Dennis Gulley

As we walk through this Advent season we know that our Savior has brought us Peace.

A disciple is one who lives in hope!

As disciples one of the hardest lessons for us to learn is to wait on God. God's plans are not our plans, and his ways are higher than our ways, and we must learn to trust and to wait as he leads us.

The story of Israel is a story of struggle and failure, even as God did amazing things all around and through them. As we walk with God we will struggle and fail, but God is gracious and wants so much more for us!

A disciple is called by God into his mission and purpose in the world, working to bring his hope and love to others!

God has called his people to speak, but it is not our words that turn hearts, but the power of the cross that we point to!

God is our shield and our protector, he cares for us and watches over us, and will deliver us! But as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego declared, sometimes that deliverance doesn't look the way we want...so what do we do when God's protection doesn't feel very protective?

In ancient days people saw their gods as local and limited, but the God of Israel revealed to them that he was always with them, wherever they were, and whatever they were going through. A disciple is one who knows that God is always with us!

Walking with God fills our lives with all kinds of wonderful blessings and gifts, and he calls us to be a part of the work he is doing in amazing and important ways. But a disciple understands that while God calls us and cares for us, we are not the point, he is!

A disciple knows who it is that we are worshipping, and responds to the lavish promises and provision of God with lavish generosity and freedom!

God's mind and ways are far beyond what we can know or understand, but at the same time he is not unknowable. As disciples he means for us to know him and walk with him, and he has given us his law and his word that we can know his heart and his mind and how he means us to live!

A disciple is one who knows the provision of God, but the provision of God is not everything we want all the time so that we never have to rely on him again. God provides enough that we can walk with him one day at a time.

Following God can be scary and even dangerous, but a disciple is a person who knows the power of God, and knows that he can protect and provide no matter what he calls us into.

This week we step into our new theme for the year, "The Mind of a Disciple". We're going to exlore what discipleship looks like, what it means, and what God means to do in us. Join us as we begin our journey together!

The Armour of God doesn't do us any good unless we put it on!

The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The Word embodied in Jesus and given to us in the scriptures. It is truth and life, and speaks hope into the world!

Watch at: https://youtu.be/aS9xeWv0PwY?t=1577

God has given us tools to protect us and prepare us, and the faith that he provides is a shield that keeps the attacks of the enemy at bay!

If we believe the gospel, we should be filled with a hunger to share it!

God provides us his armour not so that we can hide, but so that we can carry his gospel of hope and life out into the world to the people who need to hear it!