Worship this morning:
We started off the day with great energy and a buzzing of excitement. It has been a beautiful day - I can't believe this weather - it was 87 degrees!!!!!!!
We closed our series "Merge" with a story out of the Bible in Luke chapter 14. This story is an incredible illustration of God's heart - which includes EVERYONE (a great theme for the entire book of Luke). God has prepared a feast for EVERYONE, the "church" exists to bring EVERYONE to that feast, EVERYONE must choose whether or not to accept this invitation.
Practically speaking, we need to "Merge" with EVERYONE around us. It is by no mistake that we have been placed right where we are - with our co-workers, neighbors, friends, and family. And today's message is a reminder that this "feast" is to be shared, not kept to ourselves.
We also observed communion this morning - remembering the body and blood of Jesus - that was given for us. It was a great time of response - to be grateful for what Jesus has done for us - and also not be satisfied to keep this "feast" for ourselves.
Community Group Tonight:
We had a great group tonight - awesome discussion on this morning's message about "Merging" - and we also gave some ideas about our community outreach event and it looks like we are going to partner with a local center with some older teenagers that really don't have families. One of our group members works there. We also talked about our "hang out" night.
We read about the people in Luke 14 that made excuses and the fact that we as the "church" sometimes are the reason for their excuses.
So we discussed some ways to break down barriers and give people more of a reason to "come" to church - the truth is, come to God.
A few great thoughts that were brought out were:
- Go to where people are
- Just start with a conversation
- Be real - sometimes people think that Christians have it all together - and that may keep others from coming because they "can't measure up"
- Just LOVE people genuinely - let people know that you will love them unconditionally
- Balance between building a relationship and taking the opportunity to share as well
Great Sunday!
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