I recently heard a pastor friend remark how Christ needs to be felt and seen in our bodies. I like that. So much of the emphasis of following Jesus has been on inviting him into our hearts, and while I appreciate the sentiment, it just doesn’t mesh with the biblical teaching of what it means to follow Jesus. Of course Christ needs to reign in our hearts, but he also needs to rule over and be seen in our hands, feet and the totality of our lives (Matthew 22:36-40).

This idea of Christ being felt and seen in our bodies is at the heart of Paul’s instructions to the Philippians when he wrote, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). To “work out,” conveys visibility. Christ should be seen and felt through our bodies. So for the rest of this year we are going to work out through our preaching at Abundant Life Christian Fellowship what it looks like to work out our relationship with Jesus in key dimensions of our world and lives:

1. The Marginalized. The last three Sunday’s in January we are going to talk about what it looks like to workout our salvation towards the unborn (1/12), across ethnic lines (1/19) and towards the poor (1/26).

2. The Church. Beginning the first Sunday in February through the first Sunday in March we are going to examine how to work out our salvation in the context of the local church, by walking through our core values, or what we call the 5 G’s: Gospel, Grace, Generosity, Gathering and Going.

3. Singleness. The Bay area consistently ranks toward the top for its population of single, educated professionals. As I was telling a friend, there’s no way we can do effective gospel ministry in the Bay without having a consistent, winsome word for singles. So this spring we will spend ample time talking about how to make the most of one’s singleness.

4. Good Sex. Every day our culture is seeking to disciple us in the area of sex. Images on television and social media, along with unprecedented access to pornography, demands Christ-followers capture a vision for sex which transcends fundamentalism and the prohibitions of “purity culture”.

5. Manhood/Womanhood. Finally we will go into summer by looking at what it means to work out our salvation in the area of our God ordained genders. In an era of #MeToo and a culture sinking in functional and literal androgyny, we need a compelling vision for authentic womanhood and manhood which will liberate us.

To access the preaching card which will give you the exact dates and themes go here.

To listen to these messages you can go here.