We are the Heart of God: Identification, part 3

Identification

Vision Verses: 1 John 4:16-17

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

"We are"every1one praying

Our Father, Exalted, Holy, Above, Loving, Merciful...from me, as a new creation in-Christ Jesus Your Son, we come to pray every-1-one. “We are” Your Body, Your Bride,  & Your Beloved by Your Blood, for our forgiveness and newness.  Our sincere and simple prayer of believing, is that “We are” Receiving Your Heart, the Heart of God. And that LORD, “We are” Reflecting Your Heart, because as You Are so also are we in this world. “We love because YOU first loved us.” God Your Love, Your Thoughts, Your Heart is toward us.  “We are” Your Heart. Therefore LORD, Your love, Your thoughts, Your Heart is our Identification for who “we are” and represented toward people in our world. Father, in the Power of The Holy Spirit, Flowing as The River of GOD, cause Life and it more Abundantly in every occupied seat, every hearer by media, ppl touching ppl, some are praying as learners for discipleship, some as leaders for penetration of truth, some who hunger & thirst for Righteousness to be Filled; some that are practical in need for The Word to be made flesh by application in their personal lives, some who want us to give more attention and value to seeing Jesus ask for communication of The Christ and His completion of The Cross, some are deliberate about the spiritual warfare of deliverance from darkness and bondages that dampen, while others are just wishing for the nitty gritty of how does the all this make sense of The God of The OT, and yet we pray all of these private petitions wound be met by YOUR profoundness and prophetic revelation to every-1-one of us because we need to know who “We are,” that God is what today is for...! in The Name of Jesus Christ our Identifier,  Amen

A Praying Passage - Psalm 143 if you are feeling faithless, forsaken, forgotten, a hopelessness, or distress & depression

Let us Glare, Gaze, & get a Glimpse @ God’s Glorious I.D.

• we finished seeing our Identification last week in 1John 4
• Today, we will see God’s Identification &
• How we are Identified with God & Christ

The Vision is for Identification

• excerpt of email... Hey Pastor!So the song link I just sent you has really been speaking to me especially with the identity we have been talking about, its called "Identity" by James Fortune & Fiya. Some people may argue that this is not Biblical because you are asking God to change your identity and He already knows who you are in Him...BUT there are so many people who find their identity in the wrong things or in the things they do. Some might find their identity in their fraternities,their sport teams, so I just thought this is a good song and I hope you enjoy it!
• an email excerpt from another necessary member...Quite honestly, and the Lord as my witness, I have been in Awe at the way the Holy Spirit has inspired the past couple of messages. Without question, this new vision for 2013 has been birth by The Creator Himself. As I sat during the inauguration of the vision and heard each leader speak, everything just made perfect sense to me, at first. In other words, the vision seemed perhaps simple and pretty straight forward.  At that moment in time His Spirit brought to my remembrance something that I once heard described about the Bible. 
• It was said that the Bible is as simple to understand that a child can comprehend it, but it can be so deep that theologians can drown in it.  As it pertains to the vision of  “We are the Heart of God” without a doubt it is a topic which you can experience these 2 extremes. As the vision continues to deepen, I believe I begin to see perhaps what is the starting point of it at least in my life.  The Lord has taken me back to the words of the same psalmist who said “Oh Lord, search my Heart” Pastor, I believe our father is taken us all back to the importance of prayer. He is desiring to shape his people to have the heart that He desires from us. It truly takes dialog with the creator of the universe to understand where we stand and to grab a glimpse of who we will become through the transforming power of Christ. May our hearts and lives by a sweet fragrance to the Loving God whom we serve.

