We want to plant faith communities all over downtown. What if one of them was under a bridge reaching the homeless? I would love to see that.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Men's core group...
Men's core group led by Steve Wade. Always a good time with these guys.
This picture is a great sample of how we conduct our gatherings at Church on Swiss. We start with a 30 minute message from the pastor. And then we go into our core groups for an hour. The core groups are the same every week, so in that sense they function as a small group. We also have a women's core group and a mixed core group. It is no surprise that our church family enjoys the core groups the most. It's in the core groups where we can share our stories, struggles and triumphs. This is where we truly feel like family.
It's also here where we collaborate together to decide how we can be salt and light to our neighborhood. For example, we decided last night to all go to the North Texas Food Bank and help pack food for needy children and deliver it to them through one of the local elementary schools in our neighborhood. More so, one of the members stepped up and offered a $1000 to cover the cost of the food.
When I see the Holy Spirit ignite our members to step up and do things like this, the ancient Christian greeting is affirmed in my heart:
He is risen. He is risen indeed.
This picture is a great sample of how we conduct our gatherings at Church on Swiss. We start with a 30 minute message from the pastor. And then we go into our core groups for an hour. The core groups are the same every week, so in that sense they function as a small group. We also have a women's core group and a mixed core group. It is no surprise that our church family enjoys the core groups the most. It's in the core groups where we can share our stories, struggles and triumphs. This is where we truly feel like family.
It's also here where we collaborate together to decide how we can be salt and light to our neighborhood. For example, we decided last night to all go to the North Texas Food Bank and help pack food for needy children and deliver it to them through one of the local elementary schools in our neighborhood. More so, one of the members stepped up and offered a $1000 to cover the cost of the food.
When I see the Holy Spirit ignite our members to step up and do things like this, the ancient Christian greeting is affirmed in my heart:
He is risen. He is risen indeed.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
And they had all things in common (Acts 2:44-45)...
Among many other purposes, the express purpose of the church in the New Testament was to encourage Christians who were financially blessed to share with those who were not. Every month, we 
automatically take 10% from our tithes and give it to those in need. From the last 4 months, 10% of our tithe has averaged $50 a month, giving us a total of $200. The unique element to this "common fund" is that it is up to all the members to decide how to spend it. With the $200, we decided to split it, using $100 for our outside general community by creating care packages for the homeless, and $100 for those in need within the church. For the person in need, we decided to challenge one another again. Using the $100 as "seed money", we challenged one another to give above and beyond. The result was incredible. We were able to give nearly $500 to a person within the church who has felt the brunt of our economic downtown more than others.
It was a blessing to be a part of it all. If you ever get a chance to band together with other believers to help someone in need, do so. There is nothing greater than being a conduit of God's blessing.
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