Who we are: RAISED.
At the beginning, we were ROOTED.
When I embarked on the World Race in October, I was on Team Lionheart. At the end of month 3, our team leader, Shannon, was raised up as a squad leader and Lionheart dispersed. I joined a team, previously known as Team Rooted 19:30. Looking back, I can see that for the first three months of the Race, Christ rooted me in His love – for Him, for His people, for each other – as He was also doing the same with those of Team Rooted 19:30.
“And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” 2 John 6
“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:12
We’re not the same people we were when we started the Race. As we prayed through our new team name, God gave each of us a scripture for this year. Having been rooted in Christ’s love, we are now Raised. Find out what Raised means to us and the direction God is taking us. Pray with us, be raised with us!
RAISED: Because Christ was Raised,
Our foundation is rooted in Christ’s love for us, His crucifixion and resurrection.
“… that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” 1 Corinthians 15:4
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10
RAISED: … We are Raised.
“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Romans 8:11
“We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:4 (Allan) We are raised to walk in the newness of life!
This year will be a year of transformation, a time we are raised to a new calling, a new standard of living, a better reflection of Christ. May we become less and Christ become more.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2-3 [Jake]
“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7 [Christy] This is a year that our faith will grow, roots will go deeper in Christ, and that we will be built up – raised up – and strengthened in Him. Our lives will overflow with thanksgiving and joy in Him.
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11 [Alex] We will continued to be raised up and changed by His love, poured out into us and overflowing into the lives of all we meet, changing the nations for the glory of God.
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:4-9 We boast in nothing but Christ – amazed at His mercy, astounded by His love, and desiring to share this incredible love with the world.
God called us this year to walk the globe and share His incredible love and grace. “Wake up O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5: 14b
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:7-11 [Ginger] He’s given me this year to let all else fade away, all except Him. I want Him to be my one pursuit. To know Christ and to walk with Him this is my biggest desire. This year, he’s showing me the world through His eyes. (also see Malachi 6:8)
“Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
But he will heal us;
He has injured us
But he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us;
On the third day he will restore us,
That we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the LORD;
Let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
He will appear;
He will come to us like the winter rains,
Like the spring rains that water the earth.”
Hosea 6:1-3 [Cassie] We’ve been torn, but He will heal us. We’ve been uprooted, ripped up from where we were and put together to grow for the Kingdom. As surely as the sun rises, our Father is faithful throughout the process of growth and becoming a family.
RAISED: And because He lives in us, people will be RAISED.
“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:5-8
“I have give you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:19-20
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
And there it is – it goes back to love, the greatest commandment.
“Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” Proverbs 3:3 [Amanda]
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31
“But remember the root command: Love one another.” John 15:17 (MSG)
