A culture of safety and time means relationships are characterized by building up and speaking the truth in love. Building up requires seeing yourself as God’s appointed chief encourager. When you see one degree of change in someone, you build them up with encouragement: “Look at God’s work in you!” If we didn’t believe in the safety and time of the Gospel, we might see that same change, in that same person, and say under our breath: “About time!” Instead of silent expectations of behavioral change, we rest in the grace of the gospel: it’s O.K. to not be O.K. because Christ is our righteousness—and He’s not finished with us.

At the same time, this house rule requires “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15). To speak the truth in love is to apply the truth of Scripture and the Gospel to one another when our lives are not aligned with Christ. To speak the truth without love is to be like a hammer. To be all love with no truth is nothing but fluff. 

But transformation happens when we speak the truth in love. Here’s what this looks like Truth + Tone + Timing. Gospel culture people want all three. 

The right tone without truth just endorses what needs to change and leave us stuck in habits and patterns that damage us and dishonor God.

Truth without the right tone may give us what we need to hear but in a way that we don’t want to listen. 

Truth with the right tone at the wrong time may be more detrimental than helpful because timing matters. You don’t lovingly rebuke your friend at the wedding reception or correct the pattern of sin in your spouse during the six-minute car ride to Trader Joe’s.

Truth with the right tone at an appropriate time best leads to transformation as the truth needed goes forward in love to be heard in the spirit intended.

1 Cor. 13:6; Eph. 4:15; Col. 3:16

Grace isn’t opposed to effort; grace is opposed to earning. This means, in the Christian life, grace and grit—strenuous, never-giving-up effort—are best friends. In fact, God’s grace empowers our grit. Because of God’s grace, we grind and labor in our day-by-day sanctification. While grit may seem like an odd way to describe our posture toward growth, grit captures the biblical reality that spiritual growth requires hard labor. When Scripture calls us to “work out our salvation”—God is talking about spiritual manual labor. He’s calling us to discipline, to watch our lives, to sweat, to grit and grind toward growth. And yet, our grind is fueled by grace: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13). Because God is graciously at work in us, we are empowered by grace to grind toward growth.

The Apostle Paul, in describing his life’s ministry, once more highlights the inseparable friendship between grace and grit well: “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor 15:10–11). Grace empowers our grit. Christian growth is about grace-fueled grit because growth requires diligent work. Yet, the power to change and grow is empowered by the grace of God. It’s O.K. to not be O.K., but we we don’t want to stay that way. So under the banner of the Gospel and empowered by the Spirit, we grind by grace.

I think a gospel culture radiates grace. It should be a place where we get excited about the gospel and the transforming work God wants to do in us, but where there is no pressure, no deadline, no feeling like a failure when you mess up, only grace.

—Lindsay, Member of Redeemer

Rom 6:6ff; Rom 8:12-14; Titus 2:11-14

If we only celebrated big moments of change we’d celebrate next to nothing and we’d miss the millions of ways God is at work in our church. Scripture teaches us change is slow and our spiritual growth develops like a muscle: over time, not overnight (Phil. 2:12-13). This means that minuscule change is majorly significant. You went from reading Scripture once a week to three times a week? Praise God! Your outbursts of anger at your children have decreased from regular to irregular? Look at God answering that prayer! Because real transformation comes from Jesus, we celebrate any and all degrees of change He works in us.

1 Thess. 5:11; Heb. 3:13; 10:24-25

Redeemer has taught my family and I “one degree of change is still change and worth celebrating”. There were times in the past where there was fear visiting new churches due to the overwhelming pressure to perform as opposed to just allowing Jesus to work through you. Redeemer has been a place of comfort as well as a place for healing. The one degree of change lived out and displayed is a lot larger than it sounds. For example, seeing my wife smile and willingly want to serve at Redeemer after coming from a place of hurt, makes the one degree visually look like 180 degrees. One degree is a big deal.

— Paul, Member of Redeemer

What kind of church family do you want to be part of when you sin? How would you like someone to treat you when you confess your sin to them? What would be good news to you in that moment? When someone is already under the weight of their sin and confessing it, we don’t flinch or give them a shameful glance. Instead, we celebrate and comfort them with the Gospel! The Gospel makes it clear we are all sinners, so a confession of sin doesn’t surprise us—it excites us because it means God is turning that person toward Christ and change. 