God's Identification - Jesus

• The WORD- John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 
• John the Baptist- John 1:30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.' 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." 
• God The Father- Matt. 3:17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." 
• 2Pet.1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain.
• the devil- Luke4: 3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
• demons- an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 "What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God." 
• His disciples- Matt. 16: 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
• the world-  Matt. 27: 54 When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
• Jesus Intercepts Judgement & Fear! Luke 23: 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
• We no longer no him as he used to be but brand NEW
• HE could have picked any of HIS Divine Names, Attributes,  Achievements, or Accomplishments! 
• But GOD Chose AN Irrefutable Presentation of HIS Identification...“I AM”
• Exod. 3: 13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
• Like Father, Like SON!
• John 8:57 So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM

We Are Identified with God and Christ

• Exod 3:10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." 11 But Moses said to God, "who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" 12 He said, "But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain."
• Does NOT matter who i am, who we are! God Said HE Will Be With us!
• 2Cor. 5: 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.
• We are NO longer regarded by who we use to be in the flesh, just like Jesus is no longer lil’ Hebrew boy...

Our Conscious Conflict

Here & Now in my world and way...; i must admit sometimes..

• i do what i want, and...
• i know i do what’s wrong.
• Therefore, i do what i want and know it’s wrong, and this creates my conscious conflict with
• Christ’s Grace.
• change my wants 
• want what’s good 
• by receiving & knowing my Identification is with God and Christ!; which will cause me live out of who i am!  
• Matthew 5 MSG: 43 "You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' 44 I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, 45 for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. Matthew 5 MSG: He gives his best - the sun to warm and the rain to nourish - to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. 46 If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. 47 If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. 48 "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

We are the Heart of God - unmistakable identification

• The Disciple Peter was an original Bourne Identity 
• Garden of Gethsemane sliced an ear off
• but a little damsel I.D.’ed him
• a rooster I.D.’ed him
• his speech I.D.’ed him, Oh you have been with JESUS!
• Your I.D. gives you away! That’s why you are so nervous around sin, does not sit well when you are in it, ppl around you know who you are! I just pray you know...

We are the Heart of God: Identification, part 2

We are the Heart of God: Identification part 2

I John 4:7-21
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us andhis love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.


"We are" every1one Praying

Our Father, Exalted, Holy, Above, Loving, Merciful...from me, as a new creation in-Christ Jesus Your Son, we come to pray every-1-one. “We are” Your Body, Your Bride,  & Your Beloved by Your Blood, for our forgiveness and newness.Our sincere and simple prayer of believing, is that “We are” Receiving Your Heart, the Heart of God. And that LORD, “We are” Reflecting Your Heart, because as You Are so also are we in this world. “We love because YOU first loved us.” God Your Love, Your Thoughts, Your Heart is toward us.  “We are” Your Heart. Therefore LORD, Your love, Your thoughts, Your Heart is our Identification for who “we are” and represented toward people in our world. Father, in the Power of The Holy Spirit, Flowing as The River of GOD, cause Life and it more Abundantly in every occupied seat, every hearer by media, ppl touching ppl, some are praying as learners for discipleship, some as leaders for penetration of truth, some who hunger & thirst for Righteousness to be Filled; some that are practical in need for The Word to be made flesh by application in their personal lives, some who want us to give more attention and value to seeing Jesus ask for communication of The Christ and His completion of The Cross, some are deliberate about the spiritual warfare of deliverance from darkness and bondages that dampen, while others are just wishing for the nitty gritty of how does the all this make sense of The God of The OT, and yet we pray all of these private petitions wound be met by YOUR profoundness and prophetic revelation to every-1-one of us because we need to know who “We are,” that God is what today is for...! in The Name of Jesus Christ our Identifier,  Amen 

Identification

• Last week, we asked, “have you ever used a fake I.D. before?” (and we chuckled)
• This week i ask, “have you ever been in a mistaken identity?” “And did someone have to step in for you?”
• One late late night i was coming home from “Mama Ristorante”...

The Vision is...We are / the Heart / of God

• to know who you and/or we are
• and know what you and/or we are about (many hero identity issues i.e.- Lebron J, Kobe, orgs, Mikes, “x”, Jesus
• because out of who you are or we are, we live and give
• And you are and we are NOT what we do, but simply live & do from who we are!
• NO longer, NO me, for who i use to be
• we are NOT who we used to be, the old me...
• and even if i do what i use to, that is not me!
• I am NEW!

Gal. 2: 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

A Reason why we ARE and we are BECOMING is because...

