dependence on God | We commit ourselves to live a life of prayer because we believe that only God can accomplish what He calls us to do and that God should receive the glory. For this reason, we believe the Church should be committed to night and day pray for the world, the coming of the Kingdom and a deeper revelation of God. Without prayer and dependence on God for all things we are destined to either fail or become conceited in our success. We value constant prayer because we desire to know God, to deepen our understanding and revelation of his love for us and the world. We value prayer because we believe we are all called to the ministry of intercession and we want to see His Kingdom come. We believe that can only happen if we ask the Lord of the harvest to send us and other laborers in to the harvest field (2 Chronicles 7:14; Ezra 8:23; Psalm 17:6, 91:1-2; Isaiah 26:9; Jeremiah 29:12; Matthew 6:9-13, 6:33, 9:38; Mark 1:35; Luke 11:9-13, 18:1-7; Acts 2:42, 6:4; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 4:2; I Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; Hebrews 5:7; James 5:13-16; 1 Peter 4:7; Jude 20).

| 16 | Microchurches (Missional Communities or City Groups) | We affirm microchurch as the most basic expression of the Church and therefore, our ecclesiology is simple. When believers work together in sincere worship, and genuine community to accomplish a part of the mission of God, they are the Church. Worship, community and mission then are the ecclesial minimum. We encourage biblically appointed leadership, sacramental worship, the pursuit of the gifts of the Spirit and giving, but these are desired and not required to be considered a microchurch (missional community or City Group). We believe that these churches also need the larger network, leadership and resources of the city-wide Church to strengthen, empower and help direct the microchurch expression. We gather for worship, training, and as leadership primarily to strengthen and supply the microchurches in their labor to obey Jesus and proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom to their mission field. We believe the larger Church expression exists to serve the smaller and not the other way around (Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 10:1; John 4:23; Acts 2:42-47, 4:24, 31, 6:3-4, 6, 14:23, 16:4-5, 20:20; Romans 15:5-6, 16:3-5; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; 1 Corinthians 14:26, 16:19; Ephesians 4:16; Colossians 3:16, 4:15; 1 Timothy 3:2-7; Hebrews 6:10-11, 10:24-25; 1 Peter 2:5, 9; Revelation 1:6).

| 17 | The Bible | We trust the authority, reliability and truth of all Scripture. In humility, we acknowledge we do not fully understand God and the world He made. For that reason we rely on the Bible to be the rule of our faith, teaching us what we do not know, challenging and leading us away from our misconceptions, self deceptions, and convenient ideas about life and God. We don’t choose the parts of the Bible we prefer or want to believe, obey or understand; instead we submit to all of Scripture believing it reveals the Truth that is beyond us. We believe that Jesus is the Word of God and for that reason we don’t just obey Scripture, we love it. Because, like a mirror it shows us who we really are, and like a window it opens our lives to the beauty, wonder, and love of the God we long to know (Deuteronomy 4:10; 2 Samuel 7:28, 22:31; Psalm 18:30; Proverbs 30:5; Isaiah 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; Matthew 4:4, 22:29; Luke 8:21, 11:28, 24:32; John 1:1-17, 5:24, 39, 8:51; Acts 8:35, 18:11; 1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 3:16; Colossians 1:25, 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 Peter 4:11; 2 Peter 3:15-16; 1 John 2:5; Revelation 3:8, 19:9).

| 18 | Empowerment | We affirm the priesthood of all believers. We affirm that each person who has given their life in surrender to Jesus and His cause has a unique calling from Jesus to fulfill in mission and in the Church. We believe that this is only possible by the Spirit of God living in and working through each and every believer. It is the Spirit of God that empowers. Therefore we work towards empowering each and every believer to hear and fulfill the calling of Jesus on their life. This value of empowerment is expressed in all spiritual gifts and callings for all people regardless of race, gender or age for the sake of Jesus’ mission and for the equipping of all believers towards their maturity (Matthew 4:18-20, 10:1-15; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 4:18-19, 6:12-16, 11:13; John 14:26-27, 15:1-4, 26-27, 20:22; Acts 2:1-4, 4:29-31, 6:3; Romans 8:9-11, 15-17, 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, 9-16, 12, 14:1, 16:19; Galatians 5:22-26; Ephesians 4:11-13, 10; 1 Timothy 1:18-19; 2 Timothy 1:7, 4:19; James 4:10; 1 Peter 2:9-10; Jude 20-21; Revelation 1:5-6).

