A Different Season

Life is interesting, and you never know when you're going to hit a curve in the road.

Through a series of strange and unusual events, my family and some dear friends have found ourselves not associated with any organized church. My wife and I had been in a situation where we were between churches before, but we left a church that was getting off in theology and practice and it took us a while to find our last church home. This circumstance is different though.

The cool thing is God is using this circumstance to allow us to experiment and try doing church or the Christian life a new way. The friends that are with us are all mature believers, who have walked with us for a while. We know each other well and have been through the normal ups and downs of church life together. We've had a heart to reach out to our community for a while, and have done some things to reach out in the past.

Now that we're not tied to an organized church and don't have to hold to a certain set of expectations, we've been praying and decided to use this season, however long it may be, to try something different. Perhaps it is radical. Maybe it is more of what we should be doing all along.

Our little group is going to spend Sunday mornings trying to reach out to people who aren't in church. We're going to meet in a neighborhood park, invite the people around, and have a time of sharing Jesus with whomever comes. We're trying to make it relatable with stories and testimonies and just spending time with them. If it is relationship building we want to do that, but if it is straight evangelism we'll do that. Ultimately, we're going to try to do whatever the Lord speaks to us about doing.

We have friends watching out for us, so we're not being lone rangers. We are taking time together to study the Word, pray, and worship as we're lead. We may not have much worldly success, but we realize you don't change the world, or change your city, without taking risks.

We're not mad at church and we bless all our friends who serve faithfully there. It seems at this time that the Lord has something else for us.

If you are so inclined, I would certainly appreciate your prayers. Our group (working on a name!) wants to see Jesus lifted up in our community, and we're trying to be willing to whatever comes up in front of us. If you have questions, let me know and I'd be glad to answer them the best I can. As this seems to fit the theme of "Mission Monday" rather well, I'll post about our adventures from time to time.

For now, it is a new day!
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