John 8:32
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free

We are all looking for freedom.  Often our desire for freedom leads us to a misunderstanding of what true freedom actually is.  The verse above from the book of John is one of the most famous verses in the Bible and is even used by many people who don’t even realize they are quoting the Bible.  The equation of truth = freedom is an easy one to understand but much more labored to apply.  That’s where understanding the context of this verse helps us.

See when Jesus said this, He was coming off of a jab-hook-uppercut-ninja kick combo of addressing several issues. He addressed His status as messiah and living water.  He attacked the issues of division and unbelief.  He responded to a woman (and her accusers ready to stone her) caught in adultery with baffling grace (especially for someone who was beginning to paint a vivid picture of the fact that He came straight from His Father who is our Holy and unapproachable God). He was also almost arrested 4 times in less than 2 chapters.  The best way to get to the heart of this verse though is to examine the verse RIGHT before it.

John 8:31
“Jesus said to the people who believed Him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.”

Jesus was being clear, if you want to be a disciple, follow my teachings ONLY then will you find freedom from ALL these other ideas and rules, of which confusion over said rules and ideas would lead to the arresting of God Himself and ultimately His death on our behalf.  See discipleship is not just for the spiritually elite who “get it”.  It isn’t some Christian black ops task force who carry out missions with their amazing strength and faith.  EVERYONE is a disciple.

So the question isn’t, are you a disciple…the question is, WHO are you a disciple of?

So as disciples, how do we stay faithful to the teachings of Jesus and GROW in our obedience to His word when so many get so confused?  This is where Revolution’s GROW UP process helps us to encourage one another in becoming faithful disciples of Jesus Christ and to continue to obey His scripture.

Our process of obedience is never ending, but has 3 clear steps to start:

Step 1
Gospel Class
This is where we set the foundation of all our beliefs and get on the same page about how to Grow in response to the greatest news ever.

Step 2
Membership Class
In this class, we both clarify what it means to be a part of a body of believers and how Jesus left us the church to help us continue on a life long journey of growth.

Step 3
Once we have joined each other in covenant membership, we pledge to continue to study His word together.  The first class we have for this is a practical class designed to equip and encourage you, which we call our 101 class.  We also have seasonal studies and classes, which we will use to help propel everyone all year long in continued dedication to the Scriptures.

Our membership process is 2 steps that happen the same night.  We want you to set the foundation of belief in our Gospel Class first, then after you can join Revolution at our Membership Class. Ideally you would attend our 101 class a few weeks later, then sign up for classes and studies as they are offered throughout the year.  All of this is, of course, with a continued personal commitment to spending time in God’s Word.

Contributor | Preston Porter (Grow Pastor)

This past weekend we started our relationship series called CRUSH.  The idea is that we get into marriage because of the passion we have for another person but then the marriage becomes a crushing weight.  None of us wanted it to go that way but somehow it does.  The reason is that we can misunderstand marriage and fail to see the underlying reasons that led it to that point.

In Ephesians 5, Paul calls marriage a “profound mystery” because of how it compares to the relationship between Jesus and the church.  It could be translated a “Great Secret” and helps us to understand why marriage can be crushing.  In other words, we will never be passionate in our marriage until we understand how it relates to the gospel.  In addition, we will never receive from marriage what was intended until we apply the gospel to it.

The reason why marriage is crushing is because both people are wanting the other to make them happy and when they don’t it gets heavy.  But there in lies the problem.  Marriage is not about us being happy but about us becoming holy.  If we put our happiness on our spouse it will crush them, however if we put it on Jesus then He has already been crushed and rose again.  A Gospel marriage is one where you find your satisfaction in who Jesus is for you and then you are free to “crush” or love on your spouse.  This then creates a true sacrificial love where your actions are not based on their responses.  When you love your spouse this way it opens up their heart and then in turn they will reciprocate love back to you.

Marriage can only work when the Gospel is at the center and not self-gratification.  This is the essence of Gospel marriage.

Here are my sermon notes: Crush week #1: Crush or Crushed (18)

P.S. I know we immediately think about objections to this based upon circumstances and we will deal with those this weekend for week 2.  Make sure you are there.

Yesterday was incredible. I know I probably say that every Monday after every Sunday, but that is honestly how I feel about Revolution. What we are experiencing is not normal. In fact, it blows my mind… what a sense of excitement and anticipation yesterday! God does not disappoint! He never fails! I read a tweet the other day by a well known worship leader…He said, “Anticipation is the breeding ground for miracles”. Revolution, keep the anticipation high. Expect God to move in and through lives every single week. Not only on Sunday, but every other day as well and we will continue to see more and more miraculous things. We will see more and more people come to Christ who we thought had written God off. We will see more and more marriages restored that we thought were too broken to be healed. Expect! Anticipate! He is here.

Songs from Sunday:

1. Set Fire to the Rain | Adele | iTunes

2. Exalted One | Elevation Worship | iTunes

3. With Us | Hillsong Live | iTunes

Contributor | Thad Wood (Worship Pastor)

Our steel for the building was delivered last week:

Concrete was poured on the stage:

Before we poured the stage, we placed scripture and prayers that people had written under the steel grid. We also placed a full Bible at the front of the stage:

 

This has been one of my favorite series we have done at Revolution.  It is really fun to get fired up about how we can join God in building His kingdom. I think all of us need to be reminded we are not only set free in Christ but we were set free FOR FREEDOM. Jesus saved us not just from Hell but from a life with no ultimate purpose.  And sadly, a lot of Christians never really figure out why God made them specifically and let alone live it out. However, all of us should have one overarching ambition to our life.

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever

All of us were created to glorify God with our lives and to enjoy Him in the process. My main goal for us in this series was to begin thinking about what our ambitions are. I hope you have been wrestling through exactly how you can best glorify God through godly ambition. This last week I asked several questions as they relate to the process of ambition. So many times we can miss where we are and therefore miss where God wants to take us. Therefore, I have created a document that lays out the questions as they relate to each step of transition. I hope that you will take some time and work through these questions. They are meant to help you pray and seek how God would use your life to glorify Him.

My Life Ambition worksheet: My Life Ambition Worksheet (69)

I am praying for you often and love you all.  Now let’s go make disciples.

Pastor Jason

Yesterday was another powerful day at Revolution. God’s faithfulness to his people is unfailing. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Let us stand firm on that promise. We have nothing to fear, because our God is with us.

1. Our God is Love | Hillsong Live | iTunes

2. Let Me Feel You Shine | David Crowder Band | iTunes

3. Never Once | Matt Redman | iTunes

Contributor | Thad Wood (Worship Pastor)

I know sometimes I take the notion that we are in the midst of God changing our city for granted, but He is literally changing our city. We have seen so much happen in the last year that it’s hard to take it all in. This past Sunday was our largest non-holiday attendance ever and each person that came last week represents a life and a part of a  family that God wants to draw close to Him. In turn, they will go and find other people and families and the cycle continues. This is the Gospel, the Good News in physical form. We are called for such a time as this…

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish.
And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? – Esther 4:14

It is our time to step into the call God has placed on our Church to reach this community for Christ. It’s going to take all of us living out “Jesus” and relying on him everyday!

Challenge:
1. We are full in our middle two services and we need to you to make a missionary move to one of the outside services times (8:15am or 12:45pm) in order to make room for the guests that are coming.
2. If you are not currently serving or have not joined our church, it is time to make the next step and get plugged in to what God is doing at Revolution. Sign up below.
3. Pray that God uses you in the Church to change someone else’s life.

Sign up to Serve
Gospel Class
Membership

-Contributor | Chad Elliott (Executive Pastor)