Additional posts with The Underground: 

+ Underground | Being a Servant Leader + Benefitting More

+ Underground | Invitation into the Creation, Innovation, & Improvisation

+ Underground Microchurches | Permission to Play & Persevere

Bonus resources:

+ Microchurches: A Smaller Way by Brian Sanders 

+ Ready or Not: Kingdom Innovation for a Brave New World by Doug Paul

+ The Starfish and the Spirit: Unleashing the Leadership Potential of Churches and Organizations by Lance Ford, Rob Wegner, and Alan Hirsch 

+ Red Skies: 10 Essential Conversations Exploring Our Future as the Church edited by L. Rowland Smith 

Christ is all,

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan 

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SOG | Creation, Crisis, Covenant, Christ, Church, New Creation

What is the Story of God?

Chaturvedi Badrinath, a Hindu scholar of world religions, once said to the English Reformed bishop Lesslie Newbigin:

I can't understand why you missionaries present the Bible to us in India as a book of religion. It is not a book of religion – and anyway we have plenty of books of religion in India. We don't need any more! I find in your Bible a unique interpretation of universal history, the history of the whole creation and the history of the human race. And therefore a unique interpretation of the human person as responsible actor in history. That is unique. There is nothing else in the whole religious literature of the world to put alongside it.

Ever wondered what the point of the Bible is? Does it make any sense? And if so, how is Jesus the one who helps connect the beginning and end? 

Key questions to consider as you see the story develop are:

(1) Who is God?
(2) What is God doing?
(3) Who am I in the story?
(4) How would my life be changed if I believed this story about 
God, humanity, and the world?

The Story of God in the Bible Helps Us Understand His Love
and His Kingdom Mission for His People and His Creation

Shorter Version: Story of God, Story of Us 
5-Minute Video: True Story

Act 1: Creation

 

What would life on earth look like for us if we lived the way God created life to be – good, true, and beautiful? 

The story begins with God, the holy Creator and King who came and spoke the universe into existence by His Word. His Spirit was present with all that He made. In reflection of the Creator God being good, true, and beautiful, everything He created was good, true, and beautiful. He made outer space surrounding the earth, the sky above and the sea around the earth, and the land and plants on the earth. And then He did wonderful work to fill these places. He spoke stars and planets into existence to fill space, birds and fish to fill the sky and sea, and animals to fill the land and help spread out the life and plants. And it was all beautiful and good. Then He made humanity, the crown of His creation, by breathing into them His very own life. He formed a man and woman, diverse and unified, to reflect His own image. And then He rested from His very good work. And before the man and woman did anything for Him, He graciously blessed them. In resting in their identity in Him, they then learned to work well in His creation. There was family, food, and work. The holy Creator God and King walked with them like a good Father for this first family, and as a generous King He gave them wonderful responsibility to rule the land and animals with Him in His Kingdom mission for the earth. He placed the first humans inside a garden at the center of His creation and called this family of husband and wife to receive knowledge from Him in how to give life to everything around them. They were to make the world flourish by working and resting as they spread the glory of God and the beauty of His garden temple to the ends of the earth. They were to work like He did by being creative, making more image bearers to fill the earth, cultivating the potential of the earth, and ruling the garden and animals with understanding, good authority, and care. The relationships between God and His family, between the man and woman, and between the humans and the creation were all very good in the garden. The man and woman trusted the Word of God. Their lives were a song, full and wholly good in working, ruling, playing, and resting like God. God dwelt among them and His glory filled the garden with the humans and creation. God was with humanity and everything was very good.

Creation Scriptures | Genesis 1-2; John 1:1-5; Genesis 5:1-2; Psalm 90:17; Isaiah 40:28; Psalm 24:1; Deuteronomy 10:14; Psalm 19:1-7; Psalm 47:6-8; Psalm 74:12; Psalm 90:17; Psalm 148

Act 2: Crisis 

If God created us and the earth good, true, and beautiful, why is there so much evil, self-destruction, ugliness, and rebellion in us and around us? 

