Sun, June 12
... Firm beneath my feet
Speaking of wanting community... the church is doing a 9-week sermon series called "Ecclesia: Becoming the Church Christ Came to Build," and I'm pretty excited for it.
I think that for someone who has grown up in the church, there comes a point of recognizing the church as an adult, just like every other relationship. I mean, we all approach things differently as we transition from children to teenagers to adults--our parents, friends, mentors, teachers, and our church community.
I think, for the most part, I've come through that transition, but I can remember going through the phases of learning first-hand that no, the church isn't perfect. We may be God's ambassador on earth, but we're made up of an awful lot of sinful, broken people, and that makes the image pretty distorted. Still, this is one of the biggest ways that God wants to reveal himself, and one of the main ways that we need to manifest the relationship that each of us individually has with God.
Anyways, as I was saying, it was something that took a while to get used to--this place that I've loved since childhood isn't the utopia that I thought it was. And I've come through the transition with a stronger love and passion for community and unity in the family of God, but it wasn't an easy road getting there.
Because of that, I'm excited for this sermon series. I want to delve deeper into what God calls the church to be--what it really means to be the Body of Christ.
Plus, it's a bonus that I can be there for most, if not all, of the series--it runs through June and July, and I won't be out teaching Extreme Kids, like I was for most of the school year. I mean, one out of three months--makes it a little bit more difficult to be there for any single entire sermon series.
One year ago today: It's funny how so many places remind me of somewhere else, whether it's because of the feeling of the place, rather than the look (New York and London), or it's because of the look of the place (Steyr and Banff), or some combination of both (Rome and San Diego). I find, though, that there's so often something to remind me of somewhere familiar. Maybe that's just my mind's defense mechanism, giving me a concrete place to hang my hat on, so to speak, but I find it fascinating nonetheless.
infinite || abyss
posted at 10:41 p.m.
