As expected, Sunday was a really good church service at Blueprint. I knew I would go in and get pumped up by the New Year energy of the crowd, and be encouraged to start January off right. I needed the fuel to get a jump start on my theme for 2013, be renewed after the weird year that was 2012, and grab an early anchor point to dig in and move forward in new possibilities. I was not disappointed with the new “Be The Blueprint” series.

In fact, I decided to outline some of my notes from Sunday here in case you could use a good dose of perspective and inspiration as well.

• Too many times we reflect not on our blessings, but what we feel God is withholding from us. We take a victim or woe is me attitude.
• We aren’t here to simply exist. There is a reason you and I exist. What do you exist for? (Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” KJV)
• Too often we don’t spend our time living, but trying not to make God mad.
• Blueprint’s DNA: The gospel changes people, and people change the world.
• Blueprint’s mission: To unleash healthy people to do ministry where life exists.
• Blueprint’s strategy: Growing in the gospel in the context of family while living on mission.
• We are less proactive in church, but usually more reactive and defensive. We need to be on the attack. (Matthew 16:18, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” ESV)

5 Reasons We Need to be Burdened By Mission

1. Mission grows our affections for Christ, taking us from conceptual to effectual.
2. Mission aligns our hearts with His, causing us to move from passive to compassionate.
3. Mission reestablishes our identity, remind us we are God’s chosen vessel.
4. Mission reminds us of our deficiencies, driving us to pray.
5. Mission reminds us of His sufficiency, strengthening our faith. (Did you ever think that maybe the feeding of the 5,000 and 4,000 weren’t for those fed, but for the disciples?)

I’m praying you find your mission, or continue it, in 2013. It’s not easy, but totally worth it. Living differently is definitely living better. I think I’ve had a few different missions during my life, depending on my life stage and circumstance. The one I’m currently on has been building over the past few years, and it’s still really exciting to me. I’m excited and curious to see where it leads me this year.

It was a breezy 50 degrees when I walked out of the church service on Sunday, but I didn’t care. I was on fire.

 

If you want a little more, here’s a great blog post on the Blueprint site from Pastor John on the New Year.