That's right folks you heard it here first...Community of Grace plans to officially launch and hold their very first Sunday morning service on September 8th! (Of course plans change, as Shane and Cheryl can attest, right guys?)
For now, there is a lot of ground work that still needs to be done to pull off our vision of launching next fall. For instance we need to find a space to rent. The plan at this point is to contact some of the Seventh-Day Adventist churches around the first of the year to see who would be willing to let us use their space. But even before all of those details for pulling off a full "regular" service are figured out we need to get our name out there. We need to begin to serve the community. And that is where all of you come in, more on that in a bit, but first...
If there is one thing I was even more convinced of in my time serving the community of Medicine Hat with my brothers and sisters, it would be this. We live in a day and age where all people, particularly the younger generations are in desperate need for genuine relationship; and those of us who are disciples of Christ are in a unique position, I would say too, we are in the only real position in which we can offer them genuine relationship with no strings attached.
Because of the love of Christ, because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us, we can sacrificially give of ourselves in order to pour out sincere love and sincere compassion on our neighbors, co-workers, classmates, friends and family who are aching for what the Spirit has already given you and I. Because of the Spirit inside of us we already have genuine relationship. It's built in, we can't avoid it, that is an amazing truth! We have someone who meets our every need, and part of that blessing is a responsibility, a calling, to fill that need for other people.
So what am I getting at? We need you. We the small band down here in Walla Walla need teams to start coming now! We need to gauge the spiritual temperature of the city. We need to find places to serve and get our name out in the public's consciousness.
We also need your prayers. We need you to pray that our small touches in the lives around us would be full of impact; that they would be memorable, that they would be lasting. That we would remain diligent and intentional in all that we do. That we would remember when we do the simple things like picking up a coffee that we would look for opportunities and avenue's in which to build relationships that are real.
In the short time that we've been here, Karen and I have both seen that God has been laying the ground work long before we got here. The way we found our house, the job's that found us (we hadn't even had the opportunity to look for jobs), the neighbors in our area, and the friendships we have quickly made; God has been way ahead of us. And we those who are so unworthy of Him saving us, has called us, has given us the privilege of partnering with Him in order to build relationships and share the gospel.
So what can you do? You can come. You can serve. You can make a difference for the kingdom. If you so choose, the small touches you make here in Walla Walla can make an incredible difference, not just to our budding church plant in the here and now, but more importantly your touches can make a difference for someone eternally in the life yet to come.
If you are interested in making such a difference, please leave a comment or email me at carlilefamilyministries@live.com
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