I Didn’t Sign Up For This – What To Do When The Abnormal Becomes The New Normal – Part 2
August 9, 2020
The Dream Team
(an unsuspecting story)
Lessons:
- Play for the name on the of the jersey and not the .
- Discern the and urgency of the moment.
- You can be . (Just showing up is not enough).
Application
Lesson # 1
- Play for the name on the of the jersey and not the .
Spiritual Concept
- “The goal is not to get back to normal but to get back to God”—Bishop Dale Bronner
- This should not merely be an act of deference, but an act of.
- The church belongs to God and anything in His hands is unstoppable (Matthew 16:18 [ESV]).
- God decides when church activity resumes in buildings, not us. (Jeremiah 28:14 [ESV]; Jeremiah 29:10-14 [ESV]; Ezra 1:1-4 [ESV]).
- Debate about what the church should do in the pandemic diminishes when we remember whose church it is (I Corinthians 3:3-9 [ESV]).
- Jesus is building His church, but it is one made of, not bricks.
Lesson # 2
- Discern the and urgency of the moment.
Spiritual Concept
- Discern the Context
- Matthew 24:3-14 [NKJV]
- The national and global scene is in a state of disarray, some of which is unprecedented.
- Whether or not are fully living out Matthew 24 right now, what is clear is that the for fulfilling it currently exist.
- Consider the changes to the world in the last 20-25 years that have changed our way of life:
-
- The internet
- The Bush v. Gore Presidential Election
- 9/11
- Smart devices
- Social media
- The 2008 Presidential Election and the eventual election of President Obama
- LGBTQ Legislation
- The election of President Trump
- Drastic changes to American foreign policy
- The current pandemic (and the domino effect on the economy, education and other spheres of society)
- The George Floyd killing and its aftermath
If all of these things could happen in a 20-25-year period, consider what could transpire within the next 20-25 years?
Lesson # 3
- You can be —but can’t. (Just showing up is not enough; you have to lean into and His for the church).
Spiritual Concept
- Distinguish between the things you can control and the things you can’t control.
- If the current pandemic is one of the pestilences Jesus about, it is in God’s hands, not ours. (Matthew 24:21-22 [ESV]).
- However, you can choose to be more rooted in , which is key to enduring the events that lead up to the end of this age (Matthew 13:18-23 [ESV]).
© Joshua D. Smith, Ph.D., 2020