Our First Baptism! - Mollie Ellen Wright

On Sunday, June 22nd, everyone from The Mission was on-hand to celebrate the baptism of our dear sister, Mollie Wright, at the home of John and Connie Rehagen.

(That's Mollie in the blue next to me, the guy holding the Bible)



Her Dad, Jason (that's him on the left), and I were honored to stand beside her and do the honors.


We pray that this is the first of many more Baptisms to come!


-kg

Father's Day Recap from Brent K.

The past two Sunday mornings have been truly beautiful. Last Sunday was probably the greatest expression of Church that I have experienced, and I know that God has much more in store. Either of us could have prepared a lesson about the love of God and the fear of God. We would probably have put 1-3 hours of prayer and preparation into it. We would have struggled to retain the interest of the young people and keep them engaged, and it may or may not have had the emotional and personal impact we saw Sunday.

On Sunday the Holy Spirit wove a lesson that taught us a little more about his nature. He did this by giving key scripture verses to the children to share. He surfaced a question in a heart about how the fear of God relates to his love. He led several adults during the week to ponder and meditate on fear and his love. A passage from a children’s story was shared that drew a powerful picture of our need for God and the painfulness and fear associated with his stripping away our old nature – but that it was for our good. Another scripture that related but was not memorized was located and discussed. Tear filled eyes were present as well as a quiet peace and joy. Afterward children and wives gathered to bless their fathers and husbands and honor them on father’s day. It was very beautiful.

-Brent Kollmansberger

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.