Monday Report

February 6, 2011 in Bikers' Church, City Church, Two Churches 1

We launched our new series, Living A Life Of Purpose this week at both churches. The response to week one was amazing.

Bikers Church

  • We are seeing a lot of NA (Narcotics Anonymous) attending these days. In fact, we had over 15 people connected with NA at the service this week. When we started Bikers’ Church, we determined not to focus on addiction recovery, and we are still there. At the same time, we simply cannot turn anyone away. I love seeing those who are in good programs finding the church to be a resource for discovering who the true “higher power” is. Only God can fully set the addict free.
  • I yelled a lot this week. Not because I was mad, but because I was passionate. What got me so passionate was seeing so many people wiping tears from their eyes as I told them that no one is a “mistake” or an “accident.” Maybe your parents didn’t plan to have you, but God knew you before you were even formed in your mother’s womb. That idea clearly hit home for many people, and it just fired me up.
  • I still can’t get used to the crowds. It’s like God turned a switch the past few months and suddenly we are seeing so many new people coming out. I love it.
  • A local paper did a story on Bikers’ Church this week. One of the best articles we’ve had done on the church. Read it here.

City Church

  • I had a member ask me how I was doing with the “two churches” thing. I told them that I was slowly getting a system in place, which was good. They then shared with me all the positive comments they are hearing from people within the church. Seems that folks are very excited about the direction.
  • Attendance continues to rise. It was so cool seeing so many new faces. As one board member put it, “I am amazed at how many people here I don’t know!”
  • We’ve also seemed to have turned a corner with the finances. I believe we are out of the woods and are now starting to get some momentum in these two areas. Exciting!
  • I’ll be honest, I struggled this week. My guess is it’s because I’m tired. Broken up sleep on Friday night, then staying up late for UFC on Saturday night may not be the best idea! Of course, having the dog wake up in the middle of the night Saturday needing to go outside doesn’t help either.

I am excited about this series. It’s clear that people are hungry to know their purpose. As a pastor, it can be easy to forget that just because you preach on a topic six years ago doesn’t mean that everyone gets it today. The number of people who have told me that they are hearing this stuff for the very first time is staggering.

    • Dave

      Rob, I remember the first time you ran with this series on St Laurent. You then reworked it a couple of times and still I struggled to figure out what my purpose was. I remember it came to me only a couple of years ago, when I wasn’t really thinking about or trying to figure it out.

      Until it came to me, I was overthinking it. I thought my purpose had to be some big, grandiose THING that I could hang on a wall. But it isn’t. It really is something so simple. Just like some of the simple concepts on which we base our church… you belong just by showing up… there’s nothing you can do to make God love you more; there is nothing you can to make God love you less.

      My prayer today, as members of Bikers Church and City Church begin to search for their own purpose is that they be open to not overthinking it as I had mistakingly done. And I hope in finding their purpose, they gain focus for their own personal journeys in Christ.