These days, it seems like the only time I am blogging is to update how things are going with the “two churches, one building” thing. I do feel I’m getting more of a routine in place, and when I do, I plan on focusing on a few my posts each week.
But, for now, here’s this week’s report.
Bikers’ Church
- A couple of years ago, I read Craig Groeschel’s book “It”. Groeschel speaks of momentum, how you find it and how you keep it. Well, I believe we have “it” right now. There seems to be a wave of momentum that is exciting to see. I simply pray that we continue to experience it.
- We struggled a bit with sound this week, but I think we figured out why and should be good this Thursday.
- I loved preaching the message this week. Mission is a big thing for me, and so anytime I get to challenge people to be a part of mission, I get excited. Based on the comments I received, I think people enjoyed it.
- I need to figure out how to shut up, however. For a guy used to preaching 30–40 minutes, going over 50 minutes three weeks in a row is ridiculous! Gotta get that under control!
- Marty is great. He brings such a casual presence on Thursdays. I love that we’ve gone back to having him host each week. He is in his element when he is simply interacting with people.
City Church
- It’s amazing how some things change so quickly. Last week, I challenged the “culture” of showing up right at 10:30 (or even later). I encouraged people to start trying to come early. Coffee is on at 10am, and it’s the perfect time to connect with people and build stronger community. Well, this week, we had quite a few take that message to heart. Probably half the crowd was already there around 10:15am. Not bad! It’s even more interesting to see how community is developing after the service. We now have to start turning out the lights and telling people they need to leave! If we don’t, our lockup team doesn’t get out of the building till after 2:30pm! This week, an hour after the service and there was still a decent size crowd hanging out talking with one another. I love it!
- The worship team is really coming together in an amazing way. Some may be wondering why we are repeating a number of songs each week. It’s because Cam is introducing new songs slowly, allowing the band to get more comfortable with one another. As that happens, more songs will come into the mix.
- I loved what one of the worship team members said on their Facebook status yesterday afternoon. This person is a Bikers’ Church regular and is fairly new to worship at City Church. He commented on how much he is enjoying the opportunity to play at City and loves the enthusiasm of the people. Great to see that happening!
- Once again this week we had new faces. It’s great to see the people who are wanting to be part of this chapter of City Church’s story. One family came to me and told me that they have made the decision to make City Church their home church. They are now telling all their friends about it and encouraging others to check things out.
- I loved the response of the people when I talked about being part of The Church in Ottawa. We are but one expression of a much larger gathering of Christ followers. They get it. I love it.
This week, we wrap up our Journey Forward series. Then, we’re diving into Living A Life Of Purpose. I will be encouraging both churches to use this new series as a way of inviting new people. According to a New York Times article (I would link to it, but can’t seem to relocate it), a survey asked the question, “If you could ask God one thing, what would it be?” The number one answer: “What is my purpose?” We’re going to answer that very question with this series. I can’t wait.
