All In: Shaped by Jesus in the Year Ahead

Mark Harlow - Vicar

A new academic year always feels like a fresh start. Diaries fill with new rhythms, children return to school, students head off to college or university, and workplaces gear back up after the summer. For us as a church at St Paul’s, it’s also a natural time to look again at who we are and where we are going.

We describe ourselves with the vision statement: “Growing community, Shaped by Jesus.” That short phrase carries both invitation and challenge. We want to be a place where everyone can belong and grow, but also a people who are continually being shaped by Jesus – in the way we think, the way we live, and the way we love others.

That’s why this term we’re beginning a new teaching series called All In. It’s about what it means to love God with every part of who we are – head, heart, hands, and feet. Jesus, when asked about the greatest commandment, quoted Israel’s central confession of faith, the Shema:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”

In other words, loving God is not something half-hearted or part-time. It involves all of us. Every thought, every habit, every action. It means being “all in.”

This past Sunday we began with the Head – loving God with our minds. To love God with our mind means more than just knowing the right answers. It’s about learning to see the world through a Jesus-shaped lens. When Jesus taught the Beatitudes – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” – He wasn’t just giving us rules. He was reshaping our imagination, teaching us to value what God values and to spot His kingdom breaking in where the world least expects it.

Paul echoes this in Romans: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” In a world full of competing voices – advertising, social media, cultural pressures – we need daily renewal. Left unexamined, those voices will shape us. But God, by His Spirit, offers to reshape our thoughts, our decisions, and even our desires.

So how do we live this out as a church? This year you’ll hear more about practical pathways for discipleship: circles (something new) and small groups that provide space to grow together and resources you can engage with at home. We’ll also be sharing exciting updates on two big steps for us as a community: progress with our building project, and plans for a future church plant. Both are about creating room for more people to encounter Jesus and to be drawn into this “growing community.”

All of this is rooted in the same heartbeat: being shaped by Jesus. When we give Him our attention (gaze, seek, dwell), our thoughts, our imaginations, He reshapes us – and in turn, we become people who love God more deeply and love our neighbours more fully.

As we step into this new year together, may we be a church who are truly All In. Head, heart, hands, and feet - a "Growing community. Shaped by Jesus."

- you can listen to Sunday's sermon and follow the series at www.stpaulsirelandwood.org/podcast

- or watch back the 9:30am Livestream at www.youtube.com/@stpaulsiw