Beer Store Breakthrough

What started as serving coffee slowly became coffee (hot chocolate for those who don't drink coffee), sandwiches and conversation.  From there the conversation led to collecting prayer requests, eventually praying for people on the spot and then progressed to gathering a group to pray together on the sidewalk.  Most recently, I have begun to bring a scripture, specifically words of Jesus, starting with His "I Am sayings."  I have been sharing the scripture to begin prayer and then praying that scripture and an application for our lives before praying for individual requests.  This is the shape of what is now referred to as Beer Store Church.  Like many ministries, it has ups and downs, times of prayer and times of breaking up fights, rich times and times of wondering about the point of it all.  Yesterday, however, put a smile on my face; a bit of a breakthrough even.  

We began our prayer with Jesus' words, "I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me."  As soon as we were finished praying someone asked about people that lived before Jesus.  It provided an opportunity to talk of the Old Testament, its relation to the new, about seeing the Gospel in Old Testament texts and to give a brief survey of the Gospel story.  It also, and as importanly, gave me an opportunity to really listen to his questions and comments and better assess where he is spiritually.  

In the end I was really encouraged.  I was  encouraged because I love to talk about that kind of thing and walk with people as we discover truth.  I was encouraged because I have a clearer idea of where he is and can better move forward to meet him where he is at.  I am most encouraged because the question let me know that at least one person was actually engaged in what was going on.  

That in and of itself is reason enough to be there next week!

3 Keys to Build Community

There is a lot of talk and discussion about creating community these days.  I have come to appreciate Mike Breen and the folks at 3DM and there discussion of "oikos"-Family.  Similarly, I recently heard Jeff Vanderstelt of Soma ask if, when the world thought about the church, was the first metaphore that came to mind, Family.  Building community is a core principle of what we, at The Hamilton Fellowships do as well and so we were recently reflecting on what it means for our Fellowships, our Community, to be family.  After working through this idea together, here are three keys to build community family, that I came away with:

1) Eat Together
I recently received a beautiful birthday card from a group of Chinese students who have been connecting with one of our Fellowships and in it they thanked me for a number of different opportunities for community that they have experienced while hanging out with us.  In particular, they thanked us for all the different foods that they have been able to try.  I laughed.  We share a meal each week as we gather with our Fellowship, but we try to keep it fairly simple.  The point is the time together, sharing and conversations- the deep fellowship- that happens over food.  For international students I suppose it is a bit exotic, (to be honest my favourite times are when they bring the food!), but the relationships that are formed over a meal together probably contributes more than the food to their positive experiences.  Lets face it, families eat together and so if we want to be family then we need to do the same.  Keep it simple, do it potluck and have everyone help with the dishes.  It is well worth the effort.

2)  Play Together
One key difference between co-workers and family is that family are the ones that you go home to and plan your weekends or vacation.  When it comes time to play, we often play with family.  An hour or two together at an organized engagement is great, but not really enough to say that we are family.  When people are choosing to spend their down time together, then maybe we can say that we are family.  We try to create some opportunities for people to hang out together, sometimes in pace of a Fellowship, and often outside of our regular weekly meetings.  It can be as simple as a board game night where we open our home and anyone who is free brings a snack and a friend.  Even more important, however, are the times when one family is going to do something and casually invites another family or individual to join them.  These unstructured, organic connections say a lot about family.

3)  Teach One Another
Think about how much you learned, both formally and informally, from your mom or dad, grandparents or maybe a special aunt or uncle.   There is an organic discipleship that happens in family as we learn to speak, ride a bike or to cook the famous family recipe.  There are natural mentor relationships that can happen within family.  Organic and Natural, however, still require intentionality.  How are we mentoring and teaching others in our "family."  As a parent, I love the idea of my children learning by watching, engaging and spending time with other mature adults who care for them. 

How can you limit this to just three?!?  I want to add praying together (if we are talking specifically spiritual communities), and working together (Alan Hirsh has great thoughts about "Communitas" in Forgotten Ways) BUT I will hold myself back and open it up to you.  These are three keys that we identified, what others would you add to the list?

Update Tuesday - Did You See Us In The Paper?

An interesting thing happened while we were meeting at the beer store last week.  A lady from the neighbourhood, just returning her empties (not one of the recycler crowd at all) stopped to ask about what we were doing.  She seemed very intrigued by the idea, and being a bit early for the store opening, decided to hang around with us until the store opened.  After the store opened and she had finished inside, she made a point of coming back to see us before leaving and got some contact info.  As it turns out, she was so taken by what we were doing that she thought others should know about it and took it upon herself to contact the local paper.  Yesterday, we were joined by a reporter who came along for the experience and to write a story about our Monday morning ministry.  We were also joined by our new friend, who was there early again and was intentional about joining us for our prayer time.  

