Losing Track of Jesus

Losing track of Jesus began for Mary and Joseph on their way home from Jerusalem. Luke tells us they made the trip every year. But this time Jesus surprised them and stayed behind in Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-52). We can lose track of Jesus when our relationship with him becomes familiar, routine, and predictable. As we approach the New Year let us resolve, like Jesus, that we “must be in [our] Father’s house” (Luke 2:49) – that is, that we must be centered in the will of our Heavenly Father even when it causes friction with earthly allegiances.

This weekend we begin diving into the first six chapters of Daniel. The series is called “Unbroken: Devoted Living in a Foreign Land.” Our passage is Daniel 1 with a special focus on verses 8-16. Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon say “the church, as those called out by God, embodies a social alternative that the world cannot on its own terms know.” (Resident Aliens, 1989. pp. 17-18). From Daniel’s example, we’ll learn that the church exists not to make the world a little better place, but rather to witness to the alternative reality of God’s Kingdom. Roll up your sleeves and get ready to think critically about our calling as the church.