Building a Church of Small Groups

I'm reading a book by that title right now. The authors are Donahue and Robinson from Willowcreek. Sometimes when I'm reading a book, I think that there are lines that are good enough to pass on. I hope this isn't some kind of illegal activity!

"Many of us in the church view community as optional. As Willow Creek's Director of Small Groups, I (Russ) talk with veteran Christians who resist being connected into what they call 'the system.' Both longterm 'Creekers' and churched people who have moved here decline formal connection to the church or a small group. We lovingly call them 'renegades.'
Some of them are 'church hopping renegades.' Applying consumerism philosophy to their church engagement, they treat Willow Creek like one item on a Chicagoland church buffet. Their agenda is to get themselves and their family 'fed,' the tastiness of the entree the sole measure of whether they will grace our establishment again. Life-transforming community is not part of the nutrition plan.
Granted, the church has done them few favors. We paint a picture of Christianity rightly lived as a simple matter of you and your relationship with God. Such minimalist, 'fire insurance' versions of faith may escape hell. But they have nothing to do with following Jesus. Following Jesus means following him into community. (p.27)

This quote says a great deal. My heart is to see the community that this book talks about fill the Church and go beyond the taste that we have in the gathering. There is much more and we are headed that way! May we never be lulled into a life of going through the motions of doing Church and lose the wonderful opportunities that we have to be and make disciples (aka missionary followers) of Christ.

Bigger than Big!

Have you ever done something and you had no idea what God was going to do with it?
That is where I was with the Big Serve. I knew that people were kind of excited and that some were not. Regardless, I felt God's leading and had determined to follow through.

I am so glad that I did! The fruit is already being harvested in so many ways.
I will copy a few testimonies from an email that I just sent out:

Another couple realized that they still had food left over after feeding the firefighters for the Big Serve, so they found another firehouse to take food to on Monday. When they were delivering the food in their Big Serve shirts, one of the guys recognized the shirt and asked if they had delivered food to another house on Sunday. She explained that she was not, but that our Church had ministered all over Hampton Roads.

A student was in his Philosophy class at TCC (Tidewater Community College)on Tuesday morning when the Professor asked the class if they saw the article in the Pilot newspaper http://hamptonroads.com/2008/08/congregation-goes-out-practice-what-they-preach. The response was very good and the class was impressed by the ministry of our Church.

One member had an encounter with a neighbor in Suffolk while walking her dog. The neighbor was in tears describing the gift that her Mother had received at an extended care facility. The greatest surprise came when the neighbor shared that her Mother was in a specific residence in Chesapeake which was where that member had just served for the Big Serve!

Another member shared about how the Big Serve inspired her Bible Study Class to establish care groups and do more to foster inreach and outreach in their class.

A member who also serves on our support staff shared about how her husband read of our Big Serve project in the newspaper and cried as he was so deeply touched. He is not involved in our Church, but wants to serve when we have this opportunity again.

Our Hispanic Pastor, Vernig Suarez, shared with me that many in his congregation work 6 days per week and have not been able to assist with their VBS efforts or other missions work until the Big Serve. This opportunity to serve with their Church in Pembroke gave them a new excitement for missions and the ministry of their Church.

It just goes on and on. New ministries are being birthed. Ministries to the homeless, ministries to our public servants, and ministry being done by other individuals who just can't stop serving!

A fairly popular preacher is known for saying that he is about God's fame and that is what we are seeing in Hampton Roads. God is famous among the people of our community because His Church did the unexpected and loved people like Jesus. It may be controversial, but the fruit is undeniable as God's fame spreads and His glory shines in our region!

Keep praying that we can be a Church that washes feet like Jesus did. Not just one another's feet, but those of the lost, our enemies, the drug addicted, the mentally disturbed, and the list goes on.

Big Serve 08 Meditations

So what do you say after seeing a 200+ year old Church take one of the boldest steps ever toward engaging their community with Christ? I don't know exactly. I am virtually speechless.

The one thing that I keep coming back to is Luke 2:

All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

Mary heard the Shepherds' report about Jesus and was impressed with the way in which she could be a vessel for God's glory. It says that she kept these things in her heart. My heart is so full right now after seeing the Word become flesh and blood and move into the neighborhood (btw that's the message paraphrase) I'm not a hero or worthy of glory, God has chosen to show his favor because our Church has been faithful to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Our Pastor said it well last night, "I am so proud of you all." We challenged many to get out of their comfort zones and do some things that they had never done before, but God blessed exceedingly, abundantly beyond all that we could think or imagine. People said to me repeatedly last night, "Something is different here and I don't know how to describe it, but it is exciting."

My wife went to Farm Fresh the next day, Labor day, and crossed paths with Firefighters who were talking out loud about how they did not have to buy many groceries because First Baptist Church Norfolk had brought such a wonderful meal yesterday and they were still eating the leftovers! They walked up on Lori and saw her Big Serve shirt and could not say enough in gratitude for all that our Church did for them. I'm getting teary eyed as I write this. God's goodness touched lives through something so simple and everyone in the store heard about how First Baptist Norfolk said thank you to the firefighters in Janaf by feeding them on Sunday!

God is so good. He is moving. It is not about us. History is His Story. We are making history as we see the mighty wave of God's love pour into our community in an unprecedented manner. Some are asking, "When can we do this again?" To which I reply, "Don't wait for another Big Serve. . .just do it!!!" I received a report from a friend today that she and her husband saw another firehouse in their neighborhood and decided to serve again today by taking a meal to those guys. Its not a program, its a passion for taking the Good News to our world by being the Good News in the process.

As un-contemporary as it may sound, I wanted to sing last night, "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God." There are families that you want to be affiliated with and others you may not, but I am very glad to be a part of the First Norfolk family and this is just the beginning!!!

Stay tuned. There is much to share about the Big Serve when I can figure out how to compress it into a digestible format. Keep checking on www.bigserve.org

Keep serving!