Refuge

Andrew and I were starting to get use to living on campus until the students actually started coming back.  We live on one of the busiest roads that is party central.  A few days before school started flocks of students would walk to parties, which seemed like in groups of 20-30.  Of course they were really loud, fights broke out, and the cops were called.  One night at 1am we got a knock at the door.  I answered it and it was two guys out of breath.  They were at a party that was broken out, probably because they tried to fit 300 people in a house (not a good idea).  When the cops came everybody took off running and one of the guys tried to jump the fence and cut himself.  I let him in the house to get cleaned up because he was a little bloody.  After he got cleaned up Andrew and I invited the guys over for Friday night dinner.  I always said that I wanted our house to be a place of refuge for people but didn't expect it in that way.

Tuesday Nights

At Embrace we have been hosting Friday night dinners since January.  The dinners have served as an opportunity to build relationships with people who haven't made a commitment to Christ or a Christian Faith Community.  It's sort of an entry point into Embrace.  We have seen a lot of growth and relationships form but we felt that God wanted us to go deeper.  As a church we wanted to already build into our DNA that we are a worshipping community who is not waiting for a "launch service," but can do it in the present.  As a result we have started Tuesday Night House Worship at my house.  It has been an awesome time of getting together to worship God through fellowship, song, testimony, prayer, and the Lord's Supper.  The past two weeks have been awesome because people are hanging out long after the service is over.

Embrace

We have a name and are no longer referred to as "the church plant." We are Embrace United Methodist Church. We are a Christian Faith Community called together by God to live Christ-dwelling, lives through the power of the Holy Spirit by embracing God and embracing others who have been hurt, rejected, broken, and burned out on religion. We freely love and accept all people where they are and desire to see them grow in wholeness and holiness.

Our mission is to reach out to people who have not committed their lives to Jesus Christ and those who have no relationship with a Christian faith community.

We Embrace:
Extravagant Generosity: (2 Corinthians 9:11) We are a community that practices stewardship through our prayers, presence, financial gifts, and service to God.

Mature Faith Development: (Acts 2:42) We believe making a commitment to become a Christian is only the beginning. We desire to see continual growth in our lives in order to become mature followers of Jesus.

Bold Faith-Sharing: (2 Timothy 4:5b) We want to share what God has done in our lives with others through our words and actions.

Risk-Taking Mission & Service: (Matthew 25:40) We desire to show the love of Christ by meeting the needs of our immediate and extended community.

Authentic Community: (Ecclesiastes 1:1-8) We believe a Christian faith community is about authentic relationships and being real with one another through hurt, pain, sorrow, joy, excitement, laughter, and thanksgiving.

Committed Hospitality: (Romans 15:7) We honor the sacred worth of all people and strive to welcome and include God’s people.

Enthusiastic Celebration: (Psalm 84:1-2) We have an intense desire to not just come to receive but to give of our worship to God and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We want to be mindful of Jesus’ sacrifice for us as we celebrate communion every week.

A community where people can belong.
Come as you are…

Weekend Retreat

This weekend we had a church plant retreat with our launch team. We went to Lake Harrington and stayed at a nice place that was provided for us with no cost. We had 17 people total come this weekend. It was a fun filled weekend with discussions, sharing faith journeys, enjoying good meals, swimming, and Sunday morning worship. In the evening Joseph busted out his guitar and we started spontaneously worshipping God in song. I believe everybody felt closer to God and to one another. The two verses of Scripture that were themes for the weekend was Matthew 22:34-40 and I John 3:11-24. I can honestly say that these verses had a great impact on the team. After our time of worship a few people commented to me how much these verses were speaking to them.

You're Invited!

I was at Wal-Mart shopping Friday night for the dinner and the launch team retreat. My cart was so full that I had troubling turning and pushing it. When I was in the checkout line the woman in front of me jokingly said, "it looks like you are having a party and I'm not invited." Without hesitation I turned to her and said, "Well actually you are invited…" And I started to explain to her what the food was for. God is teaching me that wherever I go can be an opportunity to invite somebody to dinner, and not only dinner but also something deeper than a meal.

Word Spreads

The other night I went to the neighborhood association meeting down the street. I have gotten to know Charlie, the VP pretty well over the last few weeks. At the beginning of the night we introduced ourselves (I was the youngest person there), and at the end of the night I was able to share a little bit of what I do. Turns out those present were familiar with the bread we passed out a few months ago in introducing ourselves to the neighborhood. Also, they made the connection about the dinners that were taking place in my house. It was awesome to see how the word has been spreading and that the seeds we planted months ago are starting to harvest little by little. We probably need to the hit the neighborhood up again with some visits since many new students have moved in.

Celebration

A few Friday's ago we had one of our best dinners. I knew that many of our regulars would be out of town or not able to make it for one reason or another. I was expecting it to be a small crowd. Well, we know God sometimes shatters our expectations and that's exactly what he did that Friday night. The whole team was encouragement, despite having about 10-12 regulars missing; we had 10 new visitors and a crowd of about 30! It was also a great night because we celebrated Scott's 4 years of sobriety. We had a cake for Scott and he shared a few words. Scott was thankful that he could share the celebration with his church! Then it dawned on me that we are already a church and not just people who are hoping to start one…it's already started! At the end of the night a bunch of us from the launch team gathered together for prayer. It was a night we all needed, especially myself because this work of church planting can be incredibility discouraging, but we know that God is faithful.