All of the posts that Eric Sanford creates.

Mission Serve

This past week, I had the opportunity to serve as the speaker at Mission Serve’s Denver, CO project.  The theme of the week was Viral: the Good News of Jesus Christ can go viral when His people are the church and are making disciples.  The week consisted of the students working on various work projects from striping a parking lot and preforming general maintenance for a non-profit resource center in the area, to working on a rental house for a church plant so the space can be used for meetings, to helping Habitat For Humanity build a house, and working for a catholic school who is without a custodial staff.

Mission Serve drew groups from Colorado, California, Missouri, and Arizona.  The students worked hard to accomplish tasks that the different groups could not do on their own.  We are grateful for their energy and effort during the week.  I had the privilege to work with some amazing people this week.   I always walk away from a week like this tired physically but encouraged.  As I re-enter, real life I am reminded that I too must make disciples and I pray that God uses me to impact the lives of many in the neighborhood of Lowry and beyond.

 

If you would like to know more information about Mission Serve click here.

Urban Garden (Update)

IMG_7316A couple of months ago, we started an urban garden. I want to update you on the progress and some of the spiritual lessons I have learned in the process.  We have planted basil, cilantro, spinach, parsley, thyme, carrots, lettuce, potatoes, garlic, bell peppers, and okra (can you tell we are from the south?). Our back deck is packed and our garden has spilled out on to the front balcony and the front porch.

IMG_7315We have learned a few things in the meantime.       1) Hail, diseases and bugs are detrimental to plants.  2) Not all seeds take or survive.  3) Gardens take time, work and the right mix of sun, water and fertilizer.  As I think about these lessons, I view these things through spiritual lenses.

Here is how I see these lessons applied to my life and church planting.  1) The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.  But so many times we forget the rest of that verse (John 10:10).  Jesus has come to give us life and life to the full.  We have an enemy but we have a Savior who is greater and gives life.  We must turn to life, not death, and be willing to live to the full of all that Jesus seeks to provide.

image2) Jesus speaks of a seed and the sower (Matthew 13:1-23).  There are four types of soil discussed in this parable and though some seed falls on every type of soil, only one produces a harvest.  We are to be spreading the seed of the gospel and allowing God to move and bring about the harvest.

3) Cultivation of relationships, gospel conversations, and making disciples take the right mix of time, prayer, communication, and God’s move in the lives of others.  We are in the midst of this working and waiting process.  The fields are being worked and we are seeking to provide all that needs to be given for growth and we know that God must bring the increase and the harvest.image_1

I pray that as our urban garden grows and produces, so will our ministry.  Pray with us to that end.

What is Missional?

Missional is one of the hottest terms in the church. And if you were to ask ten people you would get eleven or twelve definitions. So below is my attempt at explaining how we are Missional and how we intend for our church to be Missional.

Missional is not a program. Missional is a lifestyle. We will have missions as part of our church but we are to live on the mission of God daily. This mission includes loving our neighbors, serving others, and discipling our children. All of those things require daily considering others better than ourselves, laying our lives down and being a servant just like Jesus.

In our increasingly secular world we need to live more like the first century church than the nineteenth century church. The first century church lived in community with other believers, lived in the margins of society, and served God through their lives.

Missional is not something that can be learned from a weekend seminar; it is something that must be lived out and caught rather than taught. We are building the foundation for our church by practicing these same principles. We will infuse the Missional lifestyle into our Missional Communities through serving the community in a way the group is gifted and by serving other members of the group.

One of the other tenets of Missional is seeing all Christ followers as the priesthood of believers. Too many times we rely solely on the paid professional holy men to minister, serve and provide discipleship. But the Bible is clear that all believers are Saints, Ambassadors, Servants, and Disciple Makers. Part of being Missional is seeing ways we can minister to others, lead them toward Jesus and live completely for Christ.

The journey toward Missional living has consumed much of my thoughts and struggles over the last four to five years. I am excited to have an idea of how to live, love and lead. And I am excited to see how God will use this type of life to build His kingdom and His church.

