Urban Garden

We recently made the decision to use the back deck of our town home for an urban garden.  We will soon have a back 40.  Forty square feet, that is.  Our garden will be home to several different veggies and herbs.  And should provide some good food and the opportunity to bless others.  Maybe the green thumbs of my grandparents and mom will show their heritage in me.

Gardening gives so many illusions to evangelism themes to me.  There are three important categories that these themes fall into: essentials, provision, and seasons.  The essentials to crops are seeds, soil and, in our case, containers.  The provision comes in the form of sun and rain and with a little help from fertilizer.  And finally, the seasons manifest as planting, tending, and harvest.

Each of these things can parallel with an aspect of evangelism.  The essentials are the seeds of the Gospel, soil that is ready to receive the seed, and people who will act as willing vessels.  The provision takes the form of the Holy Spirit changing hearts, Jesus taking on sin and death on the cross and rising on the third day.  And the seasons of life are evident as God works to ready a heart to hear the Gospel, the mouthpiece of God speaks the Gospel and then the day of salvation brings about the harvest of God in ones life.

Luke 10:2 says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  We are praying that God will use us to sow the seeds of the Gospel here and that through His provision and movement in the seasons of life, God will bring the increase and the harvest.

Encouragement…

We know, without a doubt, we are right where God has called us to be! That’s a praise! However, it’s hard. We are truly surrounded by lost, unchurched and dechurched neighbors, many of whom don’t see a “need” for Jesus. We can now call 40-50 neighbors by name and only 2 are already believers! The need is so great, it can be overwhelming. The prayers of family and friends around the world are what keeps us going, as well as the certainty of our call here for Kingdom growth purposes. Encouragement from a sweet neighbor we are getting to know never hurts, either…

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Sweet Spot

You know those times that you do something hard and it feels natural and comfortable?  Last tuesday night at our Gumbo party felt that way.  Amanda was in her sweet spot using her spiritual gift of hospitality.  The guests felt at home and welcomed at our table.  I was able to bounce from conversation to conversation getting to know each of our guests.  The food was good, the atmosphere was welcoming, and the company was good.

I am not saying that we nailed everything but I do know this is what God has been preparing us for and it is becoming a reality.  There will be hard days, frustrations, and struggles (you know I am too much of a realist to think otherwise).  But we know that God has called us, prepared us, and is now doing a new work through us.  And we are ready to keep aiming for the sweet spot and seeing what God does through us.

Community Starts Here

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We hosted our first neighborhood “event” last night. In our thorough research of the Lowry neighborhood before moving in, we were repeatedly shown that a planned “launch” of a service would not be the kind of church plant to “succeed” here. God shaped our philosophy for this area to one of deep, personal relationships and opening our home for social care of neighbors, as well as our corporate worship gatherings and discipleship, at least for a time. The concept of “missional community”, where we will disciple neighbors 1:1 or 2:1, host Bible study and corporate worship in our home, gather to fellowship and meet needs, and find ways to serve our neighborhood and surrounding ones as a team! Our home is our hub for now and likely for quite a while.
We were encouraged by our turnout last night. 30 townhome units were invited and 9 were represented. In our self-isolating, crazy-busy culture, this number pleased us. We met such a variety of ages, stages, and belief systems but they are all seeking “community” or they wouldn’t have come. We heard more than one neighbor say aloud how they liked being together and meeting each other, how no neighbor has ever invited other neighbors into their home, and how genuine we seem. God can and will use those impressions to build His church here.
I’m placing all my trust in Him to do it, so discouragement won’t creep in. There were broken, hurting people here last night. There were happy, kind people here last night. As far as we could tell, there were only lost and searching neighbors here last night. They came because they are willing to be known and we want to know them and love them with the love of Christ!
Pray for us as we follow up with the ones who came and try again to connect with those who didn’t. If you are praying for a street in Lowry, the group last night included neighbors from E 7th Ave and Quince. We are planning another event for April 7th to invite another set of streets close to our home, as well as working with some neighbors who came last night to plan an alley/block party for this area in the spring! If you haven’t seen a Lowry map and chosen a street to pray over but want to, let us know and we will help make that happen.
We are praying for God to “redeem the definition of ‘community’ in Lowry”. Won’t you join us?