Joe Debenedictis

“The day you first believed, Jesus chose you. And he believes you can, in his strength and authority, become just like him. He said to his first disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.”3 And he still chooses and calls his followers today.”
― Zondervan Publishing, Transformed: A New Way of Being Christian

“Describing the Church’s calling, Paul writes, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9). We are called together in the fellowship of Christ. Christ is what we share together. This means the stickiness of our calling doesn’t depend upon our proficiency but his glory and grace. Christ is what holds us together, through thick and thin. We live together because we are conceived together, in Christ. As a result, every Christian upon conversion is called into God’s community. There are no exceptions. No one is left out. Everyone has a place in the people of God.”
― Jonathan K. Dodson, Called Together: A Guide to Forming Missional Communities

“In our case, most people don’t miss who we are as the church because they have not heard what we say or preach to (at) them; they miss who we are because they have seen little to no evidence that we are the transformed people of Jesus. We have not begun to live out of what is now true for us.”
― Zondervan Publishing, Transformed: A New Way of Being Christian

“Why is it so important to highlight these comparisons? Because the Christian life is built upon the foundation of facing who you really are and trusting who Christ truly is. Everything you do will be shaped by the degree to which you act on the blessings that are yours in Christ.”
― Timothy S. Lane, How People Change