Receiving End

For the first time in forever (to steal a line from a popular movie), we will be on the receiving end of a mission team.  I have gone as part of a team to Nicaragua and Romania, and lead teams to Michigan, New York, Wisconsin and inside of Alabama but I have never been in this role.

I have a deep passion for missions born out of my experience as a teenager and college student.  I am grateful for the leaders who provided opportunities to see the big “C” church and to challenge us to serve and minister in all types of environments.  God has used those people to shape me into what He is using now.

I cannot wait to see what God does here as the mission team hits the ground, interacts with the people of Lowry and shares God’s love.  I am praying that God would move in great ways.  I am excited to be on the receiving end of a mission team and pray that it is not long until I take a team to serve His Church.

Tension Point

Much is made of the Great Commission, and rightfully so.  It provides the church its marching orders from Jesus.  We are to be making disciples.  Discipleship is a life long process.  In the evangelical church world we tend to focus on conversions, sometimes to the detriment of making disciples.  Making disciples must be our focus.

Lately, God has had me contemplating the Great Commandment.  Part of what God is shaping us to do here in Denver is to love Him with all of our lives, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We are not forsaking the Great Commission, but instead taking it to the people who need it most.  We are actively engaged in neighboring and discipleship.  We seek to make much of the God who has created us, loved us, redeemed us and called us.  We desire to show God’s love to others though our lives.

In a place where the institutional church is marginal at best, we desire to be the church present in our neighborhood and city that cares for the people and helps them to see the one true God who loves them.  This means engaging people where they are.  There is tension between living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

Slow but Good

The past few months have gone quickly.  We look back over them and see that God is working in us and through us in a slow but good way.  We have built relationships, engaged the neighborhood and have made a house a home and a base of ministry.  Relationships take time, energy, and intentionality.  Engaging the neighbors takes persistence, love, flexibility, energy and time.  Establishing a home takes time, energy, and love.  Adapting a home to a basis of ministry calls for intentionality, flexibility, and love.

Do you see the tensions and themes that we have immersed ourselves in over the past few weeks?  Time, energy, intentionality, persistence, flexibility, and love are all necessary and needed things in our life as we seek to live missionally and point others to Jesus.  So if you were to ask me how things are going?  I would sum it all up by saying slow, but good.

Hit and Run

There is a hit and run epidemic in Denver. There has been an average of 17 hit and run accidents per day over the past three years. These accidents have led to many fatalities, injuries and countless dollars spent on auto repairs. Some have been solved and others are still open cases, but all have shaken the confidence in the drivers of the other cars in town.

Pharisees can be like hit and run drivers. They can focus so much on the rules and practices of religion that they fail to yield to grace and people get hurt as a result. Too many times, I have been guilty of running over people in the name of religion and leaving them in pain in my path. I have practiced hit and run religion. The result is shaken confidence in Jesus, the Church and individual followers of Jesus.

Are you practicing hit and run religion?

The antithesis of hit and run religion is living out grace and truth in relationship. May the grace and love of God flow out of us as we engage the lost and dying world, so that they grasp the good news of Jesus.

Bipolar

Springtime on the front range is bipolar.  Today it is 70 degrees and sunny, but Sunday it is supposed to snow.  One day is warm, the next is frigid and windy.  The grass is starting to become green and the people are emerging from their hibernation to run, play in the park and care for their lawns.  But then winter reminds us that it still has a grip on the area with seasonal snow storms and the impressive sights of the ski resorts with massive amounts of snow still on the ground.

Planting the Gospel is bipolar as well.  There are days when there are frantically good things that happen…like the day of our monthly house parties or the days following when we take time to follow up with our neighbors, or when a new partnership is developed or a mission team is on the ground.  There are days of discouragement and frustration, too…. like the times when I would fill out multiple applications for a job, only to never hear back about the positions (praise God for opening a position at Albertsons in the coffee bar), or days when people are not receptive to you when you talk with them.  All in all, the journey has more ups than downs and we look forward to seeing what God is going to do in us and through us here in Lowry.

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.

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.