Plane Ride

This past weekend was awesome!  My best friend from college really did marry the girl of his dreams.  I was extremely blessed not only to be the best man but also to preach at the wedding.  On my way down to Lancaster Pa, I was flying out of the Bluegrass Airport where I sat next to a UK college student.  I introduced myself and told him that I was starting a church.  Turns out he lives down the street from me.  I invited him to Friday night dinner and he told me that he would check it out.  He then proceeded to tell me that he hadn't been in church for a while.  He said he wished that there was somewhere in walking distance because he doesn't have a car.  His statement stuck with me the whole weekend.  What if Embrace was a small church but one that reached out to the community?  I know that I need to die to myself and what I want or what I think Embrace needs to be and allow it to be what God wants it to be.

Fusion

A few weeks back the vice president of the neighborhood association asked me to oversee/"stupervise" a volunteer project (Fusion) that UK students were helping out with.  It was cool to hang out with first year students ready to volunteer their time before classes started.  Of course my motives were mixed in helping out because I was going to use it for an evangelistic spin.  I enjoyed talking to the students, finding out where they were from, why they decided on UK, and what they hoped to accomplish in the future.  I told each of them that I was starting a church in the area.  One of the guys I was talking to grew up in a United Methodist Church.  Mark's parents were missionary medical doctors in Kenya, which is interesting because another guy apart of Embrace UMC, Aaron, is from Kenya because his parents were missionary medical doctors.  Mark was looking for a church to plug into and has found a home at Embrace.

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.