• to become the Heart of God, we have to know God & HIS Heart
• that is why min. dr. Anthony stated in “of God” —It is our desire as a body to (seek, search, &) study out what is genuinely sincerely in God’s Heart; to study Who God is, and out of that we hope to discover His Heart.Today we will see God’s Identification
• but 1st let us see...

Our Identification in I John 4

• vs. 7 - we need to define this 3 times mentioned love
• even the world & ungodly love (Matt 5:46-47)
• must be defined & measured by Jesus’ Love (John 13:34-35; 15:12-13) & God’s Perfect Love (Matt. 5:43-45, 48; sweet sixteen 1Cor.13:4-8)
• vs. 8- God is Love

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

• vs. 10 “in this is love”- refers back to vs.9; then in vs. 10 further defines love
• E*- but our “Receptivity” to this Love is based upon our ability to Receive Jesus’ feat fulfilled & finished

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

• Propitiation- (def.)- covering, atoning sacrifice, appeasing, sin-offering- i.e.- how many of us feel or know bad/judgements happen when bad is done? Let’s call that bad “sin.” Jesus’ Love upon the Cross was our propitiation fulfilled & finished sin-offered for us
• Again i say, when did This Gospel Good News... twisted

11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 

• vs. 11- This is a direct tie
• vs. 12- Q: Why this statement? A: The Invisible God is in us then Love demonstrated & perfecting through us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

• HIS SPIRIT is the way in us
• vs. 14-15: Father sent, Son-Savior of world, by our believing & confessing Jesus, then His Spirit enters us

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 

• This is our NEED
• The key is we need to RECEIVE.
• Abides is the continual mechanism of Receiving!

17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

• Abiding is how Love is grows, matures, is completed and perfected with us.
• Confidence- is this Love being Received by Abiding constantly in that One Exchange Moment by Moment
• Result- is in that Christ is in the current by Abiding present day ppl who are the Heart of God.

We are the Heart of God: Identification

Vision Confirming Message

Vision Verses: 1 John 4:16-17

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

• One,  God’s love, His thoughts, His heart are toward us.  “We are” Receiving an Ardent Lavishing unconditional Love from God’s Heart

Two Important Meanings:

• One,  God’s love, His thoughts, His heart are toward us.  “We are” Receiving an Ardent, Lavishing, unconditional Love, Grace, & Favor from and as God’s Heart
• Second, When we say, “We are the Heart of God,” it also means that “We are” Representing the Heart of God in this world. 

The Vision Means...

• “We love because he first loved us.”  Turn it around: “Because Jesus first loved us, we love.”
• “We are” Receiving and Reflecting “the Heart of God”

Family of Faith - "We are" every1one Praying

Identification

• Have you ever used a fake I.D. before?
• (Camp Sabra, Grocery Store Line, Someone I.D.’s you)

• We are the Heart of God is our Vision, but what we really doing is Inaugurating in 2013 rather who We are, our Identification
• We are the Heart of God is who we ARE and who we are BECOMING
• We are being very careful not to have any Icons, any Imagery, Art work, fonts, branding, labeling, are any such thing as to not complicate our Identity

We are in a Defining Moment of Ministry: Identification

• Interdependent
• Interdenominational
• Interracial
• Word-Based
• Spirit-Filled
• at-the-Cross Cultural
• But NOW,  “We are the Heart of God!”

I John 4:7-12

• We are NOT what we do, 
• Do’s List verses ARE List
• Why David could only be a man after God’s Heart...
• God Satisfies 

Vision Sunday Presentation Notes

You may view and study the notes from Vision Sunday here:

2013 Vision Casting Communication Team- MSG

Opening:
pastor- Welcome every1one, thank you for coming and taking part in our 2013 Vision Casting Sunday as we have designed the setting to be in homes, just a little filled, sitting & scattered around and personally close, able to touch one another.  I want to already do that by reaching out to identify two of four of our motives were One) no glitz, no glamour, no lights, no media, but simple face to face epilogue and dialogue. Second, this is more like in Mark chapter two, where they were all in the house to be with Jesus and that’s where friends of a man showed faith to lower him down to Jesus and he walked away forgiven and healed from that house meeting.