After a period of time of walking with God, receiving life from Him, and doing good work that flourished in His ways, humanity chose to break relationship with God as Creator, Father, and King and chose to irresponsibly rule in their own way by taking instead of receiving and giving. They stopped trusting God's Word and walking in His ways with Him. In ungratefulness for all that He provided them, the man and woman chose to take knowledge and life in a different way than God had given them to receive. Rather than trusting God’s good reign and relationship with them, this first family chose to turn away from God and turn to God's enemy, listening to the evil one's slippery lie of twisting God's words into meaning that serving themselves would bring them life instead of death, and that this life separate from God would be better for them instead of loving God and each other, and continuing in their good work and responsibility of ruling God's Kingdom with Him on earth. The consequences were personal and far reaching as the man and woman, named Adam and Eve, invited ungratefulness, entitlement, and separation into every crevice of their life and the world. Family was fractured. Food became more scarce. Work became toil. Instead of filling their relationships and responsibilities with goodness and love, they felt the emptying impact of sin's shame and blame-shifting, and ran away from their relationship with God and responsibility before Him by hiding. The entire creation fell under the shadow of death, corruption, and destruction. Sin, like a parasite, entered into God’s good world as death began to eat away at everything. God, the Rescuer and Righteous Judge, moved on behalf of humanity and the earth by cursing the enemy and promising that there would be a future promised One who would crush the evil one. But the holy Creator God and King who loved them like a Father, in keeping His Word that if they chose to not believe Him that they would die, had to make these broken humans leave His holy presence in His temple garden so they would not be consumed by His perfect justice. On their way out, He covered them in animal skins to cover their shame and nakedness. Relationship with God and each other, and responsibility to work the gift of creation, would now be fractured and difficult because humanity chose their selfish pride over God's self-giving peace. History began to spiral into increasing hardship, violence, greed, poverty, erosion, and disrepair. The first child of this now broken world committed murder. And the taking of life multiplied. The fear of death was everywhere and sin crouched, attacked, and sought to rule over humans instead of having them serve God as King and working together to bless and fill the earth as His good co-heirs. More and more, humanity chose to manage good and evil in their own ways instead of by God's words and instruction, doing what was right in their own eyes and taking from God, each other, and the earth instead of receiving and giving. They continued shamefully focusing on making and taking a name for themselves, and they became more and more irresponsible in warping the purposes of family, community, art, and vocation, which in turn led to increasing evil and death. God the Creator, King, and Righteous Judge, sought to cleanse the world of this great wickedness including all of humanity. But He had grace on one man named Noah, who walked with God in close relationship, which in turn led the way to the salvation of this man's whole family, creation, and the world. Noah listened to God's Word in relationship with God, did responsible work for God, his family, and creation, and saw God begin again His Kingdom mission after the cleansing of the world.

Crisis Scriptures | Romans 5:12; Ecclesiastes 9:3; Genesis 3, 4:6-12, 16-24; 6:5; Romans 1:19-32; Deuteronomy 9:24, 32:6; Psalm 14:2-3, 51:5; Isaiah 59:2; Jeremiah 17:9, 22:1-17; Ezekiel 22; Matthew 15:19; Luke 6:45; Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:56; Revelation 12:9; 1 Peter 5:8; Genesis 6:8-13; Genesis 9:1-3, 8-17

Act 3: Covenant 

 

Does God desire to step in and restore what we have broken and ravaged? 

