Have you ever lived in the middle of a project, and it's
kind of all-consuming, and you think about it night and day, and there's
nothing in the world that can make the obsession stop except getting to the end
of it? And then you look around you at
all the other people who are kind of connected to the project, and you think,
"Why hasn't this taken over your
life like it has mine?"
Call it passion. Call
it a calling from God. Call it whatever
you like, but it's like you're living in the flow of what it is you were made
to do, and few things feel quite as good.
That's where I've been living for the past six months. It's kind of weird that I think of this time
as one of the best in my life, because so many things in our family life have
been turned upside down, but I just have this feeling that God is creating
something new, and we get to be a part of it.
It almost feels like I can see the future, and it's not
about huge numbers or big budgets or fancy programs (although I'm praying for
all those things as a means to an end.) It
might sound hokey, but I can see people in Janesville finding and living the
life of Jesus and turning around to give that life away. I can see previously disconnected Central
people from Janesville making an impact on their own community, helping the
hurting, serving the poor, and loving on kids. I can see groups of people eating lunch
together after church, who never would have met otherwise. I can see the executive hanging out with the
custodian and the single mom getting coffee with the empty nester. I can see them sharing their struggles and
their victories, their excitement and their fear, and taking it all to
Jesus.
But a Sunday morning worship service doesn't create that.
Even a good small groups ministry doesn't create that.
The only thing that creates that kind of community is people...
people who are committed, not just to building a church, but to loving and
serving whoever's in front of them. People
who have made space in their lives for inviting new people over to their house
for lunch. People who are ready to love
those who are often hard to love. People
who don't just greet somebody at church with a handshake, but step into their
lives, get to know them, ask them questions, and invite them to sit in church
together.
Over the course of the next three months, we're going to be
working hard to create a first class experience for people when they show up on
Sunday mornings, both in the worship center, and in Kidzworks. But no matter how good our weekend experience
might be, our church will live and die by the way we treat new people who walk
in the door. My hope is that we would be
at least as concerned with being
welcoming people as we are with creating a welcoming environment. My prayer is that on opening weekend, new
families will walk into the Holiday Inn Express Conference Center and be blown
away by the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of the people they meet.
Come pray with us this Sunday night, June 29th, at 6pm at
the Holiday Inn. Josh Calhoun, our
friend from Citizen Way, is leading worship. We'll listen to a fantastic teaching by
Danielle Strickland on rethinking our witness.
And we'll pray that God turns us into the kind of people who make his
dreams into reality.
