Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Back in the house


Its 7pm, and they start coming. 55 young people packed into one house sitting cross-legged, cramped but free. The hall-way is lined with worshippers; the kitchen is our overflow room. This is our community worship experience dubbed the “LoveWar.” Tuesday night is a time to experience the beautiful presence of our savior-God, space to hear His voice and encounter His heart. Tuesday night we see the body of Christ assemble in a simple, yet profound way. Almost two years ago, we started meeting in our house (dubbed the Banks house) with a handful of our community. We started a once a month extended worship time called the BURN. This time was a magnet for many of God’s hungry ones, and within months we packed out the house on Friday nights with upwards of 75 people for multiple churches around the city. The BURN is all about vertical worship between us and the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But here’s the amazing thing…when we receive the love from the Father, it draws us together. The joy of being loved by God can’t be contained in vertical worship alone. Community is born.

So we started meeting on Tuesday nights. Worship was infused with community; simply coming together to seek God together, to lift each other up in prayer. It was never about the numbers, but our group of 20 or so soon took off when a few high-school students started coming. I watched the tipping point principle in action, and when one “connector” type person came, many more followed. Our group progressively became more diverse as college students mingled with high school students, even beginning to draw adults to see what was happening. Once we hit 60 or so, we simply just couldn’t fit. So we moved to a large church building. BUT something wasn’t the same. The family vibe was traded with a “meeting” type feel. We’re not into meetings. There are so many meetings, but few true community experiences. So it was back to the Banks house for us.

And that brings us back to last night. Tuesday night we moved back to the Banks house. And with 55 people, there isn’t much room to grow. What are we going to do? Well, I’m not sure. We can envision huge worship nights with hundreds of youth in the city, revival breaking out, bringing refreshing to the weary and love to the outcasts. We would need a big venue for that. But as for now, we’re in the house. And I love it. Last night a sound erupted from our house. It was the gospel in song, pure chorus of praise from our hearts. “Heal me, Oh Lord, and I will be healed. Save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” (Jer. 17:14) – We’re back in the house. God is our captain, and He steers the ship. Where to next?

2 comments:

michael ketterer said...

Man, I didn't even know you had this blog. Bro! This is amazing! You are such an outstanding writer! I am so excited to be back in the House and your absolutely right. God will lead us on what to do next. For right now I am just enjoying His life and presence.

Anonymous said...

I love this...I went many times to the Banks House...Loved every minuted of it. Every moment with Jesus there...