Soma One Day | Communities Shaped & Fueled by Gospel

 

Soma One Day Training with Jeff Vanderstelt in Montreal, QC on Monday, February 10, 2014 

These posts for the Soma One Day I participated in back in February have been a bit of a long time coming. Here is a link to the first post:

• Soma One Day | The Power of the Gospel to Save People

• Soma One Day | Church is Formed & Transformed by Gospel  

Soma One Day with Jeff Vanderstelt Part 3 of 3 | Missional Communities are Shaped and Fueled by the Gospel

 

"The echo of Jesus' Great Commission is in every believer's heart – pray for the Spirit to remind them of who they are."

Disciple-making requires:

• Life on Life | 1 John 4:7-21
• Life in Community | Acts 2:42-47; Acts 4:29-35
• Life on Mission | John 20:21-22; Mark 10:43-45; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-16

At Soma, we believe a strong way to follow Jesus and obey His commands for us is through Missional Communities.

"Discipleship is people learning together how to humbly surrender all of life – work, play, rest, family – under the lordship of Jesus."

A Missional Community (MC) is a family of missionary servants sent as disciples who make disciples. So an MC will know: 

• people + places
• names + faces

in the communities where they are sent. We want to be the church of Jesus where everyone is always "in the game" because once they get a taste of Jesus and what He provides, everyone wants to play. And everyone should play.

+ Forming Missional Communities 

1) Build a Foundation on the Gospel

• Gospel Power: We are saved from the penalty of sin by the love of God the Father; are being saved from the power of sin by God the Spirit; and will be saved from the presence of sin when Jesus, God the Son, returns in His glory
• Gospel People: Our new identity in Jesus as sons and daughters of God the Father; servants of King Jesus, God the Son; and sent ones who join His Spirit on the mission of God to reconcile a people to Himself and restore His creation
• Gospel Purpose: We obey Jesus' Great Commandment to love our neighbors and Great Commission to make disciples by baptizing them into the family of God – name of the Father, Son, and the Spirit – and teaching them how to listen to and obey everything Jesus commanded

 2) Develop a Gospel Fluent Culture

• Learn the Story of God: Teach each other how to read the Bible and point to Jesus in every story from Genesis to Revelation
• Listen to each others' stories: Listen to each other, learning where people find their identity (Creation), problems (Fall), solutions (Redemption), and hope (Restoration), and learning how to bring the Gospel story into theirs
• Celebrate and proclaim the Gospel through meals: Regularly eat together with others, and enjoy the Lord's Supper as a church family
• Apply the Gospel to the head, heart and hands: Understand how our idols trip us up or consume our attentions because we're still in unbelief that: 
  

– God is great so we don't have to feel like we always need to be in control or take control from others because even when Jesus died on the cross, God was working what seemed like the most out of control moment in history together for our good

– God is glorious so we don't have to fear what others think of us because we are more in awe of God's glory in Jesus than being worried about our own reputations

– God is good so we don't have to look elsewhere (i.e. possessions, food, sex, substances, etc.) to find our ultimate satisfaction because Jesus has satisfied our deepest desire to live a full and generous life by the power of His abundant resurrection life He has given us

 – God is gracious so we don't have to overburden ourselves in trying to prove how good or right we are because Jesus has already done everything on our behalf

"If God loved us when we were His enemies (Romans 5:6-11), how much more does He love us as His children (Romans 8:15-39)?"

3) Leaders Identify a Mission

• Teach people how to obey what Jesus says about His mission: Instead of just helping people memorize what the Bible says to obey, challenge them to trust and obey in word and deed as they follow Jesus where they live, work, play and rest.
• Ask God to clarify your mission: Who (i.e. people + places, names + faces) are you called to make disciples of?
• Begin to pray for your mission: Gather together to pray and ask to see where God is directing you and step into the lives of those people.
• Clearly state the focus for your mission: Call the MC to participate in following the Great Commandment and Great Commission amongst those God is calling you to for the next 6-12 months.

