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We’ve been looking back at the Foundational Stones, or principles, that Victory has been founded on, those things that make the church what it is, and how we can learn from those principles as individual believers.

Years ago, I heard a minister talking about three words that are essential to living like Christ: Simplicity, Sincerity and Sacrifice. These principles really impacted me, and I told Colleen that I wanted our lives and our church to be based on those principles. Since then, we have intentionally made them a part of everything we do as this church has grown.

In Acts 2:41-47, we see a description of the early church that is the prototype of what the church is supposed to look like even still today. There are five basic aspects – doctrine, fellowship, experiencing God, social justice and soul winning. Unfortunately, most churches in America today only focus on one or two of these aspects. Naturally, I wondered what would happen if all five were in place in one church. And, as I thought about this, the Lord showed me three principles that must be in place in order for all five aspects to work together:

1. Simplicity – To reduce to basic essentials. The state of being simple. Uncompounded. Jesus and the disciples lived a different kind of life than everyone else in the world. Our lives are often so cluttered. If we’re not careful, we can get so overwhelmed that it draws our heart away from God. Our lives can get so complicated that we can no longer hear the voice of the Lord. We need to simplify our lives. Jesus was a simple man. He didn’t live a complicated life. He lived a regular life, regular clothes, regular family, regular job…but he kept himself uncluttered. We need to be like him, both in our lifestyle (relationships, possessions and spirituality), and in our theology (major on majors, minor on minors). Neither of these should be complicated.
2. Sincerity – The state of being free from hypocrisy. Sincere people are:
   • Credible – You can trust them.
   • Responsible – You can count on them.
   • Vulnerable – You can know them.
   • Humble – You can teach them.
   • Correctable – You can change them.
   • Incorruptible – You can test them.
3. Sacrifice – To surrender loss of, or give up for and ideal or belief. We cannot live the Christian life without sacrifice. We will not make a difference without it. Just as those in the early church “sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need,” so must we be willing to sacrifice our own comfort to help meet the needs of others. Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24-25, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (NKJ)

If we want to look and live like Christ and have a tremendous impact on our world, then these counter-cultural principles must be foundational stones upon which we build our lives.

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