So ahhh as we get further started let’s here the passions of our Vision Casting Communication Team and then we’ll pant in prayer for God’s Presence to permeate..;

Passions (1 min per person)

1 Anthony shares,
What I really been thinking about is…how this vision speaks to everyone who is a part of the BCC. What God has been doing at the BCC in Ames before we-all of us got here and what He will continue to do here even after us. This is not about us doing but rather about us being. My hope is that what you hear today will speak to how you see your part in WHO WE ARE and WHAT WE ARE BECOMING as a church body.

2 Jeremy says
what i am really excited about and passionate about is...
I just want to say that at the intersection of knowing God is Always is also His Care of ppl.

3 Vanessa speaks
What I am overly enjoyed about is that this Whole body Christ is part of the Vision. God created us in HIS Vision and now who we are in Jesus connecting the puzzle pieces together.

4 Peter: articulates,
What I’m excited about and what the vision does for me is it brings into focus who we’re meant to be as a body.  I think that even a first-time visitor has some sort of idea of what we’ll talk about today, but the vision takes a general experience and feeling about BCC, something that we’re aware of but can’t quite put our finger on, and sharpens it down to a few words.  It articulates a clear sense of identity and purpose that I believe will allow us to confidently move forward together into what God has for us.

pastor...,
Let us pray... pastor

min. Dr. jeremy vanessa peter t.

Introduction:
(pass out the handouts and writing utensils)

pastor,
We have been treading and trudging out a trail to seek for Truth as a Ministry Leadership Team and in this season as a Vision Task Force. We have been addressing and dealing with the depth of our subject today for about 8-10 months.  Perhaps as time permits, i hope to insert anecdotes of stories of how this all was Revealed, Received, and Believed initially nearly one year ago, then with MLT, then by an Anointed and awe-striking  agreement with sister Ana and I.

But right now i want to remind you of the team’s passions; and focus your internal spiritual sight to see beyond what our Executive Leader describes as the difficulty of articulating and casting this content abstract enough to encompass all that it entails; but practical & relevant enough with handles so we can grab and hold on to it.  (ex.- of concept, concept, concept, then tangible held)

As pastor and leader, i am excited for this Jesus journey and feel as though we are onto eternity’s cutting edge again. Please follow along on the notecards passed around in the Text of:

1 John 4:16-17
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

Please fill in your Blanks with these six simple words,

“We are the Heart of God”

“We are the Heart of God”
PT: 2 meanings, the edge, 1 John 4:16-17

16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

There are two ways we want to look at the statement “We are the heart of God.”
1. From verse 16, we can say that we are God’s heart because we know and believe His heart is toward us.  We know and believe this because He has shown us His love.  

- Exactly one chapter earlier, we read, “16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us....”

- John 3:16: “God so loved the word” - that includes me, you, us

So far, all this is coming from the disciple “whom Jesus loved.” John in particular had a revelation of Jesus’ love for him, and he wanted us to have that same revelation.

- Romans 5:5: “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

- Psalm 139 says, “17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

  They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them;

  they outnumber the grains of sand!

We could go on and on - there’s a reason why some people call the Bible God’s love letter

God’s love, His thoughts, His heart are toward us. That is one meaning of “We are the heart of God.”

2. The second meaning is found in verse 17: “as He is, so also are we in this world.” When we say, “we are the heart of God,” it also means that we represent the heart of God to the world.

- John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

- Earlier in 1 John 4:7: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”

Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts, we can in turn, take that love and show it to others.  “We are the heart of God.”  We receive God’s heart, and we represent His heart to others.

- Verse 19 is a good summation: “We love because he first loved us.”  Turn it around: “Because he first loved us, we love.”

When Pastor first shared the phrase “We are the heart of God,” I, in my independent thinking, thought, “That will never do, we’ll have to work with that phrase, change it around to make it acceptable.”  And I wasn’t the only one who struggled with it.  It seemed the whole Ministry Leadership Team had difficulty accepting it.  I thought, what would someone outside BCC think if they heard us say, “We are the heart of God.”  Surely it would come off arrogant or boastful.  Maybe they would even think we’re blaspheming.  

