Sunday’s Coming ~ May 11

Sunday’s Coming
What are you known for?  What are we known for as a church?

One of the great challenges the Holy Spirit is speaking into me is to compel me to more authentically share Christ with those who do not know Jesus.  I admit that, while I’m good and talking about Jesus and I’m good at making connections with people, I often find myself hesitant to connect with those that are different than me.  Here is a little piece I wrote for the newsletter this month to describe a recent experience:

Inked arms and pierced lobes.  

Each tattoo a story and and each piercing an adventure.  

Would this one come to worship with us, or eat with us, or even want to be seen with us?  

How do I start a conversation?  What do I say?  Why am I afraid?  Why am I cautious?  

And yet my heart beats with joy, with possibility, with hope that a conversation might begin. That somehow in the story of ink and the adventure of a piercing the Great Story might find a home.  And maybe already it has.  This created-in-the-image of God one may already be a follower of The Way.  

But… How do I start a conversation?  What do I say?  Why am I afraid?  Why am I cautious?  

And so I begin, I stutter, I stammer.  

“What disc do you use on #7 over the trees?”  

“Valkarie”

“No way.  Me, too… until I put it in the water on #9. Now I use a Vulcan.”  

“Cool.”

Conversation started.  Friend made.  

Discs fly over the branches.  Mine buried in some briers.  His perfectly positioned for birdie or better.  

We didn’t get to the Great Story, but we did start in on a story.

This Sunday, we’ll wrestle wit that question together, using Acts 2:42-47.

And…

• We’ll celebrate baptism at 8:45
• We’ll commission and send out our Africa team at 11:00

See you Sunday,

Jon

From Iowa To Uganda for Christ!