In 2017, our pastors and elders worked on a new vision statement for our church through much prayer as we collectively sought God's direction for our specific time and mission field. The vision statement to which we felt God leading us was, "Love Like Jesus," which is a simple phrase that is easy to understand but requires God's wisdom and help to truly live out.
Later that year, I was newly elected as the Lead Pastor of our church, and many people asked how we were going to embody our vision statement to Love Like Jesus as a church body. At that time, we went through a sermon series called, Changing Landscapes, through which we learned about the changing landscape of our local mission field. We wanted to understand our mission field and be effective proclaimers of the gospel through the way in which we loved as Christ loved us (John 15:12), by speaking truth, engaging culture, building community, equipping to serve, and helping one another move from self-interest to self-sacrifice—a demonstration of love best exemplified by Christ himself on the cross.
Fast forward a couple years, we faced one of the most challenging seasons of our church history as we navigated through the global pandemic. Going through the pandemic as the church taught us that relationships were important, and that we really need to not neglect meeting together (Hebrews 10:25), which is why in March of 2022, we began to hone in on our vision to Love Like Jesus by introducing Radical Hospitality and Meaningful Connections—a movement to intentionally invest in gospel community and welcome others into it through biblical hospitality. We are better when we have rich, meaningful connections to our God and his people.
A pivotal change in allowing us to grow in our radical hospitality was the launch of Communion Lunches in 2022. We believe in the importance of eating together. The early church not only observed communion as a part of their worship program but literally broke bread and ate together. They allowed themselves to be known by others in the church and began to connect meaningfully, which is a crucially important first step toward discipleship in Christ. Likewise, we eat together every time we take communion in the service, by following up with a meal in the gym after the service. The worship extends to our fellowship time. Because we are so serious about Radical Hospitality and Meaningful Connections as a primary way in which we live out our vision to Love Like Jesus, we eat together regularly through these communion lunches, at our AGM, and even during our membership classes, which are hosted in homes rather than in classrooms.
We want to invite one another into meaningful connections in the love and reign of Jesus Christ, and we want to help one another grow as mature disciples of Jesus. So, when you come to church on Sunday, plan to stay for communion lunch. This is not just food; it's an act of worship and an investment in gospel community! There are new people at our church almost every single Sunday of the year, which means there is always room for you to practice radical hospitality and participate in our vision to love like Jesus. When you come to these lunches, don't just sit with people you hang out with all the time. Meet new people, catch up with people whom you haven't connected with in a while, and care for one another. Listen to others' stories and let yourself be known to the church family. I've seen several of you pray for one another during these lunches. That's fantastic! This is how we invest in a disciple making, gospel community together. The church family needs you! We invite you to come and eat with us, build meaningful connections, and participate in our vision together!
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