Despite continuing to choose their own ways over His again and again, God pursued humanity with mercy and justice. God the Provider, the Promise-Maker, and Promise-Keeper, made generous covenants, promising to intervene and graciously bless humanity again so that humanity would be with Him and work together with Him to bless the world. He told Adam and Eve that He would defeat the evil one, sin, and death with a promised One in the human line. He would not destroy creation, but would restore it and make it fruitful and multiply like He promised Noah and his family. He would bring a solution to the problem of sin and death that was infecting His good creation through blessings that would create a relationship between Him and people from all nations. After Noah died, in His grace-filled love for humanity despite them choosing to not fill the earth and instead build a tower for their own names, God chose to call and bless a family again, led by a man named Abram, telling him and his family to go, multiply, fill the land with His glory, and demonstrate and declare His goodness and grace throughout the earth. God told Abram, who He renamed Abraham, which means father of many nations, that He would make Abraham's family as numerous as the stars and make the land his family cared for flourish like a bountiful garden. In being blessed by receiving this covenant promise from God, this household was to bless and give to people from every tongue, tribe, and nation. Abraham's family became a nation of people called Israel, and God, the Redeemer and Rescuer, brought them from out of slavery in Egypt and brought them into relationship with Him, calling them to be a kingdom of priests who were to bless every nation throughout the world by taking on the responsibility of demonstrating and declaring the good ways of God in relation to Him, each other, and all of creation. He gave them His Word of life in the law and called them to follow it to show what humanity on earth was intended to be in relationship with Him and in responsibility for the world. Families were blessed, food was provided, and work was valued. He dwelt with His people in all His glory in a tabernacle, which was created by His direction, and Spirit-fueled work in chosen people. The tabernacle was modeled to resemble the Garden of Eden and the entire cosmos, showcasing His continued purpose to walk with mankind and make the earth His Kingdom's dwelling place. He taught the people how to provide pure sacrifices like a firstborn spotless lamb that would remind them that life was in the blood He gave them, that their sin caused death to creation, and that their sin needed to be covered and removed from them and the earth so that they could continue to be with Him. The high priest did this for the people before entering into the Holy of Holies to show that humanity's place was with God when their sin was paid for and removed. Celebration meals involved recognizing their freedom from slavery, death passing over them when blood was marked on their doors, and the firstfruits and fulfillment of the harvest. These happened yearly, and forgiveness of debts and giving to the foreigner were also part of these great celebrations in recognition of how God forgives debts and welcomes the foreigner and the poor. But even with God and His glory and power dwelling with them on the earth, the people were stubborn and rebellious and soon rejected their relational identity to Him and the responsibility He gave them for the world even after He redeemed and rescued them. They fell back into putting themselves before anyone or anything else, including the sojourner and foreigner even though they were once the same in Egypt. And they took advantage of the poor, the weak, the orphaned, and the widowed among them, and misused creation instead of cultivating it. They continued to selfishly do what was right in their own eyes. However, even when they didn't listen to God and rebelled, He still pursued them as a Father lovingly seeks his lost son or daughter and rescued them over and over again from their destructive ways. He even gave them the promised land of flourishing He told Abraham about, and He gave them a good king in King David and a wise king in his son, King Solomon, to provide glimpses of what God's Kingdom and good rule could be like on earth. King Solomon built a temple even greater and more beautiful than the tabernacle where God came to dwell with them in His glory. The surroundings of His Holy of Holies in the temple were also created to look like the Garden of Eden and the cosmos in design and purpose. But future kings continually forgot God's relational promises and responsible commands, and fell into repetitive destructive habits until eventually God let them turn themselves over to their desires for lesser idols and often horrific lusts involving sexual abuse, greed, violence, and even child sacrifice outside the walls of their city. They rejected God and His Kingdom reign, and were enslaved by other kingdoms and gods. The temple was destroyed and the people were taken captive in exile by other harsh and abusive nations. Throughout all of this time, even in the midst of their slavery, rebellion, and exile, God continued to provide faithful men and women who called the people to repent and turn back to God's ways. These priests, judges, kings, and prophets reminded the people to remember what God had said in order that they might hope for the day when He would graciously come to dwell with them in close relationship again and free them to obey His life-giving commands. The prophets said that God would write His law on their hearts so that they could obey Him, and that God would give them His Holy Spirit so that they would walk in His steps. The prophets also spoke of a promised anointed One called the Messiah who would suffer as a servant and die for them, but also raise up and bring God's mighty Kingdom. God continued to hold to His Word that He would atone for His people and forgive them, that He would gather His people from all nations, removing the deceitful, wicked, and selfish from the land, that He would bring His Kingdom's justice to the oppressed, and that He would restore all of creation to be good and bountiful again under His loving reign. But after a period of time, only some remembered the covenant promises and the promised anointed One.

Covenant Scriptures | Genesis 3:15; 9:1-3, 8-17; 12:1-5, 15, 17:1-9; Exodus 4:22-23, 12:1-28, 19:5-6, 22:21-22, 23:6-12, 31:1-11, 35:30-35; Leviticus 26:9; Deuteronomy 11:8-28, 15:1-11; 28; 30: 2 Samuel 7:8-16; 2 Chronicles 7; Isaiah 42:1-7, 10-12; 52-53; 55:3-6; 62:2-4, 10-12; Jeremiah 23:3, 31:31-34, 32:37-41; Ezekiel 36:23-38, 37:24-28; Zechariah 8:1-8, 20-23; Isaiah 66:1-2, 22-23; Psalm 67, 96

Act 4: Christ 

 

How does God come to fulfill His promises and rescue, redeem, and restore us and His creation?

