Sunday Morning Gathering

Matthew 6:25a ...don't worry about your life.

I've held on to that verse for over 20 months, 1 of 4 that God gave me at the end of 2007 & the beginning of 2008. I've held on to them as I've walked through all the stuff in regards to establishing a presence for God through Christ Chapel in downtown Macon.

One of many ideas God whispered to me, or dropped into my head, was a Sunday morning service that live-streamed all or part of the service at Christ Chapel SportsTowne - a true satellite congregation.

In my own self, I had no idea when this part of the plan would be implemented. I figured maybe a year or 2 from now that might happen, when we've established ourselves throug House of Grace & Open Doors (that's when we open our facility to the community during the daytme Monday - Friday). That seemed like a reasonable timeline, to me.

I think it was back in the spring when one day at SportsTowne while I was sitting in the front office talking to Melissa that Pastor John came & sat down next to me & started talking about this Sunday morning living-streaming thing. In the space of what was 2 or 3 minutes, he established that he thought it was time to move on it, what we might call it (Christ Chapel Downtown - CCD), what time-frame we might consider starting it (the fall), & that I should listen to God for the details. Then I think he got a phone call on his cell & went out into the upper lobby to take it.

Melissa & I were left looking at each other with this "wait a minute - what just happened here?!" look on our faces. And it was like we were in suspended animation for a few seconds. Then the church phone rang, Melissa answered it, & I got up to run off some stuff on the church copier. It was kinda like the world started spinning again.

But in a few minutes Pastor John put into motion some big stuff. ;-)

Well! So much for starting a Sunday morning congregation a year or two from now... ;-)

So, we started walking toward it.

2 months ago, we started inviting people to "warm-up" services down at The Warehouse - times for people to come & experience downtown, The Warehouse, & watching a live-streamed service there - just to check it out & see if this was something God wanted them to be a part of.

One of my guys from HOG came from the very beginning & has come each week. The second week, he brought a friend who lives downtown. That friend got 2 of his friends to come the next week. They've all 3 come each week. They in turn brought a guy with them 3 weeks ago.

As a result, we have 4 guys who have identified themselves as "members" at Christ Chapel Downtown. As others have come to check out the service, these 4 guys have welcomed everyone like anyone would who has buy in with a place.

So, unless Jesus comes back, next Sunday, the 27th, Christ Chapel Downtown will kick-off the Sunday Morning Gathering at The Warehouse (that's located at the corner of Poplar & 5th Streets).

2 years ago if you'd have said to me that we'd be where we are with a Sunday morning congregation in a downtown Macon location & that I'd be the team leader for it, I would only have laughed, but would have rolled around on the floor with laughter. I would have been completely confident that something like that would never happen. In my mind, the likelihood of that was about as probable as me being asked to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers!

God can be very creative at times.

So, pray for me as we continue to walk toward this new expression. I'm fighting the urge to "make it happen." As a guy who was a music minister in the Methodist church for 27 years, I learned how to "make it happen." But in the 20 months God's led me in this downtown Macon adventure, I've been gently shown that I'm just supposed to walk with my Lord & let Him "make it happen."

Who will come next week for the kick-off? Don't know.

What's this Sunday morning thing all gonna look like? Well, Tucker Ellis is leading worship live, with a band. We've got some folks who have indicated they're gonna be a part of SMG for a while. Other than that, who knows what it will look like, other than God Himself?

God continues to tell me to not just think outside the box with stuff downtown, but to throw away my box.

So, here we go. Come join us Sunday, the 27th, at 10:45a.m. for the Sunday Morning Gathering.

Come watch what God's gonna do. ;-D