(April 11, 2010)

One Sunday mornings, we are practicing for eternity. We look forward to that day to worship the Father with all of those who have gone before us.

Right now, health care reform is a hot topic regardless of what industry you work in. But the crazy thing is that most people are not interested in health creation. Fifty percent of all Americans commute less than 5 miles. If those folks rode bikes for a year, they would lose an average of 13 pounds. What a great concept!

We need to focus in churches on spiritual creation, not spiritual insurance. We're about faith creation. Jesus challenged His followers to embrace faith creation.

The Faith Cycle has a frame. It is the Peace of God. Jesus said to His disciples 'Peace be with you.' The frame gives you security. We need to be willing to have the security of the Peace of God.

Built into the frame of most mountain bikes now is a shock absorber. The Faith Cycle has that, which is God's Peace. It absorbs the shocks of life for us. We still have those experiences, but we always know that we can lean on God for the peace of mind that everything is going to be alright.

It's hard to balance on a bicycle when it's standing still. The same goes for the Faith Cycle. When we stop moving toward our mission, we fall off. The more talking we do and less moving we do, the more our churches fall apart.

The Faith Cycle have knobby, off-road tires. It's intention is for us to go off-road and connect with others who are off the beaten path.

One of the goals of exercise is to create an oxygen debt. The more often you train, the more often your body repays that oxygen debt. You are trying to catch your breath. While riding the Faith Cycle, you need to catch His breath. Jesus breaths on us to receive the Holy Spirit. He is the power behind the ride. The more often that you ride the Faith Cycle, the more of the Holy Spirit that can be contained within you. We need to learn to be spirit-empowered.

Then, there are the handlebars. They steer the course. On the Faith Cycle, they are the Handlebars of Forgiveness. When in doubt, always steer toward forgiveness. ?

For Thomas, He didn't believe. Jesus challenges to Thomas to believe by putting his hands into Jesus' hands. We stand in front of the Faith Cycle without training wheels. Do we trust that we can ride the Faith Cycle on only two wheels? Do we trust that we won't fall off?

- Jon Bruney
(credit to Homiletics)