Tuesday, October 31, 2006

So our first Sunday has come...

It's crazy to step back and look at whats gone on... The journey God has taken us through as a community over the last three years has been incredible.

Jeff mentioned in his blog (that I am ticked he got up before me) that it seems odd to say our church started this past week cause many of us have been living life together for the last 3 years. Some of us even longer... but this "ministry" started 3 years ago as what many called "Hungry"... So i guess it seems like we have been a church together for a while now...

None the less... our first "official" wprship gathering as Visio Dei occured this past Sunday... it was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever been apart of... and honestly, it couldn't have been more "us"...

The manager who was supposed to show up and let us in somehow didnt show up (no big deal if you end up reading this... it worked better than we could have ever planned.) So after we found a door unlocked and debated for an hour as to if we should just go in or not (again if you are the manager and reading htis then ignore it) we decided to just hold the our first gathering ever outside in the parking lot...

My brother went and picked up his generator... and we set up shop outside... Rebecca started making some phone calls and told everyone to call everyone they knew and somehow we ended up with well over a hundred chairs, lounge chairs, blankets, dining room chairs, futon cusions, and even a big inflatable monkey(?)... We had our childrens ministry out in the grass on our safety mats... everything just went on like it was supposed to.. we didn't miss a beat...


It turned out to be far greater than anything we could have planned for ourselves... We are there in the parking lot, worshipping God, bright blue skys, sun coming up over everyone, and two huge hawks flying over head... I was in awe and could barely speak, much less sing (which is totally fine unless people expect it from you...)


(Jeff, you're so wise...)

I have said from the beginning I would be a bit dissapointed if our story was simple... easy... explainable... I dont believe the God we follow is that way and I don't believe He would lead His church to those places... it was so great to have friends remind me of that on Sunday... this is the path we are choosing... this is the path we have been given... I owe so many a huge thanks for being willing to follow God the way you do...


I pray together we will learn what it means to follow Jesus and that we could be used to bring God's Kingdom... May this story continue for all eternity...

Love and Peace,

-J

1 comment:

Shannon Smith said...

Continued from here.

I was not infering that I did not enjoy your teachings on "What we are doing", "Why we are doing it", and "How we are doing it".

Those messages were good, but had more of a business feel to them. I think they were right on, and filled their purposes perfectly. My enjoyment of the Rev's message this past week may have been accentuated by me having not spent enough time as of late with my Lord.

Sunday morning was incredible. Being outdoors, under a cloudless sky was a great catalyst for true worship. When you can look around you and witness what God has created, it brings you to a place where you can intimatley connect with the Father. I felt more open to God and what he had to say through Pastoral figure Ramsey, than I had in awhile.

So, no hard feelings. I still love you.

I hope I haven't given Jeff a big head. It wouldn't take much for it to look disproportionate to the rest of his body.