4) Reorient the Life of the Community around Your Mission

• Make a covenant together: Make a commitment to each other in how you will live as a family of missionary servants for your mission for the next 6-12 months.
• Shape your monthly schedule: Flow your schedule with the lives of the people you are with and for.
• Adapt the missionary strategy: Adjust the schedule to the "seasons" and patterns in the culture.
• Develop pathways for gospel engagement: Pray for and practice ways to demonstrate and declare the message that through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, God is reconciling people to Himself and working to make all things new in all of creation.

"We equip people for ministry, which means we don't just invite them to a ministry event. We don't give them X amount of hours in a church building. We are the church. We are a missional community. We are the family of God. We want to be asking Jesus how we will live from our identity in Him each day, week, month, etc., listening to the Father's voice and then walking in step with where His Spirit leads us."

5) Live Life Together with Gospel Intentionality

• Live together on mission: Does the way we live demand a Gospel explanation from those we are loving and inviting into our lives?
• Live in the everyday rhythms: Pray for and practice gospel intentionality through:

– Eating with others

– Listening to others

– Story sharing with others, including how the Story of God has shaped your life

– Blessing others unconditionally

– Celebrating what God is doing in your life and others' lives whether they believe in Him or not

– ReCreating by resting in what God has done in Jesus and is doing by His Spirit, and then working towards what His restoration looks like in everyday life

"We need to train every follower of Jesus to think like a missionary – to observe, understand and know their culture so they can then apply the Gospel to their culture. We can start by being better servants who bring the better wine, the better party, and the towel – just like Jesus did."

6) Always Be Prepared to Give the Answer for Why You Live the Way You Live, and Share How the Good News of Jesus Has Changed and Shaped Your Life

"Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it" (1 Peter 3:15).

If we don't become more creative, thoughtful and wise in providing Jesus as the hero, solution, answer, and hope for our lives, than we won't know how to share Him with those around us who never think of Him.

Example: MC in East Los Angeles – "An MC is like a gang except gangs are driven by fear and Jesus' church is and should be driven by love. With a gang you may have to hurt or kill someone to belong. With Jesus' church, He was hurt and killed so you belong."

We want our MCs as communities and the people who make them up as individuals to be asking themselves daily:

"King Jesus, would You work through Your servant to reveal Your glory and Your kingdom today?" We can do this when we remember that the King of the universe came to us and chose to serve us. If this is true, why shouldn't we serve others in the same way? Jesus has asked us to join Him in serving others through us – as His church, His body. He knows what people want and need. We serve others, and ask Him how to point our service back to Him."

  
Keep asking Jesus, "Would You extend Your hand through Your church to do the things You told us we would accomplish through You?" The first place to start doing this is in our homes.

"One of the first idols people in the church will deal with is the idolatry of the family. The 'oikos' or 'household' in the Scriptures is more than the immediate bloodline family. The household also included servants, strangers who were invited in, and those who followed Jesus from surrounding towns and cities. Arabic hospitality was such that once you invited someone into your home, you were to protect them even at the cost of your own life. So we ask Jesus, 'If this was Your home, what would You want me to do with it in this neighborhood?'"

There are 3 Ws that MCs and individual followers of Jesus answer in responding to His call:

• Wherever You want us to go
• Whatever You want us to do
• Whenever You want us to do it

"Good news spreads on its own. As Jesus' church – those who are shaped by and trust in His good news – are we declaring and displaying His Gospel in such a way that people will be compelled to talk about it? And as a whole, would the town or city we love and live in miss us if our church disappeared?"

– Sully
 
Curiosity piqued? Something inside you being stirred? Go ahead and connect. For other updates, like and follow Emmaus City on Facebook.

Soma One Day | Church is Formed & Transformed by Gospel

 

Soma One Day Training with Jeff Vanderstelt in Montreal, QC on Monday, February 10, 2014 

These posts for the Soma One Day I participated in back in February have been a bit of a long time coming. Here is a link to the first post:

• Soma One Day Training Part 1 of 3 | The Power of the Gospel to Save People

Also, for a fun intro story about my trip, read about my stop by a border patrol officer. Otherwise, let's dig in together as I reflect and as you read.

