GROWING: LARGER AND DEEPER

Wow. Look at all these happy people. Isn't God good to us? When we first started, just about 3 years ago, we had no idea who would come along with us.

There were those who said that no one would want to be part of a house church like this. Some of our friends even dared us to step out in this way, assuring us that we were settling for less and that failure awaited us.



Instead, God blessed us. We've grown in numbers, and more importantly, we've grown in depth. There are so many mature believers and followers of Jesus at The Mission. I've been so blessed this last year to see many of our house church family take steps of faith and begin to disciple others, lead Bible Studies, share Christ with friends and co-workers, and step into their giftings and their callings.




This last Sunday we had a full house. I didn't count but I would estimate we had about 28 people in our little den, which was like 10 people too many.

One of the difficult things about becoming the Family of God and learning to love each other and share life together is the inevitable splitting into a second house church as we grow larger.

Yet to maintain intimacy and develop community we have to face the fact that the larger we get the harder it is, the more impossible it is, to be intimate and to share deeply.

We know that, soon, we'll have to get serious about starting a second house church group in order to continue to grow and develop intimacy together.

I know that this will come with tears, but we can't let those tears stop us from taking the natural steps in front of us.

Do we cancel a wedding because someone will cry? Do we forgo a graduation ceremony because there will be tears? Of course not. We understand that certain inevitabilities in life bring joy and sorrow, sometimes mixed together.

I know that God has lead us this far, and that He has promised to continue to grow the Church (that's you and me) as we move forward. Everything we've experienced so far has been by His hand, so I know He will lead us through the next phase of our life together too.

For now we will count our blessings and enjoy this time of sweet fellowship and Koinonia.