I figured today would be a good day to share some updates since there’s nothing else going on… 😉
On a serious note, I’m concerned for today’s election but not how you might think.
I’m concerned for the witness of the Church. The Kingdom of Heaven has very distinct values we are meant to embody that are vastly different from the values of American Culture (and American Christianity). Every four years, we have such an amazing opportunity to be Salt and Light in the midst of extreme toxicity.
When everyone else is manipulating through fear, we can share hope.
When our culture is peddling anger and hate, we can love.
When news sources are commercializing gossip, we can honor.
When friendships and families are fracturing, we can maintain unity.
When the world is vying for power, we can serve in humility.
When people on platforms are pointing and blaming, we can confess and apologize.
While others are longing for revenge, we can fight to forgive.
Unfortunately, as I read yesterday, 43% of adults with a Christian background (and 30% of all adults in the U.S.) have deconstructed their faith and those with spiritual curiosity are running to google rather than churches because of the baggage (perceived or real) that comes with them. Every four years, the tension gets thicker and the walls get higher between the Church and those longing for answers.
The difficulty this brings for church planting is this: We have to overcome these obstacles as we try to reach people with the gospel. People’s experiences with “the Church” put a buffer between us and them that takes a long time to soften. These experiences may have been actual experiences with a Church community or simply what they perceive as the Church on social media, their families, or the “Christian” loved ones of their friends.
The angst I feel on days like today have nothing to do with the election… and everything to do with the people who bear Christ’s name but not His likeness; who claim His values but not His ethics. All this to say: Please embody the character of Jesus today, tonight, and tomorrow because what you do, what you say, and how you react could directly impact people like us in places like this.
As we preach Jesus, please don’t wield His name as a violent weapon… because we are offering it as a healing balm to people who desperately need Him.
MINISTRY UPDATES
What’s happened?
I’ve gotten connected to the Atlanta Collegiate FCA and focused on two campuses that are close to us: Oglethorpe and Emory. I’ve gotten to speak at both FCA’s and engaged students who are spiritually curious. We’re trying to get some things started at Mercer’s Atlanta campus as well. I’ve met with several college students and even had a few express interest in joining our Launch Team.
We’ve had two Vision Nights (one in October and another in November). We’ve had around a dozen or so guests between the two of them with about half following up and joining us at Team Night.
We were able to participate in the largest event our community hosts every year: The Taste of Chamblee. There were 10,000 or so people who walked up to or right past a huge “Kingdom City Church” tent where our team was there to engage them, invite them, or even have some healthy disagreement with them. If they didn’t catch us there, then they saw our logo on all of the Taste of Chamblee marketing as a non-profit partner.
I’ve been serving on the teaching team at Dunwoody Community Church which is about 15 minutes northeast of our target context. They’ve been so generous to us—even allowing us to use their space for team meetings at no charge. I’ve preached twice over the past couple of months.
Maybe my favorite thing we’ve been doing are Table Nights—where we invite unchurched, dechurched, and never-churched people to break bread with us and discuss some of life’s biggest questions. What we’ve noticed is that in our cultural moment people get stuck in a constant state of here/now (something Charles Taylor calls “the immanent frame”). People just get stuck and never lift their eyes to think deeply, feel their longings, ask questions, and engage other thoughts and ideas. We wanted to create a safe space for that. We want these to be engrained in the culture of Kingdom City Church—a hospitable people who “loves the stranger into friendship through the table”.
PRAY FOR US
For more friendships in the city. This work of building a team is long, slow grind that takes a lot of consistency and relational investment. There’s no guarantee that the people you invest in will want to follow Jesus or join your church… We need the Spirit of God to go before us and work through us. We need God-ordained relationships with people God can use in the story of Kingdom City Church. The harvest is plentiful, but we need more workers. Pray for them!
For our team. There’s a lot going on in everyone’s lives. It would be much easier to go to an established church where they can have consistent community provided for them with structure and stability. Every hit packs a little bit more of a punch because there’s a unique vulnerability in this season. Pray for spiritual fortitude and resilience. Pray for the attitude of Jesus “who for the joy set before him endured” and the apostles “who counted it a privilege to suffer with Jesus”. It’s easy when you’re in dream season to get an adrenaline that can’t sustain you through the pains of farming season. We don’t need adrenaline. We need faith. We need discipline. We need resilience. We need strength through the bonds of unity—with Jesus and with one another. Pray for us!
For more people to come alongside us financially. We’re really looking to add more individuals and families to our donor-base. If we can add 25 more external (outside our launch team) units giving $100/month by the end of the year, it would change the game for us over the next year. If you sense the Lord leading you to partner with us, I’ll leave the giving button below! If you can’t or don’t feel called to give, that’s okay. But please pray for us!
There’s plenty more I could say and write about… especially when it comes to our family so I’ll be sure to write again soon. Thankful for each of you.