Pastor Larry Sundin
Values! Every one of us has values that influence how we live. Your values shape how you interact with your neighbors. Your values influence how you spend your money. When you worked, your company had a set of values that determined how you did your work. Your company may have had values like excellence, efficiency, and hard work. When you got married, you brought values into that relationship. For example, in my marriage, we’ve always valued harmony. If we’ve ever had a disagreement, we made sure to never let the sun go down on our anger. We’ve always tried to work out our conflicts prior to getting some shuteye. It hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve done it. We’ve also had family values. From the very beginning we taught our daughters to always love, respect, and encourage each other. And now that they’re both raising their families, it’s encouraging to see how they are building those same values into their families. And when it comes to our Rock Springs Family, we also have a set of values that shape who we are as God’s people: Every person matters, every person belongs, every person loved, every person produces, every person serves, every person follows.
This month, I want to share a bit about our value of every person follows. Jesus said to his first disciples: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17. The Bible tells us that when you put your trust in Jesus and surrender to the authority of His teaching, you become a follower of Jesus. You are no longer just a participant in an occasional worship service, but an apprentice of Jesus, who is learning a whole new way of life from Jesus. It means you are no longer following your heart, following your selfish ambitions, or following the prevailing spirit of the age. You’ve now entered a relationship where you get to learn at the feet of Rabbi Jesus, who begins to entrust to you the desires of God’s heart and His amazing plans to transform your life so that you might become more and more like Jesus. So, you might become a person of mercy, who helps bring healing rather than judgment. You might become a person of grace, who embraces and includes those the world rejects. And so, you might become a person of hope, who can live with confidence and joy, no matter what chaos comes your way, because you are learning that God is always with you and is always for you.
Now, this is just a little glimpse into what it means to follow Jesus. That’s why at Rock Springs, we want to help everyone learn how to follow Jesus with others. It’s definitely one of our Core Church Family Values. For we believe that once you’re learning to follow Jesus with others, He’ll not only change your life, but make something of your life you’ve always dreamed of. So, if you want to know more about what Jesus has in store for you, why not come out and join us Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. in the Ballroom and see for yourself if Jesus is really worth following today.