COMMUNITY is a generous church and everything we do, every dollar we invest is about helping people find their way back to God. Each year we designate one weekend of the year where we give our entire offering away in support of initiatives that will help us accomplish the Jesus Mission. We call this weekend Celebration Generosity and on March 17 and 18, 2012, we are asking everyone to join a team and prayerfully consider how they can be generous with what God has given them. This year, we are focusing our teams on three key areas that help us accomplish the Jesus Mission. We call these areas the 3R's and each team represents one of the R's.
Reach - Reaching those far from God (Campus team)
Restore - Restoring the dream of God (Community 4:12, Haiti and the Philippines)
Reproduce - Reproducing the mission in others (NewThing)
Celebration Generosity is truly a celebration. COMMUNITY attenders have made a tremendous impact in the lives of others all over the world through their generosity in support of these teams and we know that this year will be different. If you are new to COMMUNITY and have not participated in Celebration Generosity the first step is to join a team. You will learn more about the team you have chosen throughout the coming weeks and we invite you to be at one of our Celebration Generosity dinners on March 9 and 10 to hear first hand stories from each of the teams. Join the mission of helping people find their way back to God. So Join a Team and participate with us on March 17th and 18th as we Celebrate Generosity!
NewThing Team
In last week's article we invited you to consider being on the NewThing Team at Level 1 Commitment: praying for God to provide the leaders we need to start NewThing churches all over the world that would be about the Jesus mission. A mission that is about REACHING out to those who are far from God, RESTORING the communities of which they are apart, REPRODUCING the mission in others. Thank you for the responses we have already gotten from many of you saying, "I'm in!"
This week we wanted to emphasize how each of you can play at the Level 2 commitment of serving this growing movement of reproducing churches.
It was about a year and a half ago we accepted a new Leadership Resident into our NewThing Residency Program: Eduardo Rodrigue Read More…
Ron and Jenine Reier in the Philippines
This past summer my husband Ron and I made the trip to the Philippines. Prior to going we had never been on a mission trip before but have always talked about going. We weighed the pros and cons and decided there were only pros because we would never regret going on a mission trip to do Gods work. After deciding to go we had lots of people asking us why we would go there when there is so much we could do in the US to help others. We both have never heard that God only wants you to help people in the US so we felt confident in our decision to go. Also, poverty in the states does not compare to the level of need in the Philippines.
Some of our favorite experiences in the Philippines included doing nightly street feedings, teaching lessons at t Read More…
Neighborhood Team – Week 3: EA Restore Team concept
If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. Australian Aboriginal Activitst, Lila Watson
Since 2003, Community 4:12 has been working in East Aurora with the goal of creating a model of community development and restoration that can be replicated in other communities. Weve established programs around educational and housing challenges that many under-resourced neighborhoods face and have replicated some of those in Joliet. A large part of our strategy has been to mobilize Community Christian Church attenders to come and serve in lower-income communities. While this has been effective in many instances, it ha Read More…
Life in the Seed, Haiti Team
One of the best kept secrets of Haiti is her beautiful countryside. Though the large cities of Port-au-Prince and Cap Haitian may seem over populated and quite desolate- they ought not to represent the rest of Haiti. Haiti is beautiful indeed! Her rural areas make up most of the terrain; an area and market which has remained overlooked prior to the earthquake. World Relief Haiti has discovered the potential in such regions of Haiti and after months of surveying, planning, and dreaming; has begun developing farms and nurseries in this hidden rural Haiti.
These farms will be the key towards unlocking the economic and communal development that Haiti has desperately needed for decades. This initiative will employ hundreds of local famers, Read More…
Praying to Catalyze a Movement
Our God is a missionary God. God sent His Son and God sends the Church into the world to REACH out to those who are far from God, to RESTORE the communities of which we are a part and to REPRODUCE the Jesus Mission in others.
NewThing desires nothing more than to catalyze a movement of reproducing churches that send people out to do mission in the name of Jesus. However, we believe in order to do this effectively we need to pray. The Message puts it this way in Luke 10:2:
"What a huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands."
Aaron and Tracy Monts sensed God leading them to plant a new church in San Francisco, CA. Here's how they describe a sig Read More…
