A Great Day!

Anyone who has children - or knows people who do - knows that starting a family is hard work. There are those hours awake in the middle of the night for a baby's feeding! Your schedule changes and has to become completely responsive to the needs of others. What seemed liked an abundant amount of time shrinks to feeling like running around without your head! Life becomes a blur! It's hectic, hurried, and harried. But you know what? You wouldn't trade the joy of it for anything in the world!

Now imagine starting a "family of families!"

Our worship launch couldn't have been a better experience. Sure there were the rare technical glitches that occur every time you introduce media and sound into a service. But the spirit moved. It moved so powerfully for me that by the end of our worship time, just before I had to step up and do the announcements, I had to wipe away the tears that were streaming from my eyes. I'm not a "hyper-" emotional person, but on Sunday, I felt like I did at the birth of my son, Will. And yes, in case you're wondering, I cried then too.

A family is a wonderful thing in God's eyes. Yes, many of us have experienced the pain of dysfunctional families. All families experience this to some degree. Some mildly, some tragically. Which is precisely the reason Jesus began pulling around him a family focused not so much on "blood ties" but on the bonds of the Spirit.

The BIG vision God has given me for the Promise Church is just that. A spiritual family. My heart aches when I see people who are alone or lonely. I suppose that's why I've spent so much of my ministry with Singles and Young Adults. Our Young Adults group in Memphis would regularly host a Thanksgiving Dinner, on Thanksgiving Days, for people who had family in other parts of the country and wouldn't be able to make it home for the holidays.

I don't say that to "toot my horn" at all, but to describe the kind of community God wants followers of Jesus to be about. The early church was such a family. In the first century (and even today in other parts of the world) when someone became a Christian and left the family religion, they were cut off from the family and even from the surrounding community. They were deprived economic opportunity and access to the relationships they had known all their lives. Out of this, Christians became known to outsiders as the religious group who cared intimately for its members. In essence, they became the family. That's powerful. It's powerful because all of us desire intimacy without manipulation. We long for deep relationship. We want to love and to be loved unconditionally without someone telling what we have to do next to be loved.

The Promise Church commits to saying prophetically to Jackson and Madison Country - the days of having to jump through religious or social hoops to be accepted and loved are over!

Our "magna carta" - our defining statement - doesn't simply come from this vision. It comes from scripture. It's from Acts, chapter 2 and describes the response of those who heard Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost - the day that THE family really began. Contemplate this passage. Pray over it. Imagine how the passage would "translate" into today's terms and setting. And deeply listen to what God is calling you to be and to do.

41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church—about three thousand in all. 42 They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer. 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their group those who were being saved.