Soma One Day with Jeff Vanderstelt Part 2 of 3 | The Church is Formed, Informed and Empowered by the Gospel

The Church is:

• God's People | Who we are
• (saved by) God's Power | What He has done and is doing
• (for) God's Purposes | Works He has created for us in Jesus Christ to do

We need to define the Church in light of:

• Who God is | Father, Son, Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14)
• What God has done | the Gospel that He has sent His Son to live, die, and live again to redeem a people for Himself and restore the earth (1 Corinthians 15:1-5; Colossians 1:15-22)
• Who He has made us to be | a family of missionary servants  (Ephesians 1:5-14; John 20:21-22; Mark 10:43-45)
• What He has saved us to do | make disciples of Jesus who also make disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20)
• How we rest in who we are and do what we do in our unique context and among the people we are sent to | be His church who make disciples of Jesus of every tribe, tongue, and nation (Revelation 7:9-10)

 
The Church has been adopted and rescued for the praise of Jesus' glorious grace. "In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. ... In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory. In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:5-6, 11-14).

"You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men and women who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything" (2 Timothy 2:1-7).

"Do we know that we are soldiers, athletes, and farmers who labor and endure for others? For example, as a farmer, we should not sow sparingly, because then we will only reap sparingly. We need to sow abundantly so that we will reap abundantly. In this way, every Christian should see themselves as a full-time paid minister of the gospel sent by God wherever they live and work to serve others in Jesus' name for the praise of His glorious grace."

The Church is: 

• Saved by God's work
• For God's work

  
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-10).


The Church exists to:

• bring glory to God in all things (Ephesians 1:5-14);
• make disciples who grow up into becoming like Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16; Romans 8:28-30); and
• live all of life in light of the Gospel, giving glory to God so that we make disciples who obey everything Jesus commanded, too (Matthew 28:19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:31).

"You don't invite Jesus to join your mission. He invites you into His. Jesus wants to lead all of His Church to people and places where we can't do what we need to do without Him. God's desire for His Church is for every person – in neighborhoods, in schools, in the city – to have a real encounter with Jesus in word and deed. For this to happen, we will need to equip everyone – young and old, new in the faith and growing in the faith – to do ministry. And then we'll see everyone growing up in becoming more like Jesus. Getting equipped and becoming mature is going on Jesus' mission where we need His Spirit to inspire and guide us with others and for others. "

The Church is:

• the Family of God who love one another as brothers and sisters; 
• empowered Missionaries who are sent by the Spirit to show and tell about Jesus wherever we are; and 
• Servants who serve others as we are served by Jesus to provide glimpses of His kingdom in our present neighborhoods, workplaces, etc.

"Every behavior comes out of what you believe. A life gripped by fear is placing your faith in the wrong god. Don't be overcome by future fear by forgetting present reality – Jesus is risen and He is here. We continue to need to be saved from our idolatry and unbelief in who He is, who we are, who He is transforming us to be like, and what we are called to do. Repentance is a gift that allows us to turn from listening to our false god to trusting and obeying the true God." 

Final post: Soma One Day | Communities Shaped & Fueled by Gospel

– Sully
 
Curiosity piqued? Something inside you being stirred? Go ahead and connect. For other updates, like and follow Emmaus City on Facebook.

Soma One Day | The Power of the Gospel to Save People

Soma One Day Training with Jeff Vanderstelt in Montreal, QC on Monday, February 10, 2014 

These posts for the Soma One Day I participated in back in February have been a bit of a long time coming. Oh well. Just going to have to trust God with the timing that someone needs to see these in April.

For a fun intro story about my trip, read about my stop by a border patrol officer. Otherwise, let's dig in together as I reflect and as you read.

Soma One Day with Jeff Vanderstelt Part 1 of 3 | The Power of the Gospel to Save People

A disciple (i.e. follower or learner of Jesus) is one who increasingly brings all of life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and leads others to do the same.

