Isaiah 43:16-21

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,

¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

¹⁸ “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.

²⁰ The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,

²¹ the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.

Reflection:

The new 4G phones, crowning of the next Superbowl champs, spring break… these are all things some of us may look forward to.  As God’s people, we have even much greater things to anticipate!  The “new thing” that God has planned for us is far better than the temporary thrill of that new gadget or our favorite team winning the Superbowl.  According to this passage, it’s even greater than the Israelites walking through the Red Sea on dry land.  Our King of glory is “doing a new thing”!  There are new lives and new experiences that await us as His chosen people.

Responding to the Transmission:

Let’s spend some time thanking God for all that he’s done for us individually, as missional groups or campus fellowships, and as a church.  Then let’s welcome these “new things” that God has for us with much hope and great expectation.  Our God is an awesome God!  Viens, Jésus, Viens!  (Come, Jesus, come!)

Joshua 1:3, 5-6 (TNIV)

³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.  ⁵ No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

Reflection:

When we read this passage, we can ask ourselves, “every place?”  It might seem difficult to imagine that “everywhere” we go is given to us by the Lord.  But as psalm 24 tells us, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.”  When we understand that EVERYTHING in this world belongs to the Lord, we can then receive his promise that it has been given to us as his people.  God both will give us the “land” and has already given us the “land”.

Therefore, we can also take the encouragement to be strong and courageous, because the God who founded and established all things in this world, is with us.

Responding to the Transmission:

In all that God is doing in our churches, let’s ask that God would remind us who he is and how everything in this world belongs to him.  Pray that we would receive together God’s encouragement to be strong and courageous and that we would continue in obedience to go out to pray and love those we are called to minister to.

Psalm 27:1-4 (TNIV)

¹ The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?

² When the wicked advance against me
to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.

³ Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.

⁴ One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

Reflection:

The latest news has been bombarded with the tragedy that occurred in Haiti.  As we hear or even see photos of the destruction, we’re reminded that there are real fears, setbacks, and devastating circumstances that occur in people’s lives.  Although our need isn’t as outwardly or physically apparent, many of us and many of the ones we’re trying to love do experience, real opposition in their lives.  In these times, where do we turn and run to for our source of strength, confidence, and hope?  How blessed we are as God’s people that we have a sure Light and Stronghold to depend on and cling to!  Jesus is our Light in the darkness!  He is our Source and Giver of Salvation!  He is our Rock and Stronghold in the midst of life’s storms.

Responding to the Transmission:

Let’s spend some time declaring the truth of this passage over our lives.  Let’s pray for the ones we love that they too would declare with their lips and experience Jesus as their Light and Salvation.  Let’s pray that our church would quickly and naturally run to and depend on Jesus for all things and that God would take us into even deeper intimacy with him.

Ezekiel 37:5-10 (TNIV)

⁵ This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. ⁶ I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

Reflection:

For the most part, we’re all familiar with what CPR is.  If we haven’t witnessed it in real life, we’ve most likely seen it performed in TV shows or movies.  Despite some of Hollywood’s dramatization, simply put, CPR is an extraordinary process where a person can literally be brought back to life through another person’s breath.

But can you imagine what it looks like when God performs CPR?  The book of Ezekiel gives us a glimpse.  When God breathes, it’s not just one person who can receive life, but an entire people.  When God’s breath comes in us, we live and can be changed from dry bones into a great army.  How much more when the Holy Spirit lives in us, can we press on to love?

Responding to the Transmission:

Spend some time thanking the Lord for giving us his Holy Spirit.  Let’s ask God to increase the work of His Spirit to take us deeper into the turning that he is leading our church towards.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would empower our churches as his army to love those that he is calling us to in our missional groups and campuses.

John 20:19-22 (TNIV)

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Reflection:

As we rang in the New Year, many people, and we ourselves, may have made some ‘New Year’s resolutions’; resolving to live differently and setting new goals.  When Jesus appeared to the disciples, He was ushering in a new season, a way to be and to live by His Spirit.  Jesus sent his disciples out with a mission, to no longer stay paralyzed in fear or locked behind closed doors, but to declare that Jesus, Salvation, and Victory has come.  What we read in the Book of Acts about all the miraculous signs and wonders God accomplished through the disciples is evidence that they didn’t stay behind closed doors.  We too are given this same command and empowering.  We are the sent ones in our generation.

Unlike New Year’s resolutions that are often made, but often not fulfilled, Jesus marks us, breathes on us, and empowers us with His Spirit, the same Spirit that raised him from the dead.  With this empowering, we can live and obey.

Responding to the Transmission:

Let’s thank God for the life, purpose, and ability we have through our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have true peace.  We have power through his Holy Spirit.  We have a calling, meaning, and a purpose in this life.    May we be caught up in worship, praise and thanksgiving for all that the Lord has given us.  May it melt away all our fears and apprehensions about living for him and spur us on to live out his command as his sent ones.