Finding LIfe

Sunday was a day of incredible worship and celebration.  Many have told me it was the best worship experience they've had in a long time.  It was a day that included 22 baptisms, great stories of missions around the world, terrific music and the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

In our staff meeting on Tuesday as we reflected on the great day, our youngest staff member Michael McAfee made the observation that perhaps the reason our worship was so over the top was that such a large percentage of our body was out serving in the community during the week in our "Loving Our City" events.   His idea is that our hearts were filled with joy because we had focused on others all week long.

I think he's on to something.

After all, the more we give our lives away, the more  we find it.  This principle found in Matthew 10:39 is not just true of our individual lives, but also true of our lives together.   A congregation that is on mission together in loving and serving their community for the sake of the gospel is a dynamic joy-filled congregation.  And that joy is manifested in worship.

Our intention is that every person who is a part of our church will be a part of a group and that every group will be on mission serving in the community in some way.

 This is one of the reasons our oneness weeks in the future will be so important to our overall strategy.  And it is why I believe we will find the more we participate together in these events the more life comes into our worship.