Stay in the Story
Hello Vineyard Fam!
Staying in the story… This is the challenge of Following the Way of Jesus. Staying in the story also means being aware of what story we are staying in… How is that for a philosophical start to our Wednesday?
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been walking closely with the disciples in the days after the resurrection. We’ve watched Jesus meet them in fear, in doubt, in failure, and in confusion. As we’ve paid attention, we’ve started to see a pattern emerge.
Jesus doesn’t just solve problems, He forms people. He meets them where they are, but He doesn’t leave them there. He reshapes how they see, how they trust, and how they live. He is preparing them… not just to understand what happened, but to become the kind of people who can live in what is happening next.
That matters for us, because this isn’t just their story, it’s ours. What we are watching Jesus do in them then, He is still doing in us now. As we move closer to the ascension and Pentecost, there is a shift taking place.
The disciples are being prepared for a reality where Jesus will not be physically present with them in the same way. That sounds like a loss on the surface, but it’s actually a transition into something deeper.
They are being formed to live with trust, not dependence on what they can see. They are being formed to recognize that Jesus is still at work, even when His presence feels different than before. They are being formed to stay in the story.
This is where the story becomes personal for us. We are stepping into a season as a church that will feel different. While I certainly don’t put myself on the same plane as Jesus, I know that my upcoming sabbatical is a significant event for our church. I want to speak to that event directly, not with concern, but with clarity and hope.
This is not a disruption to our part of the story; this is part of how the story unfolds in the future. If Jesus is forming us the way we’ve been talking about, if He is truly reshaping how we trust Him, how we follow Him, how we see Him, then moments like this don’t weaken the church; they deepen it.
The center of this church has always been, and will always be, Jesus. What we are being invited into is a kind of faith that is not dependent on familiarity, routine, or a single voice, but is rooted in the living presence of Christ among us.
That means this season is not an opportunity to drift, it’s an opportunity to lean in… Not out of obligation, but out of formation. The questions underneath all of this are simple, and are the same formative questions we face in every opportunity to grow:
Are we following Jesus… or are we following comfort? Are we anchored in Him… or in what feels familiar? The disciples had to learn this in real time. There came a moment when Jesus was no longer right in front of them in the same way.
They had to decide: would they stay in the story He was telling, or would they retreat back to what they could control and understand? That same invitation is in front of us at every turn.
So here’s a simple way to step into this week. Pay attention to where you are tempted to pull back. Pay attention to where you feel the urge to disengage, to drift, or to treat your connection to the church as optional.
Instead of following that instinct, gently push in the other direction. Choose presence. Choose consistency. Choose to stay engaged… not because you “should,” but because something is being formed in you. Because Jesus is still at work, and because the story is still unfolding.
As we move toward the ascension, we are going to see something clearly: Jesus is not absent; He is reigning. As we move toward Pentecost, we will see this even more clearly: we are not alone. We are being filled. So stay in it, stay present, and stay open. What Jesus is doing in this season matters more than we might realize right now, and we don’t want to miss it!