What if there is more to Jesus?
Have you ever met someone and realized there is way more to their story than you first thought?
This was definitely true for me when I met my (now) wife freshman year of college. When we first met, neither one of us thought we would ever want to date, let alone get married!
Until we had a conversation that changed everything. We had one of “those conversations” that felt like 30 minutes, but lasted hours. We came away thinking, ‘wow, I didn’t know this about you. We could really be friends….’
Now, 20+ years later, I couldn’t imagine life without her. Even though our story has had a lot of unexpected twists and turns, it’s been a better story than I could have ever hoped for. The depth of love, pain, joy, and challenge we’ve shared together is tough to put into words.
And the same has been true in my relationship with God.
Growing up, I thought of God as a distant figure that I wasn’t really interested in. Until I encountered Jesus and got to know Him for myself.
I’ll never forget hearing the Gospel of Jesus for the first time and thinking, “Why has no one told me about this before?!” I grew up going to church but didn’t realize Jesus wanted a relationship with me. Once I said “yes” to following Him, I found out there was so much more to life with Him than I ever thought was possible.
In an ancient letter to the first followers of Jesus in the Bible, Paul once said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV
When I started the journey with Jesus, I could have never known all the ways His Spirit would need to heal, refine, and transform the depths of my soul, I just knew He loved me and wanted to be with me. Although it hasn’t always been easy, I’m so glad I said yes to the adventure of following Him.
Is it possible you’ve misunderstood or even misjudged what it means to follow Jesus? Or maybe settled for a water-down version than what the story we see of Jesus in the Bible? Or maybe gotten stuck, wounded, or distracted on the journey of following Him?
What is there more to the story God wants to write in your life? Would you want to find it?
“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:14-21, NLT
If you are curious about finding out if there is more to Jesus, I want to encourage you to join us on a journey we are starting in our young adult community. Each week, we will be exploring one of the “signs” of Jesus in the Gospel of John that are meant to help us see who Jesus is and what He wants for our lives in specific ways.
Each week, there will be a:
Weekly devotional guide to help you slow down and spend time with Jesus in Scripture, silence, solitude, and prayer.
Opportunities to worship and gather in large group and small group community with others to process what you are learning (if you are a young adult living in the Triangle).
If you don’t have a community and are open to exploring if there is more to Jesus, I’d encourage you to
1) Do the devotional guide each week,
2) Ask a follower of Jesus you respect who follow Jesus to meet with you for lunch or coffee to process your thoughts and questions,