LIFE TOGETHER - Be Bold

In worship this past Sunday we heard Acts 4....you know...that whole chapter.  Because it's soooo good!  Have you read it?  CLICK HERE TO READ IT AGAIN.

We talk about KINDRED being something that we are creating together.  It’s not something you go to, it’s something you’re a part of.  Belong. Become. Be loved. We are a community that is still becoming.  Together, we are midwifing this KINDRED life into the world.  The Restart Team together with the Holy Spirit has discerned that

KINDRED is cultivating bold community that reveals God’s presence in the city.

to prevent that vision from becoming a meaningless static statement, we identify these enduring values that guide our life together:

Word of God. Boldness. Simplicity.  Equality. Families & Framlies. Our City - Houston.

Today, we explore what this boldness is about.  I couldn’t help from reading all of Acts, chapter 4, because of the amazing display of boldness throughout. Sometimes Christianity gets painted as a religion of the meek and mild, of quiet propriety and docile morality. There is a time for gentleness, there is a place for solace and serenity.  We follow a God that went away to quiet places to pray and reflect.  But let us not forget that we also follow a God that went down streets he shouldn’t have, ate at tables he shouldn’t have, with people he shouldn’t have and literally flipped the tables when necessary.  Jesus challenged the status quo, the ruling authorities, the keepers of tradition.

But it’s also important to remember that Jesus does all this in service to Gospel. He’s not a rebel without a cause, an anarchist, or an obnoxious contrarian.  He’s not just breaking the rules for the fun of it. It’s intentional.  Every time he breaks the rules it is to point toward grace, toward hope, and toward life...in a way that the current system is not capable. Bold is not reckless, but it is risky. I quote the wise teachings of Mufasa, who said, “i’m only brave when I have to be.  Being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.” Here, the early church lives into bold proclamation, bold prayer, and bold generosity.  Certainly risky, but always pointed toward the Good News of abundant grace.

Bold is...

Bold is calling a thing what it is.  Naming that which must not be named.  Bold is standing in places that most would abandon.  Bold is telling the truth, even if your voice shakes.  Bold is trying new things and not allowing the shadow of fear or failure to snuff out the light of hope.  Martin Luther said that we should “sin boldly...but believe even more boldly still.”  Bold is being willing to mess up big because we know that God is bigger.  Bold is the woman who will not sit silent as an accessory but who powerfully asserts her voice in meetings and bold is the man who keeps others from interrupting long enough so that they can hear her. Bold is the one who defies that gender binary and lives into the fullness of God has created them to me. Bold is walking into a place, a part of town where people don't look like you or talk like you but you go and listen anyway.

Where have you witnessed and/or lived out BOLDNESS?

How would you finish this sentence, "Bold is…...."

Be bold. Be strong. For the lord your God goes with you.