Friday, April 3, 2009

THE GREAT BRANCHING

SATURDAY APRIL 4th IS OUR NEXT GATHERING - AT LORSUNGS' from 5:00 - 8:00pm. This will be our "branching out" day, where we will be forming our three smaller home groups, which will keep meeting weekly - EVERYBODY, BRING AN ORIENTAL DISH TO SHARE!

Our next large Gathering will be 5:00pm SATURDAY APRIL 25TH AT THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY - Isanti County Fair Grounds.

DOING WHAT WE BELIEVE
When I was in law school back in the late 80's, I remember a Jewish woman coming up to me to tell me that her Rabbi claimed Christianity to be false because it taught that you can believe something and not actually do what your belief says. I didn't have much to say in reply - I knew her Rabbi was making a simple observation...one that others had made within the church: Brennan Manning is quoted as saying, "The number one cause of Atheism in America is Christians, who profess faith in Jesus with their lips and deny Him with their lifestyles. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

And this is why our core value #9 says,"For all the theology we can conceive, at last what we DO is what we believe." We are looking at our lifestyles - not just our doctrine, knowing that all of us are on a journey of transformation, as the Spirit of God draws us.

On March 24th, we gathered again at Lorsungs and had about 35 total with kids, confirming to us it is the right time to branch out into three House Churches. We had a great time breaking the "ice" with probing questions all around.
Worship time included an action version of "Every Move I Make",and some more current favorite songs.

There was teaching from the Scriptures...

Laughing...

...and we have some of the greatest kids anywhere:

...and as we always do, we broke bread together - seeing that in sharing something as common as a meal, we are to remember the daily closeness of our Savior in our lives. He gave us His cup of blessing, while taking the cup of our sorrows for Himself. That is what family does, and what we are learning to do.

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