God sent Jesus Christ – the "Yes" and "Amen" to all His covenant promises – to save His people from their sins. Jesus came to the earth as the Word of God made flesh, and the Spirit of God was with Him to speak the Good News of the Kingdom being near now and coming fully again. He was born into poverty as part of an oppressed and ethnic minority people group – Nazarene Jews in the Galilee region of the Gentiles under the rule of the Roman Empire – working well to cultivate creation as a carpenter, and growing in favor with God and man. As the Son of God, He was the only human to live a whole life of selfless, holy service in relationship to God, with other humans, and with all of creation. Jesus was good, true, and beautiful in who He was and how He lived. He made family members of people from all walks of life. He ate with them and gave Himself as the Bread of Life for them. He also calmed creation with His voice, and creation listened to His voice in harmony with what He said. All of Jesus' good, true, and beautiful work brought healing, redemption, and restoration. He received and He gave without taking. His message and life were loving God and loving others as He called people to turn back to relationship with God and each other, instead of continuing in selfish and destructive ways. He taught them how to seek first the Kingdom of heaven, so they could learn again how to rest in their identity from God the Father, and then responsibly work to serve the world around them. Jesus, the Son of Man, came to make the crooked paths of humanity straight by following every one of God's instructions and law, and walking in every one of God's ways so that people from every tribe, tongue, and nation could walk together in God's ways with Him. He did this to fulfill God's promise to Adam and Eve that the evil one would be crushed, the covenant promise to Noah and his family that the earth would not be condemned, the covenant promise to Abram and his family that their generations would bless all the peoples of the earth, the covenant promise to Moses and Israel that God's people would be a light to the nations and a kingdom of priests, and the covenant promise that the Kingdom He established in David's line would never be broken and that a King after God's own heart would sit on the throne. Jesus was the Redeemer, just like God with His people in Egypt, and the Rescuer who set men, women, and children of all kinds free from slavery. Jesus, whose name means "God saves," was the fulfillment of the ultimate plan and promise of Emmanuel, "God with us." He came and tabernacled among us as God's true temple, man with God and God with man, bringing together the Kingdom of heaven and earth, the meaning of the whole cosmos. His good news of the Kingdom of God was full of grace for the foreigner, the weak, the widow, the orphan, and the poor in spirit who knew their need of Him. He came to heal those who knew they were sick in heart and mind, and to seek and save the lost who were humbly hoping to be found by God. He resisted all of the enemy's lies and obeyed all of God's Word. And He did this all when humanity so often played the enemy of God and His ways. The evil one's power play wasn't enough and he felt the victorious impact of this anointed promised One's crushing power. But this also means that those who continued to listen to the lies of the enemy already thought they were right in their own view of the world and did not want Jesus to be the answer to their ungratefulness, entitlement, and separation from others they did not like. They did not think they were broken, so they did not want to listen to Jesus' good, true, and beautifully powerful words or follow Him, revealing their need of Him. Jewish leaders thought He was blasphemous by equating Himself with God. Romans thought He was crazy for even desiring to be a king of an oppressed and enslaved people. So just like humanity didn't follow God's righteous reign in the beginning in the garden and broke relationship with Him and responsibility to the world, those in power when Jesus came to earth did not want Him to be God with them and reign over them either. They decided to break relationship with Him and any responsibility to Him by killing Jesus, the Messiah sent from God, outside their city, sacrificing the Son of Man and Son of God by crucifixion. Jesus, the Messiah, the anointed One who fulfilled the new covenant promise of restored relationship with God, and the responsible Servant King of God's Kingdom, was killed on a cursed cross as the perfect spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus took on and received the just punishment of sin and death we deserved. But, as God promised, after three days in the grave, Jesus was raised to life, defeating sin, death, and the evil one, and came back to invite us to trust in His death-defying words and walk in His evil-crushing ways. Jesus was the perfect Rescuer, Priest, King, Redeemer, Prophet, Provider, Promise-Maker, Promise-Keeper, Messiah and Victor over all that is evil. God's ultimate plan of restoration and renewal to turn the tide of our human history was revealed and accomplished. His Kingdom purposes had been showcased, and the full extent of how far He would go to restore our relationship with Him was revealed.