"Where followers of Jesus still need the gospel is in our brokenness. And we're still broken in many areas. And we need others to see how the gospel meets us in our brokenness so that Jesus receives the glory."

There are three aspects of the power of the gospel to save people that are key to understanding our purpose as followers of Jesus:


1) PAST: We have been saved from the penalty of sin.

God is Father: Jesus is the beloved who lived a perfectly submitted life to the Father and died in our place to make us acceptable and loved by the Father.

We were children of wrath but have been saved by grace through faith and now are the beloved children of God.

"'This is My Son in whom I am well pleased.' Just like Jesus, people need to know the Father's love or they will work to get His affection. It's not wrong to get affirmation from others, but you should not depend on it."

We are the FAMILY of God: We love one another as brothers and sisters.

"Good news spreads. Are we declaring and displaying good news that people share with others?"

2)  PRESENT: We are being saved from the power of sin.

God is Spirit: The Holy Spirit anointed, filled, led and empowered Jesus for His mission.

 "Grace is not only divine unmerited favor, it is divine unmerited power."

We were powerless under sin but we have been given the Holy Spirit to live a new life on mission.

"Don't give the tools (i.e. spiritual disciplines) without Jesus. That's like tools without power. No one can change without Jesus and His Spirit."

  
We are sent and empowered MISSIONARIES: We are sent to show and tell about Jesus wherever we are.


3)  FUTURE: We will be saved from the presence of sin.

God is Son: The Son is the supreme King over all creation who served us first to bring about the rule and reign of God.

"If we don't get better at providing Jesus as the hero, solution, and answer, than we won't know how to share Him with the world."

We were slaves to sin and servants of the god of this world and Jesus set us free to serve Him and enjoy His reign forever.

"God is not looking for you to be more sorry about yourself; God is looking for you to turn (i.e. repent) to Jesus to love Him and love others."

We are SERVANTS who serve others as we were served to bring glimpses of His kingdom into the present.
 

"Do we believe that the gospel is the power to change the world or do we believe the gospel removes us from the world? Jesus prayed in John 17:15-18, 'I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.' We are sent into the world as Jesus was sent to serve and to sacrifice for others to know the Father's love."

Next post: Soma One Day | Church is Formed & Transformed by Gospel

– Sully
 
Curiosity piqued? Something inside you being stirred? Go ahead and connect. For other updates, like and follow Emmaus City on Facebook.

Skylines & Silhouettes | Worcester, MA + Montreal, QC

Skylines and Silhouettes is a continuing series with Emmaus City. If you would like to read previous entries, click on the links below.

• Skylines & Silhouettes | Worcester, MA and East Fort Worth, TX   

• Skylines & Silhouettes | Worcester, MA and Portland, OR

• Skylines & Silhouettes | Worcester, MA and Phoenix, AZ

   

WORCESTER, MA AND MONTREAL, QC: GOSPEL-CENTERED, SPIRIT-LED, MISSION-FOCUSED

A friend of mine and I recently spent a short weekend together at a Soma One Day Training with churches in Montreal, Quebec. For notes on the Soma One Day, check out these posts:

• Soma One Day Training | The Power of the Gospel to Save People

• Soma One Day Training | The Church is Formed, Informed and Empowered by the Gospel

Let's just say the 11-hour round trip alone from Worcester to Montreal in less than 36 hours was worth the quick turnaround for our experience at the border. It went something like this:

Guard: Good evening. Where are you headed? 

Me: Montreal. 

Guard: Have you ever been there? 

Me: No, this is my first time. 

Guard: How long will you be staying there? 

Me: Just a little more than 24 hours. 

Guard: Why are you going to Montreal? 

Me: For a church conference with other pastors. 

Guard: (Pause) What will you be doing? 

Me: Discussing God and how He came as Jesus to be our Savior and King. 

Guard: (Longer pause) Do you do this often? 

Me: A good amount. 

Guard: (To my friend) And you are going with him? 

Friend: I'm just driving him. 

Guard: (Back to me) Who do you know in Montreal? 

