Their goal was to follow the spirit of 1 Cor 1: 28, 29 – “For God chose things despised by the world, things considered as nothing, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers to be important…” They invited the entire neighborhood to participate, including several gardeners, many of whom were skeptical of the project’s success. Over the year, more and more volunteers contributed their efforts. There was a good sized harvest (for first time gardeners!) and all the grown produce was enjoyed by neighbors and during the house church gatherings. It was beautiful.

In November 2011, that house church gave birth to another house church, which brought in the neighbors who had worked on the garden – now they knew that there was a Christian church behind the garden, and they wanted to be a part of that kind of church – so this new house church is planning in 2012 to expand the veggie garden, and they are dreaming of opening up a new farmers market to invite regional farmers to sell their produce alongside this little urban garden’s yield.

All this, from an abandoned lot.

“God chose the things despised by the world, the things considered as nothing, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important – so no one can boast in the presence of God!”

Over the last year a simple church has been meeting in our home for prayer, communion, fellowship and scheming up the Kingdom of God in our city.  It was born out of a desire to be the church…the church we want to see in the world.  It was nothing earth-shattering, it but it was always real.  This last year I’ve seen people in our house church grow leaps and bounds – learning to trust in God, to hear his voice, to share their true selves with brothers and sisters.  And they’ve learned to seek out their purpose and mission.

Over the last few months, several in our group have felt the call to take a step of faith and plant a church in a new context, opening up more living room space to new faces, new hearts.

It was not something we imposed on folks, not something we pressured people in our group to do – it was talked about and dreamed about – but these two churches seem to have been born organically – from a continual stance of listening to the Holy Spirit on the next steps for our community.

One church had its first gathering on Monday night, the second was last night (Wednesday).  Both are beautiful, fragile, yet complete pictures of the Bride of Christ.  I am so thankful and proud to be a part of the church family emerging all the time here in Chicago.  These two new churches, like all the others in our church network, will be able to reach out to people far from God – which is what its really all about.  It reminds me of how families grow to include new people, to leave the nest and venture out into new territory!

It is beyond any one person – it is a people movement… it is a God movement!

It is one of the oldest parks in the city, and it is located in our neighborhood, one of the most diverse neighborhoods on the West Side of Chicago.  There is a lot of work to be done.  Graffiti and all kinds of bio-hazards awaited us as we began cleaning up the park’s gardens on Saturday.  We tried to invite some of the homeless to join us in the clean-up effort…but alas, maybe next time!

In any case, we had a fantastic time – and it is saying to our neighbors, “We love you so much that we want to share with you not only the Gospel, but our lives as well.” (1 Thess 2:8)

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Every church, whether small group or mega-crowd, should have a mission.

I think its more powerful if everyone in the group has the same mission, but that is not always feasible.  In fact, in our organic church network, we ask each house church NOT to begin gathering as a church family until there is a notion of what God is calling you to in his mission.  Every church must be called to mission – we are the ekklesia - the “called out” ones.

We are the people of God on the move!

What is your mission? Could you share it with your small group?  Could it become the raison d’être for your congregation?  There is a famous quote,

“God’s church does not have a mission, God’s mission has a church.”

Without it, you might say that your church has nothing to do but collectively navel gaze.  It can become pretty consuming.  Each church is called to “make disciples of all nations.”  But notice – Jesus says, “As you go…”  Your disciple-making is done “on the way.” On the way to the local park for spring cleaning, on the way to to Mexico to care for orphans, on the way to your lunch break.  Your mission quickly becomes your purpose for living – the Gospel becomes the white space between all the words you say.

What might it look like for the mission in your heart to become the work your church focuses on each time you gather together?  Would your church become healthier if it lived with the chance they would have to give up everything they had in order to follow Jesus faithfully into that mission?