Saturday, April 24, 2010

DNA revealed.

Today I was thinking that it’d be a good thing to tell you guys about what we’re trying to plant into our house churches. I’ve mentioned before about the DNA (Divine Authority, Nurturing Relationships, and Apostolic Mission) that is the core of our church. Simplified it means that we are a church that wants to: become like Jesus, care like Jesus and be sent like Jesus. It’s definitely not in sequential order by any means and if you take one out or focus on one more than the others, it’s just not the church.

Divine Authority (Being like Jesus)

Each week when we get together we’ve been going through the book of John. We just landed on John and stuck with it. When I or anyone else leads the discussion we try to make it a point to see what the passage is telling us as followers of Christ in light of the DNA. How are we becoming transformed? How are we caring for one another and building each other up? How are being sent into the world like Jesus? There’s definitely a lot that the bible has to say about this considering it’s at the heart of the church.

Nurturing Relationships (Caring for people like Jesus)

You can’t make anyone be nice. Even if you threatened with a spanking it wouldn’t be true. By fostering an environment that cares for each other by just doing it is the way to go. Just as we strive to become like Jesus it is a byproduct of a transformed life. This also helps when we purposefully build into each other. Trying to help others be better than yourself. Not only does this happen in our community when we gather together but it happens all the time.

Apostolic Mission (Being sent into the world like Jesus)

We believe that Jesus was sent into the world to restore all creation back to Him. As followers of Jesus we strive to partner with God in this mission. This past month with the Easter dinner and a food drive for the Food Bank we had the chance to practice that. As we care for and build into each other it doesn’t stop there. We’re always thinking about who it is we’re being sent to. As far as leadership goes, it doesn’t rely heavily on a lead pastor or minister but the whole community that has Christ as the head of the church. So as we seek to send people out they are DNA planters that carry the church with them.

This past weekend we had a great time celebrating with God. Brian, Amy, and Kris were baptized in Lake Michigan. FREEZING! It was awesome. Even Kim who was baptized a few months back had the chance to baptize Amy. So the life cycle continues building into one another.

click the link for pics!