Me: A pastor. 

Guard: When did you meet him? 

Me: He and some people from his church came down to Maine in October of 2012 for a conference and we met there. 

Guard: You've only met him once? 

Me: Yes. 

Guard: What's his name? 

Me: Dwight Bernier. 

Guard: Where does he live in Montreal? 

Me: I don't know. 

Guard: What's the name of his church? 

Me: (Pause) Initiative 22. 

Guard: (Longer pause) Do you have proof of this conference? 

Me: Sure. (I give her a print out of paying for registration on Paypal.) 

Guard: What's the name of church the conference is at? 

Me: It says something like Future Urbain 21 (it's actually Evangel, but the registration said something else for some reason). It's on the print out. 

Guard: Where is it located? 

Me: It's on the print out. I wrote it down on the back. 

Guard: Where will you be staying? 

Me: At a friend of Dwight's place. 

Guard: What's his name? 

Me: Emilio. 

Guard: What's his family's name? 

Me: I don't know. 

Guard: Where does he live? 

Me: I don't know. 

Guard: (Longest pause) You're telling me you're going to a city you've never visited to stay with someone you've never met and you don't even know where he lives? 

Me: Yes. 

Guard: Do you do this often? 

Me: Actually, I just did this in November in Phoenix. I stayed with a family there I had never met before. 

Guard: (Looks at our passports one more time, looks at us, gives us back our passports and opens the gate for us to continue into Canada.)

It was awesome.

I loved our conversation with her, especially when I couldn't tell her the last name of the person we were staying with or where that person lived in the city. I think in her confusion, she secretly enjoyed our open ignorance. Or she doesn't care who she lets into Canada.

After she let us cross the border, my friend laughed and said, "I don't think she had any framework for what you just said." Maybe not. But then I laughed and prayed that the conversation planted a seed of the gospel of Jesus in her heart that she would not be able to shake until she begins seeking Him for herself.

For the 22 hours I was in Montreal, I also met someone who was moving his family of seven from Pennsylvania to Montreal in the next six months because of his wife's and his love for the people in the city and for how God is moving through His people in a place where Jesus' grace and glory is scarcely recognized. I was deeply impacted by his faith and the faith I saw and heard among the family of God in this city where 0.5% of the people would say they are Christian.

Plus, when I heard about the 20+ church plants in the city committing to planting a new church every 5 years for the next 40 years, I felt honored to be with these men and women who are passionate about praying and laboring towards a movement of the Spirit that only God can accomplish.
 

Montreal, Quebec

 

C2C Network – "He shall have dominion from sea to sea" (Psalm 72:8).

 

While I will provide a future post or two about what I learned during the Soma One Day with Jeff Vanderstelt, I also want to highlight the C2C Network – who helped organize and host the Soma One Day – and exists to be a catalyst for church multiplication throughout Canada. 

There is no better way to tell C2C's story than to share two videos they have produced. Both videos are worth watching in their entirety; below are the links to the videos along with a few key quotes from each video.

C2C Network Video 1: Gospel-Centered, Spirit-Led, Mission-Focused

"We'd been doing outreach, going out every single week for the last two-and-a-half years, and we hadn't seen a single person come to Christ." – Jay Lee, Catalyst in Toronto 

"A lot of people just view the church as totally irrelevant. They just don't see that it serves any real purpose." – Murray McLellan, Grace Fellowship in Saskatoon

"My community where I actually live is a community of more than 3,500 people that has zero churches in it." – Trevor Rysavy, Urban Grace Church in Calgary

"What I sensed God saying is, 'Who cares for these? Who cares for these lost people in the city?" – Adam Wiggins, Pacific Church in Vancouver

"The more I hear, the more I see that God's warmth is at work. God's Holy Spirit is doing things in people's lives. Through fasting, through prayer, through prayer walking, through perseverance, we've started to see one person come at a time. And that person bring another person. And then that person bring two or three more. 

It's just exciting to really launch things with people who are truly hungry for the gospel, who can really see the transformation in their own life. And then they long to take that out where they live and where they work. 

