Life is present in every community; and the challenge life presents to us is to find it, grab hold of it and run with it because life is moving on. We have a choice, of course. Life or Death. The language of death is easy to speak, but they call us to make a different choice and find a new language. They remind us the more we speak of death the more we forget about life and that ask “Why not look for the causes of life?” Indeed, why not?  If we can learn life’s language we can see it, work with it and maybe even more deeply discover our own life in the process. To walk the streets these days you’d better understand the language or you’ll be living in a hopelessly naive bubble. But if you can’t talk about life, you’re just as naïve about what going on around you. Do you live a consistent life story? Is it Coherent (moving in a consistent direction) or Compartmentalized (moving in different directions to satisfy different needs)? Do you have stress in your life, struggle with feelings of inadequacy, or lack direction for the future? Do you act one way on the weekends and another at your job? Then you're compartmentalized, fractures and fragmented.

Stress is the result of a fractured and fragmented Life

Expectations are the roles we are given to play in unfamiliar stories of others. The First Cause of LIFE is Relationships. Always. The second cause of LIFE is coherence. Coherence navigates the chaos and conflicts inherent in life with an internal gyroscope that guides circumstances and directs all of life. Coherence is the master narrative of belonging and meaning — the story of life. Coherence is the language that generates adaptation to our circumstances and manages our complex sets of relationships. Leaders articulate coherence to individuals and groups such as congregations by telling the story and encouraging others to tell the positive stories that lead to life. We have been encouraging churches this past fall to tell their stories of ministry in the community. Sermon Notes: Sermon Notes 09.15.13 Leading Causes of Life 2 Sermon Slides: Worship 09.15.13 Leading Causes of Life 2