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.

Students of Evangelism

Last Sunday night Schloemer and I went to Common Grounds. Lately, when it starts hitting around 8pm I’m usually dead. I’ve been trying to lay off the caffeine lately. Anyway, it’s Schloemer who is starting random “God” conversations at the counter. After commenting on the barista’s tattoo Andrew invited her to our Friday night dinners. They start talking about the church and it turns out her dad is a Methodist pastor in Kentucky. The guy sitting at the bar overhears the conversation and he expresses an interest to get back in church. Another girl comes along and the topic of “church” continued. I stood on the sidelines amazed at what God was doing. I came to Common Grounds exhausted but my spirits were lifted watching Schloemer wreck shop. I told Andrew that he is now an evangelism expert and he can write a book. He is getting on-the-job training, in my opinion the best type to get. It’s awesome to see Andrew’s excitement for people grow more and more. When we came home that evening we were on evangelism high (the best type of high to be on).

Porch Talks

Some of the deepest "God" conversation I have participated in have not be in the four walls of a seminary classroom or talking to a bunch of scholars, or being in the church but have taken place on my neighbor, Jimmy's front porch. I gave him Bible a few weeks ago and he decided he wants to read it all the way through. Every few weeks we sit down to go over some of his questions. Somehow we got on the topic of Revelation. It's a book of the Bible that he was terrified of. I never knew why until he explained it to me. Jimmy grew up with preachers scaring their congregations into believing they were going to hell and the end of the world was coming. It explains why he never went back. After explaining some biblical doctrines to him his spirit was at ease. At the end of our conversation he said that he felt cheated by all his preachers. He felt liberated from fear that has held him down for a long time.

Week at the YMCA

My gym was closed all week because of yearly maintained. It threw my schedule off because I normally meet a lot of people at the Immanuel Baptist Gym. I knew this could be an opportunity to do something a little bit different. I went to the High St. YMCA for the week. One morning I was working out in an upstairs room, which reminded me of my YMCA back in New York. It had an old school dungeon feel to it, I loved it…Anyway I was up there by myself for the first half-hour or so and finally a guy walked up there. In between my sets I introduced myself to Raul. Raul is from Cuba. I struck up a conversation with him and finally invited him to Friday night dinner. When I told him I was a pastor he kept asking me if I was being serious. Raul was excited about the dinner. We will see what happens…After I left the YMCA, I saw the homeless guy I had mentioned a few months ago who was at the church plant prayer meeting. After we prayed for him he wandered off and disappeared. When I saw him God asked me, "Do you really want the hurting and broken? If so there's one of them." For a split second I was just going to let him go but I wanted to be obedient so I drove by him, rolled down the window and handed him a dinner invite to my house. Again, we will see what happens.