Small Begets Big...

More from the Divine Commodity:

In the economy of God's kingdom, big does not beget big. It's precisely the opposite. The overwhelming message of Jesus' life and teaching is that small begets big. Consider: God's plan to redeem creation (big) is achieved through his incarnation as an impoverished baby (small). Jesus feeds thousands on a hillside (big) with just a few loaves and fishes (small). Christ seeks to make disciples of all nations (big) but starts with a handful of fisherman (small).

Silence, prayer, love, friendship, fasting , hospitality... these are tiny and seemingly inconsequential mustard seeds that, when fully grow, become the largest plant in the garden.

I think the vision of MainStreet is big, but it is starting with a small group of committed people. Crazy what Jesus can do!

And Just for Fun, The Fish.

Hey! This is our kid!

And a Thought on Community...

More from The Divine Commodity:

Henri Nouwen once observed, "Community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives." When we abandon ship because it holds people we don't like, we also abandon community.

More thoughts on that later...

A Few Thoughts on the Church...

Jeremy was given the book The Divine Commodity by our friend Joe. In it, Skye Jethani writes about the loss of imagination in the church, and how we've fallen prey to Consumer Christianity. There are SO many good thoughts in this book, and I feel like they're super applicable to our situation - especially in light of the church plant. Anyways... on to one of my favorite passages from the book:

"...What impacted a person's spiritual growth most were personal Bible reading, prayer, meditation, a meaningful relationship with a friend or mentor, and serving others... All of these practices are relationship-focused... It is the community of Jesus' followers on earth - men, women, and children filled with God's Spirit, living in communion with Him, one another, and the world. It is a spiritual and relational entity. And this church is critical to the advancement of God's mission in the world and an essential component of our spiritual formation.

In the New Testament we see the earliest Christians organizing their communities to provide for the poor, ensure proper instruction, and extend formative and corrective discipline. Every relational community, like a family, needs structure. But the goal of any structure should be strengthening, not replacing, human relationships which are the medium God uses to carry out his transforming work. The Holy Spirit inhabits human beings, not institutions...

The goal should not be abandoning one structure in favor of another, but rather fostering meaningful human relationships through which real ministry happens...

Beginning on the smallest scale, this means relearning the lost art of friendship."