Jamie and I were affirmed tonight by the body at South County United to fill the role of pastor. It was so encouraging to sense the support and genuine excitement about the future... it's good to be home again. I'm completely energized by what I believe God is calling our faith community to in South OC. Tonight's teaching focused on Genesis 12.1-3 and the image given to Abraham that "all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Our dream for our body is that it would be an living expression of that vision, one that embodies hope, grace and love to all peoples regardless of who they are.
A body that loves and serves irrationally.
A body that seeks to bless "all peoples".
People who are broken. People who are searching. People who are lovely. People who are unlovely. People who love God. People who don't.
Also shared this amazing thought from our bro, Rob Bell [quoted in Velvet Elvis
The church does not exist for itself; it exists to serve the world. It is not ultimately about the church; it’s about all the people God wants to bless through the church. When the church loses sight of this, it loses its heart. This is especially true today in the world we live in where so many people are hostile to the church, many for good reason. We reclaim the church as a blessing machine not only because that is what Jesus intended from the beginning but also because serving people is the only way their perceptions of church are ever going to change. This is why it is so toxic for the gospel when Christians picket and boycott and complain about how bad the world is. This behavior doesn’t help. It makes it worse. It isn’t the kind of voice Jesus wants his followers to have in this world. Why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn’t as bright as it could be.
To that end, we decided that we would reestablish our First Fruits fund. In short, it's the setting aside of the first 10% of our church income to give away to those in need, both inside as well as outside of our church community. This fund is under the direction of our community pastors, who are in touch with our people and the needs of the community. It ties us into our giving, helping us live with our radar on for those in need. In the past we've seen some pretty amazing things happen with this fund. Crazy stories about needs being met, most with the response of "What church are you from? Now that's a church I can be a part of." I challenged the SCU community to consider seeing that percentage grow yearly. How amazing could that be? A church that gives away... freely... graciously... lovingly.
Sounds like heaven here.
Visiting SCU tonight for the first time tonight was truely a refreshing experience. Jesse, Wes, Ashley and I snuck in during the music but did not go unnoticed. We were beautifully accosted by the whole church with much love- it was awesome=).
For someone used to very clique-y church situations, it was so wonderful to sit and chat after the service with people I had never met before as well as old friends.
I'm hoping that perhaps the four of us can continue to come in efforts to continue on and to grow in the small community that the four of us have fostered.
So I guess I want to stretch out a thank you to the people of SCU, for this is truely something I would like to be a part of.
The SCU community will be in my prayers.
~the Biola girl
Posted by: Janette | September 12, 2005 at 12:28 AM
Janette... thanks for making it last night. It was great having you four be a part of the SCU community. I'm also hoping to see more of you guys. You bring an amazing dynamic to who SCU is.
Peace.
Posted by: Mike DeVries | September 12, 2005 at 11:16 AM
Congrats, Mike! Get down on it!
Posted by: Tony Myles | September 12, 2005 at 06:50 PM
Right on Mike and Jaime!!! We love you and are soooooo excited to have you officially on board. :) Also, Mike, I have to say that you had this confidence after that announcement, and you really brought it home with the freedom that your new pastorship brought. We are so excited to partner with you guys and can't wait to see where God is leading SCU day by day by day!! Oh, and Janette, it was nice to meet you and I hope we see more of you too!
Posted by: Colleen | September 12, 2005 at 07:59 PM
Very excited for you guys. Still want to hook up with you guys and grab dinner. We have so much to catch up on. We're so happy for you and glad that you've found a home again!!!
Posted by: Stephanie | September 14, 2005 at 08:47 PM