This past weekend Laura and I had the opportunity to attend a marriage retreat with the Raleigh Community Church in Memphis. We had a wonderful time spent relaxing, playing games, hanging out with friends, and most important, no kids. We love our girls a great deal but sometimes it is important to break away without them just so we can spend time alone. And this weekend provided us that opportunity.
It also provided me with the opportunity to preach, something I am finding I really enjoy doing. But the thing that I most enjoyed about this weekend away was to once again be encouraged by a wonderful group of people that I have come to truly love and respect.
As I look back over the last few years of our life it is easy to see the hand of God moving and directing us to move into places and contexts which have transformed us in different ways. Each place we have lived has provided us a new and unique opportunity for growth. And our time in Memphis certainly provided many of those growth opportunities.
Laura and I anticipated spending our time in Memphis in formal education. We were naive enough to believe that all we needed to be highly effective workers in God's kingdom was a "formal" education to accompany the vast (recognize the sarcasm) experience we had in practical ministry. We quickly learned that Memphis would be much more than just formal education. We saw where we wanted to be as Kingdom workers and where we were upon moving to Memphis. And the distance between those two seemed insurmountable. So we began our journey of creating spaces where growth could occur.
We sought out ways to grow in our formal education, ability to connect to people around the city, ability to communicate and cast vision, love for people, ministry skills, and a general understanding of what it takes to build a church. We started a business which connected us to a wide range of people and provided us the opportunity to develop communication and vision casting skills. HST gave us the space to explore a formal education. But it was the Raleigh Community Church that provided us the opportunity to dive into our creativity and stretch our abilities and understanding of Kingdom work. And through their grace and patience we learned how to cross cultural barriers, develop ministry plans, create new ministries, reach into the heart of communities with grace and the gospel in hand, communicate Jesus to people who knew him but did not walk with him, connect people together to form community, and network with people from the city at large under a unifying vision of God's Kingdom work.
If you ask someone from the Raleigh Community Church what they feel like they offered Laura and I as young apprentices in Kingdom work you will probably get a wide range of responses. But I am certain that none will know fully the impact they have had on us in a pivotal moment in our lives. Certainly there were bumps and bruises along the way. But this church offered several important lessons that have become a foundation for our future. First, love and accept people because they are God's creation. Do not ignore cultural differences, but also do not allow them to hinder our ability to love and accept people as children of God. Second, provide space for people to grow. What we needed from Memphis had less to do with formal education and more to do with space to grow. This involved our formal education. But it was so much more than that. Raleigh helped provide that space where we could explore, create and be transformed by God's Kingdom. Third, we learned how to keep going. At times life can be a complete mess. This was certainly what we felt in Memphis. Laura and I were both pursuing M.A. degrees, started a business, worked as Apprentices at Raleigh Community Church, worked part time for a non-profit, had a baby and a 2 year old...all at the same time. You have to be completely insane to do this or have a community of people surrounding you that is providing what is needed to help you through. We went with community over insanity (although at times it felt like insanity). Raleigh was a big part of that community that surrounded us so we could accomplish what we did.
This past weekend was important for Laura and I because we were able to be near some of the people that made our time in Memphis so valuable, so great. We are so grateful for the Raleigh Community Church and the people who lead and serve there. They will forever have an imprint on our hearts. We are who we are in part because of their willingness to walk with us on our journey. Thanks Raleigh Community Church!
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Ethos 5th Birthday
Ethos 5th Birthday
November 3rd marks a special day for the Ethos Church. We will celebrate our fifth birthday by worshiping together in Allen Arena on Lipscomb's campus. This is going to be an awesome celebration as we look back at the ways God has worked in and through us to reach every corner of Nashville. I can't wait to finally see everyone together in one place. Laura and I have been in Nashville for 1 year and have never had the opportunity to worship with our entire church family altogether. We eagerly await the moment we will look across a sea of faces, many we do not know, some who have become dear friends, all of whom are on a journey of faith in some way. Whether a person is there for the first time or hundredth time does not matter. Journeying with Jesus means making a decision to be curious about the wonder of God and surrendering to his work on and in us. Every Sunday we get the opportunity to worship alongside people who are curious and learning how to surrender. This doesn't mean we all are at the same mile marker along the way. It does, however, mean that God is alive and is working on the hearts of his people. November 3rd will be great because we will get to be together with our entire church family for the first time since we have been in Nashville. I think it is going to be a lot of fun!
November 3rd marks a special day for the Ethos Church. We will celebrate our fifth birthday by worshiping together in Allen Arena on Lipscomb's campus. This is going to be an awesome celebration as we look back at the ways God has worked in and through us to reach every corner of Nashville. I can't wait to finally see everyone together in one place. Laura and I have been in Nashville for 1 year and have never had the opportunity to worship with our entire church family altogether. We eagerly await the moment we will look across a sea of faces, many we do not know, some who have become dear friends, all of whom are on a journey of faith in some way. Whether a person is there for the first time or hundredth time does not matter. Journeying with Jesus means making a decision to be curious about the wonder of God and surrendering to his work on and in us. Every Sunday we get the opportunity to worship alongside people who are curious and learning how to surrender. This doesn't mean we all are at the same mile marker along the way. It does, however, mean that God is alive and is working on the hearts of his people. November 3rd will be great because we will get to be together with our entire church family for the first time since we have been in Nashville. I think it is going to be a lot of fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)