The Manifesto Challenge

I threw down the gauntlet at Connections yesterday.
I issued the big challenge to everyone gathered.

Manifesto is our Summer series that will take us through Matthew chapters 5, 6, 7.
Many call this section of the bible "The Sermon on the Mount" because of the first verse,

"Now when (Jesus) saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them..."

Over the next three chapters Jesus lays out in wonderful detail a blueprint for the "Christian" life. He shares what the fully-devoted followers life stance really looks like. It's an action plan, yes, but more. It's not just an easily followed ethic- it's NOT a simple list of do's and don'ts. Rather, he describes in vivid terms what the values and ideals of the Kingdom of God really look like in practice.

While we may never fully attain the kind of life laid out in these chapters, He lived this life perfectly. Thus, through Him, we may set forth to live into this ideal, attaining in part what we will know later in full.

So here is the Challenge:
First, if you've never made the step to put your faith in Jesus, give it a try this summer.
Make this your big adventure of faith.
Join us for the Manifesto series.
Learn what Jesus taught his followers to do.
Try living as Jesus taught us to live.
See if it's not the most challenging, exciting, fulfilling, rewarding, abundant way to live.
Experience for yourself what living for Jesus is like.
Jesus invited many to follow Him.
And it was through their walk with Him, they came to believe in Him as the living God.

Second, if you have committed your life to Jesus, whether just now, or ages ago, the challenge is to live this summer as a fully-devoted disciple.
Specifically, the challenge is to read the Manifesto (Matthew 5-7) everyday.
Read the whole thing. It only takes about 10 minutes.
Or read part and pray and meditate upon it.

But read it everyday.
Get it into you.
Then put it into practice.
And experience Jesus' divine conspiracy to change the world!

Jump right in and start reading now...
Matthew 5-7