At Gateway Church in Austin, we kicked off the new year considering a new way of living.
Video Message from Gateway South Austin:
Audio Message from Gateway South Austin:
Message Notes from Carlos Ortiz, Jr. and Eric Bryant:
Welcome! Hoping everyone had a great Christmas week and a Happy New Year!
You know we’re coming out of a season of exchanges. We exchange gifts to one another, we exchange the way our homes are decorated and lit up for a more festive look, we exchange our dietary standards so we can eat as we please for the 5 extra pounds, we exchange PTO for memories with family or to rest. We give and we get, and that’s part of having a generous heart and living in community with others.
But let’s be clear, the greatest and best exchange we can make is The Great Exchange!
The one where we give up our way of doing things, our sin patterns, our personal philosophies in exchange for the work of Jesus on the cross, and his way of living.
This comes from II Corinthians 5:14-21:
14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
This last verse, verse 21, is where Martin Luther, a German theologian who broke away from the institutional church that existed at the time, coined the phrase “the wondrous exchange” in the early 1500s.
Over time and with the development of the English language, many have landed on The Great Exchange to summarize what happens with someone who has a life anchored in Christ.
Except The Great Exchange has even more nuance than I give up something and in return I receive something else.
Why is it so nuanced?
Because we are humans, we are not objects with no intellect, or emotion, or free will. No we make daily choices in this process of The Great Exchange. So Martin Luther would use the phrase…
simul justus et peccator – “at the same time justified and a sinner”
To shed light on this intricate journey of walking with Jesus. Yes, I do receive God’s righteousness, but we are clothed with it, we do not become it.
It is God’s righteousness afforded to you and to me, because we (the second part of the phrase) are still flawed finite people who tend to sin.
It is not a one time transaction that happens in a season of our life, it isn’t a one time acknowledgement of the state of my heart and soul…no it’s a continual checking of my heart in light of who God is.
The problem with our human version of exchanges is that we sometimes forget to go back to what we know is right. We know Christmas is a season in our yearly calendar, but we want to live in a fantasy world and escape the reality of our life. Not seeing things clearly can lead us to go from:
- Shopping for others, and we start buying ourselves things we do not need
- We can abandon the way our home should look and we keep up the Christmas decor and lights because it takes work to put it all away
- Forgetting our disciplines and we keep eating like it’s December and 5 pounds turns into 10
- Falling in love with rest and forget that we are called to work and provide well for our families.
And many times we look at the Great Exchange in the same way as a seasonal transaction. I believe in Jesus, he forgave me, and now I’m all set and ready to go.
- I went to church in December, so I’m good for a while.
- I spent time with family and friends during Christmas so now I need some me time.
- I gave to the church and to charity in December, so now I’m back to my money is my money.
- I spent time with my kids, so now let’s get them back to their ipads and gaming.
- I served in the community or here at Gateway, to end the year with good deeds, but I’ve got to get back to a schedule that works for me.
And we might feel disconnected from some of these statements, because no one really says those things. Those aren’t quotes of words that fall out of people’s mouths, but they are a reflection of someone’s actions and life.
The truth about The Great Exchange, is that we are not just invited to a new spiritual life, we are invited to a whole NEW way of doing life.
The metaphor we see in scripture repeatedly is that this Great Exchange actually sets us on a different course in life, a race if you will. There have been millions who have run it before us, there are millions running alongside of us NOW, and there will be millions more who will believe, participate in the great exchange, and begin to run their race.
Hebrews 12:1-3 – Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Here are the two overarching umbrellas for this part of the The Great Exchange:
The Way of Jesus causes us to run the race in the direction of Jesus
The Way of Jesus causes us to run the race in the manner of Jesus
Look at that last phrase “Do not grow weary and lose heart.”
In the greek it could be translated, “Do not grow SICK and lose your SOUL”
So how do we really follow Jesus in this new year?
Love God and Love People.
Time with God on your own and in community
Time with God on your own through prayer and the Scriptures.
PRAY FIRST – gatewaychurch.com/prayer
Next Sunday, January 11, marks the beginning of our 21 days of prayer! Twice a year as a church we pause all activities and stop to seek God through prayer together. We call this season Pray First and it is my favorite part of our year together as a church!
Over the next 21 days I want to challenge you to engage with us daily in prayer. If you do, you will have an awareness of God’s presence in your life that will lead and direct you toward becoming who God has made you to be.
- Use the “Pause” app that will provide daily guided prayers.
- Join us for pre-service prayer on Sunday mornings (Jan 11, 18, & 25) Either 9 – 9:15 or 11 – 11:15am
SCRIPTURES
Join me reading through the New Testament – 1 chapter per day and 5 days per week.
Follow along with the videos on the podcast “Start Here: The New Testament” at one of the following:
Time with God in community.
What is your group in the new year?
Consider serving on Sundays or joining a group.
When in community, look for ways to serve and to be served.
Here are some great options starting this week and next week:
- Restore Monday
- Alpha Wednesday
- Men’s Fire Thursday (For the address, email me at eric@gatewaychurch.com).
- Prayer Course
- Hearing God Course
The Result of the Great Exchange
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
We’ve talked much about the season of exchanging gifts, and today’s reminder that we get the better end in the Great Exchange.
But much like our season of gift giving is filled with intentionality and lists of gifts we plan to buy, so does the intentionality of our relationship with God in the Great Exchange.
What if this year could look different? What if you could experience more peace… more joy… more purpose, not because life got easier, but because your life got aligned?
THE WAY SERIES
This January, we’re beginning a foundational series called THE WAY - a path that will guide how we live and lead as a church moving forward.
It’s built around four simple but powerful rhythms we see in the life of Jesus and the early church:
Gather. Grow. Give. Go.