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The air conditioning is broken at the community center we rent for church on Sundays and after a sticky, sweaty hour and a half service two Sundays ago, we relocated to a living room for this past Sunday.
And while we’ll hopefully be back in our normal brown folding chairs with the dated laminate floors by this coming Sunday, it was such a sweet time of worship two days ago. About twenty five of us packed into the living room and kitchen to sit on an odd assortment couches, patio furniture, kitchen chairs, and bar stools in order to worship and pray together and to hear the Word of God taught.
What a special service it was, in all its simplicity. And our hearts might have been tempted to say, “Isn’t this better? Just the core group worshiping together in a more intimate space…”
But our Pastor reminded us over and over that we aren’t called to simply worship and be fed for ourselves. We have a mission from God in our city. And while the times of pulling back and refreshing ourselves in God are important, the weekly and daily presences we have in our city through our regular service times and regular lives lived out are essential too.
Church planting isn’t just about being fed and gathering intimately and worshiping privately.
Church planting is…
…serving.
…giving.
…opening wide.
…reaching out.
…being consistent.
…living love out to those around you.
And while our little group of twenty-five might seem like it’s too small to make a real impact, it’s really not. Because even one person living their life open and reaching out in love can make a world of difference.
So each Sunday we’re called to meet in a little community center every Sunday and to sit on familiar chairs and to put out the same signs and to preach the Word of God every single week, so that people know that we will be there when they need us.
And each week day we’re called to go about our lives in a way that’s seeking opportunities to serve and give and even speak the love of Jesus that has set us free, so that people will know that we will be there when they need us.
Church planting takes consistency.
Sacrificial consistency.
Loving consistency.
Open armed consistency.
May we find the strength in Jesus to be consistent in loving and serving and being where He has called us to be.
Be blessed
<3
‘specially ’bout serving 😀
Thanks for sharing this series! I pray that God fill your new church with the Holy Spirit, and continue to fill your group with His presence so that you can grow and bless this community!
Thank you so much Gina! Your prayer is so appreciated! <3
I can relate to this so much! We were part of a church plant and we started in a living room! We eventually moved into a school, but I still can’t recreate the amazing worship we had in the closeness of that house. It got us started!
That is so awesome! I love connecting with other church planting wives. It’s so true, something about the tiny, homey space brings a sweet intimacy. <3