Bullseye!

Not very often do I sit down and read a book, cover to cover, in just a couple of hours. But, with a certain beloved staff person nagging me enquiring if I had a book blog this week to post on the SVUC Facebook page today, I decided to take the afternoon to read.

I picked up Bullseye: Aiming to Follow Jesus, written by two United Church of Canada ministers, Jamie Holtom and Debbie Johnson. I was given this book by a colleague who took a course led by Jamie and Debbie. I'm wishing now that I attended their course. This book is excellent and I will be sharing it with the lay leadership of SVUC.

Bullseye maps out six markers that are signs of a Christian life - spiritual practice, worship, community, serving, giving and sharing Christ. For those at SVUC who have participated in the Natural Church Development surveys, this book will be reminiscent of the different elements measured in that survey. The essence of Bullseye is that a congregation grows in faith, develops a sense of community and encourages its members to live out God's love for the world when the spiritual lives of everyone involved are nurtured.

Here are some quick quotes from each of the six markers included in this book. If you find yourself intrigued and want to know more, email me.

Spiritual Practices

• When we become intentional around spiritual practices we're simply bringing our life before God and opening ourselves up to all the beautiful things [God has created]. (19)
• [Spiritual practices] may actually feel kind of weird, or you may not experience anything profound at all...but, over time, if you keep at it, you will start to experience something quite transformative as you feel God's presence close, as you feel the power of being so intimately connected with our Creator. (13)
• why bother? Because the spiritual practice of prayer left Jesus in a state of gratitude and with a sense of purpose and clarity about God's call on his life. Prayer gave him the connection to God that brought him the power and strength to persevere in all circumstances. (24)

Worshipping Together Weekly

• There is something that can and does happen in the context of a worship gathering that continues to be worth making it a priority in our lives as followers of Jesus. (38)
• Studying scripture can lead us into the character of God, but worship takes into the heart of God. (45)

Discovering Authentic Community

• '...there was this group of people that I have been so blessed to walk with, share life with, grow with, be connected to. I have to tell you, I really couldn't of done it on my own.' (59)
• The power of small groups, of being connect with other, whether it's a mentoring relationship, working team, or small group, is knowing one another, and somehow God blesses that. (65)
• ...authentic community is...'walking life together' or 'doing life together'. (66)
• Discovering authentic community leads to growth...because we really do become who we hang out with. If we want to grow in Christ, let's hang out with people who are growing in Christ! (69)

Serving

• We serve because Jesus served. We serve because Jesus invites us to serve. We serve because we have been given a unique gift in Christ's own Spirit that needs to be offered for the common good. We serve as our response to what God is doing in and through our lives. We are blessed to serve and by serving in Jesus' name. (101)

Giving Generously

• [Fundamental principles]: God owns everything, what we have been given is to be invested in God's mission, growing in generosity is key to our growth in discipleship (112)
• It took a generation to understand how big and faithful God was and is (in reference to the Exodus). Learning to recognize and respond to the generosity of God offers us freedom from bondage--from the pull of our culture to spend more, from the fear that what we have or who we are is not enough, from the slavery of "stuff". (116)

Sharing Christ

• Why share Christ within the reality of our world today? Because...the truth is, we live in a world that is broken and in need of good news. All around us there are people who are stressed and lonely and hurting. (131)
• If you really believe you have something good to share, why aren't you? Why are you keeping it from a person you encounter, know or love? (140)
• Our job isn't to convert or judge or prove anything. Our job is simply to be open, sharing Christ. And when we are--you never know what God might do. (150)
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