Below is a link to the article that appeared on page 4 of today's Hamilton Spectator.  Although we would never refer to ourselves as "angels," and the numerous (and I mean numerous) references I made to Jesus somehow missed being reported, it was encouraging to think that someone would think enough about what we are doing to want to share it.

The Hamilton Spectator

As I write this post, it is about 7:45am on Tuesday, and I have already received an e-mail from someone who read the article, visited our web site and is asking to check out one of our Fellowships meetings.  I am reminded that there are always two groups that we serve, those we serve directly and those who are watching us serve.  We never know who may respond and how!

Both/And-Community and Mission

Jesus' words in John 13:34-35 give us two distinct and yet interconnected purposes for the church. Jesus, speaking to his disciples and having just washed their feet, says "as I have loved so you should love one another..." There is a very real and distinct sense in which the church must be a deep, loving, supportive community to one another. If we turn to Act 2:41-47, we get some amazing glimpses of this live being lived out by the early church. Community is central to how Jesus envisioned the church.

Jesus, however, goes on to say in John 13, that "by this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." Even the way believers are to love one another, our community, is meant to have an impact on those around us. We are meant to be a living, tangible expression of Kingdom principles and the love of the King. Our community can be a foretaste of the Kingdom, helping people to taste and see that the Lord is good, that we are different and there might be something that they are missing. Community is a part of our mission. Again, if we turn to Acts we will notice that this amazing community passage is bookended, or sandwiched between missional thoughts. Verse 41 speaks of many being added to their numbers following the preaching of Peter (they were also proclaiming). Chapter 2 then ends with the community having favour with all people and the Lord adding to their number every day. Community on mission and community as mission.

So, although community and mission are two important and distinct concepts, they also go hand in hand working together. To have one without the other is to be out of balance. To have both is to be in time with the rhythm Jesus intends for his people-Up (our relationship with The Lord, In (our relationship with other believers), and Out (our relationship with the world around us).

Missional Monday-By Name

The doorkeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. (John 10:3 HCSB)

Recognizing that Jesus knows us each by name as He calls us, it gave me pause to think about how many of my neighbours I can call by name. I actually know more of my neighbours after just a year in Hamilton than I did in 6 years in Milton. This has a lot to do with the different nature of the neighbourhoods. Milton was a commuting town and many people left early and returned late each day. My neighbours now spend a lot more time in the neighbourhood, on the street and hanging out on the front porch. To be honest, however, there are still many neighbours that I do not know. And more than just neighbours, there are many other people with whom I will interact on a regular basis as I go about my day whose names I might endeavor to learn. What it requires is being intentional.
I think that there are people in each of our lives that we will see or interact with on a regular basis. I truly believe that God can, and wants, to use us where He has us. Some of us may be sent to specific places for specific task at points in our lives, but God wants to use each of us at all points in our lives.
A good place to start is to look and see who God has put in our path. There may be many strangers who are simply one introduction and a few conversations away from being an acquaintance and even friend. When we have learned a name we are building a relationship. It is often through such relationships that we find the opportunities to serve and share and make a difference for the sake of the Kingdom.

Missional Monday - using the disciple's story of discovery

We have been experimenting for the last while with the premise that the Gospels are not only a very powerful tool for discipleship, but that they may be the best evangelism tool we have as well.  In an attempt to engage people with who Jesus is and what He has done, we have been offering a challenge and invitation to read a Gospel, to read just exactly what Jesus said about himself with the point of being able to make an educated decision for oneself.   Our thought was that this would give people a fuller understanding about what they are making a decision for or against but that also it might appeal to a more post modern mindset as one is learning for themselves.  We offer to walk with people through such a process if they are open and willing.

I have noted that I have been reading Read the Bible for Life and really enjoying it.  There was a chapter on reading the New Testament stories (the Gospels and Acts) and I was really excited to read what Darrell Bock had to say about reading the disciple's story of discovery especially as we think of reading with those who have yet to believe. 

That's part of the story, to tell the disciple's story of discovery.  This is important for us as we read the Gospels, but it is also a key for how we read the Gospels with people who have yet to believe the gospel message.  What we've got to do is learn to read the Gospels on the Gospels' terms...We need to recover the ability to read with fresh eyes and lead others trough the conversation the Gospels are initiating, as opposed to just flipping to the end of the story.  We have to walk with people through a process.  We have to understand that when we say that Jesus is unique, that Jesus is the only way to God, we are going against the grain of our culture which says "there are many ways to God."  So how do we help people get there?  I think we should let the Gospels tell the story, uncovering the identity of Jesus a step at a time.  That's what the Synoptic Gospels attempt to do, and they do it, in part, through the way the disciples are coming to realize who Jesus is as the hang out with Him. 

(pg. 154-155)

Although this has been some confirmation for what we have been doing, it has also added another dimension of understanding and focus.  I have really been appreciating this idea of learning from the disciple's journey of discovery,  I have really been appreciating.  

One more Monday, one more thought about how we might be engaging in the Mission that God has for His church.  I would love to hear your thoughts or insights.