But as I considered these two meanings, I realized that it captures who we are as a body.  Some churches may form around different things like a set of beliefs or specific mission, but I believe that BCC has always had a humility - something that says we’re just after the heart of God. It’s a humble attitude that says, “God has been so generous to me (and to us) in pouring His love into our hearts.  We want to live in a way that reflects His love.”

pastor-
peter observes and overviews these occasions very well. i only note...
One, as we mentioned earlier, this process started after the unanimous alivening intrigue of Brian Houston’s principle relating it to who we are...
Then in A Leadership Training & Discipleship workout project, it was actually peter t. who penciled in the reflective soul searching of attending a conference with another Christian camp...

We often discover what we are and who we are by what we are Not, peter thought we are “like”
And all of us had an AHAAAA moment...mmmmm

i secondly note, the sheer uneasiness, even the bold, brassy, nearly blasphemous, and unbiblical the statement seems. I too struggled with it, wrestled with The LORD about it making suggestions to HIM about it.

But two members responses helped assure what i received from Christ.
Sister Holly... her longstanding ministering beside us had a greater appreciation for not about still something we have to do, but rather finally being something...  “We Are”  
The other person, Minister Lawrence..., though always in meekness and servanthood,,, he was really eagerly firm in courageously believing and encouraging us if God said it, then let’s look at the nature of God’s Outlandishness stretching us beyond our comforts and faith!

“We are / the Heart / of God”

Content:

This is broken into three phases, two words each.
Each phrase identifies an entire study and shapes into a definable piece that perfectly fits like a puzzle. Please listen.

I. "We Are" mas. Bolles unfolds

I John 4:11-12
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Our identity is no longer individual but communal.  We are joined together in the love God has for us and that reality is only manifested as we love one another from the heart.

I John 4:18
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
Our love for God is only made genuine through the day to day testing and maturing through the loving of people.  We have all given people hugs, sometimes met with awkwardness, other times with skepticism, and other times with assurance and acceptance.  We are learning to live into the embrace of Heaven that casts out all fear of rejection, fear of hurt, and fear of being misunderstood.  The real work of the Kingdom is a desire to love all people and to press through all the obstacles that leave any residue of mistrust, resentment, and offense.  Healthy relationships are marked by patient endurance, forgiveness, humility, communication, grace and honesty.

I John 4:19-21
We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

We can never separate love for God and love for people; they are inseparable.
There is an ending incredible line...

I. “the Heart”- Vanessa’s contribution shared

"The Heart" , When asked to reflect  about "The Heart",  because I am a visual person, my first thoughts were..."What does that look like?

We know that physically the heart is a hollow muscular organ that pumps the blood through our system by a  rhythmic equation.  The blood flows so that all of our vital body systems are sustained, and it is located in our chest area and we ALL have one.

And we know that there is another side the of the Heart, its the one that is feeds our Soul and Spirit. It is that part of us where our emotions dwell. It represents our will and desires.

The Bible says about this part of the heart is at:
Luke 12:34 "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Proverbs 4:23b "for it is the wellspring of life"
Proverbs 15:13a "A happy heart makes the face cheerful",
Luke 6:45b .."for out of the overflow of his heart his mouths speaks.
Proverbs 27:19 b.."so a man's heart reflects the man"

It confirms that there are are two sides about "the Heart"...so when I put the two together...again my question is What does that look like?.

My answer to that question became "blood red" because ...It's looks like JESUS!    

My question to you is ...What does "the Heart" look like to you? What should it look like for the body of BCC?  As we start this journey...God will lead us to his heart..which is Jesus..I

I distinctively love how Jesus is at the center of the vision. Jesus is clearly at the Heart.

III. “of God”- Anthony’s contribution

In Acts 5:38-39

Gamaliel spoke
38 And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”

I don’t know if Gamliel knew exactly what he was saying, some scholars say he was trying to be neutral and not get involved. But there is something that he said that we should pay attention to.

But if it is OF God

The Bible is very SPECIFIC when it comes to the things OF GOD.
The Apostle Paul stated in 1 Corin 8:6, “6 But we know that there is only one God, the Father, who created everything, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom God made everything and through whom we have been given life..