We're seeing people come to Christ from very non-churched backgrounds. We're seeing people with cocaine addictions, with crack addictions give that up and get into rehab. We're seeing broken families starting to reunite. 

When you share the gospel, when you explain the gospel, when you pray the gospel and live out the gospel, lives change."

C2C Network Video 2: the Call, the Fire, & the Lord

" ... Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. ... " – Isaiah 43:1-3

"Our mandate is to plant churches across our nation because we see over and over again that one of the most effective ways to seeing people being introduced to Christ is through the initiation of new churches." – Gord Fleming, National Director of C2C Network

#1 – the Call – As commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

" ... We have several hundred church planters from all across Canada, from Vancouver Island to Halifax gathered at our nation's capital to pray for our land. The reason we're here praying is because of the warfare that takes place. There is an enemy in Canada that does not want to see the church advanced. And thank You, Lord, that You promised that You would build Your church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. ..." 

#2 – the Fire – For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. 

" ... there have been so many times when my wife and I planted this church that we were desperate for God. ... We had no idea what a faith-building exercise it would be. ... When we started out, I thought I was going to do something for Jesus. I didn't really pick up on what He was going to do in me, not just through me. Church planting really confronted all of the idols – all of the idols of my heart, all of the motivations of my heart were confronted as we sought how to plant ... People kept saying, 'You're so faithful.' and I said, 'Honestly, I'm just trying to survive.' ... "

"It's actually impossible to do what we're trying to do. We can't change hearts. Jesus said in John 15 that apart from Him we can do nothing. And as these church planters are entering into these cities, they're seeing that God's been going before them and preparing the soil for them. And as they plant churches, it's not under their strength. It's not under their logic or their initiative ... it is the Holy Spirit preparing them, calling them, equipping them and setting things out in such a way you can just see God is all over this ..."  

#3 – the Lord – I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

"We're just here proclaiming what is already true. What's already done. ... Church planting for me in this journey has been about God transforming my heart in my life and our lives together and our family; and as God's doing that in us, we get the chance to be able to share that He's doing that in our lives with other people and you get to see what God's doing as He's raising up a body of gospel-centered believers together." 

"The one thing we've learned through this all is that it's Jesus building His church because we couldn't do it. We came to the end of ourselves and had to fully trust in Him and look to Him. It's His mission and we just want to follow Him on it." 

"And the gospel had to do a work in my heart. It had to really change my heart and challenge my motivations. And I had to be reminded that my identity isn't in my performance. It wasn't in how well I preached or how well I led, or what my church looked like, or thought my church was supposed to look like. It was in Christ and what He had done." 

"Jesus is Lord from beginning to end. He's the Lord of the call, He's the One who sends, He's the One who equips by His Spirit ... He's also the One that provides the fruit, He's also the One that builds the church, that does all the work. So one of the big lessons amidst all of the opposition has simply been for us: Let God be God through the whole process. Let Him be the One who brings the fruit. Don't expect the fruit to be out of your efforts. So when people come to Jesus, when they move from lostness to foundness, you will never be able to take credit for that. It will not be because of what you did or where you lived or how you lived. It will simply be Jesus working through you and, at least in our case, despite us."

   

Could we in Worcester, like those in Montreal and across Canada, anchor ourselves in the hope that with Jesus, we can pray for and labor towards the miraculous? 

Are we willing to go through the fire, to be cleansed and purged of what so easily causes us to stumble, stop, or retreat, and be led by the Spirit of God who can save our families, neighborhoods, and city? 

Do we actually want to seek God's kingdom first, trusting Jesus' words that all the rest will be added to us in His gracious providence so that we can run the race ahead and finish strong?  

Imagine if we could say "Yes." to all of the above.

That would truly be awesome.

Next post: Skylines and Silhouettes Part 5 | Worcester, MA and Richmond, VA

– Sully

If your curiosity is piqued, or something inside you is being stirred, feel free to connect. For other updates, like and follow Emmaus City on Facebook.