When a church becomes more outward facing, it is natural for people inside the church to ask, “What about me?” The answer is not, “You don’t matter,” or “Everything is about you.” Instead, Jesus shows us that discipleship always included being formed and sent. In Matthew 9-10, Jesus sees the crowds with compassion, tells his disciples to pray for workers, and then sends them as the answer to their own prayer. The harvest is still plentiful, the workers are still few, and sometimes the…
In week four, we take on the value “Taking the Initiative: moving toward others with the grace and intention Jesus has shown us.” At the heart of the Christian story is a God who does not wait at a distance, but moves first. In Jesus, God came toward us in love, grace, and service. Because of that, Rosewood is called to take the same posture: moving toward one another inside the church, and moving toward our community as a faithful…
Week two of Waypoints explores Rosewood’s value of Belong and Become through the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19. Jesus chooses relationship and proximity with Zacchaeus before Zacchaeus has done anything to change. And that belonging becomes part of his transformation. We’ll explore why genuine belonging means more than being welcomed on Sunday, how authentic relationships help us become more like Jesus, and why people who are different from us may be exactly who God uses to shape us. This…
In the first week of Waypoints, we explore Rosewood’s first value: Bridges, Not Walls. Looking at Acts 15 and the Council of Jerusalem, we see that the early church had to decide whether it would require outsiders to become like insiders before they could fully belong. The verdict was clear: “We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” This message invites us to recover something deeply rooted in the foundation of the church: a…
