Adventuring 

[D]on’t you see that we don’t owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent[?] There’s nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!
This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Dad?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!
—Romans 8:12-17, as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message

A good friend of mine has fully stepped into his own and is striding out into a big new adventure, one that is sure to call him into places at least as scary as the ones he’s been in during the fifteen years I’ve known him.

I’ve included the terrific sermon he shared with us, his last as part of the staff of my church. He is off to be a senior pastor (lead person and head of church staff, in Presbyterian-speak), a role that I am confident would have scared the socks straight from his feet when I first met him. But he’s ready. More than ready, just listen:

This being my blog and not his sermon, I want to point your attention as well to a different part of this scripture than he’s focused on this time. 

I love that the passage my friend chose includes that our resurrection life is adventurously expectant. I would expect nothing less from someone who opened his sermon with a song (the song) from Moana:

Get on with your new life, Mike. I promise I’ll keep getting on with mine. 

God…hey, God! What’s next?!

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