Today's Agenda
If you are one of today's M.C.s, click here.
IN (with each other)
Welcome
Coming Next: Christmas party! See details and location below. Bring something for the Christmas potluck. And, spend $0 on something for our Crazy Santa Gift Exchange. Bring a friend.
- Online service testing in January (1 of 6 team members)
- Forge
- Book series for January
- Calendar Items
- Prayer for neighbors
Gratefulness and Generosity (see GIVE below)
UP (with God)
Message (Brick) & Response (Rock) (see below for Notes)
OUT (WITH NEIGHBORS)
6pm Caroling
Arbys
Coming next
Next Series
In January we will go through the book "The End of Religion." Purchase a book to get the most from this study. Bring a friend who has doubts about God or who you think might enjoy this study.
Sync to the Calendar
More sync options on our calendar page.
Giving
100% of gifts are invested into advancing our mission to go and make communities of disciples in every neighborhood and people group.
If you consider Create your church
Ask Jesus about your relationship with money. Which master has your heart?
Matthew 6:21-24Be generous according to your ability. Calculate according to your income. Give an amount that demonstrates your trust in God.
Deut 16:10-17 | 1 Cor 16:2Give a gift that moves your heart and feel God’s delight in you!
2 Cor 8-9
Create Church operate with financial transparency. Please e-mail stewardship@createchurch.org if you would like to serve with the generosity team.
5 Ways to give:
1) 1-TIME SETUP OF SCHEDULED GIVING (preferred method)
2) USE AN APP
Send your gift to 763-634-1118 or give@createchurch.org
3) USE YOUR PHONE TO GIVE BY CREDIT CARD
4) PLACE CASH OR CHECK IN THE BLACK BOX
Please make checks out to "Create."
5) MAIL CASH OR CHECK
Create Church
12299 Champlin Dr Suite 201
Champlin, MN 55316
December Giving
Join our New 1 chapter a day reading plan
more on our reading plan: My Daily Muse
We are a
Garden
Launch Pad
Lab
Starfish
our weekly practices
C
CARVE OUT TIME TO HEAR THE HOLY SPIRIT
coming Jan 2015
Commit to at least one hour per week of listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Some may choose to take a prayer walk or a once-per-week time of solitude and listening to God. Others may segment their hour into daily increments of ten minutes per day for six days of the week. The point is to have a specific time of just listening in silence, not speaking or asking for anything, just letting the Lord speak to you. What is He asking you to do? Who is He putting on your heart? Take note or journal what you hear, verify with scripture and those in church community with you, and immediately put His words into practice.
#GARDEN #UP
R
READ A CHAPTER A DAY FROM THE BIBLE
introduced Fall 2013
Pay special attention to learn more about Jesus, his ways and means. Ask God to speak to you as you read, and do what He says. Discuss what you read with others. Write what you are doing and learning in a journal. Sometime we read sections of a book together. Invest in your personal and family growth by reading and attending things will help you grow into who God created you to be. Sign up for the daily reading at http://mydailymuse.org.
#GARDEN #LAB #UP
E
EAT TOGETHER
introduced Summer 2014
Eat 2 meals each week with others. 1 with someone IN your faith community, 1 with somone OUT who, as far as you know, is not a Christ-follower from the places you live, work, or play. Practice generous hospitality and invite people into your life. Around the table, gospel things happen. Your IN meal is a great place for a Huddle conversation, where you share about your life, what God has been saying to you, and what you've been doing about it.
#GARDEN #LAB #IN #OUT
A
ACT AS A MISSIONARY
coming Feb 2015
Act as a missionary every day. God has sent you. As a faith community, we are a collective of missionaries. We want to stay mindful of opportunities to engage in mission on our day-to-day journey. To do this keep a daily journal of how you have worked with Jesus during the day. Ask yourself how you responded to his promptings and if there were any instances or opportunities where you resisted Jesus during the day.
#LAUNCHPAD #LAB #OUT
T
TELL YOUR STORY
March 2015
Tell your story to someone this week. Listen to others' stories. Be humble and vulnerable. Telling your story doesn't mean to tell your whole life story, rather it means to tell the truth about who you are, and use words to share things about your life that will help people see the work of Jesus in your life. The listening side of this is the drawing out of other people's stories. Ask great questions. Listen intently. Don't "one up." Pray for others, and tell them you are praying for them Be present in your relationships and conversations, and be aware that God is already at work in your lives and desires to help you go one step forward into the story He created you to live.
#LAUNCHPAD #LAB #OUT
E
EXTEND A BLESSING
Fall 2014
You are blessed to be a blessing, so give something that would be received as good news to 2 people each week – for 1 person in your Christian community and to someone who is not following Jesus from where your live, work, or play. Blessings can range from a simple encouragement to a small gift or gesture. Recommended is finding a something to do with someone that would be a blessing. Use great discernment and transparency with your loved ones when extending blessings to someone of the opposite sex.
#LAUNCHPAD #LAB #IN #OUT
Today's Notes
SPLIT UP INTO GROUPS OF 3-5 PEOPLE
BREAK THE ICE INTO A DELICIOUS BLENDED DRINK
- Say your names and quickly share about a time you felt like an outsider or outcast.
