Happy 2025! Throughout the last 18 months God has been doing a work on my heart. He has convicted me as to how I’ve approached him and others. He’s stretched me to adopt new habits and postures in which to worship him and serve my neighbors. I want to tell you what I’ve been learning. We have a lot of ground to cover this year and I’m beyond excited to share it with you.
We are all being formed. Each of us is daily being shaped and formed by someone or something (likely, a combination of both). Who we listen to, what advice we take, how we should think, what we should invest our resources in, what kind of person do I want to be and what am I doing to get there? All of these are formation questions. The question isn’t, “Am I being formed?” It’s, “Who or what is forming me?”
Jesus recognized what was forming men and when and posed the question and challenge throughout his ministry. Here are just a few examples for you to study:
Matthew 8:18-22 – Jesus shares the cost of following him with would be disciples.
John 3 – Jesus talks with Nicodemus.
Matthew 16 – Jesus engages with a rich young man.
Mark 10 – Jesus teaches his disciples about servant-leadership.
Matthew 26 – a woman breaks a jar of perfume and anoints Jesus.
In these examples, Jesus challenges those involved to explore their own motives, beliefs, and experiences in light of His teaching and example. His desire? To form us to be more like him.
Here's a good definition of Formation – Being formed into the image of Christ… for the sake of others.
A critical point as you consider your own formation: There is no formation without repetition. Jesus was in the regular habit of spending time with the Father (prayer, fasting, sabbath rest, and even in community with others).
We simply can’t add Jesus to the top of our already over-busy, consumeristic, emotionally unhealthy, hyper-individualistic, digitally distracted, media-saturated, undisciplined modern life. Following Jesus is NOT about doing MORE… but doing LESS. That’s the whole point of learning under a master: you want them to disrupt how you live. Jesus’s invitation was not to convert to a new religion called Christianity but to apprentice under him into the life of the kingdom of God. This is a costly decision. It’s a life-long process of deepening surrender.
Formation isn’t about being better or doing more of the right things. It’s not even about being appreciative of Jesus’s sacrifice. Sadly, a tragic misunderstanding of salvation tends to produce consumers of Jesus’s merit rather than disciples of Jesus’s Way. We talk a lot about the call to believe in Jesus—to put your trust and confidence in him to lead you to life. This is good and fitting. But it must also be said that Jesus believes in you. He believes that you can become his apprentice.
Would someone hearing your Gospel naturally conclude that apprenticeship to Jesus is the only fitting response? Jesus refused to separate the practice of presence with God from the practice of presence of people. To “practice the presence of people” is to have an awareness of HIS presence in our daily relationships. Our formation by Jesus for Jesus is also for others. We are to constantly practice revealing the beauty of others to themselves.
There is no problem in human life that apprenticeship to Jesus cannot solve. Transformation is possible if we are willing to arrange our lives around the practices, rhythms, and the truths that Jesus himself did, which will open our lives to God’s power to change. Said another way, we can be transformed if we are willing to apprentice ourselves to Jesus.
We want our church family to know that true Christianity is a belief that transformation and obedience is possible and that it comes from following Jesus. This is realized because of the power of the Holy Spirit to form us, and it’s experienced through the disciplines of daily mimicking the ways of Jesus. In 2025, we want our church family to adopt practices and rhythms we see from the life of Jesus and, as we are formed to be like him, experience transformation of our hearts, families, church, and community.
You have an invitation BEFORE you become an apprentice of Jesus. What will you say?
Being formed,
Nathan
Nathan Hinkle
Lead Pastor