Christ Scriptures | Matthew 16:15-17; John 11:27; Psalm 111:9, 130:7-8; 2 Corinthians 1:19-20; Isaiah 52:7-53; Hebrews 8:6, 9:11-15; Matthew 1:21-23; Deuteronomy 16:11; Mark 10:45; Luke 1:68, 22:14-20; Acts 10:38; Romans 3:23-24, 8:18-25, 10:9-13; 1 Peter 2:24, 3:18; 1 Timothy 1:15; 2 Timothy 1:9-10; Titus 2:11-14; Philippians 2:6-11; John 1:29, 3:16-17; 1 John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14-15; Colossians 1:12-17, 2:13-15

 Act 5: Church 

If God came in Jesus to redeem and restore us and His creation, how do we follow Him and His ways in countering all the evil, self-destruction, ugliness, and rebellion still prevalent in the world today?

The story isn’t over yet. Jesus, whose name means "God saves," and who was the fulfillment of the ultimate plan and promise of Emmanuel, "God with us," lived, died, resurrected, ascended, and sent the Spirit of God to you for you to believe in Him, be redeemed and reconciled with God, and join His Kingdom mission of sharing and showing this good news throughout the whole earth with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. He gave a new promise that He would continue to be with us and would return as King of kings to reconcile heaven and earth and establish His Kingdom forever. When you trust in Jesus' perfectly good words, works, and ways on your behalf, your sins are forgiven and removed, and your relationship with God is restored. Instead of trying to achieve fulfillment by your own merit while continuing to struggle with ungratefulness, entitlement, and separation from God, you gratefully receive the abundant life He selflessly provides by His grace because He has defeated sin, death, the evil one, and separation from God for you. When you believe and trust in Him, you will be able to rejoice in how you now understand and know the good news that though you were more broken, selfish, and rebellious in yourself than you ever dared believe before, you are more loved and accepted in Jesus than you ever dared hope. When you receive this gift of life with God in Jesus – like God has always done with people who walk in His ways – He dwells with you by His Spirit so that you become part of His family and His temple. In loving relationship, He gives you His name, baptizing individuals and households in the name of the Father, and the name of the Son, and the name of the Holy Spirit. He also gives a celebration meal called Communion or Eucharist (i.e. thanksgiving) where Jesus' body broken and blood shed for us, represented in bread and wine, help us remember what He did and that He is with us until He comes again. He gives you the responsibility to dwell with Him and walk with Him to bless people and His creation throughout the world. By trusting His Word and walking in step with His Spirit, you will be able to embody His purpose for humanity to showcase glimpses of His Kingdom in your community and city by demonstrating and declaring the good news of God's reign in and through Jesus with those who know they are sick and lost. You will also be able to remain faithful to Him even as many will reject you for following Jesus' words, works, and ways as many rejected Jesus when He walked the earth. But in faith in God's providence and the power of His Spirit in you, you will be able to strive on faithfully in life with God, each other, and all of creation because of His grace, and His growing desire in you to see restoration happen in others and the world around you. Your family, food, and work will be able to be received as gifts from God, and you can give them to others freely in Jesus' name. By His Spirit, You will be able to love both neighbor and enemy as Jesus did. You will join Jesus in welcoming the sojourner and foreigner to believe in His salvation. And you will share His compassion in caring for the weak, the oppressed, the widow, the orphan, and the poor in spirit. As you discover that people across all ethnicities and cultures are your family in Jesus' name, you will be able to lay down your prejudices and privileges so that you join together with sisters and brothers in God's family to represent His Kingdom of priests to the world. You will suffer because much of the world did and many still do reject Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. But, as Jesus promised, He will be with you in the suffering, and will bring others who will suffer with you. We follow Him and do this together as His Church – His multiethnic family of Kingdom servants who are redeemed by His shed blood and empowered by His Holy Spirit. Jesus has called us to be God's light to the nations together. We can love, forgive, and sacrifice in Jesus' name for each other. We can enjoy family, food, and work for the glory of God, doing all for Him rather than for our value or greed. And we can serve those around us, and the world in the spheres of our neighborhoods, workplaces, avenues of art, and the environment as a preview of what Jesus will soon completely fulfill when He returns to bring God's good, right, and beautiful Kingdom of heaven to earth.

