How many have ever wondered • How can I live a more meaningful life? • What does God want me to do with my life? • How can my work make a difference in this world? Jesus didn’t just save us FROM something; He saved us FOR SOMETHING 3 Key Things to Grasp about this STORY & how it relates to our everyday living 1 – We’re living out GOD’S STORY not simply OUR OWN 2 – God’s inviting US to JOIN HIM, we’re not inviting HIM to JOIN US “If God intended man to live on bread, why didn’t He create a bread tree?’…The answer is that, in fact, God…prefers to offer us a grain and invites us to buy a field and plant the seed. He prefers that we till the soil while He sends the rain. He prefers that we harvest the crop while He sends sunshine…Why? Because He would rather we become partners with Him in creation. Of course, God could simply supply our every need and solve our every problem. But our God invites us into a creative partnership with Him. He supplies the earth, air, water, sun, and our strength and then asks us to work WITH HIM.” Frost and Hirsch, The Shaping of Things, Luke 4:18-19 VOICE - The Spirit of the Lord the Eternal One is on Me. Why? Because the Eternal designated Me to be His representative to the poor, to preach good news to them. He sent Me to tell those who are held captive that they can now be set free, and to tell the blind that they can now see. He sent Me to liberate those held down by oppression. In short, the Spirit is upon Me to proclaim that now is the time; this is the jubilee season of the Eternal One’s grace John 20:21 NTE – ‘Peace be with you,’ Jesus said to them again. ‘As the father has SENT Me, so I’m sending YOU.’ 3 – Salvation isn’t something we GET; Salvation is a WAY WE LIVE Ephesians 1:23 MSG - The church is Christ’s body, in which He speaks and acts, by which He FILLS EVERYTHING with His presence MISSION is not just something we DO, it’s WHO we are God’s mission is to return the world to what it’s supposed to be… God doesn’t need us; He invites us into His “new creation mission” and we jump on board through following Jesus who not only showed us what to do but gives us His power to do it.