Hawthorne Gathering Launch

Yesterday was the big day! We started a second gathering at the Lucky Lab on Hawthorne. I didn't sleep much the night before. I woke up about every 30 minutes thinking it was time to go. I hope that changes! Overall, everything went great. Set-up/tear down was fantastic due to the awesome people we have there to help. The turnout was good, even had a few first time visitors! The discussion was fairly lively, I didn't allow for enough discussion most likely, but people shared some great stories when we did have discussion.

We talked through Acts 1:8 and Jesus telling his followers that they would be witnesses to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And then when Jesus ascended the disciples just stood there looking up at the sky. A few angels had to remind the disciples, "hey guys, Jesus just told you what to do, do it!" And I wonder how many times we just stand around looking up at the sky waiting for God to do something when he's already told us what we are to be working at. Then we talked about Acts 2:42-47 and about how it wasn't a complete picture of the church because they still had not fulfilled their "missionary potential" as sent-ones. It wasn't until persecution hit the church in 8:1 where the disciples were scatted to the very places Jesus told them to go in the first place. So we spoke to some implications of our first week of being "scattered" and what that means for us as a community.

In any case, the excitement was great, it was almost completely stress-free, it was fun, there was a lot of laughter before, during, and after. After seeing how this works out, I wouldn't want to do things any differently. Traditional church planting with the mass marketing and the big production, etc doesn't hold a candle to what happens when the focus is on relationships and growing naturally. Honestly, it's not only more healthy, but just a lot more fun.

Thanks a lot for all who have been praying for us. I'll have some pics later so you can see it for yourself.