Church Scriptures | Mark 16:15; Colossians 1:11-22; Matthew 16:16-18, 25:31-46; Luke 10:25-37, 14:7-14; Mark 10:42-45; Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-47; John 20:21-22; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:42-47, 4:29-35; 2 Timothy 1:9-10; 2 Corinthians 9:6-12; Ephesians 1:15-23, 2:13-22; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, 6:16-18; 1 Peter 2:9-12; Romans 12:9-21; 1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:23-24; John 17:6-26; Romans 8:18-23

Act 6: (New) Creation 

 

How does this story of God come to completion for us and the earth? 

When Jesus comes back to earth to bring God's Kingdom reign to fruition, He will make all things new. Everything will be good and completely beautiful again. God will be with His people and He will justly remove from the earth all of the sin, death, hell, destruction, and the evil one, and will restore the earth's brokenness to complete peace in His Kingdom of flourishing mercy and power. The place where heaven meets earth will include the garden where God used to walk with humanity, only now it will be a garden city full of people from every part of humanity. God's family from every tribe, tongue, and nation will be His Kingdom and priests, and His glory and goodness will fill and overflow from the temple – which is now God on His throne dwelling with man on earth – into every area of humanity and the earth. Those who reject God's grace and Jesus' holy good reign will receive justice in their desire to reject relationship with Him. They will be made responsible for their ungratefulness, entitlement, and separation, and be forever set apart from Him without His redemption or restoration outside the Kingdom city with the evil one in isolation, darkness, and weeping. For those who have a redeemed relationship with God through Jesus, and who have answered His call in obedience to be responsible to follow His ways in declaring the good news of His Kingdom, salvation, and caring for others – including feeding, clothing, welcoming, healing and helping the poor and oppressed in the world – they will be with Him and will be fully blessed to enjoy good, right, and beautifully abundant life together with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation forever. All relationships in God's Kingdom – between God and humanity, mankind with each other, and humanity with the earth – will flourish. Work will always be good and productive, art will be beautiful all the time, creation will be cared for with understanding and appreciation, and the glory of God will fill the earth. God will be with us – His family featuring blessed children, women, and men from every cultural and ethnic background as He promised – and we will thrive in perfectly loving God and each other, and cultivating His creation together. We will always take on the responsibility of reflecting His goodness in the reconciled heaven and earth as His Kingdom and priests. This will be better than even the very good at the beginning. It will be more than we can ask for or imagine. 

(New) Creation Scriptures | Psalm 90:1; Matthew 5:5; Habakkuk 2:14; Isaiah 60; 2 Chronicles 6:18-21; Isaiah 65:17-25; Mark 16:15; Matthew 25:31-46; Revelation 5:9-10, 7:9-10; 21-22  

What if this story is true? 
How would this change the way you live and who or what you trust in today? 

The word "repentance" actually means to have a change of mind and to make a turn in direction on the path one is walking. What would it be like for you to think differently about Jesus and begin to follow His way, His truth, and His life? How would your thoughts change? How would your behavior change? How loved would you feel that God is willing to do all of this for you even after you have ignored and rejected His pursuit of you so often? How would you receive this gift and then share this good news with others in word and deed? 

For those who like to read and want to look more into the details of the story, I encourage you to read Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen's The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama or Sean Gladding's The Story of God, the Story of Us: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible. For something shorter, be sure to check out Missio Dei's "True Story: From Creation to Restoration" doc as they are the ones who came up with the helpful symbols above. 

If you'd rather not do more reading, and instead would just like to talk with someone about this, feel free to contact me. I would be more than willing to meet you at a cafe or pub and answer any questions you have, as well as listen to your story. If you ask me for my story, I'd be more than willing to share it, too. The Story of God is not only my favorite thing in the world to share, I believe it is the true story and I strive, by the grace of God and joy from His Spirit, to live my life following Jesus in light of it.

Next post: The Story of God | Jesus: True and Better

Christ is all, 

Rev. Mike "Sully" Sullivan

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