ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Change can be scary.

Sometimes it springs from necessity, sometimes just a desire for novelty. But change is neither categorically good or bad. It just is.

Admittedly, when considering the coming year, there's much to be nervous about. But there's also much to be excited about - at least from a Quest Church standpoint.

We have an unprecedented opportunity to reach a brand new segment of our community. Our move back to mornings (9 a.m.) and to Orbit Skate Center carries with it the possibility to connect with young families and their children in ways that have never been possible before.

So, what shall we do with this opportunity?

I vote we run with it.

We've been talking about how life - how walking The Way of Jesus - is either an adventure or nothing. Now's the time to embrace this. 

Not sure what it will look like, just yet, but, over the next month, things are gonna change big and fast. Let's grab that change and run with it.

There will be lots of ways you can do that. Stay tuned. 

An interesting year

You might think calling 2016 "an interesting year" is an understatement. And you'd probably be right.

But it HAS been an interesting year. 

Never mind all of the political shenanigans and the Black Lives Matter movement and the ascension of ISIS. Irrespective of all those things, it has still been interesting.

And as the holidays wind up and the year winds down, many of us find ourselves wool-gathering. That is, we're trying to take a good look at where we've been and where we're going.

I would guess Mary and Joseph would've had ample time to do likewise, as they spent about a week traveling to Bethlehem.

If our year was interesting, theirs was downright insane.

And we'll be hearing some about that this coming Sunday at our Quest gathering.

But last Sunday, we talked about how advent literally means "eagerly, anxiously awaiting the arrival of something or someone."

So, Mary and Joseph are expecting a baby; and what better way to describe the nine months between conception and delivery? Aren't all expectant parents are eagerly, anxiously awaiting the arrival of someone? So all expectant parents are, in a sense, experiencing advent.

If you're a parent, and you're having trouble connecting with this season, think about that.

Think about what it was like during that nine-month period when you were expecting your first kid. If you're normal, you were a jumble of mixed emotions - fear, excitement, anxiety, hope, worry, wonder - did I already say fear? - but all of that was underscored by an overwhelming sense of responsibility and purpose. And how you responded to all of that characterized those nine months.

Now take that mish-mash of emotions, and add the fact that your baby is the incarnate creator of the universe. How does one deal with that? Never mind how you're going to decorate the nursery or whether you're going to use cloth or disposable diapers; try wrapping your head around the whole "baby king" thing.

Many people tend to revere Joseph and Mary, and others want to sweep them under the rug. But I would argue that, how they responded to this crazy situation is a vital part of what makes the birth story so compelling. It doesn't make them divine, but it certainly suggests that they were worthy of consideration and respect.

Come join us Sunday, as we dig a little deeper, trying to understand who Mary and Joseph were and how they responded to the fact that they were expected to raise the Messiah.

Why adventure?

You might ask why we're calling our Christmas message series Adventure, or more accurately, ADVENT|URE. But, you might do well to back up a bit and ask the more basic question, why do we call our church "Quest?"

What's so adventure-y about Christmas? And what's so Quest-y about church?

Good questions.

We call this time leading up to Christmas "Advent" because advent literally means "to arrive" or "to come." But it also carries with it the idea of anticipation. So advent means anxiously awaiting the arrival of something or someone.

Which is certainly what we do as we consider the arrival of the Christ child.

But "adventure" takes advent a step further. Advent means to arrive, but the suffix -ure means "to go." So, adventure literally means, "go, so that you can arrive." But it also carries with it the idea of anticipation from the root "advent," as well as a new idea of undertaking unknown risks in order to get there.

So "going on an adventure" means undertaking a journey, eagerly anticipated in spite of risk, because arriving at your destination will be worth whatever danger you encounter on the way.

And this journey is at the center of all that we do. It's the central concept of the gospel. We're like Bilbo Baggins with his backpack, running out of the Shire, hollering to anyone who will listen, "I'm going on an adventure!"

Is this how you see your walk with Jesus and his people?

Is your spiritual life more like Frodo's long walk to Mordor, with his Fellowship of the Ring, or is it more like playing basketball once a week at the YMCA with a couple acquaintances?

I would argue that the gospel is either an adventure or nothing. It's either a journey to someplace that's so great it's worth the risk, or it's a waste of time.

And what's another word for that journey? A quest, perhaps?

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Join us at Quest in December to learn how the birth of this baby in Bethlehem fits into this Advent adventure.

www.quest-church.com