Monday, January 29, 2007

Change is in the wind...

The past few weeks have been a time in the wilderness for me. I have felt totally out of focus. I discovered that my priorities were out of place with God's vision for this new faith community. We have been "gearing up for launch" thinking that advertising will get people (and especially young adults) who are disconnected from God as well as others to our gatherings; and that eventually they would join small groups.

The fact of the matter is, churches OF small groups by definition have more people in their small groups than they do in their gatherings of their small groups.

So the next few weeks will be a time of praying, fasting, and seeking out how our Lord wants this community of small groups to look like, smell like, and be like. The answer is easy (Jesus), the practice of actually living it out is another thing altogether.

What if, instead of trying to get people to sit in our seats on a Saturday night or Sunday morning, small groups of people lived out the mission of the Church in our community? What if people were loved NOT because they might be converted, but simply because God loves them? What if small groups developed based on the arts, music, paint ball, or anything else? What if small groups began meeting in the most unlikely of places? As a result, what if people began to discover how they fit in God's story? What if gatherings of the church became celebrations of what God is doing through small groups?

I believe that small groups can make a VERY big difference in our community and world. We'll see how this all plays out...

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