The Shape of Our Story
The weather is shifting. Warmth fills the air. Birds are singing. Spring is budding around us.
Resurrection beckons our attention.
Fragrant. Calming. Full of life.
Do you sense His arrival?
Sunday, we're starting a powerful series called, "The Shape of Our Story," where we'll consider the life of Jesus, how He was shaped by a process, His obedience to the Father, His tenderness to people, His power and presence that changed lives, His cross and resurrection...
Click here to watch last Sunday's sermon with Pastor Brion Burkett
What process shaped Jesus into who He was?
Luke 2:52 says, "And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."
And Hebrews 5:7-9 says, "In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him."
Jesus, though He is God in flesh, went through a human process.
Being human, meant that He was formed, not just by His divine nature, but also by His human one too.
He experienced life. Joy. Suffering. Peace. Lack. Wonder. Faith...
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near.” Hebrews 4:15-16
And in this series, we are going to trace "the Shape" of Jesus' story, not just to understand Him better...
but because it's only through Him that we understand "the Shape of Our Story," too.
All of us have already been shaped- by the seasons, the choices, the relationships we've walked through...
What does it mean that we've already been shaped? Do we know the shape of our own story?
And, as we hold our story beside His, and consider the shape of His life, it can powerfully re-shape us!
As a fun, interactive way to symbolize the shape of Jesus' story and our own, we'll actually use basic shapes--a circle, triangle, square, star, heart, half-circle, crown...ultimately culminating in "The Shape of Our Story" on Easter: the cross.
We'll have some amazing experiences along the way that deepen our interaction with Jesus and give us reasons to invite friends, family, neighbors, students, and community into this story of Jesus that has and will shape our whole life...
Consider inviting a friend and joining us for:
The Chosen Theater Event - Saturday, March 29th (click green link to purchase tickets for 3:15pm showing of Part 1 at Scotts Valley Cinema)- Season 5 Last Supper is released in Theaters in three parts at the end of March, one week at a time!
Journey with Jesus to the Cross - April 14-20th - a powerful interactive experience for prayer, reflection, and connection with Jesus during the last week of His life on earth.
Good Friday Service - April 20th - 5pm - a communal and prayerful reading and reflection on the last moments of Jesus' life, as a community.
Sharing Your Shape - on Sundays, we'll have individuals from our church sharing, in show-and-tell style, a basic shape that reflects how and when Jesus' story intersected with their story.
Handheld Shapes - We'll be handing out shapes of wood that correspond with the sermon and scriptures, as a way for you to ponder, pray, write-on, and give away the story, His Story, that is shaping and re-shaping you!
And more!
We're excited and prayerful about this season at High Street, and really so expectant.
As we center our focus on Jesus--we know His Holy Spirit wants to flow over us, meet us in our needs, restore our broken areas, and bring His healing, life, and peace to those around us!
May He do more than we can ask or imagine!
Pastor Dave