- Pick a Discussion Mover (DM) for today. This person's job is to (1) be vulnerable (2) keep discussion moving (3) make the "do it" section as impactful as possible. You can nominate a DM, spin something to choose someone at random, or ask the group if you can volunteer.
- DM: Ask right now what the group's expectations are for this discussion. Is this a place where we can be honest with each other? Do we want Jesus to speak to us? Are we willing to follow Him? Pray for God to speak with you and guide you.
INTRO
Read Luke 2:8-20
JESUS LOVES OUTSIDERS
The fact that the shepherds were the first to hear about the birth of Jesus and the first to share the news of the birth of Jesus is significant, because the shepherds had little to no status in the society of their day. They spent their time around Bethlehem, but they weren’t even in this small town. They were outsiders, literally and figuratively. But as God sent angels to be messengers of “good news of great joy that will be for all the people,” (v. 10) He broke the rules of society to show how true that really was. Shepherds weren’t left behind by this news; instead, they were the front-runners who shared this news with everyone else.
Jesus also broke the rules by going around the aristocracy. Most of the time, when a king is announced, it happens through the institutions of power and prestige. But Jesus was born on the opposite side of the ladder, and his birth announcement went to the outsiders, not the insiders. Jesus did not become the best of the human race — He became the least of the human race. Instead of coming as a ruler like Herod or Caesar,
He came in poverty.
JESUS STARTED A REVOLUTION
Through this story, Christmas awakens us to those away from us . God didn’t ignore the outsiders, and neither should we. The Christmas story calls us to notice people whom society overlooks — people from small towns, from disrespected professions, from lower economic status, from different races and genders. Jesus came to bring great joy for all the people, and that means that those of us who follow Christ should awaken to those away from us.
This is something Jesus did throughout His life. He didn’t leave behind the left behind. Instead, He forgave the sinful and included the ignored. He welcomed little children and women into His circle, and taught His followers to do the same. Jesus noticed those away from Him, and He brought them into the circle. By doing this, Jesus started a revolution.
Revolution happens when institutions are upended and things are turned on their head. And Jesus’ birth and life started a revolution for the benefit of the unlovely, the overlooked, and the disrespected. We tend to want to be aristocrats. We want to be powerful and popular and profitable. But following Jesus leads us to be revolutionaries, not aristocrats. The Christmas story tells us that revolution is rising up, and Jesus calls us to join that revolution and to serve the least and the lost. We do this when we let Christmas awaken us to those away from us .
If you’re an insider, this is the challenge of Jesus. But if you’re an outsider, this is the promise of Jesus. The Christmas story tells you that you have a place. If shepherds could be the ones announcing Jesus’ birth, you can be a part of what Jesus is doing in our world here and now. You have a place in the revolution of Jesus.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Who are people like the shepherds around us?
- What will it mean for us to notice those away from us?
- What should we do when we awaken to those away from us?
- What does the revolution of Jesus teach us about how we should treat these people?
- What do we have to set aside to join Jesus’ revolution?
- What do we have to take up to join the revolution?
1) IN: WITH EACH OTHER
As we let Christmas awaken us to those away from us , we must start to pay attention to people we tend to overlook or ignore or marginalize. This can be difficult for us, because we spend so much time and energy focusing on ourselves. But Christmas reminds us to listen to people like the shepherds and to break down the walls that society tries to use to separate us from people unlike us.
2) OUT: WITH NEIGHBORS
So today, the challenge for you is to hear a herder. There are people in your life or people you may meet today who are like the shepherds in this story — people who are uncouth and maybe even a little foul-mouthed — who aren’t usually heard. Take time to listen to one of those people today. As you do, remember how much God values and loves that person and everyone that would be consider an outsider. He often chooses the last of society to be the first in His kingdom.
Listening is an important way that we can live out what we’ve learned from this passage. But the shepherds also give us an example of speaking that we should emulate. After they saw the baby Jesus, “they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.” (v.18-19)
Once you hear a herder, take time to be a messenger. In that conversation, or in another one, share the "good news of great joy" that you are grateful that Jesus is here for you (and all people).
3) UP: WITH GOD
Share this message with an attitude of glorifying and praising God, as the shepherds did.
Read the following about our "Tell your story" practice, and answer the following questions:
T
TELL YOUR STORY
Tell your story to someone this week. Listen to others' stories. Be humble and vulnerable. Telling your story doesn't mean to tell your whole life story, rather it means to tell the truth about who you are, and use words to share things about your life that will help people see the work of Jesus in your life. The listening side of this is the drawing out of other people's stories. Ask great questions. Listen intently. Don't "one up." Pray for others, and tell them you are praying for them Be present in your relationships and conversations, and be aware that God is already at work in your lives and desires to help you go one step forward into the story He created you to live.
#LAUNCHPAD #LAB #OUT
- How does this practice relate to listening to herders?
- How does the practice relate to telling the good news like the shepherds?
- What is the most challenging thing for you about this practice?
- Pray with each other that God would help you help you and give you His heart for people different than you.
Coming March 2015
The world is changing fast. Are you equipped to make a Jesus-like impact in your world? Go on a 3-month mission trip quitting your job, leaving your neighborhood, or hanging up your hobbies. This is a chance to invest time in the lab of learning and start to launch out in love with your neighbors.
A full 9-month mission trip starts September 2015.
More about Forge America: