Advent and other goings on

Friends of The Way,

What a phenomenal couple of weeks we've had at The Way. The laughter, the sharing, the new faces, the rapidly dwindling number of empty seats, and growing sense of "family" has all added to the excitement. It's hard to believe that this church is only 12 weeks old. And it's harder still to comprehend just how good God has been to us so far along this journey. As one of my mentors said the other day, "We could not have asked for a better first three months." Our attendance is consistently growing. Our passion and mission are sustaining the surge forward both inside and outside of our gatherings, and all of our bills are paid. Very few churches can say those things right now. Would you please join me in praising God for those things?

As we move forward this week, here are a few items that I am working on:

1) We're delivering the coats that we've gathered to the homeless in Love Park tonight! I'm SO PUMPED about this. Thanks so much to all who have made this effort a HUGE success!
2) Small groups...everyone who has offered up their home for the purpose of hosting a small group ministry will be receiving a call from me this week. We will be finalizing those plans and organizing a kickoff for each group.
3) Child care is an issue that is being worked on for our congregation. It's been proposed that a team be organized to rotate Sundays and provide some childcare in The Stuffice on Sundays during our worship gatherings. If this is something that you'd be willing to assist with and step into the rotation, please let me know.
4) Financial giving is a topic that I'm praying hard about right now. I'm so proud of the way that our congregation gives to its church. There are several stories in our brief history of people giving to our church in a manner that has allowed us to get to where we are today. And as we enter this Christmas season, I know that needs both for our church, as well as for those in our community, are going to increase. So I'm praying for God's provision and reminding our people to make your tithes and offerings as you are able. Thank you so much for your continued faithfulness and generosity to the ministries of The Way.
5) I'm joining Shane Claiborne, author of "The Irresistible Revolution" later this week at a speaking engagement to share about The Way and our values as a church. This is a HUGE opportunity as it will allow me to share not only who we are, but what we're all about, in an international arena that reaches out to Pastors and churches that hold to the practices of the Acts church. If nothing else, it will be an opportunity to meet many other people who think the way that we think and build their ministry around simply living the way of Jesus. This is such a cool opportunity for us.
6) We are spending this Advent season encouraging everyone to find someone who isn't already plugged in to a church and get them to The Way this Christmas season. We all know someone who doesn't go to church regularly who may otherwise find a place to worship this Christmas. Why not bring them to The Way? Will you be the one to get them there? Will you extend the invitation?

Let me close by saying that I LOVE THIS CHURCH! And I LOVE THE PEOPLE OF THE WAY! I'm so blessed to call you my church family. Thank you for each and every blessing that you bring to the Kingdom of God by living the way of Jesus.

Grace and Peace be with you.