1 Sanctuary’s purpose is to glorify God by building an authentic community of Christ-followers who are faithfully proclaiming the Gospel and are being transformed by its power to live and love like Jesus. Home For in Him we live and move and have our being. c. 2016 by Sanctuary All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible Reading Guide used by permission – Starting Point Conversation Guide Revised Edition c. 2014 by North Point Ministries, Inc. Printed and bound in Canada. All rights reserved. 2 table of contents Introduction.............................................................................................................................................4 Chapter 1 Kings & Queens....................................................................................................................9 Chapter 2 Abide & Abound..................................................................................................................18 Chapter 3 Give & Receive....................................................................................................................29 Chapter 4 Confessions & Blessing.....................................................................................................40 Chapter 5 Healing, Wholeness, & Holiness........................................................................................52 Chapter 6 Neighbors, Neighborhoods, & Nations.............................................................................62 Appendix...............................................................................................................................................72 Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Jesus all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Jesus and for Jesus. Jesus is before all things, and in Jesus all things hold together. And Jesus is the head of the body, the church; Jesus is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything Jesus might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Jesus, and through Jesus to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross. (Colossians 1:15–20) 3 introduction elcome home. We are glad you are my girls. I love them exactly the way they are. here. Here, in this space, you are free They each are my beloved, and with Kristy, Wto be yourself. You belong here. You Adele, and Audrey Grace, I am well pleased. are wanted here. You are needed here. You are One of the greatest joys of being a husband loved here. Here, we accept the version of you and a dad is seeing spiritual growth and change that you are living today; yet we will continue to in my marriage and in my kids. Growth in living fight for you to live the best version of the life a family faith to living a personal faith that is that Jesus has created you to live. integrated and holistic in its nature and expres- sion. Growth in saying prayers with the family You are exactly what God had in mind when He to praying personal, even intimate prayers to created you. their Father. Growth in serving alongside Dad to serving without Dad—and maybe even in You are His beloved, and with you He is well spite of Dad. Growth in moving from doing this pleased. life as a Christian to living this life in Christ. You are perfectly righteous in His sight. There This study is to welcome you home. Home is is nothing you can do that will make you more the one place where we should be completely righteous, and there is nothing you can do to accepted and affirmed and loved and blessed, lose the glory of His righteousness living within and yet it’s the place where many of us feel the you. most hurt, pain, and disappointment. It’s that way at our house with my beloved and 4 Home is the crucible of transformation. It is the family members a life of personal discipleship place where we are, at once, belonging and to our Master and Lord and to infect others with becoming. a contagious, heavenly love that boldly and clearly points out The Jesus Way. When Kristy and I got married, we were taught that marriage is not intended to make you The purpose of our church is absolutely the happy; it’s intended to make you holy. It’s the same: to glorify God by building an authentic same with being parents. Our charge as par- body of Christ followers who are faithfully pro- ents is not to develop good, upstanding, moral claiming the Gospel and being transformed by members of the community; it’s to raise godly its power to live and love like Jesus. people who will see visions and dream dreams, people who will change the world, one person at a time, beginning with their parents. The purpose of our home is far greater than deftly navigating schools and teams and relationships in order for our family to come out alive as productive members of society. We want more for our kids than to simply get in line with the civilized, never risking or sac- rificing or losing anything. The purpose of our home is to nurture and cultivate in each of our 5 Jesus showed up one day and started preach- made perfect in weakness.” ing about home. He called it the kingdom of (2 Corinthians 12:9) God. Jesus talked about the establishment of a new rule, a new realm, a new people who “Apart from me you can do nothing.” would revolutionize the world through this new (John 15:5) way of living and loving. He taught His follow- ers how to live as kingdom people. He taught “Do not worry about your life, what you will kingdom people how to believe, how to pray, eat or drink; or about your body, what you will how to forgive, how to care, how to serve, how wear.” (Matthew 6:25) to love. He taught kingdom people that their homes on this earth were only temporary and “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” that there was a heavenly kingdom awaiting all (Matthew 14:27) those who would follow Him. And He said we didn’t have to wait to experience the heavenly “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14) life; it could actually be lived in the here and now. I want to live that way—The Jesus Way. I want my girls to live that way. When I’m living my Listen to just a few statements from Jesus. life the way He has created me to live, I live in these truths. When I’m enveloped by His em- “Take heart; your sins are forgiven.” brace, I am the me He created me to be. Here (Matthew 9:2) at home with Him, these truths begin to seep down deep into my soul, and then they over- “If the Son sets you free, you will be free flow into and onto those around me. When I’m indeed.” (John 8:36) living in The Jesus Way, I engage more deeply and more richly. I bless more readily. I hurry “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is less. I kiss better. (Yes, you read that right!) 6 When I am building my own kingdom, when ing to help change my heart or bring rest to my I’m pursuing my own way, I find myself oper- soul. I needed something much more powerful, ating out of lovelessness, which almost always something bigger than the best performance shows up as either attack or withdrawal. That’s I could produce under stress. I needed trans- when I find myself trying to control people. formation. I needed growth and change in the There, I find myself worried and afraid. That’s deepest parts of me. I needed not just to do when fear wins. That’s when I find myself in my what Jesus would do in this situation, but to home but not at rest there, not knowing who I love Kristy as if Jesus was loving Kristy through am or where I am. me, to love my girls the way Jesus would love them through me. His love would change me, it In 1899, Charles Sheldon wrote a book called would change my family, and it would eventu- In His Steps. It has sold more than 30,000,000 ally have an eternal impact on this little colony copies, including the version reprinted in 2010. of the kingdom of God that He has called us The book was wildly popular for asking the sim- Bowlers and our Faith Family to establish. As ple question: “What would Jesus do?” Sheldon Charles Spurgeon so aptly put it: had no idea the impact this question would have on the world. He could never envision the culturization of this phrase, exhibited by brace- lets, T-shirts, and bumper stickers. The grand point is not to wear the garb, I remember my first WWJD bracelet. I wore it to nor use the brogue of religion, but to remind me to be a better husband. My thinking possess the life of God within, and feel was that instead of falling back into my stan- and think as Jesus would have done because of that inner life. Small is the dard behaviors, I’d quickly glance at my brace- value of external religion unless it be let and be reminded to choose The Jesus Way. the outcome of a life within.i But there was a problem for me. A big one. My bracelet became a mechanism of sin man- agement, of behavioral betterment. It did noth- 7 This study is about home. It’s about transfor- mation. It’s about not only accepting the truths that Jesus shared with us; it’s about building our lives on the very foundation of Christ, liv- ing in Him and through Him.