This past Sunday evening I got to spend some time with Pizza, Jesus…and my daughter’s friends. She had invited them over for a casual evening where they could eat together and talk about Jesus. She asked me to part of that time and I was honored. Here are a few things that I learned:
1. I obviously love my daughter, but I really LIKE her too. And, I like her friends. It was great to have time with them.
2. High School students are really incredible. While there is a lot of “bad news” saturating our media regarding youth, what I witnessed that evening was a room full of young adults that are carrying challenging course-work, competing at high levels in sports, navigating through friendships and romances and still care deeply about their relationship with Jesus.
3. Kids aren’t the church of tomorrow…they are the church of today.
4. When I intentionally pause and create margin to invest my time with kids, it is always the most rewarding part of my week.
We began a church plant 6 mtnohs ago in my livingroom, out gatherings feel more like a big family get together. We usually share food, as we laugh, and chat. Eventually we usually move into a time of teaching/ dialogue around a passage of scripture as people fishish dessert. Sometimes we share communion, sing, share stories, pray together- every week is different. We have outgrown my house and will soon be moving into a public venue. I hope we can keep the familial vibe, as we try to live out our identity as the church on mission, sharing life with each other, as opposed to attending a service. Trying to recover an Acts 2 perspective of what it means to BE the church.