Apostle Paul repeats this same message about God and who HE is in Colossians 1:15-16
Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
 He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
    and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
    Everything was created through him and for him.

Genesis 1: 27 So God created human beings[c] in his own image.
    In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

In Genesis 1 verse  1 we know that the Bible has to be specific, there was a spirit of God, we were made in the image OF GOD, THERE is a kingdom of God, in the beginning there was the Word and the word was with God, and the word was God therefore we know there is Word but not just any Word but the word of God.
The covenant was written not just with any old finger but with the finger of God. Jesus was not only known to be the son of man but He was also known to be the son of God.

Phili 4:7  and the peace of God, (not just any old peace) but the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

So when we think about “of God” it points that there is a divine side that is distinct from the human side. I believe God has been calling us to recognize through the Word that there is a difference. And His desire is that the divide side-God is represented in the human side –man! With Jesus being our example!

Of God—It is our desire as a body to study out what is genuinely sincerely in God’s heart; to study who God is, out of that we hope to discover His heart.

Transition toward Questions and Dialogue:

We hope we have communicated the:
Who: We, God, Christ When: 2013, start now on,
What: the Heart How: Study, discovery, structure
Where: starting @ sanctuary, BCC
Why: identity, who we are, becoming, comes culture

We likewise hope to communicate the value and purposes of God. How this directly links to your piece of the puzzle and our role to add to and advance The Kingdom of God.

Perhaps peter you could talk to us about the hurdles God had to bring us over... and the hang ups we allowed The Holy Spirit to go deeply into us to help us overcome and envision clearly...

… We want to now together hopefully help every1one find their own trail that we pioneered and paved along the way by creating dialogue through questions & discussion and/or your first responses.

What questions come to mind or how can we help you by addressing your thoughts?

jeremy you had something you wanted to say? piece regarding the it’s OK to have and wait in the silence period...
And also know there are NO questions and issues off limits, but straightforward liberty to approach anything...

Staff generated Questions on your behalf

EL writes-  “So you’ve shared this vision with me, and I’m excited about it, and I believe it does communicate who BCC is.  But what am I supposed to do with it today, next week, this month?”

AL writes- “How is this to shape the long term culture of BCC?”
pastor’s going there...
Well I too would like to lift our Team’s awareness and Propose a Question for us all...

Recently in a Task Force planning and preparing meeting, we discovered and deemed that BCC’s core loss along the way and years that sense of comradery and genuine fellowship. In the process of the loss, we have grown apart with possible breaches that feel like barriers that potentially have broken up Christ’s new commandment of loving one another as I have loved you thus deteriorating by this all men would know you are my disciples. Or like walls of separation that stops the Life flow of the River of God, or quenching of The Holy Spirit.

Thus the #3 of 4th reason why we arranged a far more personal, small, yet a sampling of our ministry ministry in order to provide an intimate environment and atmosphere just reachable, shoulder to shoulder, face to face not in rows of chairs all facing forward.

Within this context, i lift our question, what factors, frustrations, maybe just season of life, or broken trusts, offenses, or unmet needs have contributed to the potentials of these things i have mentioned?

We want to regain your trust and 4 of 4 Start Over, Begin Again.
Where do church plants and new ministries typically begin? in Homes and Houses, The Excitement and Exploration of Eternity as Brand Spanking New.  

God’s Presence and Moment by Moment Touch by HIS SPIRIT

I will finish with this testimony story about the awe-striking of Christ with Sister and I the day i believe Jesus Spoke to me....

i was going to call peter t. but, The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said only call your wife first. So, I quickly redirected my dialing to sister Ana...

she received it with God’s glee and Glory,  joyously embraced it without any hesitancy.
She proceeded to tell me, Honey... the other day...

The Most LOVING people we know, you just are...

different if not nearly opposing doctrines, yet our definable, definite, incomparable and unmistakable characteristic and trait was LOVING.... We are the Heart of God.

Well, we have presented, now you who have received...

Would two or three of you pray in our closing and new destined beginning...