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A Church Where People Care for People
Ephesians 4 shows that the church is not built by a few people doing everything. Jesus equips ordinary people to know, care for, and help one another.
What We Could Never Build
Genesis 4 reminds us that we can build an impressive life apart from God, but we cannot build our way out of what is broken inside us. Jesus offers what success never can: Himself.
What’s Crouching at Your Door?
Most of us don’t wake up one morning and decide to blow up our lives. We don’t suddenly decide to destroy a friendship, become bitter toward our spouse, compromise our integrity, or walk away from God.
Usually, it happens slowly. Someone from work doesn’t something to hurt us. We replay the events in our head over and over. Then, we interpret motives and characterize the person based on those interpretations.
Eventually, hurt becomes resentment. Resentment begins to feel justified. And before long, we find ourselves saying or doing things we never imagined we would do. This patterns is consistent throughout all of humanity.
Everything We Really Want is Also Really Hard
Most people want meaningful relationships, but relationships take work. Many of us want children, but parenting can bring some of the deepest joy and deepest pain of our lives. We want meaningful work, but work can exhaust us. We want community, but then we discover community involves people…and people are messy! Why is that?
Why We Keep Finding a Better Way to Follow Jesus
Instead of receiving something new as an addition, we use it as an indictment of what came before. Then something interesting happens. We compare the best version of our new discovery with the worst version of our previous tradition. Of course, the new thing wins. Until we stay around long enough to discover its problems too. Then the cycle begins again.
Every Approach to Spiritual Formation Has a Shadow Side
But keep walking down any of those roads and eventually something changes. Eventually every serious approach to spiritual formation interferes with the life we would naturally choose for ourselves. The problem isn’t ultimately finding the perfect spiritual formation system. The question is much simpler. Am I actually getting to know Jesus? And, am helping someone else follow Jesus?
North Village Church
We meet on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m.
at Pillow Elementary School
3025 Crosscreek Dr, Austin, TX 78757