We don’t rebuke strugglers; we encourage them with grace and truth! Rebukes are only needed when we are hard-headed and obstinate in our sin. Most of the time, most of us are not obstinate in sin; we are simply struggling toward obedience. Confession is not something to rebuke, but to encourage because Christ’s yoke and burden is easy and light (Matt. 11:28-30) and the Gospel is true.

Luke 15; Gal. 6:1ff; Jas. 5:16

Today we continue our mini-series highlighting one house rule at a time. This week, we want to focus on this: Everyone is a work in progress.

To believe that everyone is a work in progress is to embrace a particular posture toward, well, everyone—your friends, kids, pastors, spouse, parents, the list goes on. Everyone is a work in progress because, as Scripture makes super clear, everyone—including Christians—are sinful. Because of Christ, Christians are new creations, freed from the power of sin but still struggling with the presence of sin in us, until Christ returns. Until then, everyone is a work in progress and when we grasp this, our posture toward people begins to reflect a gospel culture.

When I believe everyone is a work in progress, I am removing the planks in my eye before removing the splinter in someone else’s. When I believe everyone is a work in progress, I recognize that it is just as hard for that person—my kid, my co-worker, my spouse—to repent of their sin as it is for me it. Patterns and habits are indeed difficult to change. This sort of honest self-understanding leads to compassion and patience with ourselves and others because everyone is a work in progress.

1 Cor 13:4; Gal. 6:2; Col. 3:13; 1 Thess. 5:14

To continue to provide families with helpful resources, we have curated a few videos to help your children engage with God and the Bible. Parents, don’t hesitate to reach out of you have any questions regarding discipleship within your homes.

The Gospel Project

This resource is going to take children through the books of the Bible as well as provide questions on how you as a family can help your kids grow in the knowledge of God’s word.

• Redeemer Kids Video Messages Password is still the same as the last few weeks. If you didn’t receive the password, please send a message to dane@redeemernw.org)

Right Now Media

RightNow Media - We have a free gift for you! We are excited to share that our church now has access to an extensive video library called RightNow Media! It’s like the "Netflix of Video Bible Studies" and has a HUGE library of faith-based videos that you can access whenever and wherever you want—on your phone, tablet, computer, or on your TV at home. You will have FREE access to thousands of video resources to help you with parenting, marriage, discipleship, and more. It includes content for all ages and stages of life, and all of your family members are invited to set up their own accounts as well. Now, let’s create your free account! There are two simple steps:

• Click on the link above to create your private account and start watching right away!

• Download the RightNow Media app for your smartphone, tablet, Apple TV, Roku, or Amazon Fire TV.

Parents, we added a few suggested videos to put on for your younger kids while you are engaging with the online service.

• Ages 3-5yrs - Wyatt’s Fort - Wyatt and his sidekicks Howsham and Desmond experience crazy adventures within the magical world of his tent fort! Each episode features an illustration from the Bible, and Wyatt always learns something new about who God is. Wyatt's Fort is great for the whole family to enjoy.

• Ages 4-7yrs - Hoop Dogz: God Is #1! - V.J. can't wait to meet all the other HoopDogz at Collie Island, where they all plan to ride the brand new, super-turbo Ferris Wheeler, The Brain Scrambler. There's just one problem. He is under strict orders from his mom not to ride. He's bummed out but obedient, that is until his Basketball Hero, Yow Ling, shows up signing autographs and promoting the new ride. Meanwhile, Chad and Rebecca's ministry is challenged when Chad mistakenly orders and takes delivery of 20,000 snow tires. Their ministry of serving God and others derails as Chad tries desperate measures to "unload" the snow tires through his TV show. He is no longer putting God first, but trying to see stuff instead!

• Ages 8-10yrs - Reckless Love - Follow the adventures of Bob Goff, Greg Boyd, Mo Isom, and Karen McKinney as they seek one thing - Reckless Love. This fun and inspiring 4-episode video series asks the big questions while encouraging you to recklessly live out your faith.